Importance of weight maintinance & brushing

[Jerrybo66]

Our rescue Rottie weighed 118# when we adopted her about 7 mo. ago. She showed hip problems. One of my concerns was rapid breathing which I questioned here. After $1400. worth of tests and a consulting vet nearly killing her with an OD of Tramadol they could find nothing wrong other than a slight heart murmur, possibly caused by overweight. She even spent a day at the Vet hospital for observation. I could feel heat on our other two dogs but not on Nandi. My thought, fat & dense fur isn't letting her cool. Breathing was a lot of time, panting. I put her on a very low calorie diet, bought a shop vac, (previous post) and now she's starting to sleep in her bed rather than on the cooler tile floor. I keep her squirted down and a fan on her when she shows stress. It helps. I get bushels of dead hair off her every day. I doubt she was ever brushed before her now forever home. At last weigh in she topped the scale at 105, hopefully less now.. If our Pit wouldn't of woke me at 4:00am when I found her unresponsive and only moved after pumping her chest for ???, she would of been gone. So, bottom line, after paying $1400 and learning nothing, I finally smartened up and looked at the basic facts. She pants a lot, panting means she's hot. Rapid breathing may be just "under panting" ????? Fat is an insulator, fur is an insulator. She's fat and hasn't been brushed. A $1400. no brainer. I feel a little guilty when I feed her but seeing her being able to dance like a spring rabbit eases my conscience. She tries to play but it's obvious she has to slim down some more. Her hip problem seems to be better though I still give her 1/2 Novox twice a day. So, bottom line, if I would of used common sense, the dog lives with us 24 hrs. a day, paid attention to her, not relied on professionals, think of the Michelob $1400 would of bought . Yeah, I consider this a happy ending story 🙂 ........... Now if I could stop her from eating the pieces of toys the Pit rips off. So far, "everything came out OK"... 😉

[xteacher]

Glad you're getting her to slim down; she definitely needs it! It will definitely make a difference. As raindove mentioned, panting can also be an indicator of pain, stress, and/or heart issues.

Many years ago, we adopted a yellow lab from my niece who weighed 102 pounds when we got him. The vet said he should be 75-80 pounds. Between diet and exercise, w got him down to 80 pounds, but it was always a struggle.

A few years ago, I fostered my MIL's cockapoo, Rosie. She's was morbidly obese and panted just standing there. The vet weighed her at 28.2 lb. to start with, and she said Rosie should have weighed 14-15 pounds. Amazingly, she had no other health issues - sure didn't pay $1400 for the diagnosis of FAT!! It took 6-7 months of a restricted diet (I fed Wellness Core Reduced Fat - feed the amount for what the dog SHOULD weigh, not what she currently weighs, and even then, I fed less than what the directions said) and increasing exercise, but Rosie reached her goal, and I found her a very loving home.

Make sure you exercise your dog (leashed walks to start with; add games of fetch as she's able) at increasing levels and distances as she loses weight (Rosie started out barely able to walk around the block, but eventually worked up to walking 3 miles daily; she also learned to enjoy vigorous games of fetch). Cut out ALL high carb treats (dog biscuits/treats) and instead, substitute baby carrots and no-salt green beans - ignore pitiful looks. If your dog refuses these healthy treats, keep trying. It's amazing what hunger will do...

[raindove]

Glad you figured out what the problem was. However, sometimes panting can also be an indication of pain.