Adding calories? My vet suggested mixing a small amount of sweetened condensed milk with food to add calories. Also mixing wet food with his dry. Have any of you ever done that or know of another way to increase muscle mass? Cooper's weight is good, 6.75 lbs last week, (he's not quite 15 months old) he's just very thin. Blood work was done to rule out liver problems and that was normal. The vet was concerned about how thin he is and thinks the calories, not the amount of food should be increased. I've done both for about 4 days, condensed milk with morning food and wet food with evening. Today he ate everything. I've made brown rice with ground beef, scrambled eggs, boiled eggs, cottage cheese, yogurt....all these different things to try to increase his appetite but he's never eaten a full serving until today. Thoughts or ideas? :) |
I used canned food to put weight on one of mine, it worked great. You have ruled out medical problems and are following the advice of a vet, seems like you are doing everything like you should be! :thumbup: |
Along with this, we're trying a new medicine with him. A sort of puppy prozac, if you will, called Reconsile. It's marketed for separation anxiety but the vet said it should be very effective in just helping him relax and enjoy his life. He gets a 1/2 tablet every day, we started Thursday. Poor little guy is just so high strung. It's like he's on guard all the time, constantly looking every direction for something to go after. His favorite place is perched on top of the sofa where he can see every angle. :D I hope this helps him to be able to relax and EAT and just enjoy his life as the great little companion he is. He's so nervous sometimes I feel sorry for him.....he'll just pace back and forth. It's supposed to take 3-4 weeks to be effective, but it's not a tranquilizer at all, more of a mood stabilizer. |
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Thanks and good luck. |
I will let you know how it goes. Cooper doesn't attack, but he does seem to feel that he's the protector! Any little sound or movement just sets him off and then he'll give a low growl for 5 minutes or more. That may be normal at times but I don't think it is every minute of every day. I'm hopeful that after a month of this he can block out those things and just focus on being a dog! :D btw, my cost was $40 for a 2 month supply. |
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The vet also said to switch him from puppy to adult, which I did. |
How much kibble were you feeding daily? I'd say follow the vet's advice. But I wouldn't use sweetened condensed milk if this was my girl. Canned for can get them eating more and is completely balanced. Carbs and protein are good to add, but the unbalanced diet over time if you feed a lot of it could be a problem. For now it's fine though. The way to increase calories without increasing volume is fat. Not something I'd be doing... |
Are you sure he's really too skinny? I'd rather see a lean dog than an overweight dog. And sometimes, I think, vets are so used to seeing fat dogs, that a really skinny dog sometimes look really skinny, but may be at a healthy weight. I don't know, I obviously might be wrong, I haven't seen a photo of your dogs weight. Some dogs are naturally skinny and should be for their frame. Just a thought. |
Ellie May-I was feeding him anywhere from 1/4 to 1/3 dry food twice a day. Could you go a little further with your answer as to why you wouldn't do the condensed milk? Is it the sugar? I didn't see any that wasn't sweetened, only that and evaporated. :) Britster-I suppose he could just be naturally thin. The blood work was to test all his organ function and thyroid. It's certainly possible I guess. |
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The problem with Cesar and Iams is they are full of fillers- I think you would see a change if you got your puppy on a higher quality food with more real protein. I had just switched my dogs to a dehydrated food and then went away for 10 days- there was a family emergency and I had to leave with almost no notice- the person who watched them didn't notice that they lost weight rapidly on the food- by the time I came home, my male was scary thin- I switched over to the Natural Balance canned food and fed him three times per day instead of two within about two weeks he was back to normal and we transitioned to the new kibble and he has been fine ever since. |
Thanks, I'll look for that when I go shopping tomorrow. Dog food can be so confusing. :confused: |
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A good rule of thumb is if the food can be bought at the grocery store it is not high quality- obviously that over simplifies it, but it is an easy place to start. |
That makes it difficult if you're in an area without a pet store. A grocery store this week is my only option until I get back to a larger town. So anything in a supermarket is bad food? |
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Ok, I'm deleting my post because Armani beat me to the punch. :) |
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