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02-01-2007, 06:24 PM | #1 |
& Riley-bear, too! Donating Member Join Date: May 2005 Location: Kansas
Posts: 1,259
| How can I "fatten her up"? Riely is such a tiny girl. The vet told us at last week's check up that she's a little thin, and I have to agree. I'm watching her get taller but she's not filling it out. She's only weighing 1.5 lbs at 16 weeks. And I noticed tonight for the first time that I can distinctly feel her backbone. Her ribs aren't as easily felt, but the backbone scares me. She is scheduled to see the vet again on Monday for her shots and for some skin tests to figure out what's causing the hair loss on the top of her head. In the meantime, what can I do to help her put on some weight? I feed Nutro Natural puppy food and offer it to her 4x a day. She doesn't always eat that many times, but I offer it. She's playful as can be and without a hypoglycemic episode for a coupel of weeks now. We are still supplementing morning and night with a bit of Nutri-Stat. Any suggestions would be oh so appreciated. |
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02-01-2007, 06:34 PM | #2 |
Donating YT 1000 Club Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: In my house :)
Posts: 5,219
| My Riley was the same way...I could always feel his back bone and hip bones but not his ribs no matter what he ate. He has no health problems...just a very fast metabolism! My Jo-Jo has a definite layer of fat but Riley is more lean with no fat. Riley was neutered at 6 months and sometimes they gain weight after that but he didn't. I've always noticed that he wasn't a chewer and he didn't lose his puppy teeth very easily on his own so we recently had his teeth looked at and he had a couple that were very crowded in the back which made it uncomfortable for him to chew. Now that they have been removed I can already feel that he's filled out a little...finally! You might try giving your Riely some canned food a couple times a day...canned food can make them gain weight. You might also want to leave dry food down at all times so she can eat when she wants to...my boyz will grab a few bites here and there throughout the day and right before bed, not so much now that I've switched them to a raw diet though. I recently switched to a frozen, raw diet by Nature's Variety and I was told to watch their weight because they can gain easily on this type of a diet. |
02-01-2007, 06:51 PM | #3 |
& Riley-bear, too! Donating Member Join Date: May 2005 Location: Kansas
Posts: 1,259
| Thanks for the suggestions and for sharing your experience. Seems I can't even spell her name right! I gave her some of the Nutro Natural pumpkin dessert tonight with her dry food. She ate a bit of the dry but went back to playing. So I've had her in the office with me for the last hour. I notice she'll play, go eat a few bites, take a drink, play, come back for a few more bites, etc. I had hoped to ahve her on scheduled feedings like Penny, particularly because Penny is on a restricted prescription diet due to her colitis but will eat anything every chance she gets. I think I'm just going to have to rework the situation so I can have food available to her all day. She did like a Nutro packet that I tried a couple of weeks ago. Maybe I'll pick up more of those. She didn't care for more than a lick of the pumpkin tonight and ignored the Eukunuba canned food I offered earlier today (just trying several varieties to entice her). One question though... will offering canned/moist food in addition to the dry make her spoiled, resulting in a picky eater? |
02-01-2007, 06:57 PM | #4 |
Donating YT 1000 Club Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: In my house :)
Posts: 5,219
| No, it didn't with mine. I keep hard food down all day but for breakfast I was giving them about a table spoon of canned food and I'd give it to them again at supper time. I warm it up in the microwave for 8 or 9 seconds and then let it cool a bit...just so it isn't straight from the fridge. You cna mix a few pieces of dry in with it if you want. Actually, after they would get their soft food in the morning they'd go to the hard food and eat more...it seemed to get their appetite going. Now that I've switched to the frozen food I thaw it out in the fridge and they have it cold for breakfast and dinner and they love it. Once I get them totally switched I won't leave hard food down...they get enough from the raw diet for the day and they aren't touching their dry very much now. You can also try different puppy formulas that have a higher calorie count per cup. P.S...you can spell her name any way you like! |
02-01-2007, 09:18 PM | #5 |
My hairy-legged girls Donating Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: lompoc, ca.
Posts: 12,228
| If she were mine, I'd hold off getting shots till she was in better health. I don't know what you feed her, but it doesn't sound like she's eating very well and I would be your feeding her kibble. Ever wonder why they get sick off of dog food, then like magic, they get well on *real* food? Why not just feed real food so they won't have the health problems. Find a REALLY BIG bowl or pot for mixing these. Cook up 1 cup of brown rice together with 1/2 cup of split peas and 1/2 cup of lentils till crisp tender then drain and rinse in a colander. Cook 3 pounds of free range ground veal or free range hamburger or a combo of half and half, and you can also add a 1/2 pound or little more of free range veal liver. Add to rice mixture. Then in a food processer, coarse grind 3 large fresh heads of broccoli with stems, 6 large fresh carrots and 3 cloves of garlic. Add to mixture. Mix really well and put in pint size (if you have only one small dog) ( or quart size if feeding two to four dogs) freezer zip-loc bags and freeze. I add 1/4 boiled egg for breakfast and steel cut oats, cooked, for breakfast and their vitamins, cod liver oil and a teaspoon of flax seeds. For lunch they have a little cottage cheese mixed with low fat plain yogurt and a few blueberries. For dinner they get the mixture with a teaspoon of wheat germ and some cheese. For snacks I make peanut butter balls. I use one whole jar of NATURAL peanut butter (chunky) with 1 envelope of powdered milk, 1/2 cup crushed bran flakes, 1/4 cup flax seed, 1/2 cup coconut flakes, either fresh grated coconut or the kind in a can. (not in a bag) mix really well, make small balls and roll in more crushed bran flakes, place on a cookie sheet and freeze. After they are completely frozen, put them in zip-loc freezer bags. If you want chocolate peanut butter balls (I do a half and half) add 1/2 cup of carob powder. For half the batch use 1/4 cup of carob powder. Buy Dr. Pitcairns complete guide to NATURAL HEALTH FOR DOGS & CATS. It has everything you need including recipes. Also find an holistic Vet. as most regular Vets. are not trained in neutrition and would rather sell you Science Diet or what ever else. Another good book is by Ann N. Martin called Food Pets Die For. She has had the dog food industry in and out of court for over 7 years. Please read these. I can't stress showing these to everyone enough. http://www.homevet.com/petcare/foodbook.html http://www.prwatch.org/prwissues/1996Q1/madcow13.html http://home.att.net/~wdcusick/03.html |
02-03-2007, 03:18 PM | #6 |
Donating Yorkie Yakker Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: springville, tn
Posts: 140
| I have a very small male, Monkey. I can feel his backbone too. He was 2.2 lbs a few months ago and hasn't gained much weight since then. He might be around 2.5 and he's 6 and a half mo. My female is 7 mo. and weighs around 4 lbs. I put their food in a bowl and they will eat some but if I take it out and put it on the floor they will eat more! I just put a little. When that's gone I put some more. I figure they're full when they quit eating. My vet says he's just going to be small. His little legs are half as big as hers. Also, his father is only 2 and 3/4 lbs. So he comes by it naturally. He is quite the climber, hence the name! Good luck. |
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