After mentioning the slight weight loss we noticed with Barry in
this post we wanted to up his food intake and continue to monitor his weight. After weighing him again a week later he'd lost another 2.4 lbs. Yikes! That was even with increased portions.
 |
| String bean. |
I decreased the amount of water I was putting in the food to make it heartier and thicker and bulk up the calories some. After looking into the calorie count of the Honest Kitchen vs. Blue Buffalo I'm still coming up a little confused. The only thing I have found about the calories in the Honest Kitchen Love is 514 per cup. I'm not sure if that's dry or rehydrated with water (can't seem to find the answer). The Blue Buffalo Wilderness came in at around 470 calories per cup (not exact and I can't find the stats right now). The two are pretty similar in regards to calorie and protein count. Also, being that I was putting in a little extra water to hydrate the food the calorie count would be brought down a little with the Honest Kitchen food which would be even more comparable to BB.
In the end, Barry's calories haven't been reduced much, if at all. His weight loss has been alarming. For an adult human losing about 3-4 lbs in a week and a half is probably no big deal. For a dog that weighs around 65 lbs that IS a big deal. He is still in a healthy weight range so I won't be freaking out too hard just yet. I do not like that this weight loss happened so quickly, though.
 |
| Walking down the street with his twisty bone in mouth. |
Now that we are doing everything we can to make sure his calories are back to normal (or comparable to when he was being fed BB) he should gain some weight back. If he continues to lose then we'll need to take him in to the vet to make sure there isn't anything else going on. If he remains at the current weight then we can just chalk it up to summer time weight loss, increased activity, and food that his body is processing quickly/completely due to how unprocessed it is compared to BB. I'm hoping that's all it is. We are waiting until his next weigh in.
 |
| Yes, this is actually comfortable. |
Sorry to hear about poor Barry! Besides the weight loss is he eating well? We are doing well on Merrick Dog Food here at our house, and we're on the grain free beef and sweet potato diet. According to our bag Dante (65+ lbs) who is about Barry's size should be eating between 1310-1495 calories per day depending on activity. Since we exercise a lot we give him 2 cups per meal (which he doesn't always finish) so he ends up eating in the 1400 calories/day range. How many calories a day are you giving Barry?
ReplyDeleteYou could also try a different feeding method: fill up his bowl (larger portion than he can eat) and let him eat until he walks away then pick it up, about 10-15 min for a feeding. That way you know for sure that he's had his fill, we did this with both our kids until we figured out how much they eat on average. Sometimes they finish their bowls and sometimes they leave some behind, its been working great for us. Ziva used to scarf but learned that food isn't scarce and has since slowed down nicely.
Thanks for the tips! We could use the help sometimes :)
DeleteBarry is average active. There are some weeks we are very active and then others where it's a normal active week. He always gets 4 long walks per day and we take him to a small enclosed park to run a few times per week - that is average active in my opinion. Then there are the hiking trips and camping/hiking trips, daycare, etc. Those are highly active weeks.
ANYWAY - I'm not 100% sure of the exact calories Barry is eating but he gets very close to 1,400 - I think. The food we give him is freeze dried and one cup dry is 514 calories. I hydrate the food with a ratio of 1 cup dry to 1 1/2 cups water which probably roughly comes out to 300-350 calories per cup. He gets 2 cups per meal and for meals that equals around 1,200 to 1,400 calories. Then there is his daily KONG which gets stuffed with around 200-500 (depending on what I put in it) calories. Not including any treats he gets on walks and I can't tell you the estimated calorie count on that.
ANYWAY - right now he is definitely getting enough calories (he has been since Sunday anyway when I decreased the amount of water to hydrate the food).
We will weigh him tomorrow and find out which direction his weight is going and if it's going down still we'll take him to the vet. I hope it's just simply being more active in the summertime. We shall see!
Thanks again! I need to try the feeding method you mentioned :)
Ooops correction - Dante is eating about 4 cups a day (plus or minus depending on exercise/how hungry he is) he's getting about 1700 calories....its a lot but he's not fat! He's lean and leggy like Barry. :-)
ReplyDeleteHa ha ha! Yes, I noticed that about Dante as well. Lean and leggy! I love it!
DeleteJust gotta say - You are one of my favorite blogs to read! I feel like we deal with a lot of the same issues food wise and such with Dante. They're pretty similar body types! :-)
ReplyDeleteYou should definitely try letting him monitor himself, not free feeding but giving him more than you know he can actually eat and seeing what he finishes. It might work easier with kibbles....I'm not sure..But then you would know for sure he's full when he stops. :-) I would love to see Dante put on some weight so we give him quite a bit, but he just seems to burn it off, he loves to play and exercise. Good luck with Barry! Keep us posted!