I'm posting this in advance of problems ;)

Thor has been prescribed enormous dosage of steroids for the next month, (25mg twice daily), coming down gradually from that point.

We could have to cope with excessive appetitive, thirst and urinating during this period.  Now I can cope with the drinking and peeing - but I don't want him to put on too much weight - which won't do his joints any good.

Can anyone suggest what I could feed him, if he does show this symptom, to keep him happy but relatively trim?   At the moment, they are all fed raw.

Margot

Could you not up the veggie part of his diet (assuming you do feed veg), so he is getting bulk rather than calories (although he will probably poo more)? I am only a recent convert to raw feeding so am by no means an expert, I'm sure someone more experienced will be along soon.

Difficult one ! I would feed him the normal amount first and then monitor how he copes :) He may be ok or may become a scrounger which you will have to be strong and not let into him ;)

Distraction giving him a kong with some of his food may help as it will take his mind off the fact he thinks he is hungry :)

Lucy
xx

This morning, wasn't organised enough - our lot are fed in the evening, and now Thor has to have his medication twice daily with food.   Chicken & veg still frozen so......in order to give him his pill, I opened a sachet of cat food

I had five feral cats pounding with their paws on the kitchen window, whilst the house cats were all yelling their indignation inside ....."do you see what he's getting........what a cheek.........he growls at us if any of us go to his food bowl......Buster wouldn't have let this happen ...........we'll have to have a demonstration about this!"

Thor just ignored them all - and sighed as he swallowed it plus pill :D :D :D

Margot

Could you feed him lots of small meals ??

Daisy

I'd stick to chicken, turkey and rabbit and avoid the higher fat content meats such as pork and lamb.

increase the above the ground veggies if needed and substitute raw veg pieces instead of any treats.

Leave the volume the same to start with - but remember with steriods he may retain water so what looks like he might be getting fatter could just be water

Don't forget the white fish - that's low fat too. :)

Speaking from peronal experience, steroids make you HORRIBLY hungry. I would probably go for splitting his food into more meals through the day, so he feels like he's getting fed more often, and maybe hiding it for him to find or shoving bits of it in Kongs so he has to work to get it out and thinks about that instead of being hungry. And most veg is good for being low calorie and filling (I keep trying to tell myself this too!). Personally, I have no self control, so when on steroids I.... just put on weight :rolleyes:

Thanks, everyone ......I'd rather be prepared for this :)

So now, I'll be getting him a Kong this morning and stocking up more on fish etc!    Its been good to see him race out into the garden with the others - even if he did come back in after just one circuit !

Margot

I found that a hard boiled egg shoved into a kong whole manages to keep my boy busy for longer than other stuffings. Some frozen broth in his kong might work too as he'd be doing a lot of licking for very little calories. I hope he doesn't suffer too much on the steroids. Glad he's back to garden racing.