Weight issue...Advice needed
Ok so its not for me 
I have been having a feeling for a while that Autumn is underweight...even though we feed her as much as she wants and she gets treats all the time. The other week when we took her to the vet they confirmed she was underweight
You can see her butt bones more as she blows her coat! I feel just awful! I have been trying for a little while to put some 'meat on her bone' but nothing seems to work. We even tried wet food! I do have to admit that we were feeding her iams dog food for a while but now have her on Chicken soup (which is the brand Marsha was feeding Ziggy).
There is a ton of food out there for husky dogs but doesn't seem to be anything that I can find that would bring her up in weight. Any suggestions?
Thanks!!
I have been having a feeling for a while that Autumn is underweight...even though we feed her as much as she wants and she gets treats all the time. The other week when we took her to the vet they confirmed she was underweight
You can see her butt bones more as she blows her coat! I feel just awful! I have been trying for a little while to put some 'meat on her bone' but nothing seems to work. We even tried wet food! I do have to admit that we were feeding her iams dog food for a while but now have her on Chicken soup (which is the brand Marsha was feeding Ziggy). There is a ton of food out there for husky dogs but doesn't seem to be anything that I can find that would bring her up in weight. Any suggestions?
Thanks!!
Comments
I will add though that Baron has always been a problem for me as far as weight goes. His digestive system is not that robust, so if I try to feed him more to bulk him up, his stools get loose very quickly. He's always on the thin side, especially with the amount of exercise he gets. I'm hoping that now that the hunting season is over I can bulk him up again. Some dogs are just on the thinner side...
@Calia the guy at the pet store actually suggested the sweet potato...or pupmkin. I had never heard of either until today. That might be something to look into as well.
@TheWalrus I think we have a similar problem. Autumn tends to graze. When we got Ziggy we put them both on a feeding 'schedule' since he would eat ALL of the food. She didn't seem to be eating enough so I tried to wet her food to see if she would eat more. She loved that but ended up eating too much and would either throw it up or have runny stool. I just want her to be a healthy weight so we can continue with dock jumping/running/swimming/ walking in the woods with her this summer. She is quite an active dog which is why I thought she was slim in the summer but she has not put on any weight this winter! I am at a loss...
I've recently started to successfully put weight on her, albeit slowly, by giving her fattier raw (more hearts and gizzards, less back and necks), crumbling a few dried sardines or anchovies (just pure dried only, no additives, no salt and no more than 3-5 in a day) into her kibble, and twice a week she gets two eggs scrambled with a bit of butter and cheddar (but only after she has finished her regular meals since this is meant to be a supplement). I try to make sure that she eats more than the daily recommended amount (about one whole cup of kibble, plus 8-10 oz raw) and I try to supplement with high fat/calorie items like cheese, and oily fish rather than normal treats (though she does also get dehydrated sweet potato).
My feeling is that you may not need to go to that extreme. For us it wasn't so much that she didn't like her food as it was that her food needed to contain a lot more calories. Either way you'll probably have to try a number of things and just be patient. Eventually you'll hit on the effective solution.
If Autumn likes fish, I found that the dried sardines and anchovies have really been helping. Violet is obsessed with fish, and I was able to make it to a Japanese grocery store (there are a few Mitsuwas scattered in the U.S.) where I was able to find dried fish with no additives. I specifically chose oily type fishes though you can probably also try other sorts. You just need to make sure that the type you get has no salt added.
Unfortunately, my dogs tend to have weight problems the other way, and even feeding raw doesn't help Toby lose weight....
Guska can be a bit of a hard keeper compared to the other two. If I give him more food, he will often just leave it in the bowl. So to boost his calories per mouthful, I add a few tablespoons of olive oil to his meals.
@TeamLaika--How much do your dogs weigh? Tuula is pretty small--about 40 lbs, but she's the right weight for her frame.
Tuli is quite petite (below breed standard). She looks best around 30 lbs, but would get chubby if I let her!
@kait0585 There is something about when they blow coat. They look really skinny, but I also think mine lose 1-2 pds when they are blowing coat. I'm not sure if there is some sort of metabolism adjustment during this process or what.
Mei came to me at 27 pds. She is now after she blew coat 38 pds. She has lost 2 pds. in the past month. This also might be because the rain stopped us from hiking so much and her muscle is deteriorating a bit. I will start packing the dogs again this weekend to work their muscles out a bit. It's not just food, but getting them to exercise that will build lean muscle.
To get weight on Mei, I used sweet potato and pumpkin with a grain free diet. She also eats spinach, carrots, etc. for added vitamins. I swear that child would be a vegan if I let her which makes these addtitions to her food simple.
