puppy losing weight

kristian12

We have 3 dogs including a 12 mnth old puppy. The puppy has lost a lot of weight, you can see all her ribs and her coat is awful. She's been wormed, the vets checked her over and done blood tests and everything came back clear.

The vet said its a case of building her back up and suggested I try increasing her food but feeding in smaller portions more often. I am happy to do this but she simply wont eat dog food. If I give her human food she wolfs it down. She won't even eat the dog food out of my hand.

Any suggestions as to how I can build her back up? Would pasta and rice be ok?

aonb

Have you tried some REALLY GOOD quality dog food? There are countless threads on here listing the BETTER quality ones. (Some dog foods are absolute rubbish - your puppy may be a fussy type - what breed is it? - that you need to find the right food for)

I have always fed my dogs home cooked food. They thrive on it, even the fussy, picky dog became a regular eater. Simply cook a couple of times a week, a very large pot of rice (brown if no issues with digestion) with water and chicken pieces (on the bone - cheaper -, which you will remove when cooked) Add some veg (small pieces of carrot/peas/parsnips/whatever) When cooked up, chop everything up to suit your dogs size. I vary it with potatos/other meat on special offer/veg in season. Nice big gloopy soupy pot of it - smells good enough for yourself to eat!

andreac

What dog food are you feeding? I suggest getting a good quality, high meat content food.

You could also go down the raw food diet.

I would say she has learnt that if she doesnt eat the dog food she will get something tastier, so maybe try being a bit stricter and give her only the dog food and she should eat when shes hungry.
Most dogs will hold out for a day or two and eat then once they realise they arent getting anything else.

But as your dog is underweight this might not be the best route to go down.

kristian12

Thanks, I tried changing foods but apart from initial interest she still wouldn't touch it. At the moment it well beloved she on. I thought it might be the other 2 being a bit possessive and I hadn't noticed so I've moved food bowls but the fact she won't even take it from my hand implies its more.

I don't mind changing to raw but thought it might be better to build her up first.

She is a gsd x. The other 2 are fine and a good weight.

andreac

I would try feeding her in another room away from the others, just in case she is a bit worried about them taking it on her.

Have you tried soaking the food in warm water? This gets it a bit softer and tastier for them, so you could also try that. Try get in to a routine with feeding too. Offer the food, leave for 10/15 mins, then if she hasnt eaten, take it up and offer nothing until next mealtime. Dont offer any other food at all, no treats, nothing. This might encourage her to eat then at next mealtime. Try this for a day or two and see how you get on.

You need to be strict though and dont give in to the puppy dog eyes. Unless there is medical condition going on, there is no reason why she shouldnt be eating the food.

kristian12

andreac wrote: »

I would try feeding her in another room away from the others, just in case she is a bit worried about them taking it on her.

Have you tried soaking the food in warm water? This gets it a bit softer and tastier for them, so you could also try that. Try get in to a routine with feeding too. Offer the food, leave for 10/15 mins, then if she hasnt eaten, take it up and offer nothing until next mealtime. Dont offer any other food at all, no treats, nothing. This might encourage her to eat then at next mealtime. Try this for a day or two and see how you get on.

You need to be strict though and dont give in to the puppy dog eyes. Unless there is medical condition going on, there is no reason why she shouldnt be eating the food.

Thanks, I have moved her bowl but no I hadn't tried soaking her food so thats today plan :-). I have always taken the food up after 15 mins and have limited her treats to just her morning toast so she must be starving and the weight loss is scary.

Last night I mixed tuna in with her dried food and she picked it out. Beginning to think she has just become fussy but I'm in a no win situation as she has to eat :-(.

DBB

What are her poops like op?
Lovely question I know!

muddypaws

JWB is a really good food, but its quite low in fat, so probably won't help her to put weight on. There are different things you can try, but, whilst they may get some weight on her, she probably won't sustain that weight. One thing to do is, if you have a roast chicken, boil the carcass up, and use the stock on her food, if you let it cool, you will get a layer of fat on top of the stock, which is great to add to the kibble for weight gain. Google satin balls as well, there are different recipes, they are great for weight gain.

tk123

If you can handle the smell tripe is great for building them up. Or even a good quality wet food to get her eating - Rocco from zooplus is very good. I kept my pup on puppy food until she was 12 months btw because I had her on a slow growth diet and felt she still needed it.

spur

I have a fusspot - a 5 year old and he's always been fussy. He's also very thin and loses weight very easily.
I do try to adhere to putting food down, taking it back up and then next meal etc - and I do have to be strict with taking it back as my other savage would eat it. But when I feel him being so thin I use a few tricks.
1. I will offer him one nut from the bowl from my hand. If he eats that one, he tends to get the taste for it and eat away.
2. Try to get him to eat one nut - if the above fails, I open his mouth, put one in and hold his mouth for a few seconds - he will invariably spit it back out, but he has got the taste and he eats away.
3. Add something to it. The other dog is older and gets cod liver oil added to his food once a day. Now and again I add a spoon to this little rascal's food and he'll eat then. What he does love is milk, which is a pain as it's not great for them - but if I'm desperate I'll add that. I haven't ever tried water actually - I pour (cold) water over the other fellas to slow him down eating!
4. And the one that never fails - natural yoghurt. Tip I got from another dog owner with a fusspot. I buy a large jar of natural yoghurt and would put a large dessertspoon into his food - and mix it up so he can't lick it off. I'll give him that as long as a tub lasts and then stop it for a while - but I have found he tends to have gotten back his appetite by then - for a while!

