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.

Good News for Pinky

Dr. Boren called from the animal hospital to let us know that Pinky's urine test came back and it was good. No signs of a urinary tract infection, which we must avoid so that she does not get those stones again. It was such a relief and at least we know that the diet change is working.

I need to collect another sample in 4 months. Yikes!!! It took me so long to get this one, that I think I ought to start collecting now! Well, at least I know how do do it. I just have to give Pinky a lot of tea and then follow her out in the yard. Of course, in 4 months it will not be cold and so the urge to pee immediately may not be there. I guess we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.


1/20/2007

Psycho Chihuahua

Pinky is a total pyscho when it comes to wrapping paper. She loves to rip it and tear it the shreds. This is a photo of her just after she tore up paper from my daughter's birthday. Once she is done with the ripping, Pinky gets into a frenzied state. This frenzy makes her run around the house like a lunatic. I captured this one as she was tearing around the dining room table. As you can see, she is airborne here and is chasing my other dog, Chi-Chi. Chi-Chi was less than thrilled to be the object of Pinky's attention at this moment.

Official Weigh In

Met with Dr. Bypass on January 12, 2007. Lost a total of 38 official pounds and 44 unofficial pounds.

My BMI dropped by 6 points. I found out what BMR is. You use energy no matter what you're doing, even when sleeping. BMR is your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR); the number of calories you'd burn if you stayed in bed all day. Mine has dropped by 701, which I guess sounds impressive, but I really don't know.

Unfortunately, my blood work had not been faxed to the dr. prior to my visit. The office called to get it. They told me everything was fine, but I don't actually have the report myself, which I want. I think I will call and have them fax it to me

Now I start going every other month for my check-ups.

Me 1, Pinky 52

I DID IT!!!

I resolved to extract urine from Pinky by 12/31/2006 and I am happy to say that I did get that accomplished. As you can see from the title of this post, there was much work on my end in order to get the task completed.

The animal hospital gave me a bend-able Dixie plate-ish rectangular kind of container to catch the pee. It looks sort of like a french fry holder that you would get on the boardwalk at the shore. I attempted to use this many times with no luck. I started to fold it upwards so it would easily fit through her legs without touching her. I was able to get it under her, but as soon as I did, she would stop peeing.

It got to the point that when I was following her around the yard, she would just sit down on the cold ground. I suppose she was thinking that she could outwait me, but she thought wrong. On 12/29 I went out at 4:00 am when they went out for the first pee of the day. I figured that with their full bladders coupled with cold air, I would have a much better chance of getting the pee. Pinky kept squatting and running to get away from me.

On 12/30 I was able to get 2 drops. Literally, two drops of pee. I really didn't think that was going to be enough, but I poured it into the bottle that the animal hospital provided and refrigerated it.

Time was running out, so I resorted to drastic measures. Both of my chihuahuas love tea. Yes, hot tea (a post for another day). Yes, I know that I spoil them, but lets move on, shall we? I brewed a giant cup of blueberry tea and added milk to it. Pinky was climbing up my leg to sit on my lap just to watch me drink the tea. She was starting to drool. I let her slurp from the cup. She drank deeply from the giant vessel. I let her drink and drink. I even let Chi-Chi have some, but Pinky got to finish it up. Then I waited 15 minutes and opened the sliding glass doors to let them into the yard.

I was right behind Pinky with my crazy french fry holder. No sooner had she cleared the last step of the deck than she went into squat mode. She didn't even sniff out a good place to go. I was right there and positioned the container perfectly. She peed and peed. I had my sample! Woo-Hoo!

Pinky 20, Me 0

Pinky had some medical issues earlier this year. As a result, we had to change her diet to some specially formulated food. Luckily, she actually likes to eat this food, so that has not been a problem. What has been a problem is that I was supposed to have brought a urine sample to the vet to ensure that the food is working properly. I have been unable to obtain a urine sample from her.

Why is that? Well, she is rather skittish. I have taken her on several walks and every time she squats to pee, I am right there with my mini Tupperware trying to shove it under her. As soon as I get there, she stops peeing. She is quite adept at this dance by now. I have changed containers, but still with no luck. I estimate my attempts at 20 and I have been skunked each time.

I MUST get this sample. I know I can bring her to the vet and they can extract a sample from her, but that will cost beaucoup bucks. Since the sample doesn't have to be "pure" the vet suggested I save some dough and get it myself. Up til now, the attempts have been fruitless. I am determined to get this pee sample. I am setting a deadline of obtaining it by December 31st, 2006. Wish me luck!