Vet told me to give Cooper less food for a bit....he has put on 4 pounds in a month!! Ouch! Poor chap....he does like to eat and looooves his treats, but have been cutting down on them drastically too. Vet also told me that I could use green beans as "filler"....but I never asked if they should be raw, frozen, cooked???? I know I've seen it mentioned on the Forum but don't believe this came up....cooked, fresh, frozen!!! Help anyone??? Thanks.
Well I don't really know. But I would say raw. I suppose frozen ones are ok, Cooper might even enjoy them still frozen on a hot day. I think I'll try it with Chepi. I really wouldn't cook them.
You can use any vegetables (except things in the onion family) as a lower kilojoule meal. Our dog is on reduced exercise at the moment due to a sore paw, so every second day he gets vegetables for breakfast. We buy packs of mixed frozen veg (anything other than onion is fine, so carrot, corn, broccoli, cauliflower, beans, peas....all those are fine) and we boil them briefly (couple of minutes) to cook. We usually add some cooked (boiled or roasted) pumpkin or sweet potato as well, and a little bit of olive oil to make it a bit more attractive to eat. Mix it all up and bag it in portions in freezer bags (we make portions that are about the size of a baseball or cricket ball). We feed this as a replacement meal (breakfast) every second day or every third day when our dog needs to keep the weight off. His 'normal' breakfast meals are raw meat pieces containing a bone and he still gets this on 'non veg' days. He still always gets his normal dinner which is a tin of sardines every day. For dogs I'd always cook veg as they are not built to easily digest cellulose as we are, so the cooking helps to break it down for them. Hope that helps
Thank you, Oberon....this is great. I am going to do this for Cooper.....this will certainly help him to lose the 4 pounds (I hope) plus veggies are good for him. Hope your dogs sore paw goes away soon! Mine now has a sore spot on his elbow.....guess day care doggies played rough today! I know Cooper plays rough so he probably plays with "ruffians"! Again, thanks a bunch.
Jane, thanks for answering my question, too. Now we both know what we have to do in regards to veggies thanks to Oberon....! Have a good weekend.
No worries! It really does help... Longer term it's best to find a happy medium by feeding their 'proper' food in the right amount (which means cutting down on that a bit) but the 'alternate veggie meal' approach is great for those occasional times when you can see that they've got a bit cuddly and need a trim down. Over the last few weeks it's definitely helped us to keep Obi to his ideal weight. And his paw is much improved now, thank you
Crunchy uncooked broccoli stems and carrots are another good treat. In hot weather chilled melon, apple and ice cubes go down well.
Molly has sampled and enjoyed the following courgette, cucumber, carrot, green beans, Apple and pear (all raw). She also likes frozen peas. My husband cuts up carrots and throws them for her. She is not above sending the peeling pot (destined for the compost heap) flying and gobbling up the contents. Which is probably why when I got up this morning there was a small pool of sick on the hall floor with a peach stone sat in it.
A few weeks ago my 90 year old mum was making a salad. Holly sat down behind her. Without looking, mum tossed a bit of cucumber over her shoulder and Holly dived to catch it. This quickly developed into a game. I haven't seen mum laugh so much in ages. It was lovely to watch.
Thanks for starting this topic Yvonne, as Mabel is also on restricted exercise I'm definitely going down the veggie route. Super tips Oberon thank you.
