Monday 9 February 2015

Saari is on a diet

Posted by Rosie

Harry is recovering well from his castration last week although he did not like being left in the vet's surgery one little bit.  In fact, the vet called us 2 hours before we were due to collect him as she was worried how scared he appeared to be.  We were also concerned as we already have Saari who is terrified of the vet and we did not want both dogs to be scared.  When it came to take Harry for a check up, a friend suggested we take Saari along as well, just for the ride with nothing "nasty" to happen to her.

The vet was more than happy for this and gave her lots of cuddles ... once I had got her out from underneath the chair in the waiting room that she was cowering underneath!  She did seem to relax so we took the opportunity to pop her on the scales as I was sure she had put on a bit of weight. With Saari it is not always easy to tell as she has such a thick winter coat but her weigh-in did reveal that she had put of a kilo.  We can still feel her ribs, just, but her general shape is not as defined as it should be and she is certainly at the very upper limit for her size.  She needs to go on a diet!  

The biggest problem with Saari is she loves her food (don't we all?) and if she has reduced portions she gets hungry and will steal food, any food, be it ours, Harry's or pig/chicken/cat etc food!  I wondered if reducing her food and bulking it out with vegetables would work and the vet agreed, saying that both broccoli and green beans were good choices.  I have plenty of beans in the freezer so that seemed the way to go.

She started her diet on Saturday and happily munched through her extra vegetables.  Sunday we were out celebrating Tom's birthday and when we came back, we were greeted by a guilty looking dog.  Saari does "guilty" wonderfully.  A quick search revealed that I had been foolish enough not to put the remaining beans away and she had stolen them!  There were, therefore, no extra beans for supper and I had to head to the freezer for more supplies.  Bad, bad Saari. 

Saari the thief

We will also enact a vigorous exercise regime with lots of long walks.  A reduction in exercise is probably to blame for her weight increase as walks with Poppy had got shorter and slower as she became ill.  Since having Harry, whilst we have had lots of long walks, he is still on the flexi-lead so there has been less manic running around than she used to do when Poppy was in good health.  If only she'd chase a stick or ball but that is something Saari thinks is completely daft and refuses to indulge in at all!

Harry, luckily, did not seem worried by a return trip to the vet although wasn't too sure about lying on his side for an examination and dressing removal.  He is, however, not at all pleased having to wear the dreaded lampshade and is rather a hazard to be around.  

Harry and the dreaded lampshade

It makes us realise how easy Poppy was when she wore it.  Poppy just got on with wearing the thing but Harry has been very different. At first he refused to walk forwards and when he did master that one he then managed to crash into everything and getting through doorways needs gentle directional guiding from us!  I am not sure if it is lack of awareness or revenge but he keeps walking up behind us and bashing our legs.  Oh well, his stitches will be out on Thursday and then he'll be free of the dreaded lampshade.  Our bruises should disappear a few days after that!

Not, therefore, the best of weeks for our canine friends. Have you got pets who hate the vet or suffer a bit with their weight?  We'd love to hear, either in a comment or you could write a blog post and link it up with Animal Tales, the animal blog linky which runs from Tuesday to Friday every week.

ANIMALTALES

20 comments :

  1. The only one of our pets that has been afraid of the vets was Charley, and sadly she made her last trip there the other week :-( She would quake in fear and cuddle up on my lap in the waiting room and then turn her back on the vet once she was being examined.

    The others are all fine, and Mavis especially seems to take it all in her stride, her being mistreated and abused in her former life means that she thrives on kind words and stroking hands, so even though it's usually for an injection, or as was the case recently to be spayed, because she got lots of kind words and cuddles she loved the whole experience - thank goodness.

    We didn't make her wear a 'lampshade' though, I bought her a woolly jumper instead, she loved that too.

    Our Pug, Suky is very overweight. She is on special 'Overweight/Sterilised dog' diet food and has exactly the right measure of food but still she finds losing weight tough. We are trying to walk her more while the weather is cooler as she struggles with her puggy breathing when it gets hot.

    Saari does look suitably guilty for pinching the food, love the sign!!

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    1. So sorry to hear about Charley. Poppy took the same one way journey on New Year's Eve :(

      We tried Harry without the collar as the vet had tried a new method of stitching the dressing on but Harry was too naughty and still chewed and licked too much - so the lampshade it had to be!

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  2. We had to put both our dogs on a diet. We started feeding them breakfast which they weren't getting before but it gets the metabolism going early in the day.They get 2 large charcoal biscuits each. Dinners were reduced by a 100 grams each.

