Weight Gain Supplements

[angelsophie]

heya guys

Le brat (toby our 1 yr old havanese) went to the vet today. a whole kg lighter than this time 6 weeks ago.

He has royal canin beauty and a little ep puppy coz thats what jazz is on Never been a huge eater except for raw necks ect.

So what to do. He feels ribby and I want him to gain his weight back. He is active and otherwise heathly.

Suggestions?? Is there a high quality weight gain dry around?

Thanks in advance

Bec

[Erny]

Never been a huge eater except for raw necks ect.

Then why not "raw necks etc"? (I presume the "etc" means other whole raw foods - chicken wings and so on.)

ETA: Feeling "ribby" isn't necessarily a bad thing - in fact, you should be able to feel your dog's ribs when you run your hand lightly across the rib cage. They should have a light cover over them so they aren't protruding, but provided that's not happening and that there's a light cover over hip bones as well, then that's quite good.

Edited June 3, 2010 by Erny

[angelsophie]

Never been a huge eater except for raw necks ect.

Then why not "raw necks etc"? (I presume the "etc" means other whole raw foods - chicken wings and so on.)

get what your saying erny.

I was happy to feed some chicken necks as a supplement daily but he refused to eat any dry at all. Had good gain with lamb beef but he started licking at his paws a bit and his tummy was a bit off. Will try again tho to make sure it was that.

And yep have thought about trialling a barf diet - having light coloured coated show dogs I also dont want staining.

Are the preprepared patties any good?

[angelsophie]

nope he not just lean. He was 5.7 he is now 4.7. My 4 month old bitch is 3kg.

Edited June 3, 2010 by angelsophie

[Erny]

And yep have thought about trialling a barf diet - having light coloured coated show dogs I also dont want staining.

I'm not a showie so perhaps I don't appreciate the finer points in these things. But for me, the priority is the health of the dog first rather than worrying over marks on its coat and if BARF proved the best for this dog, then from me, that's what it would have. I certainly wouldn't insist on dry dog food and stumble around with supplements to try to bolster its diet for weight gain because I'm scared its coat might get tinged if I were to give it food that was more natural and obviously in this case, preferred. And if that's what Judges are looking for (ie set the diet aside for blue ribbon's sake), then I'm a bit flabbergasted and in wonderment of where showing is taking our dogs and what the primary objective is.

By staining, do you mean on/around its mouth, or its butt? Just curious.

Edited June 3, 2010 by Erny

[angelsophie]

And yep have thought about trialling a barf diet - having light coloured coated show dogs I also dont want staining.

I'm not a showie so perhaps I don't appreciate the finer points in these things. But for me, the priority is the health of the dog first rather than worrying over marks on its coat and if BARF proved the best for this dog, then from me, that's what it would have. I certainly wouldn't insist on dry dog food and stumble around with supplements to try to bolster its diet for weight gain because I'm scared its coat might get tinged otherwise. And if that's what Judges are looking for (ie set the diet aside for blue ribbon's sake), then I'm a bit flabbergasted.

By staining, do you mean on/around its mouth, or its butt? Just curious.

nope staining was on his feet from licking his feet after eating lamb. Runny poos from beef. The only time he had turkey mince he vomitted it but that was possibly just that turkey.

Erny his health IS the priority hence the post. He is a tag under weight exacerbated we think by the addition of the puppy (extra physical activity of playing) he was at the vet today who suggested his diet was fine just to get him to eat more. This is my boy and after losing our 11 yr old if the choice was great coat or healthy dog then he would retire to the life of luxury no questions. By supplement I mean additional foods - not powders and potions. I was simply asking for suggestions re addition foods that help with gain or another premium dry which may be better suited to coated dogs.

[Erny]

Ok - fair enough. I didn't know from your post nor understand that he had issues with raw feeding. Sorry for my mini-outburst (so to speak).

You haven't mentioned what he is like with chicken?

