Hello, we had Bella spayed, on the advice of our vet, at 8 months old. Bella is a large black lab and seems to have put on weight since being spayed. She is 11 months old and I feed her on adult food, James Wellbeloved Light. She weighs 34 kgs and looks quite heavy although she still has a waist. What is the average weight for an 11 month old labrador. Pat
There's no way of saying because it depends on the dog, but 34kg for a bitch sounds very heavy. The best guide is how they look. If she looks heavy, then you need to cut down her food. Spayed bitches do need less food - as do adult dogs - so it sounds like you need to reduce the amount you're giving her. Try reducing it by a third and see how you get on.
They do vary so much. Does she have a good tuck up and can you feel her ribs and spine with slight pressure ?
There can be a change in metabolism rate after spay, sometimes quite pronounced. Just ask any woman in menopause, dogs can be the same. But, at her age she was likely due to have her food intake decreased as at 11 months she was probably finished the majority of her growth. Agree with @snowbunny that an average weight, if you can find one, is not very helpful. Height, activity/fitness, build, bone can all influence weight and which weight should be right for a dog. All my dogs have had a range of weight they seem good at. Going by waist, ribs, your Vet and your breeder is probably your best bet.
Tatze put on weight after her spay, I cut her meals to 2/3 - it took a few months but the weight steadily came off. Now, could someone help me do that after my spay??? ...
Is she very tall? If not, 34kgs sound very heavy to me for a girl. Maybe she is very tall though.... Just cut down her food until she slims down if she needs to do so. There is nothing more to it than that.
Same thing happened with my last lab when we had her spayed. We didn't cut back on her food until recently after her vet informed us that she was overweight. Almost 20 lbs to be exact. I had no idea because of how her body is built. I knew she gained a little weight and that's when I did research. I read up on foods that help and ended up changing her diet. We ended up adding on extra activities and longer walks. Her vet told us to cut back by half of what we feed her and substitute the half with green beans. She goes back in February for a checkup for other health (not weight concerns) issues but will weigh her to see how much she is losing. The vet said she could lose 5lbs a month if we stick to that diet and keep up with the extra exercise.
I found it difficult to manage Harley's weight after her spay as one minute she would look ok, the next minute she would look podgy. The hubby didn't help by giving her extras and not telling me! We've also had a lot of injuries which made it harder, but we've got there now. She's not very tall compared to a lot of labs and weighs 27 / 27.5kg which is about right for her build. I would cut her food down over the next few weeks and see how she goes.
As @JulieT says, it is quite simple, reduce her food intake until she looks the weight you would like, then feed slightly plus or minus to keep that shape.
We have to work hard to keep our neutured 7 (nearly) 8 labs weight under control. If his weight creeps up we swap to Millies Wolfheart Highland (low fat mix) and the weight drops off. I like it as I can give a good amount of quality food without feeling I am starving him as it's less calories per 100g than his normal food, and less fat, but still quality ingredients with a high protein level.
Reading all this with trepidation as we are having Poppy spayed in January / February, and she is the greediest dog alive...
I really don't think it's a big deal. Willow has less food than Shadow. If it was a very calorie-dense food, I'd probably change to a lighter food that has more volume per calorie, but that would be for my own sensibilities rather than the dog's
