Help Needed! Best food for an overweight and allergy-prone bully

Valentine215

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Hi All! I am new to the forum. I have an urgent question. My 8 yo bully is overweight (what a surprise) and she seems to have skin allergies (don't know if she has food allergies also). I switched her from Royal Canin Prescription to PureVita Salmon and Potato. I have noticed that her hair is growing back (she has flank alopecia) however, she is gaining weight.

Does anyone know of a premium dogfood specific for weight management AND allergies???

I am at a loss....

Thanks!
Alix aka Petunia's Mommy
 

cali~jenn

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I don't know of a diet food personally. With my pups what I have done is first feed a good quality food. I like Fromm grain free. When I switched to that they started gaining cuz being a higher quality they need less. Took me quite a while to find the right amounts per pup to maintain the trim belly but before that I had to cut them back big time. To balance this if you give zero calorie treats like carrots, green beans, peas, etc, they will be full and able to lose weight. Cutty got plump and was up to I think 58 which for him is a bit much. He is perfect closer to 50. I did this diet until he looked perfect and then added back a little bit of food at a time. Once I saw him gain, I knew to cut back to the last amount he was eating and he has been perfect ever since. We have a food ratings guide on the homepage, that should help you as well. ;) how big is your baby?
 
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Valentine215

Valentine215

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My chick was 63 pounds! I think she is creeping up though...she was at 70! SHe is a spayed female so I am thinking of maybe giving her the treats you mentioned...When you say carrots, peas and green beans are they raw or cooked? I give her apple slices too with the skin on.

[MENTION=390]cali~jenn[/MENTION]
 
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Davidh

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If she is doing well on that food but gaining weight, cut back on the portion size. We feed our girls a good premium food and only give them 3/4 cup twice a day. Sometimes if one gains a little too much we will cut back on her until the weight gets down. You can add green beans to her food so it will help fill her up but the beans will not add fat to her diet.
 
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Valentine215

Valentine215

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Ok, both good suggestions! So, I guess I will cut back and add green beans to her kibble to fill her up. Also I DO give her 1/4 can of wet to mix it up. Should I stop with the wet food? I was giving her 2 cups + 1/4 can of wet but have been feeding her only once a day.

[MENTION=2071]Davidh[/MENTION]
 
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Davidh

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[MENTION=6915]Valentine215[/MENTION] twice a day is good, and I would cut out the wet, if she will eat the dry by itself. Plus just give her 3/4 cups of kibble twice a day with the raw green beans. Maybe about a 1/2 cup of green beans and slowly reduce them so ween her off of them.
 

cali~jenn

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Mar 28, 2010
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Cutty, Miila and Mugsy the pug :)
@Valentine215 twice a day is good, and I would cut out the wet, if she will eat the dry by itself. Plus just give her 3/4 cups of kibble twice a day with the raw green beans. Maybe about a 1/2 cup of green beans and slowly reduce them so ween her off of them.

yep, what he said. ;) Cutty eats 3/4 heaping scoop a day but used to be a level 3/4 for cut backs. The veggies could be cooked or raw, whatever you want really. Mine LOVE frozen green beans and they keep forever this way so it is easy. The carrots, i usually buy the baby carrots and give them a few at a time throughout the day. You can give any fruit and veggie you want, just no onions, garlic or grapes and raisins. Mine eat the apple peels since i have little girls who eat the apple part. lol Oh and bananas in small amounts arent bad but not as low fat as the green beans etc would be. there is also a vegas stew diet that was recommended by a vet which is like puppy crack. lol Has worked for many here as well. here is the link to the original post about that if you are interested. ;) http://www.englishbulldognews.com/forums/bulldog-photos-videos/2948-vegas-stew-anyone.html
 

cali~jenn

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Cutty, Miila and Mugsy the pug :)
Oh and by the way, yay for you for wanting her to be a healthy weight! :up: so many have overweight bullies and dont think twice about it. She will be so much happier and healthier once she is back in shape. ;)
 

cowsmom

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i agree. ive tried to use lowfat foods for sarah and i ended up with a very hungry bully so i dont really agree with weight management foods really. its all about making them full but with less calories kinda like us humans. so less kibble with some veggies is a good way to go. keep us updated.
 

Bullies Mom

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Hi, I am also new to the forum, and have the same issues with my two 5 year old Bullies, that you have with your Petunia. I've been feeding my boys Royal Canine dry food along with 1/2 a can of the Merrick brand wet food, twice per day. Both our Bullies are having some pretty bad allergies this year also, so I thought I would switch them to a grain-free dry food (Wellness Core), unfortunately, they both have gained nearly 10 lbs. 3 days ago I switched them back to the Royal Canine- for now. I am also looking for some advice with this. I just took one of my Bullies to the vet (we're regulars there ! :) and she was saying that I needed to cut back on their food by 30 %. I give them 8 oz. of dry with either 1 cooked chicken thigh or 1/2 can sardines in the morning and 10 oz. of dry food with 1/2 can of Merrick wet food in evening. The vet says I should suppliment the cut-back with canned or fresh green beans. My Bullies are big boys, usually 82 lbs. apiece, right now they are 92 lbs. As I type- they are both asleep for the night, snoring quite loudly- very cute !!
 

