[Dailydrool] Gus's diet

[Pamela McQuade]

Unless Gus is a remarkably small basset, his weight sounds as if it could be fine. Did the vet comment that he's overweight? I'd hate to think you are worrying unnecessarily.

When bassets gain weight, it's because they are taking in too many calories and not getting enough exercise. (Sounds like humans' problems in this area, doesn't it?) If you are giving your boy enough exercise, he will burn off the calories properly, and weight will not be a problem.

We have three senior bassets now. Because each has a health problem, we do not get to do much in the way of walks, but none of my guys are overweight because I do not overfeed them. They are on a good quality food and even get a bit of canned food atop it. We do not feed anything fatty, and their treats are limited. In the time of life when a basset would be prone to fat, they are lean and mean. One of the reasons I do this is that after Abner's back problem, I am keenly aware of the need to keep bassets slim. Those pleading basset eyes do not lead me to overfeeding them, because I know the dangers of weight--Abner was huge when he came to us, and I think that my not reducing his weight quickly enough may have been part of the reason he ended up with a blown disk.

Take a look at Gus from above. Does he have a distinct waist? Look at him from the side. Is he like a barrel all the way to his hind legs (a sign of too much weight), or is he nicely tucked up in the waist area? Run your hand down his side. Can you feel the ribs (that's a good sign), or is there a layer of fat that distinctly covers the area so that you can't feel them? I'm not saying the ribs should be sticking out. There should be a layer of fat there, just not so much that you can't easily feel the ribs.

If Gus has a distinct waist and you can feel those ribs, he's probably a fine weight. Just keep him well exercised, and you will both be happy.

On the subject of food, I believe that you feed the best food you can afford. My guys have been on various foods since we got Belvedere, who had food allergies. In their middle years, when we got Bel, we began feeding him and Jane higher end foods. Either they just had some good genes, despite their puppymill backgrounds, or the food has really helped them live to a good age. Jane is 13, and Bel is 14. Though they have health issues, they are still doing fairly well--my vet described Bel as being the equivalent of a 100-year-old man. Unhappily Abner didn't get good genes, but he is still a respectable 10.

It is my thought that good food helps hounds avoid illness, just as it does for humans. If you are feeding a food that is mostly made up of meat (in the first three ingredients listed on the package) and does not have fillers like corn, you are probably feeding well. Generally, if the bulk of the food is meat, there are not a lot of fillers. If yours is not that great a food, read packages to find a new one. Choose something that's not too high in fat (compare the foods against one another, and that will give you a good idea of what's at the high end).

If you can, get samples of the food, to test out on Gus. That way you won't end up with a ton of food he won't eat. When you choose a food, start out with the smallest bag you can find, and feed it for a while. Sometimes hounds will eat something enthusiastically for one or two days, then refuse it completely. I usually increase the bag size I buy slowly, so that I'm sure it's not excitement about having something new instead of a real desire to eat the food that fuels the dog's accepting it. Our Jane is a master at eating something with relish for a day of so, then totally refusing it as if I were trying to murder her. Sometimes the hounds will even go longer before they decide they'd like something else. So ease into the new food slowly, adding it a bit at a time to your old food, to avoid stomach upsets.

And remember, if Gus is fat, it's because some human is feeding him too much or he is counter cruising. That's where he gets food from. You are in control, so make use of that control, despite those pleading eyes. A basset's health is more important than his desire for just one more nosh.
Pam, food slave to the Dashing Bassets
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