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07-30-2007, 05:39 AM | #1 |
I Love My Lil' Punkin's Donating Member | He needs to put on weight! HELP! Hey guys, I am coming to you all for help Little Stedman is too skinny IMO - and I want to fatten him up some. He is 4 lbs...but just seems so skinny to me for his body type. I can feel his little spine and hip bones and I DON'T like it one bit. Stedman has honestly just never ever been a big eater (unlike his little OINK of a sister, Tatum ). Since the beginning of last week, I started giving him a pouch of soft/wet food every morning, and at first, he LOVED it - but now I guess he is "getting used to it" and won't even finish eating the entire pouch like he was in the beginning - and really those little pouches of food aren't even all that big to begin with I do give him cottage cheese sometimes...but I don't want to give him TOO much because I don't want it to give him loose stools (although so far, it never has). I free feed Canidae (dry) and I have read other places that it is actually supposed to help put on weight - I don't know if this is true or not?? But it's not in Stedman's case, that's for sure! Anyway...I am just wondering what you all recommend to put some weight on my little guy? I would give anything to get him up to 5 lbs - but he has weighed 4 lbs for the longest now...I highly doubt he will ever get up to 5 He is already a year and 1/2. To be honest though, I really don't care what the SCALE says - I just DO NOT want to be able to feel his little spine/ribs and hip bones. Don't get me wrong - he is not like SUPER SUPER skinny or anything...but he COULD stand to gain some weight and have more meat on his bones I am so used to chubby little Tate over here....I don't even know where her spine, ribs, and hip bones ARE lol. She is such the pig Any help is greatly appreciated - thanks guys!
__________________ Mommy Loves Stedman and Tatum! They have us wrapped around their little paws! |
Welcome Guest! | |
07-30-2007, 05:52 AM | #2 |
No Longer a Member | I've been dealing with the same problem with Chloe for the longest time. She loathes all food equally. Sometimes she'll eat something fine for a few days, then she won't eat. I tried the scheduled feedings too and free feeding. Without exaggeration, she can go three days with no more that 1 tablspoon of kibbles. Her spine is really bony. I hate being able to feel it. I mean, dogs are supposed to LIVE to eat, right? Finally, I just got fed up with it and took her to the vet and had a full blood panel done. Absolutely everything was fine, except her bile acids were a bit on the high side, so we did the fast and post bile acid test, as poor appetite is one of the first symptoms of liver problems, including shunt. Her numbers came back as 210.1 fast test, and 52.1 post. If the second number is over 100, it indicates shunt. It is supposed to be under 25, so Chloe probably has MVD, which is like several little shunts. Not something that really can be corrected with surgery (the only way to know for sure would be more tests). Now she doesn't display ANY symptoms whatsoever, EXCEPT not liking food. You might want to get him tested and see. The full blood panel was a little pricey, but I think the fast and post bile acid tests were only $39. |
07-30-2007, 06:05 AM | #3 |
I Love My Yorkies Donating Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Indianapolis, Indiana
Posts: 37,147
| Feed him pasta mixed with meat
__________________ Chachi's & Jewels Mom Jewels http://www.dogster.com/?132431Chachi http://www.dogster.com/?132427 |
07-30-2007, 06:06 AM | #4 |
Donating Senior Yorkie Talker Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Columbia, SC
Posts: 910
| Winston use to be very picky with his food, we use to have to beg him to eat. Talk about both Mommy and Daddy sitting on the floor and begging him to eat. He is a tall boy but his bones were sticking out. We've started to homecook since the food recall thing, and he is not picky any more. I normally boil chicken or ground turkey, barley or brown rice, sweet potato, carrot, squash/zuccini, greenbeans, apple, parsley/celery/bayleaf etc. I put a little sea salt and garlic powder too. He is up to 8 lbs. which suits his body frame.
__________________ Nid , Winston , Maggie and Maemi (our new ten thousand blessings and beauty) |
07-30-2007, 09:19 AM | #5 |
2 Pups=Double Trouble! Donating Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Iowa
Posts: 6,581
| Emma's little spine and hip bones are pointy too-we put her on a diet after the vet said she was chunky, and she lost it really quickly just cutting out the extra people food and going for lots of walks. Feed little Steddy small meals several times each day-it's probably actually better for their metabolism, IMO. Emma and Milli get kibble at 5 AM sometimes w/ 1tsp. cottage cheese, a little peanut butter/banana or treats in the kong at 8:30 AM, then their homemade dinner at 5 PM, and then treats (carrots, frozen peas, yogurt, or cheese) after dinner-maybe around 7-8 PM. You might also try some kinds of meat with a little extra fat in them-maybe instead of buying ground beef that is 93/7 buy 90/10? Good carbs might also help-try whole wheat pasta mixed with meat, cheese, and veggies. Get 2% cottage cheese and yogurt rather than fat free or 1%, and mix it with fruit or veggies.
