Any suggestions on how to help my dog gain weight?

carleigh

A brief background.......my 13 y/o Golden Cocker has liver cancer and also suffers with Collitis, and this time last year, he was 16.6kg, and tonight at the vets he is weighing only 13.6kg. The vet is happy with him overall, as in November 2010 he only gave him a couple of months to live, so overall, we are delighted. But he has lost alot of muscle, and is looking a bit boney. Due to his problems, he has a very restricted diet, he can only have chicken, turkey, fish, egg, rice and pasta. He is not allowed any kind of dogfood, so I try my best to give him variety with his meals. But he really cant afford to lose any more weight, so I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions on how to fatten him up? He is still very active, but doesnt have a big appetite, he never did. My mother is getting the knitting needles out in the morning to knit him a jumper to keep him warm on his walks (and add an extra layer!). Any help would be greatly appreciated......thanks in advance.

lorebringer

Carbs, carbs and more carbs! Like humans, dogs put up weight easily with carbohydrates (think all the cheapy foods on the market - full of carbs, driving dogs mad and piling on the weight) so increasing the rice and pasta in his diet will get the weight up on him. The other thing is to get the food into him - adding a few extra bits to get him to eat, runny egg yokes (poached go down best in my house!), a little olive oil or home made (not shop bought) stock can work wonders. Fats are not the best for the liver so try to think of yummy things that are not high in fats to entice him to eat more (I know my suggestions are mostly fats but you get the idea!). Perhaps your vet could give you some ideas as to what might encourage him to eat while still being ok, health wise, for him.

The one thing I will say is that 13.6kg is not a bad weight for an older Cocker, esp. one that has health problems, so getting the weight onto him isn't something that urgently needs to be addressed. Increasing his food intake gradually will work better for him than a sudden big increase in food volume.

ISDW

How many times a day do you feed him? If you break it down into small, more frequent meals it really helps, as the dog can digest all of the food in each meal, so I'd recommend 4 meals a day if you can.

If you have a chicken to eat yourself, or if you're cooking chicken for the dog, once you've taken all the meat off the carcass, boil it for a good while, turn it off, and let the stock set. There will be a good layer of fat on top of the stock which is great to add to food to help put weight on, its just pure chicken fat. You can also use the stock of course over his food.

lorebringer's advice is spot on, increase the pasta definitely.

Nollipop

My 12-year old collie cross had liver cancer and also lost a lot of weight. I felt awful when the vet pointed this out, but its hard to notice when they only drop a few ounces every day and this builds up over time...

He would be very ill on dog food. Didn't seem to be able to stomach it, so he had chicken and rice, ham and rice and so on. All cooked meats and carbs.

Towards the end, his appetite (usually not too bad) really dropped off and I took to heating up the food so that he could smell it and be more tempted to try it. You could also pour warm tasty smelly things over the top (as suggested above) like home-made broth (no salt) or chicken fat.

Mine went on for months after he was given 'a few weeks at most' so keep on spoiling him and enjoying him.

seamus

As ISDW says, smaller but more regular meals mean that you may be able to more food into him.

Also as lorebringer says, perhaps try fit in some "free" calories to the meals - fluids like oils or egg yolks can be mixed into his meals and provide additional calories without adding bulk to the meal.

carleigh

Many thanks for all your suggestions I made him a poached egg this morning, but he wasnt interested! Sometimes he will eat a fried or scrambled egg, but its hit and miss whether he eats it. We used to be able to put his food outside, and this encouraged him to eat as he was afraid the birds would eat it (hes a bird-hater!). But our neighbours got a little Pom cross a few months ago and she climbs over the dividing wall and breaks through the hedge to get at his food, so we cant do that anymore as we wouldnt know who exactly has been eating it! I bought him a whole chicken, and as suggested, I boiled it and it is resting at the moment, I'm going to mix some of the liquid with chicken and rice for his dinner, usually around 5pm. I often give him some tuna/salmon etc in olive oil, so I may up that now to a couple of times a week. He eats a few chicken/turkey slices at lunch every day to take his medication, so once we get that into him, its half the battle! I brought him back to the vets today to buy a new coat, as his old one is like a sack on him! So he is looking very snazzy now. As Nollipop said, we are spoiling him (within reason) and enjoying every day, as each one is a bonus. Thanks again

MiamiMice

Have him get married. My wife piled on the pounds afterwards...

callmekenneth

MiamiMice wrote: »

Have him get married. My wife piled on the pounds afterwards...

back of the net!

i had to fatten up a seriously underweight boxer once and i found a few eggs scrambled with some milk and bread (outside of her normal dinner) worked well.

carleigh

Just a quick update on Jake............he has continued to lose weight, at the vet on Friday night we weighed him and he has lost another kilo, despite eating an awful lot over Christmas. Our vet has advised us that he is nearing the end, and at this point, to just spoil him and let him live life to the fullest. The vet himself said it was the first time he actually looked like a sick dog. He has gotten very boney but he is still full of life and in general a happy dog. He got 3 injections Friday night, 2 being steroids, to keep his energy up, and they worked a treat. He went for a long walk yesterday, he wouldnt stop! He's having a snooze at the moment, no walk today, but tomorrow he is off to the woods to meet his dog pals. So we are greatful for what time he has left and we are proud of him for hanging on this long, and we will make the hard decision that awaits us soon with his best interests at heart.

ISDW

Really sorry to hear he's declining like that.

Enjoy the time you have left together, it sounds as though he was a lucky dog to be part of your family.

Best of luck.

Vince32

Have to agree with the other posters here, little & often is the road to weight gain