Will You Double Check My Feeding Amounts?

[Kaitlin and Ludo]

Ludo weighs 42.4 pounds but the vet said that he's still at a healthy weight, he'd be better at 40 or 41 pounds, so I am trying to work on cutting back a little bit with him. I don't think we need to pick up more exercise, we walk about 90 minutes/day plus general play, so I think he is sufficient there... so I've got to alter his food a little bit.

We rotate between Fromm Four Star Chicken a la Veg, Pork and Applesauce and Duck and Sweet Potato and they are all about 395 kcal/cup (pork and applesauce is is 393).

Ludo gets 2.6 cups a day, but if he acts hungry at night, I might give him an extra 1/3 or 2/3 cup-- I'd say this happens maybe 2-3 times a week? He seems to only eat when he's hungry and (while I know it is frowned upon here), I free-feed him... I put 1.3 cups of food in his bowl in the morning and if he eats it all, I give him 1.3 cups in the evening-- he doesn't always eat everything.

He doesn't get a lot of treats.  Maybe a quarter of a string cheese and one piece of freeze dried liver a day.

I believe the 2.6 cups is what he should be getting for maintaining his 42 pounds. If I look at maintaining 40 or 41 pounds, I'm thinking I need to cut him to 2.5 cups per day (between 985-1005 calories per day).

Does that sounds about right? I hate to think about him being hungry :(

Thanks in advance for the help!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

You want to keep his calories at about 800 per day, (20 calories per lb of body weight per day) which means that you are overfeeding him a bit. 

I'd give him 2 cups of kibble per day. You can add a cup of canned no-sodium-added green beans, that will help keep him from feeling hungry without adding much in the way of calories. 

[Kaitlin and Ludo]

Oh yikes!!  At 800 calories per day, he's getting about 230 calories more than he needs right now!! I'll try the tip about green beans-- he loves them and it would feel like such a treat!

Thanks as always, Karen!!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Green beans only contain about 40 calories per cup, so you could even give him more if he really likes them.