Tiger Mom, Porkchop Dog

Throughout my years with Elvis, his diet consisted of a low-residue dog food that seemed to be the only kibble to agree with his sensitive stomach. A kibble that, unfortunately, was just slightly cheaper than a car payment.

And let me tell you, that boy could eat. He chowed down five cups a day and never gained an ounce. Occasionally, I tried gradually switching him to well-reputed, less expensive foods, but within hours his diarrhea and gas would return. After a few failed attempts, I realized I had no choice. I had to keep paying the big bucks to keep him healthy.

Olivia, however, appears to have a sturdier stomach than her predecessor. In our five months together, she's never had a single bout of diarrhea, gas or vomiting. Which is why I wondered if I could switch her from the pricey stuff she shared with Elvis to one of the other foods I'd previously researched. Like that inviting salmon and lamb-flavored one?

So I made the switch, following the usual instructions to introduce a new food gradually over the course of two weeks. Olivia polished off her five cups a day with an enthusiasm that told me she liked the new stuff and I was encouraged. However, my delight was short-lived when I noticed her "output" had increased from two to up to five stools a day, dotting my patio like a minefield in Bosnia. Then...oh no... I became aware of a lingering aroma that would waft through the air shortly after each meal:

The dreaded eau de gas.

Fine. I knew defeat when I smelled it. And so, on Saturday, I swung by Dr. Arnott's office to purchase a bag of the "slightly cheaper than a car-payment" food, and brought Olivia with me. Dr. Arnott took one look at her and raised an eyebrow. "She's gained weight," he observed. Nah, I said.

Or had she?

Last November, when I brought Olivia home, she was a skeletal 58 pounds, not surprising since most racers are kept underweight. Her skin was streeeetched across her rippling spine and ribcage, and brushing her felt like raking bones. I knew she needed to gain weight, but with Dr. Arnott's words, it occurred to me that lately, when brushing her I hadn't felt any bones. Far from it, in fact.

Uh oh.

Still, I wasn't quite prepared to see those numbers when we put Olivia on the scale. My little tiger, so nicknamed for her brindle coat, was now, it appeared, my little porkchop at a generous 71 pounds! As someone who has always been very careful about what I feed my dogs, shunning people food and carefully doling out healthy treats, I was stunned. I know the health repercussions of extra weight on a dog.

"Is she f..f..f.." I could barely utter the word. "Is she...(gulp) fat?"

Dr. Arnott assured me that she wasn't...yet. "But it won't hurt her to drop a pound or two," he advised. When he learned of her new diet, he blamed that as the culprit. Turned out the tasty salmon-lamb stuff was more caloric than the "slightly cheaper than a car payment" food, yet I had continued giving her five cups a day when three would have sufficed. Oops.

So Olivia is back on the old food and I'm back to paying the big bucks. Anything to keep my girl healthy. And hey, the house smells a lot nicer, too.