Oh my..... I bumped into a friend that I had not seen since last baseball season and her comment to my dog was "Ohhh Piper!! It looks like you had lots of treats this winter!!!"
We have to keep Piper on the lean side due to her mobility issue. She is going for her check up next Friday, so I am curious to see what the vet says.
Piper turned a year old at Christmas time (so she's almost a year and a half) She eats Go Natural! Salmon and Oatmeal and we are super protective about which treats she gets. She can have carrots, green beans, kongs occasionally with blueberries and yogurt. She has some natural dog cookies that are teeny tiny - the size of your fingernail or so.
After searching on this site, I see the recommended cal/lb ration is 10cal for every lb of ideal weight? is that right? So if she needs to be 65lbs, then 650cal daily total?
Piper eats 1c. food twice day. Of course this is lower than what the food bag suggests.
From the website:
Calorie Content: ME (calculated) = 4257 kcal / kg or 466 kcal per 8 oz (250 ml) cup. So I'm setting her up to be really big, it looks like! ACK! So confusing! I thought i was doing good by giving her less than recommended on the bag - we all know how crazy those dog food companies are!
Can anyone suggest a great food to try? Or even if you think I am crazy for entertaining this idea? I have a funny feeling the vet will push me to buy their "Science Diet" from the vet only line. They have tried in the past...you know, because of her "special" situation with her leg.
I am looking for any and all suggestions. I love how Piper is doing on the Go Natural! but I can't let her get chubby! Her breeder suggested that we may need to switch her to a low cal food once she is full grown, so that she can have a decent amount of food to eat. Please don't think we are jumping on the thought of switching her food because of one comment. it's not that at all.
(Background: Piper was born with a rare birth defect. She uses 3 legs to get around with. The breeder + vet both believe she had a twin that absorbed into her, causing her last leg to "double up!" So the leg she does not use to walk with, actually has two legs that grew together.)
Here are some current pictures of Piper from this month.
We have to keep Piper on the lean side due to her mobility issue. She is going for her check up next Friday, so I am curious to see what the vet says.
Piper turned a year old at Christmas time (so she's almost a year and a half) She eats Go Natural! Salmon and Oatmeal and we are super protective about which treats she gets. She can have carrots, green beans, kongs occasionally with blueberries and yogurt. She has some natural dog cookies that are teeny tiny - the size of your fingernail or so.
After searching on this site, I see the recommended cal/lb ration is 10cal for every lb of ideal weight? is that right? So if she needs to be 65lbs, then 650cal daily total?
Piper eats 1c. food twice day. Of course this is lower than what the food bag suggests.
From the website:
Calorie Content: ME (calculated) = 4257 kcal / kg or 466 kcal per 8 oz (250 ml) cup. So I'm setting her up to be really big, it looks like! ACK! So confusing! I thought i was doing good by giving her less than recommended on the bag - we all know how crazy those dog food companies are!
Can anyone suggest a great food to try? Or even if you think I am crazy for entertaining this idea? I have a funny feeling the vet will push me to buy their "Science Diet" from the vet only line. They have tried in the past...you know, because of her "special" situation with her leg.
I am looking for any and all suggestions. I love how Piper is doing on the Go Natural! but I can't let her get chubby! Her breeder suggested that we may need to switch her to a low cal food once she is full grown, so that she can have a decent amount of food to eat. Please don't think we are jumping on the thought of switching her food because of one comment. it's not that at all.
(Background: Piper was born with a rare birth defect. She uses 3 legs to get around with. The breeder + vet both believe she had a twin that absorbed into her, causing her last leg to "double up!" So the leg she does not use to walk with, actually has two legs that grew together.)
Here are some current pictures of Piper from this month.