Need desperate help with my baby's weight!

[ilovemyyorkchi]

Hello, my baby boy is three years old he is a small yorkie, he only weighs 2.1 pounds, and i can feel his bones each rib, vertebra, legs hips all of it! now on the vet said he is tip top shape, he does eat fine im just worried he shouldnt be so bony!! can anyone help?

[yorkiemini]

WELCOME TO YT!
This site is a wealth of great information.

I don't have a lot of experience with weight issues with Yorkies but there will be someone here who does.

What does your vet say. Has he been check for parasites etc. does he like his dog food?

Glad you found us!

[ilovemyyorkchi]

yes he is checked for parasites every 6 months when i have him there for his check ups... the vet says he is the perfect dog says he is healthy but i just worry i can feel all his bones legs spine ribs hip there is some muscle on his leg but it slides to the side to allow you to feel his bones its awful

[ShowGirlLola]

My poodle was very thin naturally, she ate a lot and ran all over the place. She was 12lbs and lived to be 15.5.

If you're really concerned maybe you could add some coconut oil to his food.

[Verbena]

What are you feeding him?

[Wylie's Mom]

I would try some different foods (kibble, canned etc) and see if he'll eat more quantity of a certain food. Also, I'd be giving calorie-dense treats like peanut butter and cheese a few times a day. You may also want to top his kibble/food w/ Parmesan cheese to make it more appetizing, and perhaps he'll eat more.

[theporkieyorkie]

Have you had your pup checked for liver shunt??

My 2 year old was a rescue and he was very skinny when I got him because he was starving on the streets . You could see his ribs, but the worst was his hip bones!! He was 2.2 lbs when the rescue found him and 2.8 lbs. when I adopted him. At a little over 4 lbs, he is now his correct weight. He is naturally tall and fine boned. He's got really long, thin, spindle-like legs. Regardless of how much weight he puts on, that won't change.

I started off feeding Ricky puppy food...specifically "Wellness Puppy" canned food. Puppy food is higher in caloric intake and it helped put his weight back on fairly quick. He seems to burn a lot of calories naturally, so he needed the extra calories to gain anything. I also fed him 3-4 smaller meals a day instead of 2 bigger ones. Being that he is a small guy, and he was starved, it was easier to get him to snack on little bits of food at a time than to get him to eat a big meal. Even to this day, he is a snacker and he likes to pick at his food.

I also fed Ricky Nutri-Cal because of the high calorie content and he was in desperate need of vitamins because of being malnourished. He would get a glob of it on my finger in the am and pm.

Nowadays, Ricky is maintaining his weight with "Wellness Complete" canned food. I took him off the puppy food because I didn't want him to get fat on it.

IDK what you are feeding your pup, but most brands of food make a puppy formula. If you do try feeding him puppy food, make sure you change him gradually so it doesn't upset his tummy.


I've also heard pasta is good for weight gain. I've heard of people cooking regular pasta and adding to their dogs food. I've never tried it though.

[ilovemyyorkchi]

im getting ready to take him back for his yearly checkup and a teeth cleaning but my vet said he is healthy ect and i feed him blue dog food he loves it ive considered mixing it with a little wet dog food because he loves it to help put a little weight on him but i dont want to over feed him

[ilovemyyorkchi]

i feed him the best of the best BLUE !! and he loves it and he always has dog food out and he eats right and drinks plenty of water

[sandy simpson]

I used to feed my Yorkies Blue. I went on line and read some info on this food and decided to change over to Wellness. Mine are on the Wellness Complete Health Super 5 mix. The chicken base. They eat it with a little wet food added. My poodle breeder recommended this. She has top show dogs and feeds Wellness. You may try switching. I would.

[kjc]

Can you feel a layer of fat between his ribs and the skin, or does it feel like only skin and bones? On his spine, are you only feeling the tops of the vertebrae or can you feel the sides too?

IMHO, I'd request a Bile Acid Test, even just to get a baseline for future comparison should the need arise.

Is he on Probiotics?

[ilovemyyorkchi]

IT feels like skin and bones there may be a very thin layer of fat but not much he also walks a little funny like his back end swings from side to side and no i do not have him on any medications

[Fatalivy]

I have a pup just like yours. He is 2 yrs old, 3.5 lbs and I can feel his bones, too. He was checked for liver shunt and was cleared of that and the rest of his lab work is normal. He is healthy as can be and I feed him Fromm, plus treats during the day. Just as there are humans who have different body types, dogs can be that way, too. If you trust your vet, I would not worry about it.

[tokipoki]

Teddy was very underweight when I got him...he was way beyond just a being lanky puppy and had a lot of protruding bones. We were able to put weight on him gradually by giving him a higher calorie kibble mixed with canned food toppers. And of course extra treats! He looks so healthy now and is the perfect weight!

[kjc]

Has he always been thin or is this a more recent finding? IMHO, I'd increase the amount of food per serving, or add a meal at night Canned food has more nutrients than dry, so it may be good to use for weight gain. I usually don't agree with vets concerning Yorkie weight. Thin dogs have no resources to fall back on if they become ill. I am personally more comfortable with an average to average + a bit weight, rather than being under weight. See this chart:

Body Condition Scoring Chart | College of Veterinary Medicine

And this one:

http://www.purinaveterinarydiets.com.../dog_chart.pdf

Has your vet evaluated his gait for any orthopedic problems?