it's been a Week.
The handyman came today. The pet door does not fit our patio doors, it's too short. So now we have to wrangle getting that back to Home Depot and buy a new one. The good news is he didn't charge us for today's visit, because he didn't really do anything, but still.
Then Buddy and I went to the vet, where we learned that he has a severe yeast infection in his right ear and a moderate one in his left ear. Also he's gained more weight than either Morgan or I realized, so now we have to figure out a safe way of getting him to slim down. The vet said there's a prescription food that she's had good luck with, but it's not grain free and I'm not wholly convinced about it. A lot of vets don't actually know that much about pet nutrition, unfortunately.
We went to Mud Bay after the vet, because he had been so good, and I asked one of the staff about options for getting Buddy to lose weight. She gave me a pamphlet with options and tips and things. She also pointed out a kibble designed for getting pets to lose weight but the first ingredient is chicken, so that's out. What the associate also said is that because canned food or raw food is often high in water, we might want to consider subbing in some of that for the kibble, like take away 1/4 of the kibble and add in the wet food. He'll still get all the nutrition but fewer calories. I picked up a can of salmon-based wet food and they gave it to me for free as a sample.
I do also want to think about just going to a raw diet. It's more expensive, but it might help him lose weight and stay healthy. But I'm not sure. We'll try the canned food/kibble mix for a bit and see if he likes it, and we also need to monitor how many treats we give him and the nutritional value of those treats. I've been told that baby carrots, or carrot sticks, make great treats. And green beans, although I think those need to be steamed first.
Also we need to be walking him more; we take him on walks 3-4 times a day but usually only one of them is long. So we need to figure out a way to get him more exercise. We don't play ball or anything like that with him, at least not regularly, so we should start doing that when possible. I also want to look into nose work classes, things to exercise his brain as much as his body.
A couple people suggested we check to see if he has any thyroid issues or diabetes that might be causing this, so if we make some changes and he's still not losing weight we'll ask the vet about it.
Mostly though I feel like a bad puppy mama; I'm worried about his ears and I feel super guilty that he's gained so much weight. But we'll fix his ears and we'll get him to a healthy weight. Right? Right.
This entry was originally posted at http://blueraccoon.dreamwidth.org/1324464.html. Please comment there. |
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Then Buddy and I went to the vet, where we learned that he has a severe yeast infection in his right ear and a moderate one in his left ear. Also he's gained more weight than either Morgan or I realized, so now we have to figure out a safe way of getting him to slim down. The vet said there's a prescription food that she's had good luck with, but it's not grain free and I'm not wholly convinced about it. A lot of vets don't actually know that much about pet nutrition, unfortunately.
We went to Mud Bay after the vet, because he had been so good, and I asked one of the staff about options for getting Buddy to lose weight. She gave me a pamphlet with options and tips and things. She also pointed out a kibble designed for getting pets to lose weight but the first ingredient is chicken, so that's out. What the associate also said is that because canned food or raw food is often high in water, we might want to consider subbing in some of that for the kibble, like take away 1/4 of the kibble and add in the wet food. He'll still get all the nutrition but fewer calories. I picked up a can of salmon-based wet food and they gave it to me for free as a sample.
I do also want to think about just going to a raw diet. It's more expensive, but it might help him lose weight and stay healthy. But I'm not sure. We'll try the canned food/kibble mix for a bit and see if he likes it, and we also need to monitor how many treats we give him and the nutritional value of those treats. I've been told that baby carrots, or carrot sticks, make great treats. And green beans, although I think those need to be steamed first.
Also we need to be walking him more; we take him on walks 3-4 times a day but usually only one of them is long. So we need to figure out a way to get him more exercise. We don't play ball or anything like that with him, at least not regularly, so we should start doing that when possible. I also want to look into nose work classes, things to exercise his brain as much as his body.
A couple people suggested we check to see if he has any thyroid issues or diabetes that might be causing this, so if we make some changes and he's still not losing weight we'll ask the vet about it.
Mostly though I feel like a bad puppy mama; I'm worried about his ears and I feel super guilty that he's gained so much weight. But we'll fix his ears and we'll get him to a healthy weight. Right? Right.
This entry was originally posted at http://blueraccoon.dreamwidth.org/1324464.html. Please comment there. |
comments