Lloyd90 Posted March 17, 2009 Report Share Posted March 17, 2009 My aunty is wondering how much she should be feeding her cocker spaniel! Its not a working dog just a pet, she had it off an old woman who became too unwell to look after it. The woman's feeding of it was terrible, whenever she cooked a meal for herself, she also cooked a meal for the dog, usually the same thing Now she's had it for a while and its lost alot of weight but the dog is a diabetic now and partially blind If you kept supplying food, I have no doubt the dog would keep eating it, so we were wondering how much the dog should be given ? It normally has the wet dog food pouches :yp: Appreciate the help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casts_by_fly Posted March 18, 2009 Report Share Posted March 18, 2009 My roxy (small lab) gets between 2 and 4 cups a day in dry kibble. This is 21-22% protein stuff. She is in the house all day, but evenings and weekends she gets a good run in and some fieldwork. She isn't a chow hound and often her breakfast will still be in her bowl when I get home after work. She is at a healthy weight. There is definition to her body and you can clearly see where her ribs end. She has defined muscle mass in her legs and neck. But, she isn't skin and bones. You can't see individual ribs, but you can feel every detail of her ribs if you touch her. To me, that is a good weight for a dog. In your case, assuming you've spoken to a vet and there are no other problems to deal with, I'd think that 2 cups would be about the right amount. If the dog is overweight, feed less until it gets to a good weight. Exercise is your friend. And, get away from the liquid dog food packs. They promote plaque. If you're not going to go with a RAW diet plan, then stick to dry kibble with some mix ins as needed. For Roxy I will use any broth or sauce I've had for dinner and mix some water into it. Not enough to make a soup, just enough to wet the food as a treat. Thanks, Rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark12345 Posted March 18, 2009 Report Share Posted March 18, 2009 I Have lab bitch 12 months old, she gets 200g of dry kibble (wainrights) twice a day, she was eating the same ammount of Bakers complete and put loads of weight and started getting realy lazy, simce moving her onto the wainrights she has dropped to a good health weight and is as active as ever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al4x Posted March 18, 2009 Report Share Posted March 18, 2009 firstly get it off that food, they can eat a lot of meat / canned food you're better bulking it with a dried food of some form, however if the dog is diabetic you're probably best off with one of the Hills specialised foods and its worth talking to your vet about it. They will help the diabetes, though on a more serious note hope your aunt knows she has taken on the animal version of a money pit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WGD Posted March 18, 2009 Report Share Posted March 18, 2009 In terms of how much, feed according to condition. Generally if it's too thin feed more, good quality food in a larger number of smaller meals to get weight on - watch out for the runs, if that happens you're feeding too mcuh too quick. If it gets fat cut down. In this case best to have a word with the vet to recommend a suitable diet for a diabetic dog. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lloyd90 Posted March 18, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 18, 2009 Exercise is kinda out, dogs too old and being blind does't walk much, poor ******! It's tinned food she gets, but sometimes its trouble to get her to eat it, I doubt she would eat the dry food, she'd leave it in her bowl If it was my dog I have to say Id have the poor ****** put down :yp: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al4x Posted March 18, 2009 Report Share Posted March 18, 2009 that had been on my tongue and would probably be best rater than getting attached. I guess nothings going to do much harm so probably just feed the dog what it likes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casts_by_fly Posted March 18, 2009 Report Share Posted March 18, 2009 Exercise is kinda out, dogs too old and being blind does't walk much, poor ******! It's tinned food she gets, but sometimes its trouble to get her to eat it, I doubt she would eat the dry food, she'd leave it in her bowl If it was my dog I have to say Id have the poor ****** put down She'll leave it until she gets hungry. If you're really concerned, get some chicken stock or beef stock mix and pour it over. Excepting dogs with joint problems, no dog is too old to walk. Put it on a lead and start walking. Thanks Rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
libs Posted March 18, 2009 Report Share Posted March 18, 2009 Read the bad, it should give a measure in grams in relation to the dogs weight and level of exercise. If it really is immobile then cut this down further. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lloyd90 Posted March 18, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 18, 2009 She'll leave it until she gets hungry. If you're really concerned, get some chicken stock or beef stock mix and pour it over. Excepting dogs with joint problems, no dog is too old to walk. Put it on a lead and start walking. Thanks Rick On the lead it will just sit on its **** and won't move lol! She won't put it down but I don't see the point in having it, they pay something like £30 a month to have its diabetes treated! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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