The only way I've gotten weight back onto him is to start doubling up his food for a while - but to do that, you need him eating!

Good luck with it.

kristian12

DBB wrote: »

What are her poops like op?
Lovely question I know!

A bit smaller obviously as she's hardly eating and a little darker but no great change.

muddypaws wrote: »

JWB is a really good food, but its quite low in fat, so probably won't help her to put weight on. There are different things you can try, but, whilst they may get some weight on her, she probably won't sustain that weight. One thing to do is, if you have a roast chicken, boil the carcass up, and use the stock on her food, if you let it cool, you will get a layer of fat on top of the stock, which is great to add to the kibble for weight gain. Google satin balls as well, there are different recipes, they are great for weight gain.

Must admit i thought jwb was a decent quality food and it would make a difference. I will do that with the stock and see if it makes a difference to her eating it

tk123 wrote: »

If you can handle the smell tripe is great for building them up. Or even a good quality wet food to get her eating - Rocco from zooplus is very good. I kept my pup on puppy food until she was 12 months btw because I had her on a slow growth diet and felt she still needed it.

Unfortunatly Tripe makes me heave and i have to be careful as some wet foods do as well. I took her off puppy food at about 10 months as she was eating the adults food before her own every time. It was a case of musical bowls which is why i didn't think it was a case of possessiveness as they've always happily shared.

spur wrote: »

I have a fusspot - a 5 year old and he's always been fussy. He's also very thin and loses weight very easily.
I do try to adhere to putting food down, taking it back up and then next meal etc - and I do have to be strict with taking it back as my other savage would eat it. But when I feel him being so thin I use a few tricks.
1. I will offer him one nut from the bowl from my hand. If he eats that one, he tends to get the taste for it and eat away.
She won't take it from my hand and i am worried if i effectivly force it down her throat it might just add to the problems she has with dog food.
2. Try to get him to eat one nut - if the above fails, I open his mouth, put one in and hold his mouth for a few seconds - he will invariably spit it back out, but he has got the taste and he eats away.
3. Add something to it. The other dog is older and gets cod liver oil added to his food once a day. Now and again I add a spoon to this little rascal's food and he'll eat then. What he does love is milk, which is a pain as it's not great for them - but if I'm desperate I'll add that. I haven't ever tried water actually - I pour (cold) water over the other fellas to slow him down eating!
Yes i added tuna and she picked it out so i will see what i can mix in where she can't pick
4. And the one that never fails - natural yoghurt. Tip I got from another dog owner with a fusspot. I buy a large jar of natural yoghurt and would put a large dessertspoon into his food - and mix it up so he can't lick it off. I'll give him that as long as a tub lasts and then stop it for a while - but I have found he tends to have gotten back his appetite by then - for a while!

The only way I've gotten weight back onto him is to start doubling up his food for a while - but to do that, you need him eating!

Good luck with it.

Thank you all for your suggestions and with a bit of luck i'll find one that gets the little madam back to her old self quite quickly

jimf

I have a little schit here at the moment who is the biggest fuss pot for eating she is a mixed grill yorkie/maltese /bichon I also have 5 springers who would eat the house foundation if put in their bowls

had her at vets recently for her final shots and a general check over and asked him about vitamin b12 in liquid form and got a small bottle she gets 1mil daily and I have seen a noticeable improvement in her appetite for the last week

obviously this is something you will need to discuss with your own vet but this worked for me years back when I had a springer that was a fussy eater now anybody that has springers will know they are as a rule great grubbers

kristian12

Ok sorry to be gross, I soaked her food in chicken stock and put a spoonful of the chicken soup made and she wolfed it down. All good until half an hour later when she threw it all up again :-(. I'm assuming this is a combination of eating to quick and having an empty stomach. I'm going with tiny and often for the next few day because she will clearly eat if she can be tempted.

jimf

from past experience of trying something similar imho a lot of these stocks/soups/gravies are very fat concentrated
as in any food changeover gradual over 10 days is what I was always led to believe

but having said that a poor grubber not on a regular diet would be difficult anyway small and often should be a lot better approach I would think

jimf

http://www.vetinfo.com/b12-vitamin-for-dogs.html

have a read of this I never really looked this up in much detail but is very interesting I think especially the bit re puppies

kristian12

jimf wrote: »

http://www.vetinfo.com/b12-vitamin-for-dogs.html

have a read of this I never really looked this up in much detail but is very interesting I think especially the bit re puppies

Brilliant thank you, I will give the vet a call tomorrow to discuss this.