Fat Chihuahua

So how much should a chihuahua weigh??? I'm not talking about those teacup varieties, either because they aren't the real deal and are not acknowledged by the American Kennel Club (AKC). The accepted breed standard disqualifies any dog over 6 pounds or under 3 pounds. Unless your chihuahua is supposed to be a show dog, it doesn't matter as long as she's healthy. My vet says that there are weight variations for pets just like their are weight variations for people. Some Chihuahuas had bigger parents and so they are likely to be bigger.

That being said, Chi-Chi is fat. She is starting to look like a football with legs. Here she is looking very football-like.













She is 3.5 years old. She was a very thin chi for the first year that we had her. We went on a trip for 3 weeks and when we came home, I swear she looked enormous. My dad definitely overfed her. Well, here it is 1 year later and she is chunkier than ever.

We were just at the vet on January 30, 2007. She was having some pain when she moved backwards so I took her in. Of course, by the time I was able to get an appointment, she seemed to be in no pain. I was worried that her weight was causing the problem. The vet said she weighed 13.8 pounds. The vet's biggest concern was that I was feeding her and Pinky just once a day. She told me to break up their food into two meals, giving them less. I brought the ingredients of Chi-Chi's dog food and she said it wasn't the food that was making her fat. It doesn't matter if I bought diet food or not because if she is getting snacks during the day, that is going to be the culprit.


I know for a fact that both dogs are getting snacks and tidbits during the day. She advised that we cut out all snacks immediately. Feed her 1/4 cup of food twice per day and then they would re-weigh in May when she comes in for her annual check-up. She should show a loss by then. If not, they will do blood work on her to see if she has a thyroid problem.

I weighed her last night on my scale and she weighed 13.2 pounds. Because it is a different scale, I don't know if she really lost any weight at all, but at least I have a starting point for our home scale. I shall weigh her once a week to see how she is doing.

Eat Slowly

I cannot emphasize this nearly enough. You must eat slowly. This will be my new mantra. EAT SLOWLY. Why? Because I have experienced first hand what happens when I do not eat slowly and it is not a pretty sight. I have been very busy this past week. Every night I had to rush home, get dinner ready, eat and run out the door for various appointments.

I ate three tablespoons of chicken and mashed potato, so it was not a question of eating too much food. I was beeing good and wasn't drinking any liquids with the food either, so that was definitely not a factor. I went to the bathroom and immediately threw up my dinner. As soon as I puke, I feel instantly better. I can see that this can be a problem and how people who have had the surgery become obsessive purgers. This is not a problem for me, but when you puke and you feel so much better I can see why people would choose this as an option.