Is she too skinny? (Not a Pitty, but please reply!)

Food, Fitness and how to keep them healthy.

Postby Sariss » March 23rd, 2006, 11:18 am

This is Honey in August:
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She was 12 pounds of fat, rolley-polley Chihuahua. Immensley overweight. Could not walk more than 5 feet without having to take a breather. Growls when you pick her up because she's so sore.

Well, after we got Honey from her old owner in August, we started feeding raw, and started to walk her often (as much as she could at least).

Now, she's lost a lot of weight, and she's pretty active. However since it is cold out she refuses to go for walks, so she hasn't been exercised much (except running around with Niku, who is our other Chihuahua). My mom thinks she may be getting too skinny, since she is fed the same amount of raw as Niku, and she's actually on the overweight size.
Here are some pictures I took of her today. It's hard since she's a white dog, but you can see her ribs sometimes when she turns around.
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She is going to the vets today to get vaccinated and all that other fun stuff, so she will be weighed then. But even though she is a Chihuahua, she's structurally bigger than most.
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Postby msvette2u » March 23rd, 2006, 11:47 am

She appears to be on the thin side to me. You can see the bumps on her pelvis as well, and that's not a good sign.
The vet can instruct you as to her ideal weight, I'm sure.
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Postby cheekymunkee » March 23rd, 2006, 11:47 am

She's CUTE!! I Love the last picture of her little face.
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Postby mnp13 » March 23rd, 2006, 12:13 pm

I don't know much about Chi's but she doesn't look overly thin to me. Is she lethargic at all? does she pull the 'I'm starving to death' routine with you all the time?
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Postby pLaurent » March 23rd, 2006, 12:14 pm

Very cute Chi! Just from those pics, she really doesn't look too thin to me....are her vertabrae sticking out? Can you just feel her ribs when you run your hands lightly down her flanks? Is she lively, active and happy?

I'm sure she feels so much better!
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Postby Sariss » March 23rd, 2006, 12:20 pm

She isn't lethargic, she's pretty energetic, constantly running around and playing.
She does play the "I'm hungry, feed me" card often. But I think maybe she's still getting used to the amount of food she's getting, compared to the heaps of canned, fatty food she got with her old owner.

You can see her backbone in the one picture, and her ribs are visible when she turns around, and you can feel both of them pretty good.
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Postby Romanwild » March 23rd, 2006, 12:28 pm

I beleive it's healthier to be on the thin side. she looks good to me. :|
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Postby msvette2u » March 23rd, 2006, 12:30 pm

You should be able to "feel not see" the ribs. She's got a fairly long coat so you can't see it as well in the photos, but you can see the definition there, in the pics.
I can see the bumps on her pelvis too. Can you feel those when you run your hands over her body?



http://www.animalsheltering.org/resourc ... dition.pdf


Use this to judge her appearance and score her. Off hand, I'd say she's a 3, with 1 being ideal weight and 5 being very emaciated. But you're right there with her.
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Postby mnp13 » March 23rd, 2006, 12:50 pm

You can see the lumps of Connor's pelvis, but part of that is because of how he built. You can't find the lumps of Ruby's pelvis even if you dig at her, she has too much muscle on her back end.

How muscular should Chis be?
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Postby dogcrazyjen » March 23rd, 2006, 1:02 pm

I have a cousin whose boxers look emaciated, but her vet says they are healthy and they otherwise look great (coat, eyes, temperment, energy level). I think they look skeletal, and I have a whippet mix who is extremely thin, but very healthy. So it is in the eye of the beholder in some ways.

If his coat is good, his energy is good, and he isn't showing behavioral issues, likely he is fine. I think that when the dog starts looking bad, dull coat and eyes, getting snappy around food, then you have an issue.

*But, I am not a vet, so that is just a novice opinion
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Postby DemoDick » March 23rd, 2006, 3:48 pm

Dogs are individuals.

Some people tell me Connor looks emaciated. Some tell me he looks great. You can see the tops of his vertebrae, a few ribs, and the tops of his hips. I've kept him heavier and his wind suffers.

I took him in for a bath today and the first thing the guy behind the counter said to me was "Oh my God! Is there any bodyfat on that dog at all?...He looks GREAT!"

I tend to think that most people keep their dogs too heavy. Same with kids.

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Postby Maryellen » March 23rd, 2006, 3:54 pm

i think she is not too bad, but you can send her to me anyway...
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Postby Malli » March 23rd, 2006, 4:43 pm

lean is the way to be!!

BUT, there is a very fine line between ideal weight and slightly emaciated.

I cut back on Oscar's food a tiny bit (I mean he gets about 6 cups a day and I maybe fed him 4.5-5 instead) to get him to eat when I needed to give him his meds, he lost 3.5 kgs in a month! I panicked, and he was too thin, he lost muscle mass around his spine, on top of his hip bones, on his head and he was quite ribby. I started meat balling his pills, free feeding his kibble and mixing in some canned, a month later he's gained an extra kg! He *almost* looks tubby :lol:
Basically, I measured what he ate in a day, and watched his weight gain, if he gains any more weight then he has right now, I'll knock him back 1/2 cup and see if that does the trick.
Its just a bit of a science sometimes to find their ideal weight...

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Postby mnp13 » March 23rd, 2006, 4:51 pm

Please excuse the interruption.

Malli, I responded to you.
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Inside me is a thin woman trying to get out. I usually shut the bitch up with a martini.
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Postby Malli » March 23rd, 2006, 5:10 pm

ok, got it, I think :?
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