You’re on a diet, Ellie B

/ June 8, 2016

My dear wife Karen took our cherished rescue mutt Ellie B to the vet last week for her scheduled shots, check-up and nail clipping.

I had a late meeting at the library, but managed to squeeze into the examination room before it was all over.

In this corner of the backyard, weighing in at 80 pounds ...

In this corner of the backyard, weighing in at 80 pounds …

Yes, despite my increased walking routine in the park and blocks surrounding the Little Bitty in the Syracuse city neighborhood of Eastwood, aka Dogamous Pyle still tipped the step-on scale at 80 pounds exactly. So Dr. D devised a change-her-food diet.

Less calories.
More calories.

Hover over either gallery photo for a description. Click on either for an enlarged slide show.

We are feeding our dog a new brand. They sold us a four-pound bag right then and there. Price: $16. Yeesh. That’s more expensive than the old brand, which we bought in the 23-pound-bag size at PetSmart because the $53 cost was less averaged out over the long run. Hell, this new stuff is more expensive than some of the meat I eat.

So.

We shopped around for this less calorie-dense, grain-free Hills food. Grained food makes Ellie B’s skin break out, you see.

Supermarkets, no. BJ’s wholesale, no. PetSmart, Bingo. Price: $49.99 for a 21-pound bag. Just about the same as the Blue Wilderness. These gourmet dog food companies must be in cahoots.

Anyway, she gobbles up the new stuff, if you were wondering. Twice a day, half-cup portions each time. And still stick her nose up my … plate every time I’m eating.

This new diet better work. The next step Dr. D suggests would be a blood test, price $350, to check Dogamous Pyle’s organ functions. That’s a worry and cost we don’t want or need.

What type of food do you feed your pet? Have you ever had to put your pet on a special diet? How much does your pet food cost these days?

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24 thoughts on “You’re on a diet, Ellie B”

  1. Hope that does the trick for Ellie B., Mark. We are lucky, as the dog we have now (Riley Red Dog, who my husband brought home a little over 10 years ago) is really not food driven at all, which surprises me as he was about starved to death when my husband found him. I think he was 8 years old before he discovered food dropped under the cabinet, seriously . . . I make sure he has food in his bowl most of the time, as he only eats what he wants and leaves the rest for later. (We really only feed him once a day.) Riley is one of the strangest dogs LOL!! He DOES however love pizza crust, and is a captive audience when pizza is eaten 🙂

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  2. When Cody was a pup, she kept experiencing bouts of diarrhea. Each time, the vet put her on boiled chicken and rice, and she never got better. It turned out that poor Cody can’t eat chicken or beef – she can’t digest the protein. So now she’s on Hills Science Diet ZD, which somehow has the chicken already broken down. She’s been on it for more than a year and is doing perfectly fine – no more accidents in the house. The only problem, of course, is that a 15-lb bag of dog food along with 2 8-oz packages of the matching Science Diet treats runs us over $100. Thank goodness Cody’s not a huge dog!

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  4. glen frey the cat eats grain free, not too bad as of yet, but i know it gets trickier as they age. i need someone who will only give me a half cup of food in the morning and the evening and it might be a good thing )

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  5. So far so good with the standard dog food. Sadie gets a half cup of that in the morning and then she gets what’s good for her as we eat. Many dogs need a special diet as they age, much like many humans. Sadie’s only 6.
    Now, my old boy kitty, he’s big boned and the vet says that’s exactly the kind of cat who’ll go diabetic on grains, so he’s a wet food eater all day and then he gets grains before we go to bed. It keeps him trim and healthy. The other cats don’t know any differently, so they all eat the same.

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  8. Maybe it’s going around … We’ve cut Duncan back too. And we add green beans (salt free) to his kibble — about 1/2 cup per meal. It fills him up and there is somewhat less begging. He’s happier. Carrots work too. But it’s important to have salt free. Cans work — salt free or rinse them. Frozen is probably the cheapest but you have to microwave them before giving them to the pooch.

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  9. For a while there–between contaminated pet food and the various special dietary needs of our cats and dogs, not to mention the cost of prescription pet food–I found it cheaper and easier to make up and freeze a huge batch of pet stew every few weeks. Of course, the Hub and I both had full-time jobs (and not in the same country), the kids were equally busy, and so that was the ONLY cooking I did. Actual humans had to survive on pierce-the-film du jour.

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  10. You would not believe how much I dish out for pet food for Oscar the cat, Mark. He needs to be on a prescription diet — thyroid and bladder problems. I hope that Ellie B stays healthy. ❤

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