Hi everybody.

I have a 10 year old labrador who has always been big but I always reckon on my bitches being about 36 kgs at full maturity. When she was spayed 4 years ago she put on 2 kgs and we started a diet with her. She then went up to 40kgs and was found to have an under active thyroid for which she is now on medication.
At a trip to the vets last month she was 44 kgs which I couldn't believe but then this month she is 45.5kgs. Her blood tests are normal. She has about an hour of exercise a day although she only plods..............mind you with that weight any dog would plod.
She eats about 100g of food a day and half a carcass. Sometimes the food is replaced with fruit and veg. We are changing back to the BARF diet slowly. She has a milk bone and a tiny bit of one of the bacon treats before bed.
The problem is one of her legs is going under all that weight and although the vet says her heart is good and strong I am not terrified she will just have a heartattack one day.
We have fought for 4 years with the weight and got nowhere, I know some of it is the thyroid BUT why would she suddenly gain 5 1/2 kgs in 8 weeks?
The vet is confused, I am terrified. The only other medication she is on is Metacam.

Any ideas, I'm so scared now that something is gonna happen to her.

If the vet is sure there is nothing else going on with her then it's a simple case of too much food and not enough exercise. Although it may seem like she isn't eating much, if she's putting weight on then it's too much. I would half her food and see how she does on that for a couple of weeks.

My brothers collie Gael was hugely overweight, they said she hardly got anything to eat but last year she came to live with me for 3 months and went back to them looking like a real collie, rather than a bullmastiff cross. I just cut her food right down, giving her one small handful twice a day to start. Of course the more weight she lost, the more she was able to run around and chase balls etc, which meant I could increase her food ration so she wasn't starving :)

I just wish the dogs could do the same for me :D

Does the thyroid medication need reviewing I'm sure the Vet must have considered this though..............I have yearly blood tests to check my levels........do they do the same for dogs

Yes, they do the same for dogs and it sounds like it would be worth talking to the vet again.  Even if the results come back as in the therapeutic range, at least it will have been ruled out.

She did put on the post that the vet has done the bloods and that the levels are right.  I thought thyroid and maybe just that the dog is 10 and not as fit as it used to be.  I agree cut down the food, because if she's just plodding now on walks she doesn't need as much energy from the food she has.

I know we are coming on to winter, but could you swim her anywhere near you?  Being a lab, they generally love water, and it would be excellent exercise for her, without straining the joints.

Margot

Yes good idea Margot :)

I swim my girls all year round but in the winter make sure they are well dried off and can sleep it off next to a fire or radiator :)

I would also cut the food volume down and replace with Veggies to bulk it up so she doesn't think she is having reduced rations :)

Lucy
xx

Bloods have been taken and all is fine.
Will cut down the food more and bulk with vegetables.
Swimming not really an option as where we live at the moment the river has sharp metal etc in the botoom in places due to mining etc. Found this out when took the labs for a swim and River sliced her foot and we had blood pouring out. They can go in in places BUT it is shallow so they just stand and splash around. I had thought of hydrotharapy BUT she hates it and when we went before she used to become very distressed.
She has always plodded since she was 6 weeks old!!! she just does things at her pace!!! Although occassionally when she is lagging behind if i sit on the floor andmake stupid noises at her she will do her best to run. People must think I need a straight jacket but hey never mind
The line she is from is a large line and they do seem to struggle with their weight. I have mixed this line with another (a line where the dogs seem to eat whatever and stay slim) obviously not for that reason) but the dog I have from that litter is never fat even though she is a plodder and eats more than the rest. So maybe it is in the genes.
Anyway we are now going to undertake a low calorie diet and try to incease the exercise from 1 hr to 10 minutes extra a day, for as long as her legs will hold up.
Thanks for the replies i feel a little calmer today about it.
Right we are off for a walk you never know I might lose some weight as well.

Blood tests are done every 6 months for a dog.

Not sure if dogs and thyroid problems are like humans, but even when bloods are within a normal zone for us peeps it doesn't necessarily mean the dose of thyroxine is right.  Other things such as weight and how the person feels in general is taken into consideration. Although this would be difficult knowing how your dog feels :rolleyes:

I change my thyroxine dose with how I feel, sometimes I know I need more than others - I get tested every year and it is always in the normal zone.

It could be what is causing the weight gain in your dog.

If you are going to change back to barf then I would feed her more fruit/veg than rmb's.

I have just looked up the recommended amount of Arden grange for a 20kg dog which is 283g on the lamb version.  I actually feed them 150g!  they would be huge if they had more than 200g.  I cut them back a bit in the Summer as they are less active then.