# Advice?



## lovemydogsalways (Mar 4, 2012)

Patches hurt her back leg yesterday. She is limping on it and the hock is swollen. So I took her to have my vet check her out. She checked her over and doesn't think anything is broken because she will walk on it. Gave me some anti inflammatory (Vetprofen) and said to ice it. If not better by Wed I need to take her back for x-rays. Now what I need the advice about is her weight. Patch has always ranged from 24-25 pounds. She is at 24 right now. I walk in the room with her and my doctor says "we need to talk to mom about your weight." She thinks she could stand to lose two-three pounds. My jaw dropped. I am very anal about all my dogs weights. I will not allow my dogs to get heavy. She said that she couldn't run her fingers down her ribs and have them "tink." I can feel every single rib with very light padding. I really don't know if she said that from looking at her. Her hair makes her really fluffy, but when wet he is scrawny. Anyway I only feed her 1/2 a cup a day. *So what the heck do I drop her down to*? We've been running up and down the dirt road morning and evening. They follow me on the bike. She can run at her own pace and not be strained. Well the other morning she didn't go all the way. She waited for Em and I to get back to her. So maybe she does feel fat. Also this vet is a certified acupuncturist and animal chiropractor. So she adjusted Patch during the exam. She is sore in her back as well as that leg.


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## bett (Mar 15, 2012)

Cut back a bit and add frozen string beans.it will take time, but it works.
Hope her legs gets better fast!


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## 1605 (May 27, 2009)

lovemydogsalways said:


> Patches hurt her back leg yesterday. She is limping on it and the hock is swollen. So I took her to have my vet check her out. She checked her over and doesn't think anything is broken because she will walk on it. Gave me some anti inflammatory (Vetprofen) and said to ice it. If not better by Wed I need to take her back for x-rays. Now what I need the advice about is her weight. Patch has always ranged from 24-25 pounds. She is at 24 right now. I walk in the room with her and my doctor says "we need to talk to mom about your weight." She thinks she could stand to lose two-three pounds. My jaw dropped. I am very anal about all my dogs weights. I will not allow my dogs to get heavy. She said that she couldn't run her fingers down her ribs and have them "tink." I can feel every single rib with very light padding. I really don't know if she said that from looking at her. Her hair makes her really fluffy, but when wet he is scrawny. Anyway I only feed her 1/2 a cup a day. *So what the heck do I drop her down to*? We've been running up and down the dirt road morning and evening. They follow me on the bike. She can run at her own pace and not be strained. Well the other morning she didn't go all the way. She waited for Em and I to get back to her. So maybe she does feel fat. Also this vet is a certified acupuncturist and animal chiropractor. So she adjusted Patch during the exam. She is sore in her back as well as that leg.


Given how "anal [you are] about all my dogs weights", and how well you know your dogs, YOU are the best judge of what is the best weight for them. The vet is using some vague "can't feel the ribs tink" criteria that doesn't have any significance for anyone but her. Yet YOU can feel the dogs ribs "with very light padding". 

It's not like the dog is a couch potato who lies around the house all day and does no exercise. And the fact that she held back on the run can be traced back to her having an injury.

I would wait a while before adjusting her food, especially if she is on anti-inflammatories. See what the dog is like after her injury is mended and she is back on track for her regular exercise. 

JMHO,


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## Kassandra (Jun 6, 2012)

I agree with Submariner. 

You are ultimately the one who decides the best weight for her. You don't need to feel every rib for a dog to be fit/healthy. You know what weight your dog does well at.

Vets also have different opinions on what is ideal weight. My vet back home in NL thinks that Charlie is underweight and needs to gain around 4 or 5 pounds. I on the otherhand think she looks amazing. And while she could gain that weight and still be at an okay weight, this is her ideal weight. Our new vet (who I love btw) thinks Charlie looks AMAZING. All the vet techs can't get over how fit and healthy she is and one in particular was literally taken aback when examining her. They think she is at the perfect weight just like I do. 

So it depends on personal preference as well, IMO. I wouldn't cut her back from 1/2 cup a day yet anyways as she is on medication and you don't want to upset her or cause stress.


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## Celt (Dec 27, 2010)

I have to agree on taking the vet's advice with a grain of salt. A new vet, we went to told us that our one boy was at an excellent weight. He wasn't. As a sighthound he shouldn't have "dimples" instead of hip bones and was told that our other boy was severely underweight. He wasn't, you're supposed to be able to easily feel ribs (heck they're supposed to be "shadow" visible when breathing deeply), visible hip "tips" and vertibrates (2-3) at the "arch. Then turned around and said our old golden needed to lose weight. He most definitely didn't but the vet "couldn't" feel his ribs easily (hello, thick coat, wet down you could see his thinness).


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