cowsmom

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Hi, I am also new to the forum, and have the same issues with my two 5 year old Bullies, that you have with your Petunia. I've been feeding my boys Royal Canine dry food along with 1/2 a can of the Merrick brand wet food, twice per day. Both our Bullies are having some pretty bad allergies this year also, so I thought I would switch them to a grain-free dry food (Wellness Core), unfortunately, they both have gained nearly 10 lbs. 3 days ago I switched them back to the Royal Canine- for now. I am also looking for some advice with this. I just took one of my Bullies to the vet (we're regulars there ! :) and she was saying that I needed to cut back on their food by 30 %. I give them 8 oz. of dry with either 1 cooked chicken thigh or 1/2 can sardines in the morning and 10 oz. of dry food with 1/2 can of Merrick wet food in evening. The vet says I should suppliment the cut-back with canned or fresh green beans. My Bullies are big boys, usually 82 lbs. apiece, right now they are 92 lbs. As I type- they are both asleep for the night, snoring quite loudly- very cute !!
i would think you were feeding to much really. sarah is 47 pounds and did not get quite 2 cups of food. perhaps cut back the cup of food in the am if you are going to feed chicken and sardines and perhaps 2/3 cup at night with the canned. and yes green beans is a good way to cut back on the food.
 
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Valentine215

Valentine215

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Well I am definitely going to try the veggies for sure! Petunia is ALWAYS hungry. Recently I started using the Wellness Whitefish and sweet potato wet food mixed in with the dry kibble I used (the Salmon & sweet potato). O M G it was SO fishy smelling and I don't think Petunia likes it. She actually does not eat all her food in the one sitting. She NEVER does this. I am thinking she does not like the Wellness Whitefish and Sweet Potato wet formula. I am switching to something else...maybe a Venison wet food to mix with the kibble AND veggies. We did add some cooked carrots to her food and she ate it all, that time.

Also, I am noticing that she is pooping A LOT. I thought these premium foods were supposed to cause her to poop less? Anyone have any ideas why this might be happening?

[MENTION=3097]Bullies Mom[/MENTION]: WOWSERS! you have some big boys! I cannot even imagine an 82-pound bully! I think you definitely need to cut back. Are they otherwise healthy and active?
 

Bullies Mom

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I'm new to replying on these threads and I accidentally replied somewhere else to this thread just a minute ago :( - But I think I've got it figured out now ! Yes, Both Milo and Toby are active and happy, though they seem to sleeping alot more lately. They both have some Bulldog health issues that they live with. Milo has had hip displacia since he was a puppy, (he takes Previcox for the inflammation), and he's had the entropian and ectropian surgery on one of his eyes. Toby has issues too, bone spurs on his lower spine, and some arthritis in one of his legs that he had surgery on. Other than that, they love to play and Milo loves his walks in the park, Toby on the other hand doesn't really like to walk. He gets ALL excited when he see's his collar and leash, but when it's time to walk, well..... I think he'd rather stay home and take a nap :) You mentioned your Petunia pooping alot with the premium food. Ours do this too when we feed them the Organix brand of dry food. When they were puppies, I thought I was going to get them off to a good healthy start and fed them the Blue Brand, and oh boy, they pooped sooo much. I think their young digestive systems just couldn't handle all of the organic at this time.
 
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Valentine215

Valentine215

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I'm new to replying on these threads and I accidentally replied somewhere else to this thread just a minute ago :( - But I think I've got it figured out now ! Yes, Both Milo and Toby are active and happy, though they seem to sleeping alot more lately. They both have some Bulldog health issues that they live with. Milo has had hip displacia since he was a puppy, (he takes Previcox for the inflammation), and he's had the entropian and ectropian surgery on one of his eyes. Toby has issues too, bone spurs on his lower spine, and some arthritis in one of his legs that he had surgery on. Other than that, they love to play and Milo loves his walks in the park, Toby on the other hand doesn't really like to walk. He gets ALL excited when he see's his collar and leash, but when it's time to walk, well..... I think he'd rather stay home and take a nap :) You mentioned your Petunia pooping alot with the premium food. Ours do this too when we feed them the Organix brand of dry food. When they were puppies, I thought I was going to get them off to a good healthy start and fed them the Blue Brand, and oh boy, they pooped sooo much. I think their young digestive systems just couldn't handle all of the organic at this time.

Oh my! Your boys do have some common problems. Petunia gets excited when she sees her collar and lead. She refuses to wear her collar!

As for the food, I think I am going to try the Earthborn and use frozen green beans to add more bulk to the food. I'll post back and let you know how it goes.


 

Scueva

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I found when it comes to kibble. When the do is pooping to much it is very common to. E because the food is too rich for the bully's belly. A bully should only poop 1-3 times daily on kibble. My girl is on raw and only goes 1-2 times every other day.
 

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