If you Feed EVO, I would like your advice
 

So... my cute furry munchkin is overweight. That I knew, but the vet got really snippy with me. Well, technically with my boyfriend as he's the one that actually went to take Kaji to the vet. Anyway, she said that I should be feeding Kaji less than 1/2 cup of kibble a day, without knowing what food I feed him.

Well... I feed the Evo grain free food. I know Kaji's activity level has dropped to practically zero, and I try to make up for that by feeding him less. He should weigh 7 lbs, but I feed him as if he weighed 6 according to the guideline in the back. He gets 1/4 cup in the morning and 1/4 cup at night. I even stick my finger in the measuring cup so he gets slightly less than a 1/4 cup. I try playing fetch with him until he decides he's not sharing the ball with me anymore. Should he be eating less?

PS. If I'm feeding him correctly, then I'm blaming grandma, grandpa, and uncle MJ (my little bro) for sneaking my little chunky butt extra tidbits.

I am feeding Chase Evo right now (only because of the free bag coupon, I won't buy it again). He gets 1/2 cup a day (1/4 cup in am and pm mixed with a bit of canned), and sometimes will eat an extra 1/4 cup of the dry that is left out. He is pretty active, and we go for at least one long walk a day (about a mile and a half). He is 15lbs. I have noticed he wants to eat more, maybe the Evo doesn't fill him up like the Acana does.

Evo contains more fat and calories than most other grain free foods I'm aware of, so maybe that's why he's pudgy? I fed NV Instinct for a long time and was very happy with it, but I noticed most of my gang packed on a few ounces. Here's a little schedule I did for myself when I was researching their weight gain:

Evo Red Meat 22% fat, 527 cal
NV Instinct 22% fat, 482 cal
Acana 18% fat, 430 cal
Fromm Grainfree 19% fat, 410 cal
TOTW 15% fat, 360 cal

I switched to TOTW, and am now on Acana. None of them have had a weight problem since.

I did want to point out, since I don't know which Evo you're feeding, that the Evo Herring is much lower in fat and calories than the other Evo varieties. It only has 18.6% fat and 456 cal, so if you prefer to feed Evo maybe that would be an option for you?

I obtained all of these figures directly from the manufacturer's websites, and they're all based on a one cup serving size.

Good luck! :)

I actually want to switch him to Orijen. I'm feeding Evo turkey and chicken formula small bites only because I wanted to try grain free and I had a coupon for a free bag. This was my choice because it had really good ratings. This is what I'm feeding him: Meat-Based Pet Food – Premium Dog Food, Cat Food, Ferret Food, Dog Treats – EVO Pet Products
I don't get it though. He should be 7 lbs, weighs about 8 now, and I feed him a little less than the serving size for a 6 lber, according to the chart, and he's still chunky. Something isn't right.


Seems that you and I did the same thing. But you feed Chase way less than the charts suggest for an active dog. Maybe I should be feeding Kaji 1/4 cup a day?

I'm trying to remember how old Kaji is? I know he's young, but have you had his thyroid checked?

Britster has posted quite a bit about how much she feeds her boy, Jackson, daily. Hopefully she'll she this and correct any of my mistakes :), but Jackson weighs about 15 pounds and she only feeds him 1/4 cup Acana/Orijen twice a day, along with a tiny bit of canned and a few treats. I think some pupsters just don't need to eat as much the manufacturer's recommend on their bags.

He's 2 and I thought I was feeding him less than the guideline to make up for his lack of activity. I don't feed him any wet food because I know he doesn't need the extra calories, and as far as treats go, I haven't bought him any in over a month. His weight started going up when he went on antibiotics at the beginning of September. He does get the lettuce whites as treats. He loves chewing on the crunchy part of lettuce and I figured it was sin free.

Agree with what everyone else said, esp. about Evo having even more calories and fat than other foods, so even less needs to be fed.

Jackson only eats 1/2 cup per day of Acana kibble and yep, he is 15lbs. :thumbup: He is also VERY active and does well on this, and never wants to eat more than that. He gets daily walks, swimming a few times a week, dog parks a few times a week, visits to my dads fenced in yard with their dogs running and running some more, fetch daily (indoor and outdoor), etc.

