Dog on a diet

[asprinkleofsugar]

So our dog was diagnosed with arthritis about a month ago.
He was given painkillers and put on a diet under the instructions of a vet. He used to get 1.5 measuring cups of food a day plus treats and it’s been reduced to 1 measuring cup a day with no treats. So cut by a third.
In the past 4 weeks he has lost 1.5kg. He’s now 28.5kg and he needs to be around 25kg.
Diet going really well and he wasn’t begging for food, but then again he was in pain and miserable so didn’t care too much about his food anyway.
The past 3 days he has CONSTANTLY been crying for food. He’s started pawing his big sack of food and lying by it whinging.
Do you think he is actually hungry? He will paw the bag 10 mins after eating.
Do you think we’ve cut down his food too quickly or now he’s not in too much pain does he have his appetite back?
I’m worried that he’s starving and don’t know whether to up his food or not?

Just weighed his food and previously he was getting 300 grams a day, feeding instructions say that the amount per day for a low activity 25kg dog is 281 grams a day (bearing in mind he’s 30kg but should be 25kg)
Just weighed out how much he has now and it’s only 200 grams a day.
Husband says that at 300 grams a day he would just be maintaining weight so 200 grams a day is a good amount for him to lose weight. I just feel like it’s a very small amount. We split it into 3 meals a day to spread it out but I’m worried he’s not getting enough.

I'm loathe to start messing with a diet plan from a vet, so I'm not going to start suggesting feeding more or anything like that.

However, I would think about how you can make the food last longer, by way of enrichment toys that slow down the eating process. PestDog has a number of toys for this purpose - Kong wobbler, Kong gyro, Nina Ottosson dog bricks etc and a traditional Kong for wet food.

Now he's feeling a bit better, would now be a good moment to increase the exercise? A tired dog is a good dog...

Can you move the food sack? Out of sight and all that??

We’ve got a kong somewhere so I’ll dig that out.
I just feel like cutting his food by a third was pretty drastic! That’s like us missing lunch every day.
Apparently when he’s an ideal weight then we can up it again so that he maintains.
He spends hours a day just staring at his food bag. Poor thing.

Yeah will move it. It’s never bothered him before to be honest, but the past 3 days he’s been lying next to it and clawing at it.

Maybe check him for worms but I guess if you are doing regular flea treatment he wouldn't anyway. You could hold back some of his food to put in a little pot for treats throughout the day? And perhaps bulk the food out with veggies - my dog loves broccoli! Perhaps a little more exercise, then you could give a small increase in food as long as it's matched with burning it off?

You could give him carrots for treats. Dogs can't absorb vegetables so it will just go straight through him. Very good filler if he's still hungry - who can really say no to those eyes?

asprinkle it's clear the dog is hungry if this is new behaviour, but if not at ideal weight then won't actually be starving. If you've ever been on a diet then you'll know that it can make you hungry, as you are effectively under-eating! However, there is also the issue of what meds your dog is on, if the regime includes steroids these actually make dogs ravenous and crave food; it's one of those Catch 22 situations. If so worth checking alternative medications.

Other more experienced posters will no doubt jump in at some point, but one thing that worked with our dogs was feeding little and often. Also we put some food in treat balls as that fed them and wore them out at the same time, without stressing joints or adding calories. Sleepy dogs less food-obsessed.

Also don't know what your insurance/dog finance situation is, but having had two dogs with arthritis now, one thing that is recommended is hydrotherapy. This builds up the muscle that will be becoming weak as well as correcting imbalances - as dog will be avoiding particular movements to avoid pain. Muscle burns calories more efficiently, so muscle loss causes weight gain, so muscle gain will help weight loss. The downside is that hydro is expensive.

Thanks all.
He is booked in for hydro so hoping that helps.
He’s not on any steroids, just painkillers and metacam.
I’ve caught the kids feeding him scraps a couple of times over the last couple of days so I’m wondering if he’s begging for food more as he thinks he might be in with a chance (they’ve been told off btw)
Give him an inch and he takes a mile!
Will get carrot batons. That’s a really good idea, so he’ll feel like he’s getting treats or extra!

Hide the bag , Feed him in a dog treat toy to make it last longer - Kong wobblers or slow feeders are great , Carrots for snacks.

I second cooked carrot as a way to keep hunger at bay. I once adopted a very very overweight Cavalier King Charles spaniel. He weighed almost twice what he should have done and we got him back to proper weight by feeding a smaller quantity of good quality food and as much cooked carrot as he would eat. Took about six months in total

Does sound like quite a large drop in the amount of food. If you're really concerned he's hungry speak to your vet, or make an appointment to see your senior vet nurse who will know all about diet and weight control.

Would also suggest you hide the food where he has no access to it. A lot of dogs will eat if they can find food regardless of whether they're actually hungry or not.

He's used to having a lot more food and might just be greedy.

Is he a lab? Ours was opening the food sack and helping herself when we weren't about! Greedy thing.

She got to about 3kg overweight and we put the food sack inside a cupboard, reduced her food and upped her exersice.

Carrots (raw) are a great food for dogs. I used to buy those Tesco Basics bags of massive carrots and break them in half for her.

Pawing at a bag of food is a learned behaviour that has previously worked!
So move the food and no more scraps or treats as a reward for looking hungry...

Raw (definitely not cooked) carrots are a good treat, as are frozen peas
We throw them on the kitchen floor for ddogs to run around gobbling up, like a puppy Hungry Hippos
Don't get the peas straight out of the freezer and do this though - sounds like your dog is clever enough to start pawing at the freezer to ask for them

He’s not a lab, he’s a cross breed. Not sure what! Possibly pointer / collie / staffy?
But he’s never pawed at the bag before so not sure when he learnt this!
Have got some raw carrots today and also bought him a couple of new chew toys.
He’s been chewing on a kong toy for the past 2 hours and not nagged for food so hoping toys and carrots will keep his mind off of food!