# London's Food Change



## LJSquishy (Feb 27, 2008)

As many of you know, I currently feed Grandma Lucy's Artisan to London & Preston. London gets 100% GL, and Preston gets a 50/50 mix of GL and Now! Small Breed kibble. They have been on it for about 3 months I believe and were doing great on it.

London, over a year ago, was quite a bit overweight. We were feeding all dry kibble back then. About 9 months ago, she started having digestive issues so we switched her to a canned diet with limited ingredients (one protein, one carb source, nothing else fancy in it). She did that diet for 6 months and did amazing on it, and at the same time, started dropping down to a healthy weight.

3 months ago I started feeding Grandma Lucy's Artisan because it was a more long-term diet I wanted for them. London started dropping weight, but that was fine because dogs usually thin out a bit on a raw type of diet and GL is all raw food except the meat portion is cooked. Info online stated that they often drop weight, then build back weight in muscle...so I waited...but she kept dropping weight.

About a month ago I decided she was underweight so I increased her portion size (from 1/4 cup per meal to 1/3 cup per meal) but it wasn't helping. On Sunday we decided to switch her back to a canned diet similar to what she was eating before to try and get her to put on some weight. She is WAY too underweight now. My husband weighed her at the vet and said she was on the lower end of 5lbs...in my opinion her ideal weight is probably right at 7-7 1/2lbs. For such a small dog that is a HUGE issue. She was previously overweight (a year ago) and weighed in at around 8 1/2lbs so seeing such a drastic change in the last 3 months going from a healthy 7 1/2lbs (approximately) down to in the 5lb range is awful. I feel like I was starving her even though she was getting huge portions. I guess this food just isn't right for her. Preston loves it and actually needs to lose about 1/2lb. He is doing amazing on it. So, I will keep feeding it to Preston, at least for now, and London will stick with canned. I plan on trying Party Animal Organic grain-free canned food when she puts on a little more weight -- until then, I'm not messing with her diet.

I still feel like it's a great food option, it's just not going to work for London. We all know one thing doesn't work for every dog. :blush:


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## Sylie (Apr 4, 2011)

The question of what to feed is paramount to us. But it seems the harder we try to do good, the more problems we encounter. I have no clue what the answer is. I have a high grade kibble that my dogs are doing well on and I am sticking to it...well two. I don't trust anything completely, but neither do I trust our ability to home cook. So, for me...I go with what works. And I remember when I was a child and my parents fed our dogs table scraps and "Skippy" and they thrived and lived to be seventeen years old. I throw up my hands and admit that I just don't know.


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## silverhaven (Sep 6, 2009)

I think I would want to have London's blood work done if it hasn't been done recently, maybe a thyroid panel in case she has become hyperthyroid. I would be surprised to hear that her diet alone has caused this much weight loss. Have you discussed this with your vet? How are her bowel movements, is she digesting her food properly? Mine do not do so well on raw veggie, I cook it. They digest it much better. I know that some vitamins are lost that that way, but if they aren't digesting the raw then they are lost anyway. I haven't tried Grandma Lucy as it isn't in my local shops. So mainly I home-cook. I know they are getting real, good food that way. As a standby for when I have some extra meat I sometimes give them Dr Harvey's. which I cook a little. Mine also get some NOW! but not much. Mainly for treats.


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## Canada (Jun 4, 2009)

Oh wow...Lisa, you must have been really worried.
That is a HUGE drop in weight.
A pound or two may not sound like much, but when you consider it in percentage of body weight lost, it is a huge amount. 
Maybe a food diary and vet check up could help London fill out again.
Does your Vet want you to increase her portions & snacks?


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## aprilb (Jul 9, 2010)

I can relate since I have been going through the same issues with my Lily. She is back on the NB venison and sweet potato and doing great. My breeder feels that a moderate protein and lower fat is best for her dogs. I know this sounds crazy, but Lily seem to do better with more carbs in her diet while Rose can pretty much eat anything. Rose is the one who puts on weight, so I just cut her portion.


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## mom2bijou (Oct 19, 2006)

Lisa....just the other day I emailed Crystal and was talking w/her about food. I swear I said the SAME thing! Emma has gotten so thin on GL. I love the food and B&E love the food but I thought maybe it was a good time to switch. Also I was getting tired of the messy faces on GL and we are going on vacation in a few weeks so I thought my MIL would have an easier time feeding canned. 

So about 2 weeks ago I ordered a case of Party Animal canned food and success so far. My two love the food. Not much though that they don't like lol. I always feel Benny holds weight and Emma can't keep weight on. So right now they are getting 1/4 cup of Party Animal at each meal. 

I swear you and I are always trying the same food lol!


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## LJSquishy (Feb 27, 2008)

mom2bijou said:


> Lisa....just the other day I emailed Crystal and was talking w/her about food. I swear I said the SAME thing! Emma has gotten so thin on GL. I love the food and B&E love the food but I thought maybe it was a good time to switch. Also I was getting tired of the messy faces on GL and we are going on vacation in a few weeks so I thought my MIL would have an easier time feeding canned.
> 
> So about 2 weeks ago I ordered a case of Party Animal canned food and success so far. My two love the food. Not much though that they don't like lol. I always feel Benny holds weight and Emma can't keep weight on. So right now they are getting 1/4 cup of Party Animal at each meal.
> 
> I swear you and I are always trying the same food lol!


I know what you mean! I hope the PAO canned works out for Emma...you'll have to let me know how she does on it. As I said in my first post, I put London back on a canned food similar to her old one just to see if she will gain the weight back. I was out of town for 3 days and just got back today but I swore she looked/felt not quite as frail. I'm not sure if any change can happen that fast but it sure seemed like she was responding to the diet change. She is on Natural Balance Sweet Potato & Venison canned right now. Her old canned diet was California Natural Sweet Potato & Salmon but the pet boutique we get it from was closed the day we needed it so we had to get something at Petco...but it's comparable. I really like that the PAO canned has a lot of protein varieties...I am anxious to try it out at some point.


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## Bailey&Me (Mar 8, 2010)

Lisa, I'm sorry GL isn't working out for London - sounds like canned is a better option for her then. As you know, I am a huge fan of Party Animal Organic - I've tried several flavors with Bailey and he's loved all of them. Now it's the only canned food I really get for him. I love that it still has relatively simple ingredients so it was really simple to switch Bailey to this after he was on a limited ingredient diet...they all have one protein, a carb and a couple of veggies/fruits. Hope London continues to gain weight on the NB and does really well on the PAO when you do try it.


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## LJSquishy (Feb 27, 2008)

Bailey&Me said:


> Lisa, I'm sorry GL isn't working out for London - sounds like canned is a better option for her then. As you know, I am a huge fan of Party Animal Organic - I've tried several flavors with Bailey and he's loved all of them. Now it's the only canned food I really get for him. I love that it still has relatively simple ingredients so it was really simple to switch Bailey to this after he was on a limited ingredient diet...they all have one protein, a carb and a couple of veggies/fruits. Hope London continues to gain weight on the NB and does really well on the PAO when you do try it.


I know, I am really bummed out that GL wasn't the right fit for London. My hopes aren't high in trying another raw-based diet (whether the raw is meat or just the veggies) because GL seems to be the easiest transition. I will just stick with a quality canned diet, and that is fine. I just want her to be as healthy as she can be. 

I am excited to try PAO canned...I really love the variety of proteins to choose from since I am an advocate of protein-rotation. And, with such simple ingredients, it should be a seamless transition from one protein to the next. I'm almost tempted to rotate varieties weekly...or even every few days. I might try that...on Preston, my guinea pig. LOL!

I must say...I thought preparing GL was incredibly quick and easy...but I do think canned is even that much easier. I feel spoiled now opening her cans up and dividing the portions. LOL!


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## aprilb (Jul 9, 2010)

LJSquishy said:


> I know, I am really bummed out that GL wasn't the right fit for London. My hopes aren't high in trying another raw-based diet (whether the raw is meat or just the veggies) because GL seems to be the easiest transition. I will just stick with a quality canned diet, and that is fine. I just want her to be as healthy as she can be.
> 
> I am excited to try PAO canned...I really love the variety of proteins to choose from since I am an advocate of protein-rotation. And, with such simple ingredients, it should be a seamless transition from one protein to the next. I'm almost tempted to rotate varieties weekly...or even every few days. I might try that...on Preston, my guinea pig. LOL!
> 
> I must say...I thought preparing GL was incredibly quick and easy...but I do think canned is even that much easier. I feel spoiled now opening her cans up and dividing the portions. LOL!


I have tried the PA and it is an excellent food. It is high in protein and fat, however. Unfortunately, it is too much protein and fat for my girls. As long as London does well on high protein/high fat, it should be fine. I hope it works for her.:wub:


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## LamborghiniGirl (Apr 16, 2009)

I agree, having the vet give London the green light that there isn't a bigger issue causing her drastic weight loss would be my first instinct.

Sending you hugs, it must be scary realizing she has had such a dramatic change in weight! :wub:

In March Misto got very sick, and they never realized what caused it (I hated that vet's office) but while in their care in the ICU for 8 days, she went from 2 pounds to 1 pound 4 ounces... which is a huge drop in size! Almost 50%. It has taken me months to get her to gain back the weight and retain it. It may take some time, but I had great success with the Weruva, like I mentioned in the other thread. I was also doing 3 feedings a day (smaller portions but overall 25% more food per day) for a long time. 

Please let us know if a food switch fixes the problem!!

edit to add: When Misto came into my life, we tried the Nature's Variety Insinct Raw Medallions because I loved the idea of a raw diet. But it was causing way too much weight loss for us as well.


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## LJSquishy (Feb 27, 2008)

LamborghiniGirl said:


> I agree, having the vet give London the green light that there isn't a bigger issue causing her drastic weight loss would be my first instinct.
> 
> Sending you hugs, it must be scary realizing she has had such a dramatic change in weight! :wub:
> 
> ...


I agree, it is scary when they drop so much weight. London has been back on canned for about 5 days now and I honestly think it is helping her gain weight. She doesn't feel quite as thin...and it's only been a few days. I had wondered if the flaxseed in Grandma Lucy's was causing her to lose so much weight. She pooped 3x per day on GL so maybe it just ran right through her too quickly.


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