Skinny puppy

mastiffmama27 · 11-23-2007, 10:11 PM

Looking for opinions on the healthiest way to put some weight on a seriously skinny puppy (about 4 mos old). Vet says Science diet or purina (ugg). (I posted pics of him in the photo forum Here: http://www.dogforums.com/8-dog-pictu...-saturday.html (Elijha coming Saturday)

I don't know how much he weighs yet but will weigh him soon after he gets here.

cascabel · 11-23-2007, 10:19 PM

I've always heard that Orijen can be great for putting weight on a dog since it is so nutrient dense. There are people in the conformation world that swear by it as it was the only way they could get weight on their very active hunting dogs.

Also...he's a real cutie. You must be very excited!

mastiffmama27 · 11-23-2007, 10:24 PM

He's a sweetheart alright. His name means angel of innocence. I just ordered Canide for my other dogs, do you think that would be good for him too? Should I add other things to his diet to help the process along a bit? I've done rescues before but usually from a shelter and they were not this underweight. The pictures are telling but his foster mom says they don't show how skinny he really is. She used the term 'concentration camp victem'.

Inga · 11-23-2007, 10:26 PM

I would pick a good quality food. I don't think he will need a miracle food so much as more of the food. Take it slow and avoid the temptation to over feed. I know how hard it is when faced with a skinny puppy. Where are you getting him from? Canidae is good. I think you are right to avoid Science Diet or Purina dog chow.

TeddieXRuxpin · 11-23-2007, 10:27 PM

Do you mind me asking how long he's been in foster care?

Along with the food rice is something good to add to his diet to add some wieght. I had a foster who was very underwieght and I mixed a bit of cooked rice in with her food three times a day.

mastiffmama27 · 11-23-2007, 10:28 PM

His foster mom is in Ohio. She found him chained to a tree in a vacant lot. She said that the chain was so tight he couldn't bark.

4 days. The girl that found him lives in an area that has BSL against 'pitts' so she can't foster him long.

Annamarie · 11-24-2007, 12:35 AM

I second the advice to just feed him a normal amount of a healthy dog food. I know he looks terrible but he's not as dire as you think, and puppies have an amazing ability to adapt and recover. And don't forget you'll probably be using treats for training to, so those extra calories will help. Resist the temptation to fatten him up quickly as doing so can lead to health problems later on in life, or even immediately such as pacreatitis.

Shaina · 11-24-2007, 12:47 AM

My puppy was pretty skeletal when I got her too...she was only at the rescue 4 days, and the Purina/Alpo mix they were feeding her didn't make much of a dent in that time.

My vet told me to just feed her a good food at the normal recommended amount 3x/day despite her already being ~4 months old, in order to help her stomach adjust to getting a decent amount of food. She was also getting lots of healthy treats (fruit, liver treats) to help her realize that people weren't scary. Between the food and treats she gradually added padding and growth.

Here's a website I found back then to back up what my vet told me:
http://www.thepetcenter.com/imtop/recovery.html

If possible, I would recommend recording her weight, as they recommend, both to assure yourself that she is actually gaining weight, and to have a record for your vet just in case.

Good luck with your new baby! She looks like a cutey!

EDIT: seconding what some others said above...you might want to try a high quality food like Canidae (normally the most economical high-end food) to optimize the nutrition she's getting from each meal and reduce the chances of a bad reaction to food. It's really not much more expensive than feeding a mid-grade food, but much much better for your dog

Sorry for the long post

Renoman · 11-24-2007, 08:43 AM

Just adding my 2 cents.....

I agree with everyone else - Canidae is a much better food than the SD or Purina. He would be fine with that.

I would also agree that starting slowly and gradually increasing his food intake is good idea. Too much too soon can lead to problems. I would not add anything else to his food at this time. Down the road if you wanted to add an Omega supplement or vitamin I would think that would be ok, but not starting out.

I saw the pics of your pup. He's adorable. Very sweet looking. Good Luck with him and we need to see new pics often.

lynn'stwo · 11-24-2007, 12:27 PM

We had a mastiff that we got at 6 months old and she was very skinny also. No matter what I did she wouldn't eat much and seemed skittish. It just took a few months of love and care before she would relax and eat. Mastiffs are very sensitive to change and it just takes time. She liked Innova adult. I also added some canned food to kibble. You can try taking a tablespoon of canned food, mix it with warm water and add to the food.

mastiffmama27 · 11-24-2007, 06:04 PM

Ok here are his stats (he is not as skinny as I was told/led to believe) He is 18.5 inches at the withers and weighs 37 lbs. (If you need any more measurements let me know) His hips, spine and ribs can all be seen. How do I estimate what a reasonable weight for him would be, ie target weight ? I think he is closer to a year old rather than 4 months.

UrbanBeagles · 11-24-2007, 07:59 PM

Blackwood 2000 is the ultimate food for getting healthy weight on a malnourished dog! www.blackwoodpetfood.com I've used it for that purpose and was like a miracle for my GSD who'd been about 20lbs underweight when we got her. She gained so much muscle mass, it was amazing

Canidae is also a good food, and I like that it's an "all life stage" type diet. BE VERY CAREFUL of switching a puppy under 24 months to Orijen or other high protein kibbles, as they can have quite the detrimental effect on the skeleton ... it's just too much calcium & protein for their growing bodies to handle

Lorina · 11-24-2007, 08:12 PM

People I know involved in rescue swear by Canidae for putting weight on skinny dogs.

cascabel · 11-24-2007, 08:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by UrbanBeagles

BE VERY CAREFUL of switching a puppy under 24 months to Orijen or other high protein kibbles, as they can have quite the detrimental effect on the skeleton ... it's just too much calcium & protein for their growing bodies to handle

Eek! Yeah, I kind of forgot that the dog is a large breed puppy. I definitely wouldn't feed orijen to a large breed puppy. Not because of the protein (it isn't the protein that hurts a growing puppy), but because of the high mineral content (calcium and phosphorus).

Typically people confuse high protein for high calorie. It is important not to overfeed a large/giant breed puppy since extra calories will cause the puppy to grow as fast as possible which may result in orthopedic problems. However, it is fine to feed a puppy a high protein food as long as you aren't over-feeding and the food doesn't contain excessive minerals.