How much do you feed your adult Saint?

[Jerry]

We have a problem with our 3 year old Josh putting on too much weight.  We feed him 1 cup of Eukanuba Lamb & Rice Large Breed for breakfast and 3 cups for supper. This is a reduction from his puppy diet of 3 cups and 3 cups. He is pushing 200 lbs.
I asked the breeder how much he fed his dogs and he said 5 cups for breakfast and 5 for supper.  I couldn't believe it.

Josh is naturally a big boy.  He has a huge head and  paws (much bigger than our other Saint) which has nothing to do with fat so I expect him to weigh more.  But the vet thinks he needs to lose about 20 lbs.  Any suggestions?

[PennyK]

Teddy is still growing (he's almost 13 months - currently weighs about 150#) and I feed him about 13 cups a day, split between 3 meals. (5,3,5)  He is eating the Nutro Lg breed lamb & rice.

He's really been packing on the weight though lately, so I might put him down to about 9 cups/day for a while and see how he looks. 

[Butts Mom]

First why is the Vet saying he is over weight?? I have seen Avian Vets look at charts and say your bird should weigh x amount,so your bird is overweight and in reality the bird is at a perfect weight.Well just like us animals don't fit in general weight classes.How much exercise is Josh getting?? If not enough that could be why he is packing on the lbs.Butt is almost 4 and right now he is eatting 3 cups dry-1 can wet twice a day.On our real lazy days he doesn't eat all of it,but Tub the pup comes along and cleans it up for him.

[Jerry]

Josh has hip displasia so cannot get as much exercise as I would like.  I'm sure that is part of the problem. The vet put him on Previcox and it works much better than the aspirin he was on before and he is able to walk further without limping.  Also, Pete, our new Saint, is running Josh all over the yard so things are improving in the exercise category.

The vet thinks he's overweight because he can't feel his ribs through his skin.

[schelmischekitty]

when i lived in mississippi, when we would walk axle on the beach he did good, because the impact on his joints wasn't so harsh as walking on concrete, etc.  if you think he is at a good weight, maybe you should get a second opinion.

[shangrila]

Hi Jerry, welcome to BPO!

My saint also has hip dysplacia, and I know how difficult it can be. It really is important to loose the weight since it makes it easier on their hips if their is less weight for the hips to carry around.

How much you feed depends on what brand it is. Like Tina and Jenn mentioned I would really consider switching to a better brand - the three out of the top five ingredients in the eukanuba are filler grains.

Another thing I would really consider is making his meal distribution for eual - instead of 1 in the morning and 3 at night I would do 2 and 2 so he has more energy for the day and doesn't go to bed on a full tummy

[macybean]

I'm sorry that Josh has hip issues. Less weight will definitely equal less strain on his hips.

Riley eats about 6-7 cups a day (fed in one meal at night, though I'm thinking about splitting it up into two meals).
He'll usually finish, but if he doesn't, my lab will eat it. Sadie's getting a bit chunky b/c of this, so I'm trying to pull Riley's bowl as soon as he loses interest.

I have them on Natural Balance, but Riley's problem is that he's not gaining weight. He hit about 125 sometime in the early fall (hit 100 last March). He's only gained maybe 5 pounds this fall/winter; he's now around 130. He'll be 2 at the end of June. His parents were 135 and 185, so I'd expect him to be a bit bulkier at this point. He's tall, though-about 31 inches at his shoulders... Tall and long-legged, but slim. I get asked if he's a mix fairly frequently, though less so than last summer, when he was really looking skinny. I neutered him at 6 months, which I read could slow down his growth, so maybe he'll get there eventually.

I know Natural Balance is supposed to be a good quality food, and I don't want Riley getting bigger than he ought to be and put stress on his hips. He does look kind of twiggy for a Saint, though.

[Michael2559]

Im sorry to hear about the dogs having hip dysplacia, as with my dogs , I hate to see them in any pain. I am dumb as far as what to feed a St., Since we have 4 dogs we have all ways used a feeder thats holds about 10 lbs(dry) of food and it drops down as it is eatin. My St. pup doesnt eat very much at a time, she eats mostly what we eat, I really dont know if thats good or not either. She isnt fat, but she loves chicken nuggets that my wife brings home from school, she is a school cook and brings them home and we feed them to our dogs, along with pork, beef and hot dogs. I was told people food is good for Saints,which Sheeba eats more of, she loves to steal food off the counter or the table when you turn your head, My wife had a hamburger on her plate , she turns her head for a sec and turned back and the whole hamburger was gone.The good thing is she doesnt like sweets, no candy, cake or anything like that.

Sheeba has eatin people food since we have had her(4 weeks old) and the bad thing is , we would have to lock her up so we could eat with out her eating any of the food we eat. So is it a bad thing to let her eat what we eat, she gets alot of exercise and is full of energy and to us looks great.

Are raw hide chewies good for Saints to eat, Sheebe loves them, but are they bad for her ?

Any advice on how or what to or not feed a Saint would be great, I want to have sheeba around for as along as I can and stay healthy.

Thanks