Turns out Lacey needs less food since she got spayed….

My dad suggested that it’s possible that she could still be growing but it was unlikely that was the reason.It could have been she ate more because she hasn’t had can food in a while or we didn’t give her enough of some table food.I also didn’t know that she now needs less food since she got spayed.Hmm..No one told us that!It could also be due to activity level since it’s cold she doesn’t run around as much but when it is sunny she runs around more so eating more is not too bad.Weight is back to normal which is good.She was 7.6 today so that’s good.

I decided to use a new method to decide how much food she gets based on activity & weather.Although her amounts can vary greatly from 1/8 cup to 1/2 cup a day depending if it’s sunny & are able to go on walks she can be free fed w/food in her bottles(1/8 cup per bottle per time)& be fed “regular” amounts of table food but if it’s cold /not too active/laying around to only give about 1/4 cup nothing more than that withholding can food and less table food.

But,I think part of it was one night she had can food for dinner & also waiting on can food for a couple days so she held her hunger til she got her Merricks(3/8 cup)which could have caused her 1 pound weight gain.Also not being active in walking due to cold weather could have had a part in it too.Today she ate good & hasn’t asked for more “dog” food since she had 1/4 cup earlier in the very early morning hours.

Taking up some of Lacey’s food

Yesterday morning(Midnight or slightly after midnight HST)Lacey has told me she was hungry–roaming around the kitchen,looking for anything she can find that eatable–so I opened her up some Merricks’ Turducken and she ended up eating about 3/8 cups of Turducken which is about 2 times the normal amount.If she didn’t stop on her own after the 3//8 cup I was going to put away the Turducken anyways since she can’t have more than half cup per day + she had some for dinner the night before(Monday night) so already that was about 1/2 cup right there(altogether).Yesterday(Tuesday)we limited the amount of table food she had to very little compared to normally.This evening(Tuesday evening)I gave her 3 (2-3 inch pieces cut into three slices).Then later in the evening(about 7pm)she was asking for more FOOD!It was then I decided to take her weight to see what she weighed.She weight about 8.4 pounds which is more than she should.She was not however overweight for her size but still more than we’d like to see(anywhere from 7.0 at the lowest, though usually 7.4 to 8.0 is ideal for her)so she was begging for table food but we stood our ground.I think part of it could be that up where we live it’s been cold so she’s not been very active.I didn’t think it would affect her weight but apparently it has since she’s not as active compared to when it’s nice & sunny.So,I have taken up most of her bottles that contain her halo’s and stella & chewy.I always know how much is in each one since I always measure it out before putting them into her bottles.We are also not going to give her can food for at least the next week when I retake her weight.Providing it’s sunny out I will allow her to have more can & table food but meanwhile she will have to get used to less table food,less treats(3 per day so every 8 hours)and more dry food.I will switch it out with her Solid Gold that she does eat sometimes I’ve found & her Halo’s.Whenever I feed Solid Gold Just a Wee Bit since it does not have L.Acid I always end up mixing some Earthborn Primitive Natural in it together since it has L.Acid in the ingredients.She’s not a fan of Earthborn but she will eat it.Also Earthborn Primitive Natural is Turkey,Whitefish & Chicken.Solid Gold Just a Wee Bit is Bison & Whitefish mostly.We would try the other flavors of earthborn but it is mostly chicken & chicken is one of the main ingredients in her Halo’s Spot’s Stew Wholesome Chicken & one of the primary ingredients in Earthborn Primitive Natural.