Anyone Else Have Skinny Dogs That Dont Fatten?

[Missymoo]

ok so our little funny looking maltese is now 8..she is healthy in every way but never fattens up.

I had this checked with the vet when she was about 2 with blood test etc..but my vet insisted she was just a skinny dog!

She eats alot (I try to feed her 3 times a day) but never weights up.

She is a happy little dog just looks skinny!

Anyone else have one of these??

[Teebs]

Yep, Kaos.

I have had so much trouble putting weight on her, she always looked like she was half starved.

But, the last few months she has put weight on, and it has stayed there Not sure what changed, she still gets the same food, but for some reason it is now fattening her up! She just turned 4, so took a while!

[oakway]

Was a Thyroid test included in that ?.

[Missymoo]

oakway, yes that too. She has been diagnosed with White Shakers Diesease so not sure if that is part of it..(we just keep valium on hand but havnt had to use it since she was first diagnosed when she was very very young and she was almost paralysed with it, CAT scans and menigitis tests were taken by specialist then) the skinnyness was after all that and has remained.

Teebs; sounds like she is maturing into a nice roly girl!

Ive even tried satin balls!

edited for sex change to Teebs dog!

Edited August 29, 2009 by Missymoo

[vnv]

I've always thought Willow was too skinny, but vet says she's fine.

She eats a lot - lamb offcuts, fresh mince, dry food, lots of treats and a kong with a big dollop of Peanut butter every day.

I guess she just has a fast metabolism.

[Kirty]

My girl was skinny until she got to about 4yrs old, then she fattened up. Have you tried giving her puppy food?

[shoemonster]

Ed has always been hard to keep weight on, he stays pretty skinny/lean, and he drops any weight he puts on very quickly too, he is a bit of a nervous dog, who lazes alot, but when he does use energy he uses all of it

Even when he had the suprelorin implant, which fattens up alot of dogs, he didnt put on any extra weight

I'd be wary of the satin balls, I was giving them to Ed, but after a big scare to do with a mystery tummy thing, that may have been related to pancreatitus, where he had gassy loops in his intestines, had surgery, then had seizures afterwards,

I dont know if it had anything to do with it, the vet couldnt tell us exactly what had happened, and neither could various other vets they rang and got to see him at the time but I wont give them to him again

After the op he had dropped alot more weight, so we gave him his usual barf mix, and some eagle pack power formula (the one for working dogs) and he put the weight back on, but he still never gets fat

I also feed him late at night so he doesnt get a chance to burn it off before bed, and I have a friend whose dog lost weight, by giving the same amount of food only earlier in the day so he ran it off during the day

Sometimes I think they might just meant to be a certain weight, like us humans when we diet, our bodies seem to stop us at a certain weight, haha, I'd rather have an Ed body than mine though!

Edited August 29, 2009 by shoemonster

[Parkeyre]

i switched from X amount of Kibble to half with chicken wings (very fatty )

[TangerineDream]

Tango drops weight when the maximum temperature is less that 5°C or if we are away for a few weeks and he's staying with friends who have boxers - this year I've discovered the 'cure' - I give him 2 weetbix with breakfast in the morning and 2 at night...solved the problem in less than a week! Now as the weather is warming up I'm only giving him 2 in the morning and will start cutting that down to one shortly......did the same with Cadence as he got older and it worked for him too...

[Missymoo]

yup, being a fussy SWF she mainly eats puppy food, chicken necks and wings. She will chew on a lamb flap as well...kibble - nope..lol

no more satin balls methinks, thanks shoey for the warning!

[Danois]

Boo is super lean and if he decides to not eat a lot for a couple of days you can see his spine.

I am now including lamb flaps and chicken carcasses in his diet and will maybe introduce human grade mince - the cheapo one with lots of white in it.

I would stay away from Satin Balls too - I made them for Angs and he got the runs. My vet saw the ingredients list and was a little horrified.

[rijbiz]

I've had trouble keeping weight on Cleo, have changed her over to the Eagle Pack Power Forumula with little success and added lots of chicken frames to it as well as feeding twice a day, but it is only just recently after changing her morning meal to porridge that I have noticed a real difference - and her coat looks great.

Basically microwave some rolled oats in water, stir through an egg, a dollop of yoghurt and a squirt of honey.

Both of mine love it and I have noticed that my old boy seems to have a lot more energy too.

As I haven't really changed anything else recently I'm putting it down to the porridge

Edited August 29, 2009 by rijbiz

[Guest *Pixie*]

Yeah Finta is like this - she's a happy skippy little thing and is always busy doing something. She even sleeps actively

She is a bit of a picky eater too, always so many more interesting things to be doing than eating

[morgan]

Yep, got one of those, was so thin i had her checked out by the vet.

Hundreds of dollars in blood tests later we came to the conclusion that she is just meant to be a skinny dog - everything just goes straight through her and doesn't stick to the ribs, and she eats a lot of food twice daily.