    And it worked! It took a few days before they truly adjusted to the new meal structure but I think because they got breakfast it made it easier for them to wait until dinner time. Our dogs also love peas and pumpkin the best. Beans not so much. Poor Saari, I hope she adjusts soon.

    And poor Harry! I don't remember using an Elizabethan collar on our dogs. I'll have to ask hubby. I think maybe we took them off under supervision for dinner and neither of them worried at their stitches so they stayed off. Sacha cat was a different story, her collar had to stay on.

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    1. We have tried taking it off but he is too determined to lick. However he has his stitches out on Thursday when he can be free and our legs will be safe again!

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  3. Thankfully our dogs are working dogs and always out on the farm, so they're always on the lean side for their breed (our lab and spaniel). But it's noticeable that as soon as the dog gets let in the house, that's when they start getting porky.

    The FIL's lab is about 14 now so can't get as much exercise and loves treats and begs for them, so has got a tad heavy. And my BIL's spaniel is pining for her mum who had to be put down (also about 14 years old), and has been let in to the kitchen sometimes...seems to coincide with her getting fat. She still goes out on shoots, and hopefully will be back to her bounding self soon. His german shepherd is like a skinny wolf though, and she eats anything in sight! She's always chasing deer and rabbits though so that's probably why.

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    1. Other that when she is chasing something Saari is actually very lazy so always prone to a bit of weight increase. Since Poppy died, She has only gone off chasing things once ( a hare) so I think that has contributed. Trouble is I don;t want her chasing things but I do want her a bit thinner!

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  4. Awww, love Saari's face! I bet you've forgiven her, with a face like that! ;) #animaltales.

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    1. We have and the thing is we don't actually have to tell her off as she looks so guilt ridden even before we find out what it is she has done!

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  5. I'm so sorry but I couldn't help giggling at the sorry face of Saari with the thief sign...and Harry bashing you all with the lampshade.
    My dog used to love going to the vets because she might see a cat in the waiting room! She wouldn't be in the least worried because she'd be going wild with excitement at cats in the same room with her.

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    1. Saari was actually not too bad until the big scary cat in a cage came into the waiting room. OK so he was yowling rather loudly but he was a cat ... in a cage ... and she was frightened of him! Queue Saari disappearing under my chair!!

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  6. I totally understand stealing all the diet food - I have done that myself! Haha!

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  7. Ash the Dog says - OOOH Saari - naughty girl!! I've done the same thing too but be careful if all those beans. They may make you a bit whiffy!! Harry - I am totally feeling for you my doggie friend. Mum and Dad took away my doggie bits too!! I must say though...... you make that cone look GOOD!!! #animaltales

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    1. Actually she didn't whiff at all which was rather surprising. And Harry says, yeah, stitches are out and the cone is history.

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  8. Bless 'em x Stella would like to say in Saari's defence that diet willpower is pretty nonexistent in dogs and there are far worse things she could've stolen! ;) She also thinks Harry should've had a padded cone as they are much less painful when trying to escape and much kinder on coffee tables and human legs too! :) I love this linky x

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    1. Today she stole 2 fairy cakes that I had asked the boys to put away when I took some friends out to see the animals. Boys failed. Saari got cake. So this might have undone the good which had resulted in nearly 1/2 kilo lost this week!

      Thank you so much for saying you like the linky - I am really enjoying running it.

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  9. I'm afraid I do think that the best thing about pets is pet shaming photos. I'm going for 'revenge' as far as Harry and the cone are concerned.

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  10. Ha ha I love the picture of guilty Saari :-) bless, hope she feels better now x #animaltales

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    1. She does do such a wonderful "Guilty as charged" look!

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  11. Hi Rosie, there is no denying that Saari does guilty very well indeed! At least she likes green beans. A couple of years ago one of our dogs suffered liver failure (it was a close call, but she lots of patience and hand feeding she recovered and looks the best she has ever looked) and I completely over hauled the dogs diets. Giving them a balance of the best dry food we can afford and home cooked wet food. I was surprised to see how much the dogs seemed to enjoy their vegetables, especially broccoli, peas and red pepper.

    It's funny how some dogs don't mind the lampsahde on their head and others hate it. When Alphie was castrated he had it on for two weeks and it never bothered him (he's a bit dozy like that), but we've also had a dog that wouldn't move when wearing it. It was sooo funny, but she sulked when we laughed.

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