Losing weight on Open Farm

[pogue72]

I’ve been feeding my chocolate lab (12) open farm for a few months now and he’s been really struggling to keep on weight. He’s still an active dog and I have to feed him 5 cups a day to manage his weight (serving size is 3-3/4 cups).

Has anyone else had this problem? Should I switch him to something else?

Edit: he was previously on senior performatrin ultra and had no issues

 

[seashells]

@pogue72 Unless the Open Farm has much lower calories I would consider taking him to the vet for blood work.

 

[pogue72]

@seashells He goes to the vet monthly for injections, the weight loss started happening immediately after starting on Open Farm…

 

[seashells]

@pogue72 Then maybe try switching back and if he keeps losing weight you should have blood work done.

 

[sevilodorf]

@pogue72 I have anecdotally heard of this problem with both open farm and farmers dog. But it’s hard to know what else could be going on there or if it’s truly a food problem.

You absolutely need a vet visit to check for underlying health issues and probably to discuss a science backed diet

 

[chloejm]

@pogue72 My dogs where on open farm for a while. My pit started to have issues with white fish. My Weim had trouble keeping weight on with open farm he was eating about 5 cups of food to maintain his weight but being a Weim I try to avoid feeding large quantity (bloat fear). Decided to take them off it because of those reasons.

 

[chloejm]

I did get blood work for my guy done and everything was fine. Once I switched his food we didn’t have an issue.

 

[pogue72]

@chloejm What did you switch his food to? I think that might be our best bet, 5 cups a day is not sustainable