She refuses to eat on a schedule and will only graze. She just has her food measured out in the morning for the whole day.
I would watch out on giving too much olive oil. Yes, it's a healthy oil, however you need to make sure that you are not giving too much to the dog. 2 tsp. may be a serving for an adult human, but only 1/2 tsp. maybe appropriate for a puppy a day. Their poop will tell you when you've given too much.....
I had real trouble keeping weight on Koda when he was a pup too. Age has fixed this, but just in the past month have I seen him really start to fill out. Him and Tora will be 2 on April 20th. I think they just needed to age a bit before they gained weight. Koda is now 55 pds., and was 52 in September. The 3 pds. made a big difference in his build. He still is in really good shape with a high arch between his stomach and chest.
If Autumn is not showing signs of malnutrition, then just do your best to feed her a healthy diet. She will fill out in time.
I have tried feeding Autumn more but she is such a light eater no matter what i do. She is down to 11.5 pounds (14.5 inches) *shamefully* I had no idea she was that under weight. She has always been on the smaller side. She also has a longer coat then most shibas so it does not show as badly...except when she blows her coat or is wet. Before I had asked this question or even knew she was underweight I was trying to add fat to her diet with canned food...or wetting her food to have her eat more but that just upset her stomach which did not help anything.
I think I am going to try the sweet potatoes next time I go shopping. Seems like a lot of people have had success with that. I want to try to get her up to a healthier weight by summer so I will be able to take her out swimming and running without having to worry about her so much
@tjbart17 I really do hope it is an age related thing. She is going to be 2 in June so hopefully she will continue to fill out. I am just concerned about her being so underweight.
Start with the sweet potato. Sardines may help as well.
Honestly, she just might be a skinny girl. I was only 87 pds. in my early 20's. My 30's have changed that. ;-P
Haha! Yea I am hoping she is just petite. I mean she is perfectly fine in all other ways except she looks thin when she blows her coat and is wet. I am really hoping the sweet potato thing works. If not I may take her to the vet just to have them check her to make sure nothing else is wrong (besides warms/parasites and such since she was tested for that). If she comes back clean I am not going to worry unless she starts acting 'strange'
I think it really depends on what kind of weight you want to add and the health of the dog. I want to add fat to my skinny boys, who are all lean muscle already, which isn't great for showing or coat (unless it is greyhounds, dobermans, staffies, etc who need to have the defined muscles). I want to avoid high protein KIBBLE, but not raw meat, as my experience with my breeds has indicated to me that high protein kibbles are not appropriate for all life stages or for all dogs.
@kait0585 At that height and weight, I would say that is a severely underweight Shiba and to check her out at the vet and do some bloodwork before making diet changes, whatever it is you decide to change. Good luck with her. Some shibas just have really lite builds and no appetites and don't gain weight but are otherwise healthy.
These will put weight on a dog... Stoney has always been a picky eater barely eating anything and has always been on the thin side, so I tried this and it worked.... he looked better than he ever did when I was using it. And he started eating his regular food better.There are several recipes. This is the one I used. Feed it raw and just make it into a ball and throw it on top, dont try to mix it in, they will dump all their food to get to it. I was actually just getting ready to make some of this up, the winter is taking its toll on everyone : (
oh and use the cheapest fattiest hamburger you can find...
http://www.holisticdog.org/Nutrition/Satinballs/satinballs.html (more recipes and info here)
Satin Balls
10# hamburger meat
1 jar wheat germ
1 lg box of oatmeal (uncooked)
1 1/4 Cup vegetable oil
10 eggs
10 sm pkgs unflavored gelatin
1 1/4 Cup unflavored molasses
A pinch of salt
1 lg box Total cereal (2lb's)
(You may also add a pinch of garlic powder to add flavor)
Mix all ingredients together well, much like a meatloaf....put into separate freezer bags and freeze, thawing out as needed. It puts weight on in a very short time, not to mention the gloss in their coat. You can use it every day when they have a show to do and it does not produce diarrhea. It can be fed alone or with kibble.
So for the above recipe I do not bake it correct? Also about how much do you give them at a feeding?
Thanks!!
Satin balls are fed raw. We've fed them to Violet though with less success (she likes them but still didn't put on much weight). Lindsay is right, there are some dogs that are just light in build (the other day my father mentioned how lovely he thought the pup was because she is "built like a greyhound").
Do you mind if I ask what vet you used in Cleveland?
@kaikenone we are going to take them both this summer and see if Autumn can teach ziggy how to do it...and maybe work on her form a bit. I have yet to have her do a smooth run and jump consistently without hesitation.
Thanks everyone!!!!