Breakfast Nightmare

[TC]

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Hi everyone, only me again (sorry :b )

Last Tuesday we rescued a lovely boy Blue to hopefully become bestest friends with Ollie and to end the stressing out at being left syndrome Firstly, I need to say that this has stopped completely, Ollie is so enamoured (sp) with Blue that he is more than happy when I have to leave him for the 2 hours in the afternoon. The two of them have great fun together :thumbsup:

Whilst I expected quite a few traumas that always come with bringing a new dog into the household, this is a bit strange as we have a 5 month old pup in situ and then bring in a 3.5yr castrated male into the mix :wacko:

Blue has been fantastic with Ollie, very tolerant, with only the odd telling off (and rightly so as a 22lb pup hanging off your neck gets a bit boring and painful I'm sure :wacko: ) so I'm really pleased about this.

Our main problem is food - Blue is the fattest whippet in the world. It's really sad as he is so lovely, but no exercise and four large meals a day means that his waist actually measures the same as his height (22.5") so although he is overtall, he is also very over wide. Suffice to say, Naturediet light mixed with some puffed rice just isn't doing it for him compared to the delights he used to get

This means that he is not interested at all in his breakfast and just wants to eat Ollies (who is currently eating his and then finishing Blue's after he's wandered off in disgust!)

Because things are quite sensitive at the mo I have been standing in the kitchen to ensure that we do not have any major fights, but I just can;t get Blue interested as all he wants is Ollies food.

So, I have tried feeding Ollie first with Blue outside (he didn't eat more than one mouthful before wandering off), Blue first with Ollie outside (gave up after fifteen minutes as he hadn't touched it) and nothing seems to get him to eat. This is all well and good as I want him to lose weight, but this is obviously not the right way for it to be done. Apart from anything else this leads to him being starving and scrounging and it won't be long before he starts to get grumpy, hunger pains are a nightmare as I well know :- "

I know it's naughty, but I was desperate this morning and fed them the same thing, and they both stood there good as gold and ate it all, can you believe it! The trouble is, this can't continue as Ollie needs a much higher protein diet than this, and Blue can't have food intended for pups.

Not sure why, by dinner is far calmer, and although Blue doesn't eat all of his, he just wanders off and lays down rather than constantly trying to get to Ollie and grumbling at him.

Any suggestions will be really gratefully received, thanks in advance.

Tracy

p.s. I will definitely post some pics of the new boy as soon as I have five mins to download everything......

 

[dessie]

To be perfectly honest I wouldn't worry about what Blue eats, just how much!! It is going to be a long slow process anyway. I have found that although my lot will eat Naturediet, they don't like the Lite one much, I think it is too bland so perhaps try feeding Blue one of the other flavours, if that is what you want to use. Or tripe or tinned Butchers tripe + biscuit/mixer. It doesn't really matter as long as it is normal quantities!

 

[Tesa]

Hi Tracey,

Know exactly how you feel. We had a similar problem when settling Beau in with Max. Max is old and arthritic and was having Scashas Blend on his meals, which also included seniors light kibble (not the sort of thing you want a 12 week old pup eating). Beau would not only dawdle over his own meal, he would wander over to share Max's meal. Which would result in Max swooping on Beau's puppy food. Max stacked on the weight very quickly.

So we tried feeding them separatley, but then the problem was Beau kept walking off and leaving his meal, and Max was always on the wrong side of the glass door waiting to be let in or out while his lordship grazed at leisure. If you put his bowl down and walk away, he walked away as well. If he saw Max he walked away from his bowl. I know you should be taken the bowl away after 10 minutes but we knew how very little he was eating and just weren't prepared to do that, so twenty minutes later we could be standing around just about begging him to eat something... anything... please puppy eat. Drove us mad !!!.

Our lovely vets nurse (the woman's a saint) suggested grated cheese. We didn't look back. Beau just need to learn how to scoof his food and the problem was solved. Max has lost 1.6kg :thumbsup: . Both dogs eat together. The bowls go down together, they sit and wait until I say okay and nobody is sneaking anybody's food o :thumbsup:

BTW Max has been doing well on Pedigree Advance (Senoirs Light Mix) as well as fresh meat & mixed veges. Good lucky with Blue's diet, and just remember its much easier to put your dog on a diet than yourself :lol:

 

[Sprout]

Could you try feeding Blue what he is supposed to be eating but mixed with a reasonable amount of what Ollie eats and then once he's got into the habit of eating that, slowly wean off the 'Ollie food' until Blue is actually just eating his own variety of food?

If you do it slowly enough (say over a couple of weeks), the chances are, he'll not notice.

Well - thats the theory anyway :lol:

 

[TC]

This is great everyone, thanks :thumbsup:

I know what you mean about the Naturediet being bland, although it smells quite nice to me it obviously isn't as gorg as the tripe that Ollie gets :x

I thought that Blue really wouldn't be able to have tripe as it would put weight on rather than the opposite effect, but if the general consensus is that this should be okay in small amounts that will make my life very easy indeed.

Ollie has tripe mixed in with his to make him eat as he was seriously underweight and nothing but a walking skeleton really at one point (this was mainly due to his seperation anxiety; he seemed to think that if he wouldn't eat that I would give in and not leave him )

Sorry Sprout, forgot to say that I did try the mixing in on the third attempt to see if it would work, but the clever so and so just delicately picked all the tasty bits out and left the rest :- "

The only reason I went for the Naturediet light is that it was recommended to me as one of the most effective foods for weight loss. The trouble is I can't really tell how effective as Blue isn't eating enough to give me a true picture. I have to be honest, I knew the initial loss would be easier as he is now on two road walks a day with a bit of a spurt in the middle compared to no exercise. Not to mention being on the go with Ollie inbetween snoozes!

