not keeping on weight

seth · 06-07-2006, 10:43 PM

Hi I am new but I have a 3 month old english Staffy called seth.
We moved out to a bit of property 4 months ago and the last 2 month we cant seem to get him to keep weight on. We haved tried worming change of diet but nothing has worked.He has had all immunisations.He still poos and stuff. Can anyone help please?

bigdawgs · 06-08-2006, 05:48 AM

What kind of wormer did you use? It may need to be done again.

Killerdrgn · 06-08-2006, 09:18 AM

He may be getting A LOT of excersize now and may be just working off the weight. You should probably go to a vet and get his opinion. I know for Ronin, because i took him out for so many walks he became really muscular and has very little body fat, so i thought he was getting thinner and thinner.

seth · 06-08-2006, 08:12 PM

we moved on the 4th of Feb. The diet we changed was the following: from pal tin and dry food with some scraps to, pet mince with rice or pasta, just dry, just tin, all of the above together. His lifestyle hasnt changed just a 1/4 of an acre more room. Due to his weight loss he got out the squares in our fence so now he is in a run until he gains weight.We have tried him on exelpet all wormers as well as a vet brand. His temperment has changed a little from being a relaxed friendly family pet to a barking, trying to chew through his run wire.
I have a 18month old son whom used to play with him and they used to follow each other around all day to now not sure if trust the staffy with him.
please help family pet getting very concerned.As i have been feeding him 1 big feed or 2 small feeds a day am worried he lookes very skinny dont want people to think he's not being fed as he gets fed just as if not better than us.
He has been wormed twice.He was very muscular not fat belly now he has neither.

Curbside Prophet · 06-08-2006, 09:34 PM

If you haven't taken him to vet, I would do so immediately. Only your vet will be able to tell if there are any underlying illnesses of diseases causing this problem. However, I am not a proponent of feeding dogs table scraps...and this could be causing the problem. Why? Because, depending on the type of scraps you're giving him, it may throw his digestive system out of whack, and instead of digesting his food naturally and slowly, the food goes right through him, and he's unable to absorb all the nutrients. Have you noticed him going to the bathroom more than normal? I would recommend being more consistent with his dog food, and stay away from table scraps. As for the chewing, your puppy is at the age where he's teething, so he needs appropriate things to chew on like Kongs stuffed with food. Also, look around while observing your dog to see why he's barking. It's possible something is agitating him, and causing undue stress...like maybe airplanes flying low. I would also ask your vet if the dog food you're feeding him is appropriate because I am not familiar with pet mince. Good luck!

seth · 06-08-2006, 10:28 PM

I just wish to apologise i previously wrote that seth was 3 months old when I was supposed to put 3years old. I apologise. There are no low flying planes in our area and no stress.

bigdawgs · 06-09-2006, 06:58 AM

If you have had him wormed, the vet has checked him out and everything is ok, then relax. (ONly if you have done these things) Maggie looked positively anorexic until she was 3, and even now, when she lays down she looks emaciated. It is just her, and as long as she is healthy, I don't worry about it anymore.

bigdawgs · 06-09-2006, 09:07 PM

You can take a small rope bone and dampen it and freeze it, this makes an excellent and soothing "teething" ring.

Cheetah · 06-10-2006, 12:22 AM

I've never heard of either of those 2 brands of dog food... do you think you could supply a list of ingredients from the bag? >o.o<

I'm pretty obsessed with dog food, and have come to learn that some dogs just don't do well on some foods simply because that particular food has the wrong measurement of nutrients (and questionable ingredients). My grandmother's doberman, for example, is fed Beneful (yuck!), and she is confused about why he can't keep any weight on... she's taken him to the vet... nothing is wrong with him... but Beneful just sucks lol... Some dogs get bony on it, and some get REALLY fat... >X.x;<

seth · 06-14-2006, 10:42 PM

thansk for all you ideas. Just want to let everyone know seth has been puttting on weight for the past week and is doing so much better. The reason why some of you may not have heard of the products I was using as I am from Australia and most of you are not.
Seth is now so much happier and healthier.Seemed to do it all on his own.

Curbside Prophet · 06-14-2006, 10:49 PM

That's great news! I was just wondering, but I found an ad for pet mince that advertised that the product contained kangaroo meat. Is this true? I thought that was interesting.

seth · 06-18-2006, 08:20 PM

not sure most of the pet mince i found did have offal in it as well as other meats and vegies. After speaking to a vet he informed me that it is not good to give your dog offal as it puts them at risk of getting worms and I do know that uncooked kangaroo meat contains twice the amount of worms in it as regular offal. My advice either cook pet mince or stay clear of it all together.

bigdawgs · 06-19-2006, 06:54 AM

Worms are a risk, however, if the offal comes from a reliable source I would tend to believe the risk is low. If your dog is outside and chases/eats anything you should be worming him twice a year in any case. I raw fed my dogs for a number of years and NEVER had a problem with worms.