When he free fed, he self regulated at 1/2 cup per day. When I started scheduled feeding and starting doing 1/2 cup in the AM and 1/2 cup in the PM, it was just too much food (following the bag). He would often leave kibble behind or kinda force himself to eat since it had wet food on it and it was just too good to stop, lol. If he's super active for the day, I will sometimes up it to about 3/4 cup but those are for the days when he runs for nearly 2 hours straight at the dog park. I've also started giving him a raw patty (Stella & Chewy's) for breakfast about 3 days a week, and on those days I still give him the full 1/2 cup for dinner.

I don't go by the bag guidelines. I'm sure they work well for some dogs, but every dog is different and for a pet that needs to lose weight, I def. wouldn't go by that. Even the holistic pet store owner told me 1 cup for Jackson would be WAY too much and he's nearly double Kaji's size.

Thanks for this info. I too got a free bag of EVO (red meat) and Ziva weighed 6 1/4 lbs (14 months) she got her shots and weighed 61/2, when we went back last week to get the rabies shot she weighed 7lb! Gained 3/4 lb in 6 weeks!!She is going back on the solid gold wee bits. I feed 1/4 c 2x a day- she is rather active.( her collar was tight and I was calling her chub butt....

I fed Evo Red Meat small bites for breakfast before P&G bought them out, and premade raw (rotate between Stella & Chewy's and Primal Raw) in the evenings.

My girls are about 9 and 12 lbs (very thin and active), and they were eating 1/4 cup in the morning, so I think you might want to cut him back a little if his ideal weight is 7. :)

We have since switched the Orijen Regional Red for kibble (still 1/4 cup) and continue with the raw for dinner.

I've always found the guidelines on the bag to be way too much for my babies.

1/4 cup a food it is! Plus, he's going to start using that treadmill that my dad doesn't want anymore. Just because he can't walk outside shouldn't be an excuse for my formerly active baby to become a couch potato. :D

Plus, when I was feeding something else, I went by the guide and Kaji was nice and skinny.

Nala is 6 pounds and eats about 1/3 cup a day and is SUPER active. Bandit is not as active and is 5 pounds and eats 1/4 cup a day.

They're both on Acana.

It does seem like a bit much, but I feel like the guidelines on the back are generous lol:rolleyes: Maybe you can give him a carrot before each meal so it fills her up a bit before she starts eating so she feels full with less calorie intake?

I had to lessen Levi's portions when I switched from Blue Buffalo to Orijen. When he was on Blue Buffalo, I could feed by the bag guidelines. On Orijen, I feed less than the bag recommendations (when I went by the bag, he actually gained weight)!

I used to free feed, and Levi used to be pretty good at self-regulating...but then he all of a sudden starting eating like a ravenous monster, ha. So now Levi eats about 1/8 of a cup of Orijen 2-3 times a day. I did try going by Orijen's guidelines for awhile, but that did push his weight up, so we've definitely had to cut it down. The grain-free kibble is just so much more dense!

I hope that you can get Kaji's portions worked out! He is such a cute little guy!

I know so many people who had a problem with weight gain on EVO. There are so many other choices now that are lower in fat, how about switching?

Has Kaji had bloodwork since being on EVO? I know several dogs who had high triglycerides/cholesterol on EVO.

Nope, but he's not going to eat it anymore. Why is it highly rated if it's such a bad food? I'll switch to Orijen sooner rather than later. I just assumed it was due to his lack of exercise. It happened before when we recently moved and his schedule changed. I got it back down to his weight by reducing the suggested serving size like I did with the EVO.

He was just in for his regular checkup in late August, which is when we discovered his bladder infection. It then prolonged a few more weeks since he had an abnormally high number of crystals in his urine. I had to treat him another 2 weeks.

EVO was the first high protein grain free kibble, I believe. For that reason, I think people are more familiar with it. It's also made by a company everyone is familiar with and has a great reputation...at least it did before it was sold.