__________________ Suzy Emma & Milli What's better than loving a yorkie? Loving two yorkies! Milli 's Remi! |
07-30-2007, 09:29 AM | #6 |
YT 2000 Club Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Rancho Viejo, Tx
Posts: 2,698
| I have one that is like that. except he has no problem eating. he was just built skinny when he was born and i think he will always stay that way. it think it is kind of like i used to be ... able to eat anythng and everything and still stay skinny.
__________________ Buckeye, Ahia, Tressie, Archie & LDenise Dogs are really people with short legs in fur coats |
07-30-2007, 09:29 AM | #7 |
Donating YT Addict Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: NY
Posts: 1,752
| I had the same prob with Milo. He is up to 6 lbs now and has actually filled out! I feed honest kitchen----thrive and embark. Also add missing link, and HK's supplements of perfect form & invigor. I reconstitute with organic, low sodium chix broth and also add shredded asiago and whole wheat couscous ( also cooked with the broth). He gets this twice a day-- 1/4 cup each time and also gets treats of fresh raw vegs and fruits as well as bits of chix, beef and fish, depending on what I am cooking for our dinner. He consistantly eats since I switched to HK. I couldn't be happier! |
07-30-2007, 09:32 AM | #8 |
Donating YT 500 Club Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Texas
Posts: 883
| I was concerned about Pixie too. She was getting thin. When I took her to the vet, she had lost almost a whole pound!!! He ran several tests on her and found nothing wrong, so he asked about her diet. Well, we had recently taken them off Puppy Food and put them on Adult Food, as they were all finally past the 1 year mark. The vet said that Pixie is one of those who needs the extra fat, so we put her back on Puppy and she has already gained and maintained the lost weight. So you might try Puppy Food.
__________________ MYLAN CONNOR PIXIE KERA SAMMIE |
07-30-2007, 10:39 AM | #9 |
YT Addict Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: st. john, virgin islands
Posts: 331
| Sounds like you have already gotten some great suggestions, here is what I do. I also feed Canidae. If I notice Chewy hasn't eaten much at a meal, then the next one I usually sprinkle a little parmesan cheese on top or I dice up a few carrots or pieces of cheese and mix it with the food. He usually then gobbles it up. If he still isn't too interested, I'll put a little hot water on top. He loves that too, but I try not to do that too often, I've heard it's better for their teeth when it's dry. Hope this helps!!
__________________ Shaneen & Chewy from St. John |
07-30-2007, 10:46 AM | #10 |
No Longer a Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: With My Beautiful Fur Babies!
Posts: 5,525
| OH, Brooke...I can tell you what made my pets fat. We even had to take them off of it because of the extra weight that they put on. It was Nature's Variety (dry kibble). I am not kidding you, within a week, I could see that my cat had gained weight and so had Harley! We are wanting both of them to lose so they had to go off of it and back onto Canidae. It's a high quality food and our animals loved it but seriously, you talk about putting the pounds on quickly! Tammy |
07-30-2007, 10:46 AM | #11 |
Donating YT 8000 Club Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Spokane, WA
Posts: 9,339
| Hi Brooke, I give both my babies cottage cheese daily and it does not give them runny poop. If it does on Steddy it might be because he is just now having them. Just a little only until he gets used to it. Tiger used to be slightly underweight and that is my VET's exact words. However, as soon as he got neutered, his appetite change completely. Has Steddy been neutered? I hope you can get some meat on Steddy's bones soon. Perhaps he is just mourning over his girlfriend Maddie's untimely passing . |
07-30-2007, 10:56 AM | #12 |
Donating YT 3000 Club Member | underweight NATURAL BALANCE ROLLS !! its good for him & he will love it and theres different flavors so he wont get bored kayko was the same way and he was underweight now a few months later hes put on a few pounds and at a great weight we tryed all kinds of people food ( mixing with the dry) and all it did was mess up his stomach |
07-30-2007, 11:42 AM | #13 |
Donating YT 1000 Club Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Northern NJ
Posts: 3,468
| SATIN...lol...balls! I couldn't remember for the life of me the name of the recipe that I've heard so many people "rave" about for fattening up their dogs. I did remember that the word "balls" was in it though.... Let me just say Brooke...that google search was quite interesting! Here it is...... http://theherbs.info/Pets/satinball.html
__________________ KimPhoebiChandler |
07-30-2007, 11:48 AM | #14 | |
No Longer a Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: With My Beautiful Fur Babies!
Posts: 5,525
| Quote:
Here is the thread that I started a little while back about Nature's Variety: http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/sho...re%27s+variety Tammy | |
07-30-2007, 11:54 AM | #15 |
Piper & Sebastian Donating Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: florida
Posts: 14,495
| Maybe he needs a little spoiling from some homemade cooking.
__________________ Susan, Piper ,Harley & Suiki |
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