I weighed him this morning and it pains me to say it, but he was 53lbs. V scary for him and his heart :unsure: I must admit, it was a hard decision to make, but his owner was having such guilt trips over him being left all day and night as she was just making trips home to feed him, that we couldn't bear to leave him there. We knew it would be a momentous task and he was much bigger than I ever would have wanted, but his nature seemed excellent, and Ollie was really in a bad way that we had to do something and fast.

God, I must stop writing these essays, sorry :b

 

[~Helen~]

Our lovely vets nurse (the woman's a saint) suggested grated cheese

what do you do, Karen? Just sprinkle some grated cheese over their food once its in the bowl? How much do you give them each time?

 

[Joanna]

56lbs (w00t) (w00t) (w00t)

I know how hard it is, having little Fynn who is on four high protein meals a day and Archie (who is a gluttonous food driven pig) I am struggling too. I am far to soft, and always give Archie a little taster of what Fynn is eating, he then will finish of what Fynn doesn't eat. I am cutting his normal food right down as a result, but you feel so guilty giving one tasty stuff and one small portions of boring stuff.

Persevere for the sake of both, and hopeful they will even out and be able to share the same diet eventually.......56lbs is huge. Archie is 35-6lbs and is well covered, but that poor Blue will probably feel loads better when he loses 20lbs

 

[Tesa]

Our lovely vets nurse (the woman's a saint) suggested grated cheese

what do you do, Karen? Just sprinkle some grated cheese over their food once its in the bowl? How much do you give them each time?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

​

Was only putting it on Beau's food Helen. Just grating some cheese onto his meal and then mixing it through. No particular amount, just what I thought would tempt him and then I lessened the amount until he was eating better. Saw a change in his eating habit immeditatley. He scoffed his meal down for the first time ever that night. Only had to do it for a couple of days until he got the hang of cleaning up his bowl. Now they only get cheese as a treat every now and then.

 

[~Helen~]

cool, thanks Karen. Not that I have any trouble with Josie eating! It's a great tip though, and worth passing on :thumbsup:

 

[TC]

56lbs (w00t)   (w00t)   (w00t) I know how hard it is, having little Fynn who is on four high protein meals a day and Archie (who is a gluttonous food driven pig) I am struggling too. I am far to soft, and always give Archie a little taster of what Fynn is eating, he then will finish of what Fynn doesn't eat. I am cutting his normal food right down as a result, but you feel so guilty giving one tasty stuff and one small portions of boring stuff.

Persevere for the sake of both, and hopeful they will even out and be able to share the same diet eventually.......56lbs is huge. Archie is 35-6lbs and is well covered, but that poor Blue will probably feel loads better when he loses 20lbs

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

​

Joanna, I know, I know......he's huge! I think that he'll only be 20 inches high when he loses the layer of blubber that is covering his entire body

Bless him though, he looks better already after 6 days, he now has a slight indent where his waist should be :thumbsup: He's definitely happier and seems to find it easier to get up :wacko:

I will definitely persevere, as I want both of them to be a happy healthy weight, just wondered if someone out there had a miracle cure for how I could stop the jealousy over tasty morsels (what's in the food bowl not just me LOL) to make it all a bit easier :blink:

 

[Tesa]

I am cutting his normal food right down as a result, but you feel so guilty giving one tasty stuff and one small portions of boring stuff.

I always have a small contanier of (slightly cooked) frozen mixed veges in the fridge. The cheap no name brand is good enough. You will be surprised at how much better YOU will feel when you see a little bit of colour in their food bowl.

 

[LasVegasNo1]

Our lovely vets nurse (the woman's a saint) suggested grated cheese.  We didn't look back. 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

​

(w00t) I know what you mean! Alfie's a slut when it somes to grated cheese.. he can't get enough of it :lol:

We went from buying one small block of cheese a month to a couple of £3 slabs every couple of weeks! :blink:

I have weaned him off a bit now, with chunks of heart/kidney etc :sweating:

 

[Tesa]

(w00t) I know what you mean! Alfie's a slut when it somes to grated cheese.. he can't get enough of it :lol:

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[kris]

theres one trick ive found to work no matter how fussy an eater a dog is and thats tinned sardines.works every time with every dog! :thumbsup:

 

[OEH]

Tess isn't really interested in her food (or Nana's) as she is sure we are getting something better. She always eats it by the end of the day but sooooooo slowly. Her skin was a little scurffy so someone recommended that I add 'excemarid' (sp?)to her food- a combination of oils. It doen;t seem to have done much for her coat, but now she absolutely scoffs her food the second it goes down, for the first time in her life.

Olivia

 

[roshwen]

I agree about quantity being the biggest issue. I wouldn't worry too much what you feed him (I think lite pet foods are a bit of a take really - a better and happier result is usually achieved by feeding less of what they would normally have).

It's all about using up more than you take in and I'm sure with plenty of exercise and smaller meals less often (no matter what they are) the weight will just fall off him.

Wish I could take my own advice :- "

 

[~Helen~]

Sorry to be so nosy, but I hope you can post a pic soon - I am dying to see what a 56lb whippet looks like :b I just can't imagine it!!

Dear little sausage - what's his story, and how did you find him, Tracy?

 

[TC]

Sorry, somehow I missed these last few posts.......

Good news though, Blue is on small rations of the same as Ollie and no problems so far. Everything is being eaten quite quickly, and the only person suffering is Ollie as he's back to normal rations now lol

Sorry about the pics, I really hope to download everything tonight, the trouble is I have a fourteen year old who is fixed to MSN in the evenings, and I don't get a look in :rant:

Hopefully I shall be able to post evidence that I have the roundest whippet in history, although I must warn you that he has lost weight already!!

Thanks for all the comments, it's really helpful :thumbsup: