WARNING: GROSS (my dog is fat)

[manic_muncher]

Ok so wasn’t sure if this should go into the lounge or not, but it’s (kinda) related to buns so…

My lil fat dog, Outlaw, is VERY fat.  He turned 3 yrs old in February.  The poor dog is hungry ALL the time.  I don’t know why he’s like this, he’s always been hungry.  As a pup, he was a runt thing and was always kinda pushed to the side and left behind by his littermates.  When I brought him home, I set his kennel up on top of my desk, so he could see me at all times, and yea, I made sure he ate regularly… often…  But now he is terribly fat.  If feed him as packaging describes, it’s worse.  Last year I fed him just a few sprinkles of kibble and filled the rest with green beans.  He’d scarf everything down, and still want more, but he did slim down a bit.  I haven’t been feeding him green beans lately and still restrict the amount of kibble he eats and he’s blown up again.

 The Gross part:

Outlaw follows the rabbits around, waiting for poo balls.  It wasn’t so bad when it was only Bumpy, since he rarely dropped any outside his pen.  So I really didn’t have to do anything about it.  But now… with Bonnie and Clyde (both bigger buns than Bumpy) being younger and unfixed (as of now) they just have a field day dropping poos around the other rabbit cage areas.  And Bonnie poos are no joke!!  Those things are as big as chinese checker marbles and just as plentiful!  I’m guessing those of us that have dogs know they sneak a poo or two… but Outlaw wants to have them as a meal.  Aside from being grossed out thinking about it… can this actually be bad for him?  I sweep them up as I see them of course, and I have set up an extra litterbox where she was choosing to go beside Clyde’s cage, but like I said, Outlaw literally walks behind the rabbits almost non-stop gobbling whatever may appear.  

How many calories are in that poo?!?  (this makes me ill even trying to think about)  

I don’t know what to do about this habit he has now, because honestly I think it is because he IS really hungry.

Maybe he needs his thyroid function checked… 

[Bam]

I don’t think it’s bad for him. Dog’s can eat a lot of horse-poo and it’s only dangerous if the horse has been dewormed so there’s worm-medicine in the poo, that can kill a dog since horses are so big they need large doses of dewormers. (Horses and rabbits have similar diets and nutritional demands. It’s common for stable- dogs to eat horses-poo.) 

The caloric content shouldn’t be very big since rabbit-food is low in fat and protein.

The health-issues with obesity is a bigger problem imo. I think you probably should have him checked out, he’s a youngish dog. There are (as I’m sure you know) a number of conditions and disorders that may cause a dog to become disproportionally hungry and fat. Are there any other symptoms besides the hunger and obesity?

A runt may have a hidden health-problem that made him a runt or he may have been experiencing a profound deprivation of (edible) resources (other pups ate all there was and so he develops an excessive drive to feed to survive.). Again I don’t know the ethologic term for deprivation of resources in English so I just try to translate from Swedish.

I hope you can figure this out, not so fun to be a little fatty!

Edit: Found this link, scroll down to the pic of the labrador for diseases and conditions. http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=2+1659&aid=688

[Deleted User]

Gosh! Your so clever bam!!! And that’s so good to know – my dog’s eat Henry’s poop tooooo! Like manic, it grosses me out, but only when I ‘SEE’ it!

Just wanted to let you know manic that Frank is 9 now and his waist line has always been super thin/skinny – yet he is sooo piggish, that when I divvy up the leftovers into 3 piles for the 3 dog’s, Frank will run from his to the others to see what they have (SAME!) and will choke his food down to get a second share of theirs. He is ‘hungry’ all the time – yet I leave good quality dry dog food available all the time (except when Henry is awake – DOH!) yet Frank will only eat it as a last resort. When we eat, he will literally whinge for ‘our’ food. Oh, and when George was on heat (4 times all up before we had him neutered) he didn’t eat a thing (NOTHING) during that period, and his belly was non existent – literally his front end was held together to his back end by his spine. Frank is at the other extreme to your Outlaw!
I did worry, till the vet suggested once that just like humans, one dog from the same family/litter can be bigger and other’s smaller – it made sense. Especially when I caught up with a friend that we gave one of George’s brothers too – and he was HUGE! Yet the dog we gave to my Uncle was teeny tiny and 12 years later (being spoiled rotten) he still is. George is right in the middle for size, go figure – all from the same litter.
I couldn’t imagine quality dry dog food is fattening (???), so though bunny poop isn’t bad, I’d offer Outlaw more and just see if that makes the difference and deters him from eating the bunny poop or at least lesson it? Nothing worse than feeling hungry…. why I NEVER diet! Lol!

[LittlePuffyTail]

I would definitely see a vet for your dog. Obesity is very dangerous. It could be an unbalance issue like hypothyroid. My cat was losing weight despite eating tons and he was diagnosed with Hyperthyroid. The treatment for both is very simple. Most vets prescribe (for cats anyways, I assume it’s the same for dogs) a transdermal medication. You just apply a little dab on the ear once or twice a day.

[JumpinBuns]

What kind of food are you feeding your dog? I know that some dogs can have grain or soy sensitivities and have experienced drastic health improvements by switching to natural, grain free, or raw dog foods… or even using a homemade raw. I know a friend of mine swears by epigen by wysong. A change in diet might be something to discuss with your vet on his next visit.

[manic_muncher]

Thanks for all the responses! I’m just gonna jump right in with responding in no particular order! lol

We’ve only tried him on 2 different usual not-so-good-for-them foods, pedigree and beneful. Before when I had 3 big dogs, in addition to these two, it was kinda necessary to get a food that wouldn’t kill me in the pocketbook and be able to feed everyone. As of now, with just the 2 little dogs, I can afford to spend a little more on a decent food, though I am still limited by location. Hmm unless I were to buy online.

I have been looking at Rachel Ray’s Nutrish line of foods online, because I know our grocery store sells some of them, so I’m thinking of giving that a try. The last time I went to the vet and asked about it, I was there to pick up meds and just had a quick word with them in passing, they suggested that I cut back on the kibble and bulk it up with green beans. And that DID help, tremendously. He lost weight. But it also was a real hassle, because I had to confine him until the other dog finished his food, or he’d steal it.

We tried a psychological approach, letting him eat as much as he wanted, until he stopped himself. This approached had worked with a dog my hubby had in the past who would gorge herself, until one day they just let her at the entire bag and she ate until she couldn’t move. After that, she ate like a normal dog. I gave him 1/2 cup kibble and started defrosting the green beans. He ate and ate and ate… you could see him slowing down, and ate and ate and ate… he’s feeling ill now… nibble nibble, choking it down… lays down. I’ll tell you.. it made me happy to know that for once, he wasn’t hungry. But 30 min later, he was eating again. Now whether this started off as him being shunned by his dog family at the beginning and kinda pushed to the back all of the time and not getting enough to eat as a baby, I don’t know. Add to that, when I got him and doing the complete opposite by never having him actually reach a state of hunger. Perhaps I inadvertently reinforced it.

I guess I’ll do a food change and when I take him for his vaccines get them to do some bloodwork to check his levels, especially his thyroid function. If all that were to come back normal, I guess it would be all psychological at that point, and rabbit pez dispensers would fulfill that need. yuck lol

[LBJ10]

The rabbit poo poses little danger, unless your buns have something that could be passed to the dog. Otherwise, I wouldn’t worry too much about it. I, like everyone else has said, would be more worried about the obsessive eating of anything and everything. It could be a thyroid problem or some other imbalance.

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