Fattening Up A Skinny Staffy

[Vehs]

I am looking after a staffy atm who is on medication for a thyroid problem and is skinny, I'm a little embarrassed when taking her on short walks because her waist is soo skinny her ribs look ridiculous. When I met the owners I said I'd heard of satin balls for putting weight on a dog... and I've just had a google and am not impressed with the ingredients.

What else can I suggest to the owners for putting weight on their dog? She is around 8 and is current fed a dry food (owners were considering putting her on a puppy formula) dog roll and a meaty bone.

[WreckitWhippet]

They might like to consider changing dry foods, I've found that Optimum Puppy keeps the weight on, as does Royal Canin.

They could also add chicken wings and lamb flaps to the diet, as well as left overs that aren't dangerous. I would avoid adding huge amounts of additional fat to the diet.

[KitKat]

Euk tends to be good for putting on weight, i've recently got my nutter GSD boy back up to condition with an extra helping of Uncle Albers. Puppy food should certainly help - and perhaps feed at night (or more at night) where she'll sleep and put the food away rather then just breakfast where she uses it through the day?

[Danois]

I'd avoid Satin Balls!

I have struggled to get weight on Boo and found chicken frames, fatty human grade mince (get it from an asian butchery) and lamb flaps worked. Maybe cottage cheese in the dry food?

[hopenfox]

How often is she fed? As well as changing her diet, you could offer her more frequent small meals throughout the day, like 4 or 5 times...

[Vehs]

Thanks for the ideas guys, will pass them on

atm she is fed once in the evenings, they could probably manage two feedings, not sure if they already do

[Dogsfevr]

Our grey had thyroid issues & as a result was very skinny.No matter what we feed you couldnt put weight on so we had to give up ,we always made sure the diet was a good one for feeding his system though.

We had a letter from out vet to say the dog was under vet care & treatment if we where ever stopped or queried due to the weight.

[Guest Ams]

Thanks for the ideas guys, will pass them on

atm she is fed once in the evenings, they could probably manage two feedings, not sure if they already do

if she is super skinny then she will need to be fed smaller meals more often. If the owners simply increase the amount of food she is given with a once a day meal, her body still will not absorb any more than it is now. It will just make BIG mounds on the lawn.

I would suggest a minimum of 3 meals a day would be doable even for someone with a busy lifestyle. Feed once in the morning when you get up, once in the arvo when you get home and again in the evening before you go to bed. The smaller meals more frequently means that the gut keeps working during the day, rather than trying to absorb one big meal once a day.