RAW DIET for underweight yorkies?! Help! I've tried every kibble imaginable: Canidae, Solid Gold, Innova Evo, Natural Balance and Royal Canin. Tookie loved Royal Canin Yorkshire but it gave him itchiness. All the others, he would eat for a few days and then turn his nose up and never touch it again. He loves Natural Balance food rolls, but he's still not eating enough. He doesn't always just finish his entire bowl of food asking for more =( He is 5 lbs and you can feel all his bones, especially his protruding spine and ribs. I thought he was just skinny, but after comparing his body to other yorkies his same age, height and length, I knew his protruding spine, ribs and pencil stick legs were not normal. I see that many picky eaters LOVE Nature's Variety raw medallions and freeze dried. Should I make the switch, and if so, should I do medallions or freeze dried first. Also, is the switch to raw supposed to be cold turkey or gradually introduced? Also, if I want him to put on weight, should I feed him more than the suggested serving portions that Nature's Variety suggests? I know raw is better for them, but I've seen posts of dogs losing weight on raw. Help! I need to plump my baby up! |
first of all relax:D breath. a clear mind is key to working the right diet! have you tried the NV kibbles? they are very good. Timberwolf Organics is good as well. If you want to do the raw those are fantastic! dogs do best on raw! ive seen great results on it. its expensive, but i guess its resonable for a yorkie since its small. to put some weight on the yorkie ( or any dog) you could double the feed amounts, put canola oil ( about 1/4-1/2 cup) on kibble. that really packs on the weight. for switching over, make sure you don't feed the raw with the kibble. they digest at different rates and makes it harder to adjust. i would feed kibble in the morning, give the dog a good 8-10 hours to digrst that and give raw at night. also you might see what we call a detox period where the body adjust to the nutrient rich raw while throwing out all the junk a dog mightve been fed such as fillers that are found in some of the foods you mentioned. i would also check the dog for worms if its losing weight despite increase in food intake. take a stool sample to the vet and have them run it. Droncit gets everything and Interceptor is great but it doesnt kill tapeworms. MOST* dogs have roundworms so ask about that. good luck! |
How old is Tookie? Has he had a thorough vet check with bloodwork to see if something could be causing him to be underweight? I'd start with that before trying to fatten him up on food. He could have worms as WSAPBT suggested or even a thyroid imbalance. |
I agree with Ladymom. Have a vet check him out first. |
I too agree with Ladymom, but wanted to add one thing - I don't know why you think they might not gain as much or lose weight on raw. That certainly isn't true of my two. They are both doing extremely well on raw and Kalina and Matty Lu are anything but skinny. The thing I like about raw is that they NEVER have an off day - they eat all their meals with gusto, which is not true of them before I put them on raw. Good luck. :) |
I'd suggest switching to real food and solve all those problems. Your dog will love you for it too. ;) |
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