Overweight dogs. Health

My dog is overweight again but it is neither her nor my fault. When she first went on medication for her epilepsy her weight went from 17kg to 20.8kg in just five months, and it took me 18 months of weighing everything to get her weight back down again, but during that time we had managed to get her epilepsy under control.

Unfortunately it is no longer under control and one of the things that both the condition and her medication cause is her brain telling her she wants Food, with a capital F, when her body does not really need it.

And when she is in the state she gets in at the time, the only, and I do mean only thing that will calm her is to give her more food, whether I like it or not.

In her case it is not giving in, it is making a conscious decision to give her food that she does not need and thus cause her to be overweight, or risk her frantic hysterical "need" for Food causing her even more brain damage.

So yes, my dog is overweight, and no I am not happy about it.

But I will not accept that it is my fault that she is overweight, nor will I blame her.

I went up by 8 stones when I started on Metformin for my epilepsy & yes once you have a seizure the first thing you want is food, even if I have just eaten so can relate with you Malka

I just feel bad about her gaining weight and looking a bit podgy and although she is not obese I would hate for anyone to blame me as I did everything I could to get her weight down and keep it down - and now I am doing everything I can to get it down again.

But if it is a choice between her having too much unnecessary and unneeded food and her getting so stressed that it brings on another seizure, then my choice is the former every time as for me keeping her happy is paramount.

The thing is Tina that you understand what is happening - Pereg does not.

That is true Malka & if its the same for Pereg as it is with me, then she will be hearing what's being said but will not be able to understand a word as it sounds like they are talking underwater, when you are coming round after you have had a seizure.

its hard isnt it, this dog has got good sad eyes. so ive been going in and givingher a nice tummy rub af

See ribs, i cant even feel them. On a good note she came out of her shell a little today and enjoyed her walks a bit more. Im going to try a bit off lead with a ball tomorrow as owner says she likes balls. Its the vets that says she needs to shed 25kg but im sure he will get owner to calm down if she starts to look skinny

Unfortunately it is now now just after a seizure but nearly every day, from around 6pm until it is time for bed, and nothing seems to work now. If I take her out she wants Food [I am deliberately capitalising it] as soon as she is in. She has a sleep during the evening and as soon as she wakes she wants Food.

And she turns from the normal loving and quiet Pereg into a noisy and diabolical "gimmee gimmee gimmee" difficult and virtually uncontrollable dog.

But it is not really her. It is not Pereg. It is what the epilepsy has done to her.

And I am dreading her next weigh-in.

Don't worry your vets will understand & they might give you something to counteract wanting food, my dr gave me table that I take with my meds, still have feeling I want food after a seizure, but 1 biscuit now takes that feeling away.

There's a TV program on about obese pets, there's a Rottweiler on there that weighs an massive 85 kilos a Rottweiler should weigh between 35 kilos- 55 kilos depending on male/female & size.
There's a small legged JRT on there that weighs 24 kilos looks disgusting belly dragging on floor, poor dog could only walk few steps without stopping for a rest. JRT's should be between 6 kilos - 10 kilos, again depending on male/female & size.
Both owners of these dogs said they don't over feed them yeah right, this is what the JRT has in one day: breakfast 4 sausages scramble egg 2 slices bacon & 2 pieces black pudding (What ever that is) dinner dog as large tin wet dog food with mixer, the dog is having treats all day then tea the dog is having another large tin dog food with mixer come bedtime the dog as bowl dry food down as it gets hungry during the night, what that dog eats in one day will last a full week for one my dogs.
The owners are in denial they won't admit their dogs are obese & are fighting the vets at every step.

If there not willing to change then their dogs should be taken away, its abuse. Social services get involved now with obese children and i dont see the diffrence myself. The dogs dont know any better and most dogs are greedy so will eat till they pop if allowed (i know phoebe would).

Sorry about pereg @Malka but a few extra kilos isnt the end of the world and when its down to a medical condition it can hardly be helped. I know if phoebe had a siezure and wanted something to eat after i wouldnt say no, ild proberly go get her a steak and siezures must use a lot of energy

Yes I agree dogs should be removed from the owners, as owners who starve their dogs go to court yet nothing is done to owners who over feed their dogs to the point they are obese

I hate overweight dogs too, the most Billy has ever weighted is now at 17.5kg, though he was 17kg over 7 years ago so has not put much weight on at all.

I joined this Facebook group yesterday, it is great to see all the dogs in good condition

https://www.facebook.com/groups/HealthyThinDogs/?fref=ts

I have to be careful with Zack and his weight as he is a big heavy dog to start with so he is very limited to what he eats and treats, I feel really mean but its for his health I have to do it.

I took a photo. This is after a week. She has started to shed some weight as i can now pinch skin on her neck and chest but the skin on rest of her body is as tight as a drum.

Jeez I can't imagine you'll make much of an impression in another fortnight, like I said with my Dobermann foster it took 6 months to get him fit. I really don't understand how this kind of excessive weight gain can go unnoticed. A couple of kilo's is fair enough but when a dog is carrying this kind of excess baggage I do think it's a form of neglect and abuse.

Oh Katy - that poor dog.

My heart goes out to that poor dog carrying all that extra weight.

Especially with the warmer months ahead of her.

Poor dog..how is she now?

Pereg had gained a lot more than I had expected, but Ram agreed that better give in to her when she gets distressed than risk her going into a seizure.

But she has been quite good the last few days even though she had a Grand Mal at noon yesterday and another one at 7.30am today - with a Psychomotor seizure during yesterday afternoon.

So I think I will be able to get her weight down again. She is no way obese but she is definitely overweight.