Edited June 3, 2010 by Erny

[angelsophie]

Ok - fair enough. I didn't know from your post nor understand that he had issues with raw feeding. Sorry for my mini-outburst (so to speak).

You haven't mentioned what he is like with chicken?

I didnt make it clear in hindsight his issues - was trying to curb my tendancy for mini essays.

Whats he like with chicken - in love with it. That was the issue he would ONLY eat the necks so I increased them (my fault - yes) so here was this little dog who would happily eat necks forver but it isnt really a balanced diet is it. Only necks and mince. No issues at all with digestion - sparlky white teeth. A mistake I made with my avatar dog. She suffered because I gave her soft food all her life NEVER will I do that to a dog again but I didnt know better.

I thought the white meat barf patties might be worth a shot?? I have a freezer full of packages with mixed meat packages that I will try the baby on soon. But now given we are moving into the cold I just really want him to get some extra conditon on him.

[cazxxz]

Try doing a search in these forums for satin balls. I think people have had good success with these. Maybe you could make a batch and if he likes them, give him one every few days or so.

My dog has a tendency to gain weight, so I found the recipe a useful guide to what not to feed him

ETA: http://www.dolforums.com.au/index.php?showtopic=185629 This thread is probably the best, it has better ideas for weight gain (lamb, sardines etc)

Edited June 3, 2010 by cazxxz

[CrazyCresties]

One thing that's great for weight gain is raw green tripe - it stinks to high heaven, but the dogs love it and it's very good for them. Not sure of its availability in Australia though

[Stitch]

Have you tried Dr. Billinghursts frozen BARF mix which is sold from the freezer at larger pet stores??

Mine had a bit of trouble when I was feeding home made BARF, but I found Dr.B's is fantastic.

Then it is only a matter of finding exactly how much to feed your dog.

I found feeding the dog separately in their crate was much better for picky eaters as it forces them to confront the food and not be able to walk away from it.

I have one that sounds exactly like yours and she is doing really well now but I do have to watch that I don't overfeed the BARF.

After the dog has finished the serving of BARF then I give as many raw chicken necks as I think appropriate.

BARF comes in chicken, lamb, pork, beef, rabbit and combination.

[Bisart Dobes]

I have a fussy boy . He usually drops weight in 2 seconds when a girl is spot on in season - it drives me nuts.

Though if a dog doesn't do well on a certain food - like us it must mean they are not able to process it properly.

I have finally found a balance with my boy though I am not saying this will work for every dog as they are all different - its worth a try. He gets the following:

Vit B tablet every day (stimulates eating and reduces stress)

Digestive enzymes every day.

Transfer Factor capsule every day.

K-9 Immunity capsule every day.

Fish Oil capsule every day.

Spirulina tablet x 2 everyday (because he won't eat the powder on his food - my others will eat it out of the jar if I let them :D).

and then his food is - barf patties with lamb (with vit powder mix), chicken wings & necks, Lamb bones, lamb skirt, fish and oats - he won't eat vegies on their own and his barf mix I do seperately and is about 15% veg at the most - this is why he gets 2 spirulina tabs a day.

Last time a girl came in he dropped 1/2 kg instead of 5 to 8 kg. A difference I am happy with for him as that amount of weight loss is not good for them - and its not about the showring its about him and his wellbeing.

Good luck.

Also - you could try a coat for him over winter or confining him a little more if he is playing with baby too much - just until he's back on track and so he isn't burning as much energy.

[angelsophie]

Thanks guys.

My dog is a freak and will not eat sardines at all, wont eat salmon and sometimes will eat tiny, and I mean tiny bits of tuna in olive oil. Tobes is having a break from the ring only showing a little. It pouring here and I am leaving him home even though hes entered for one show so ring results just arent even a factor in this.

He still gets a few chicken necks every week or so and a rawhide chew or pigs ears to chew. For obedience he was food motivated and eager to please but the treat value was high too.

