Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Ike's Weight

I have an appointment with my vet on Monday at 5:15. Ike's weight has gone up a pound since the last time he was at the vet (about a year ago this month). He is currently 22.6#, which makes NO sense. He currently gets 3 oz. of meat which is less than half of what he *should* be getting based on the barfproducts.com model (2% of current weight [22.6#] = 0.45 pounds or 7.23 ounces). 2% of his ideal weight (say 19#) = .38 pounds or 6.08 ounces.

I have been supplementing the 3 oz. with green beans and he gets a fair amount of treats because we do a lot of training. Either I have cut his intake so severely that his body is reserving its fat, in which case he shouldn't even be able to do agility, etc. OR something else is going on. ARGH!!! Any thoughts?

He gets quite a bit of exercise. The only other thing I have noticed lately is that he has had more Schnauzer bumps than is typical, but I attributed that to allergies. I know he is allergic to grass and my own allergies have been brutal lately.

A few people whose opinions I trust have suggested he lose a little weight (like a pound or two, a lot for a small dog!). I think my vet would say he is okay for a "pet" dog. He is a miniature schnauzer, nearly 16 inches at the withers. Right now my plan is to have a CBC, thyroid test and Lyme's test on Monday. Thanks for any thoughts on this.

I'm in a bit of a tizzy about this. Funny how all of a sudden something will hit you and really bother you. It just makes ZERO sense to me. He should be a Schnauzer-skeleton with the amount of food he gets!

8 comments:

Katrin said...

If your vet does a general 'wellness' blood screening, I would probably opt for that as opposed to just the CBC portion. A wellness screening usually included CBC, chem 20, electrolights, liver, kidneys etc. Especially now that you're feeding raw full time, it's good to have a base line reading. I have it done on all of my guys annually.

Marlene said...

Ahhhh.....Ike I know exactly how you feel. You do everything right and nothing happens......You know it could be muscle mass you are building or maybe thats the way you are meant to be....(said tongue in cheek)

Seriously, I hope there is no real problem and you solve the weight mystery!

Shelly said...

Actually--Marlene brought up a very good point. It could very well be muscle mass since he is on better food and working more than he was last year...

Katrin said...

Uh, no. Dog's don't build muscle mass around their rib cage.......

Jules said...

Poor Ike!! ; P

Okay, so:

wellness blood screening
Free T-4
C6 Lyme

I bathed the dogs last night and noticed that his coat has become much coarser than Carmen's. She is very soft/plush, so his has always been a bit coarser, but this is def. more.

Eliza W said...

That's awful. I hope Ike is ok. I thought I read somewhere that miniature Schnauzers are predispose to thyroid disease. I believe a few of the symptoms are unexplained weight gain, course/dry coat, immune related skin problems (like allergy). Getting the T4 done would be very helpful.

Even thought Ike ate less, he could gain weight because the food is healthier and his body is absorbing/using them. I switch kibble brand pretty much every 3 months and I notice certain kibbles (even thought its an excellent grade) are not absorb properly and my dogs ended up losing weight, even on a higher than recommended portion.

I sure hope everything works out ok. Pls keep me posted. -Eliza

Shelly said...

Oh, I didn't see her mention that the weight gain was around his rib cage...I just saw that his actual weight had increased....


Good Luck and let us know how you make out at the dr's!!

Jules said...

Thanks, Eliza. Yeah, it is *common* with schnauzers. I don't know HOW common, but....

No, no, Ike's weight has just increased in general BUT he def. has a wee bit of padding over his ribs. I don't know.