Switching to Canidae

[Irishblu]

I have a male Rott, Dargo, who is probably going on 6 - can't be sure as he is a rescue. Vet says he should weigh 85 lbs. He was at 85 - 90 lbs. until he was fixed and then he shot up to 103. He is back down to a little under 100 right now after after a month and a half of dieting. He also has mild elbow dysplasia which was diagnosed in Dec of 2002 and a RX for Rimadyl. We used the Rimadyl for two days and he hasn't needed it since then.
The vet said to give him 4 1/2 cups dry only per day.
I called to tell her we were switiching from supermarket brand to Canidae and she knows nothing about this food. I told her that I did a lot of reading (here) and feel it is the best for him. She said that was fine, but had no idea of how much to give him. She did o.k. a 1500/1200 Glucosamine/Chondroitin dosage per day for the dysplasia.
The only place to buy Canidae in my area is over an hour's drive, if not longer, so I ordered it over the Internet. It should be here within the week, but I have no idea of how much to give him.
So basically I need to know how much to give him until he reaches the weight he should be at (85 lbs) and then how much to give him to stay there.

[Miabella]

2 cups per day, half in the morning, half in the evening. :) Lots of long walks on leash.

[mmgy]

Originally posted by Miabella
2 cups per day, half in the morning, half in the evening. :) Lots of long walks on leash.

Great guidelines! If you can, check his weight about every 10 days. If you don't see progress, reduce his kibble 1/4 cup every two weeks. It can take a while.

If he acts hungry, add some green beans or canned pumpkin to fill him up a bit.

Depending on activity levels, some "middle-aged" dogs don't lose weight well. After a couple of months, if he hasn't lost enough, you might want to try Canidae Platinum--lower protein and fat, and some glucosamine/chondroitin for his elbows.

M2

[Irishblu]

Thanks so much!!
I see that you recommend two feedings though and Dargo has never (we have had him since July 2002) eaten at any other time than evening. We tried and he just lets it sit until around 7 pm and then would eat what was in his bowl and wait until we gave him the rest. I had asked the vet about this when we first got him and she said if he would only eat once a day and perfered evenings to just give it all at that time.
Do you think that with such a smaller amount than he is used to he will start eating twice a day?
He is such a scheduled dog!! He likes to do everything at the same time and HATES when things go off schedule! He just looks at you as if you are crazy if you try to get him to play ball before 3 pm or want to go for a walk at noon! Noon to 3 is nap time as far as he is concerned. He has been this way since we got him. And feedings are at 7 pm! I'm not quite sure how he knows it is 7, but at 5 minutes after 7 if his bowl doesn't have food in it, he lets you know!!!! And when we tried morning feeding he looked at us as if we were stupid, turned up his adorable nose, and walked away.

[Miabella]

I would do 2 feedings per day. It is better for large breeds that are at risk for bloat to eat small portions. Believe me, he will learn to eat when you put down the food. If he hasn't eaten it within 10 minutes, pick up the bowl and throw it away. Do not feed him again until the next scheduled feeding, and when you feed him only give him one cup, don't give him what he missed in the morning! Missing a meal or two won't hurt any dog, especially a fat dog like Dargo. You are the boss, he eats when you let him. Don't let him manipulate you. :D He'll learn quickly to eat when he has the opportunity and stop acting like royalty. ;)

[Mitsy]

Yikes, throw it away? I just put the bowl up on top of the fridge for later or toss the food back in the bin. That Candidae is some expensive food.

[Irishblu]

I'm going to try the two feedings a day, but since he only eats dry, I'll go with putting it up until the next feeding. I can't imagine throwing it away! I can't afford to do that esp. with the Candidae!
I'm a very scheduled person (with 3 stepchildren and 2 of my own I have to be!) and Dargo having his schedule wasn't really a problem for me. Some of the things he did when we first got him - like play time, sleep time, ect. didn't fit into my schedule and it took about two weeks for him to learn that he could have his schedule as long as it fit in with mine. So he has adjusted to the way things run around here and we let him keep the evening feedings since the vet said it was o.k.
We did have a female Rott when we first got Dargo and she ate twice a day. We thought that he would just follow along with her in time, but he never did. She was sold 4 months after he arrived.
He also won't eat until he is "allowed" to. He sits at the door to the kitchen and after his bowl is filled, I have literally say "Eat" before he will. If I don't say it he won't eat at all. He will just sit there or follow me into another room. It took me a half an hour when we first got him to figure out what to say to get him to eat. I kept trying to coax him to the bowl and he would come to me, but not eat - finally my husband walked in and I said, "He won't EAT" and Dargo dove into the food! But when we tried the command for morning feeds he wouldn't go for it.
I'm hoping that since he will be getting less than half of what he is used to it will only take a day or so for him to realize that he should eat when told or he will have to go hungry for hours.

[Carina43]

I say if he's doing well on one feeding a day, don't worry if he refuses to eat twice daily.

FWIW, back when I fed kibble, my fairly active "mature" Rottie (115lbs) was only getting two cups a day of Canidae. I'd switched from Iams, and kept thinking that surely couldn't be enough for him, but any more & he'd start getting chunky.

[Irishblu]

He has done fine on once a day feedings. The vet would rather him be on twice a day and her concerns were the same as the post from Miabella - bloat. If he won't go for it within a week, I'll go back to his one evening feed.
I do wonder how this will affect him as far as changing his bowel habits. He goes the same time every day, but I would think that changing when he eats would change that as well, wouldn't it?

[Miabella]

Originally posted by Irishblu
I can't imagine throwing it away! I can't afford to do that esp. with the Candidae!

I mix water in with the kibble, so I guess that's why I said throw it out. ;) Since you feed it dry, by all means keep it!

[Irishblu]

originally posted by Miabella
I mix water in with the kibble, so I guess that's why I said throw it out. Since you feed it dry, by all means keep it!

I figured that is why you had to throw it out.
We had a female Rott who when we first got her wasn't eating all of her morning meal & it was mixed with water. After having to throw it out, I gave her dry until she started eating it all and then went back to mixing it with water. I think she just needed a little time (it took about 3 days) to settle in with us and it affected her eating habits.
Dargo likes his food mixed with water, but it causes him to have loose stools - at least with what he is eating now - so we just give him dry.
I am hoping that the Candidae will not cause that and once I know he will eat it all, I can try mixing it for him.
Hopefully the Candidae will arrive here today or tomorrow - I am anxious to get him started on it!!!

[Carina43]

Mixing water with kibble that contains citric acid (I think Canidae is one) is a significant bloat risk factor, according to the Purdue Bloat study.

http://www.vet.purdue.edu/epi/bloat.htm

[Rottygirl1]

Mitsy-

I agree with you, at $32.00 a bag nothing goes in the garbage! whatever he doesn't eat I put it in a plastic container and stick it in the fridge.

Carina-

I had no idea about the water mixing thing, thanks for that info. Since whatever Diesel doesn't eat I stick in the fridge so when dinner time comes along I just put a little hot water on it to warm it up. I dont soak it just to get it a little wet and warm.

I have to check out that website for the bloat...

thanks for the info

Michele

[mmgy]

Originally posted by Carina43
kibble that contains citric acid (I think Canidae is one)

Nope......Canidae has ascorbic acid, and to my best of my knowledge they are not considered the same. But Purdue is much more learned than I, what do they think;)?

M2