[momtothreebeagles]

Hi everyone! I have a dog food question. I've switched Bailey, my beagle mix, from raw to Innova Evo Low-Fat, he needs to lose some weight. He weighs 53 pounds and should be around 45 pounds. Maybe even less, the vet wants to check him at 45 pounds.

So my question is, do I feed him the amount for the weight he should be? The package has a range for 40-60 pounds, I think it's 2 1/2 -3 1/2 cups or something like that. Right now, he's eating 1 1/2 cups, and I mix it with salt-free, fat-free chicken broth (my boy likes flavour!), I give him 2 tablespoons of homemade pumpkin puree, and 2 tablespoons of canned food (Lean Cuts it's called, made locally, it's mostly all meat, no crap, a few veggies mixed in, but 95% meat). He also gets 2 buffalo liver treats per day.

So he's getting less than the package recommends but his energy level is fine and I don't see any negative changes in him. He's drinking way more water now too than when he was on raw (which is normal).

Can I get some feedback on the amount of food I've been feeding him? Thanks!

Mia and Bailey, Dugan, Buddy & Agnes the beagles

 

[jcfehr]

I have to say that I don't normally look at the bag to determine how much to feed. My vet suggests 1 cup for every 10 lbs for pups and 1 cup for every 20 lbs for adults. If he still has energy and isn't acting any different I'd tend to think he is getting enough to eat (or maybe he is just hiding his hunger from you..not a beagle trait though). If he is happy with that amount I'd go with that and hopefully the lbs will melt off quicker.......

 

[angelaH]

Keep him on the lower amount and if he loses weight then fine. Beagles go up and down very quickly. Dont be tempted to increase his food until he is really on the lower weight margin. Our Susi is on a diet, we dont know why she put weight on. She is a larger beagle than our Snoopy and they were eating the same. Snoopy is thin. Anyway Susi is getting less than Snoopy right now.

 

[cheerio]

Mixing kibbles and can food makes it more difficult to assess his diet and nutrition requirement. I would simply put him on the kibbles. If he does not like it, it can only be good for him as he will not eat until he is hungry, which is likely to make him loose weight faster. Without a pic it is difficult to judge how overweight he is, especially since he is not pure. I find that there is often a misconception as to the weight of Beagles, probably becasue they tend to over eat and to be overweight. But in reality, a 45lb Beagle may be just fine or may be overweight. It all depends on the dog himself, and his muscle mass. My Goss is between 45 and 48 lb, and does not have an once of fat too many. He is very well muscled. However, Pepsi is 30 lb and could affort to loose a few... The eye and the hand should do the judging and not the scale.

For overweight dogs who have a problem losing weight, I have found that a mix of good quality food with a "junk food" kibble make them lose weight a lot faster than any reduce calory kibble, which often leave the dog hungry. I use 1/2 Eukanuba and 1/2 Great Choice. The dog is not hungry as he has the bulk, however the Great Choice goes right through the dog with very little nutrition. The only thing is that it does give larger and not so firm poops.