puppy doesn't gain weight.
 

My baby Allie is 8 months old & weighs 3 lbs. Allie eats wellness puppy food but she doesn't gain weight .... I feel every bone on her. She doesn't really eat as much as she should and I'm just very worried... Any clues on how I could make her eat or what I could give her.... TIA:confused:

You may want to give some calorie dense treats like peanut butter, cheese, bits of meat.

Also, maybe add some parmesan cheese to her current food to get her to eat more...?

some puppies are just not big eaters, my last yorkie never cared much for his food, I finally had to start mixing it in with some of that wet Ceaser dog food that come is the small peel off cap, it's not a great food though but I was at my wits end at least the kibble I fed him was high quality. He also had a sensitive stomach so if he was to eat that food straight he would get sick, later in life we mixed it with canned food from the vet that was for a sensitive stomach. My friend Teri (Verbena on YT) has a small thin fine boned Biewer that she is constantly working on to eat, she turned me on to something that I use as treat it's a freeze dried patty that is a food called Stella and Chewies she use that to supplement his food. Now with all that being said unlike some others here I do not get very involved in all the particulars of each brand of dog food, so please take everything I say as just a suggestion on food that has tasted good to my dogs and research if it is best for your pup.

you may have already done this but I don't know so I want to add that aside from the possibility that your pup is a finicky eater or just not that hungry you should also rule out health issues that may or may not be the cause of not gaining weight. How is your dogs hair, is it very thin, is it dull, that too could be indicators of something going on. I would suggest that you talk to your vet and have a full blood panel done on her. This will let you see if there are any problems with liver, kidney, thyroid and so forth. I don't want to alarm you because there is a good chance nothing could be wrong but to me having blood work on a puppy is a good idea because if there is something wrong they catch it early if there is nothing wrong you have a base line for reference as you she gets older. But first before you go to the vet, get health insurance for her, at this point there will be no preexisting conditions if you wait till after the blood work is done and they find something you will be screwed because that condition will not be covered. I really don't want to alarm you but I hope you understand that I can not just give food advise without mentioning this.

I would have the vet check her out and tell you what he thinks.

Two words. Fresh pet. Get the chicken and vegetable in the grocery store pet food refrigerator. (in a bag) Change her slowly but she will eat it and she will gain weight. I am not trying to sell it :) but it's crazy good. We only use it occasionally now, my dog likes it too much.

Have you talked to your vet about this? She could have an internal issue causing her not to gain. In the meantime I agree with other posters in regards to the calorie dense foods/toppings. Yogurt, cheese, plain chicken breast, etc. What type of food are you feeding her?

When we first got Sissy she was a skinny, boney mess. We had all the blood work and stool run by my vet with all tests negative.

I got a vitamin supplement and sprinkled it on her dinner with the stinkiest paramean cheese on it I could find. A few weeks later I notice signs of tapeworm in the bed and took it and stool sample to the vet. Yes, tapeworms so we had to give her meds to rid her of these. After that she began to gain and is now 9yrs old and 9lbs.

You have gotten good advise from the YT group. I would get heR to the vet, get a stool sample, ask about a supplement, try the parm cheese or coconut oil on her food.

Keep us posted on how she is doing.

Shes just such a pain lol I would but cheese in her food and shed sift around the dog food and eat the cheese she also did that with hot dogs and wet food.... If I put it in my hand she will eat . she's a very healthy active puppy a little to much energy☺ but I will be taking her to the vet to make sure everything is OK.... I love the food she's on I just want her to be fat. My moms yorkie is fat and my mom tells me all the time that Allie is to skinny. I will be getting her nutrical and probiotics today and some wet dog food.

If it's possible, I would so love to transfer Magnus/Zoey's chunkieness to Allie. I mix wet with kibbles (both from Wellness) and they can't get enough. LOL

See now I try to mix it but like I said she'd just eat on the wet food.... What do you think about giving her a high calorie booster gel once a day.? I also got her pro biotics do you think I could give her a quarter of one a day or should I wait until shes off of the high calorie booster.?

I agree!! The freshpet is really wonderful! I also use the grain free version which is called vital. Just a little mixed in with the dry kibble and they eat it all up!

I think keeping pro biotics is fine with the high calorie booster.

She sounds alot like Zoey. Z would spit out the kibble and just take in the wet food too. Sometimes, she'll get bit snooty and won't eat unless I hand feed her. But she's gotten better with age.

Have you tried soaking the kibbles in chicken broth? That usually get Z more interested.

I would not give the nutrical unless the dog had a hypoglycemic episode.

I have a 10 month old that is 2.5 lbs and she is a skinny girl. She actually used to be on Fresh pet for several months and did not help her gain weight and I took her off after reading that the food has too much calcium in it. All mine are pretty much on pre-made and freeze dried RAW and I do switch it up with some Wellness Stews every so often. I agree that yours should have a blood panel ran just to be safe. I am about to have mine spayed and a full panel will be done before doing so. I have heard that some Yorkies just do not fill out as quickly as others so yours may be one of those.

If you feel every bone. Mix here kibble with good foods. No seasoned cooked meat like check. Mix hard boiled eggs. They love Peanut butter but good kinds not the sugar..but probably doesn't matter. True some does don't eat much just what she does eat add more calories to it.

I had trouble putting weight on my boys too. If I upped their kibble, they would just poo more. I talked to the vet about it, and she suggested adding more wet food to their meals. I went from adding 1 ice cube of Weruva to 2, and they slowly gained to where they look and feel perfect. Now I just do the 2 cubes in summer when they are getting outside more and that's when they tend to lose the weight.

My zoey will be 2 soon and has been known to be a picky eater. That is until I put her on Natures Variety kibble....now shes at the height of her weight scale and I had to put her on the healthy weight one! So far she's not losing , but maintaining......and is very active ..and eating the proper amount....😱

I have the same problem with my little Jack. He's had blood work done, all good, thank God! So it is a matter of getting him to gobble up a bit more. So the vet said to sprinkle Probiotics to his kibble. That really turned Jack onto eating, but he seems to get bored easily with his food. I have to mix it up abit and I give him some good "treats" chicken, cheese, peanut butter, etc. in small amounts. I watch to make sure his main food is the kibble, I want him to get the benefit of the balance it brings. I have been using a secondary kibble as a treat too. Also I measure out a small amount of Nutrical and he gets that daily as well. Vet said that would be ok too. My little stinker does prefer to be hand fed, I am so bent on getting him up to 4lbs so that he can be neutered, that I do that to encourage him to eat, but I sure wish he'd just eat out of his dish exclusively.