What can I give my dog to make him feel full and lose weight?

Many pets like Brees suffer from being overweight. If you are looking for an over the counter product, try Royal Canin or Hill Science Diet (both brand carry 'light' diets). In my opinion, the prescription food made by Royal Canin called Satiety Support is a great option because the portions are large (which most dogs like) but they still lose weight. The other things that could be contributing to his weight problem could be a condition called Hypothyroidism. This commonly makes dogs heavy and have problems losing weight. A doctor can determine Brees' thyroid status with a simple blood test. Medication is needed to regain normal metabolism.

Specialist weight loss diets are the most effective way to manage weight issues as they are designed to provide all nutrients required, promote fat loss and maintain muscle mass whilst also allowing the dog to feel full. Reducing weight on standard foods is very difficult and requires feeding of approximately two thirds of the recommended amount, based on target weight which can leave patients hungry

For pets like Carl who feel hungry all the time, I would first make sure that he is not pre-diabetic. I can see that he is severely overweight and we want to make sure he doesn't have any underlying health problems first. If he checks out ok, then I would recommend getting him on a diet that will make him feel fuller longer. There is only 1 food on the market that I know will do this effectively and that is a prescription diet called Royal Canin Satiety. Ask your vet for a prescription card, because this is a prescription diet food. Best of luck with your pet Carl and much success to getting him to lose the weight!

Hello, you could try adding fiber to her diet or switching to a food with more fiber to create a filling effect for her. This will also cause voluminous stools but will help make her feel more full. The added fiber will not provide additional calories as this fiber is undigestible. Hope this helps and best of luck.

I think therapeutic diets work best: Hill's Metabolic or Royal Canin Satiety are the two I most frequently recommend. They have increased protein and vitamins/minerals but are much lower in calories. You could also try sticking with your current food but cutting back on how much you give (I usually recommend cutting back about 25%) and increasing exercise as well as minimizing treats or replacing them with lower calorie options like frozen green beans. While there are over the counter foods that are designed for weight loss they can still have very different calorie contents and some weight loss foods even have more calories than regular foods.

What a great picture of Alfie! The calorie contents of different foods vary so it's hard to say without knowing what brand of food he's getting. However, in general, a 60lb pit bull will require more food than a 60lb dog of a different breed. They tend to be very heavily muscled which burns a lot of calories, and they also tend to be very energetic. He's also young so will require more food than a senior dog. One cup of dry food 3 times a day might just not be enough for him. I would recommend increasing his canned food to one can twice a day, or you can try adding 1/2 cup dry food at feedings. Watch him to make sure he's not gaining too much weight. Also, if he still seems hungry, you may want to have him checked over by his veterinarian. Intestinal parasites and certain metabolic diseases can cause them to be excessively hungry. And some dogs are just hungry all the time, not matter how much they just ate (kind of like people). The last thing you can try is adding water to his food to bulk it up and make him feel fuller. You can also feed him vegetables such as lettuce, carrots, celery, and cucumbers to give him high fiber/water, low calorie treats.

To my knowledge, there are no current OTC diets formulated for dogs with urinary issues. These diets are designed to alter the pH in such a way to keep the urine at a certain level. Her current diet does not explain her weight and appetite despite being fed a normal diet. I would be interested in seeing what her current blood work looks like, and would want to investigate some potential causes for these symptoms you are seeing. It is possible Roxy could be developing several different endocrine disorders. If you are seeking to change her food and still need it to be appropriate for a dog with urinary problems, I would consider consulting with a veterinary nutritionist. You can usually find these professionals through veterinary schools. They will typically offer consultations for extremely reasonable costs, as they primarily function in the research circle. The nutritionists through my vet school ,Virginia Maryland College of Vet Med, would probably be happy to assist you if you emailed them with your concerns. Hope you figure things out and consider getting some diagnostics done on Roxy.