They have bunnings style puppy pens which they are confined to while we arent home with door-less pp20s in them and get fed in those pens. We did fed them together for a while hoping the competition would get him going but it still didnt. He hasnt ever been really into his food.

Stitch the premade barf patties might be worth a try. I know where I can get them so will head off this weekend.

I dont really want to try a million new foods either as I dont want him get any fussier and was happy to feed a reasonable quality dry food. a kilo doesnt sound like much but its 1/6 of his total body weight. At 6 kg you could still feel the ribs but he was more solid.

So far he has tried

royal canin

proplan

eagle pack

over the last 12 months.

Bisart with the vit b do you use human supplements?

[t-time]

AS - just put him back onto Puppy kibble If he's flatly refusing to eat his bikkies, he's having a lend of you in order to get more chicken Havs are not usually fussy with food but they can be extremely manipulative in order to get their favourites

If there's nothing medically wrong with him, he won't starve himself for more than 3 days and he will get jealous of all the yummies given to the baby girl Be strong and give it a go

[Bisart Dobes]

Yes human grade . I generally get blackmores. If you feed some dry food maybe you could try a puppy food or working dog formula - higher fat content so might put some weight on him.

[angelsophie]

thanks for that he currently get some eagle pack puppy mixed in with his Royal canin as its higher in fat.

[dianed]

Try doing a search in these forums for satin balls. I think people have had good success with these. Maybe you could make a batch and if he likes them, give him one every few days or so.

My dog has a tendency to gain weight, so I found the recipe a useful guide to what not to feed him

ETA: http://www.dolforums.com.au/index.php?showtopic=185629 This thread is probably the best, it has better ideas for weight gain (lamb, sardines etc)

Ive had a similar problem with my older dog so I made up satin balls and they really do put weight on a dog very quickly. I make and freeze them ahead of time.

[GoldenWei]

I had huge trouble putting weight on Willow, she was too skinny, her hip bones were showing. She doesn't like her dry much by itself and was very active. Another show person said to add rice every night, just at night. It is just a filler really, but it got the weight on Willow. She is looking really good now, I have stopped adding the rice, but she does get sardines every night instead.

[angelsophie]

we got the pork Dr B's barf patties well OMG didnt he think they were a bit of heaven. He has licked the bowl clean and made sure Jazz has left none either. He was the last one at his bowl for once. We also gave him some yogurt in his dry. So plan is to trial dr b's barf one night kibble and yougurt the next.

will update where we go from here

am still looking for a better kibble too. Would a reproduction formula work?

Bec

Have you tried Dr. Billinghursts frozen BARF mix which is sold from the freezer at larger pet stores??

Mine had a bit of trouble when I was feeding home made BARF, but I found Dr.B's is fantastic.

Then it is only a matter of finding exactly how much to feed your dog.

I found feeding the dog separately in their crate was much better for picky eaters as it forces them to confront the food and not be able to walk away from it.

I have one that sounds exactly like yours and she is doing really well now but I do have to watch that I don't overfeed the BARF.

After the dog has finished the serving of BARF then I give as many raw chicken necks as I think appropriate.

BARF comes in chicken, lamb, pork, beef, rabbit and combination.

[The Ark]

Hello there Bec! Colour the greyhound is finally looking sleek instead of skin-and-boney. The trick with her has been Eagle Pack adult (the Power formula is a good one - can get it at Pet Shop Boyz), with mince (just enough to make it all appetizing), and very occasional (when I remember) lamb offcuts and sardines. Goat milk has also helped us with the odd pup/dog here and there (if Toby would like to try some goat's milk let me know as I bought a few bottles!). ;)

(Sorry I've had a very delayed reaction to your thread. )

I'd be careful with the really concentrated fat options because of pancreatitis - Mum & Dad's foxie has recurring bouts of this, and we've finally convinced them (well, their vet did) to reduce his fat intake and it's made all the difference.