spay, weight gain, hungrier, poop eating

[Thehallk]

We had Gilly spayed about 7 months ago - the vet suggested reducing her food a bit, but at around the same time we started going on longer and more frequent walks so I didn't reduce her intake - i kind of assumed it would balance out. She eats Go! brand food and gets wormer monthly. She then started to gain weight even with the extra exercise so I reduced her food by half a cup a day, and started giving her green beans (about a cup). My son started eating solids, and so there's baby food mess all over the floor, which she cleans up, and then she started mooching, which she has never really consistently done but I attributed it to the constant flow of baby food coming to her. Then she started getting really brazen and sniffing our plates, then stealing food from off our plates when we step away for a moment (which isn't surprising because we don't have a dinner table and usually it's left on a low table, but she's never done this before!) I bumped her back up to her usual 3 cups (which used to satisfy her) PLUS about a half cup of green beans. Now, just last week (and again today) I was outside with her and I saw her eating her own poop! She does eat deer and horse poop on a very regular basis, but I just pretend it doesn't happen, since I know there's no harm in that (to her). But now i'm starting to worry that either we're really not feeding her enough or she's missing something in her diet - any tips?!

 

[Ginny]

Have a screening for parasites done, including a Snap Giardia.

 

[ardeagold]

They do gain weight when they get spayed and for some dogs it's really hard to keep off. Others, not so hard. Just like humans. You don't want her starving, so just try to keep her food balanced with her exercise level and that should help. The green beans help too. You'll probably find she eats less as it gets warmer and she's less active.

And you'll probably notice her coat gets much thicker and wooly in time.

I don't know about the poop eating. I've found it has nothing to do with amount of food...spayed or not...it's just the dog. You could try some pineapple in her food (crushed or cubed) or some papayan capsules. If it works you'll have to give it every day...

 

[janices]

Petcurean foods made formula changes I remember. I used to use it and dropped the food when they did that cause I did not like results. I also discovered they were starting to source ingredients from Asia. I moved over to using Acana.

 

[Bonnke's Mom]

I have heard in the past that putting Accent (all natural flavor inhancer) on their food will deter them from eating their poop because it brings out flavors that they do not like. I have never tried it myself, has anyone else ever heard this?

 

[R Taft]

I would be very careful with flavor enhancer....My Annabelle and a couple of other dogs I know Are severely allergic to it.
Cleaning poop immediatly is about the only way to stop it. I know we also have had some weight gain with Katy after her Spay, so we have given her more empty calories. We use raw greated carrot to extend her meals.she loves it and it does no harm. She also gets beans and such. We feed RAW mainly so we just mix it with all her meats. Most dogs love carrot even by itself. I just get about two -three cups of empty calorie vegs for her a day. Katy used to be very thin and now we have increased her daily activities and decreased her food and she is still a little too heavy for my liking..Good luck.
PS I have heard the pineapple works quite well. Some people also say giving seaweed meal helps. We give the anyway, it is a great general mineral additive.