My little ones love to sleep all day while I'm at work, so get little exercise, and at first, I thought that it was cute when my little Jade began to get a little fluffy around the edges. Then I took in three fosters that were grossly over-weight and about 8 years old. It suddenly dawned on me that this was not cute and I was doing my little girl no favors. I was still 'free-feeding' Jade at that time, because she was still under a year, but obviously couldn't be doing that with the new little chubbies in the house. Jade was at 10 something pounds at that time and the vet told me NOT to let her get to 11. I cut her back to 1/3 of cup of premium food with just a dollop of canned mixed in, as well as the rest of the household. She is down to 8 pounds and is looking and feeling much better. Sometimes, I'll mix green beans and/or pumpkin into her dry food. She eats 'once' a day and gets NO treats other then maybe a sweet potato chew. I know that sounds hard but I saw lots of health issues going on with my new charges and I didn't want my own crew to end up like that. The vet told me that people would really be surprised if they knew just how little food intake it takes for these little ones to do well. It's hard not to spoil with snacks but now I just spoil with extra attention which includes lots of walks and play. Linda Rowlett, TX
>From: Stefanie Brannan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Date: 2007/03/29 Thu AM 10:06:41 CDT >To: [email protected] >Subject: Re: [Chihuahuas] Overweight. >What have you done to help her lose weight? Is she on a special, low >calorie diet? Does she get any extra treats or anything? Maybe you could >start a little exercise program for her and take her for walks to burn off the >fat??? Start her off slow and work up to what she can handle. They can loose >weight just like humans, lower calories and exercise! I really would be >concerned with her weight, not just because of the breathing problems. Heavy >dogs can have other problems as well. They can have lots of other health >issues, their life spans are shortened and it's very uncomfotable for them to >carry around excess weight. It's hard not to spoil our cuties but we owe it >to them to keep them as healthy as possible! Stef > >Edith <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: My chihuahua is going to be 4 years old >in July.She is the "baby" of >the family, spoiled, and knows it. *lol* >Our last visit to the vet reported that she is overweight by 5 pounds. >I have tried these past few months to get her to loose weight, but I >see no results. >I watch & I do not see her eating a whole lot, yet she is a chubby >little girl. I wouldn't really be worried about her extra weight, >except that this is causing her a "little" breathing trouble at times. >I don't want anything to happen to my baby, but I don't know how to fix >her weight problem. > > > Linda Saving one at a time - Please help www.minpinrescue.org " Lets talk about our wonderful little friends! Join today! " Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Chihuahuas/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Chihuahuas/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
