Any Ideas.... - Paw Talk

CavyGrl · #1 01-19-2005, 02:34 PM

I was just wondering if anyone had any ideas that may help me with this situation. About 2 years ago we adopted a doggie from the humane society. When they got him he had been abused, starved, and left on the street to die. when we went to look for our second dog, we found him at the humane society and he was curled up in a tiny little ball (b.t.w. he is a yellow lab mix) in a cage with dogs bigger than him that were really hyper. when we met him we just fell in love with him. we brought him home the next day. well anyway, we've had him for two years now and he eats about 4-5 cups of food per day. he has been eating like this for two years now and he just wont gain any weight. he has only gained about 10 pounds, but he is still so so so skinny. he is a very nervous dog so we thought about getting him some relaxers so that maybe he will gain some weight. if you have any ideas on how we can get him to gain weight please, please let me know.
thanks

***Jade*** · #2 01-19-2005, 02:44 PM

At 4-5 cups per DAY I would be a bit worried about an underlying problem. Has the vet ever run a full blood panel on him?

CavyGrl · #3 01-19-2005, 04:45 PM

he is perfectly healthy and the vet said it was ok for him...thats actually what he recommended. ooh and they're not measured cups but an average size coffe cup. any other ideas?

RSbunny · #4 01-19-2005, 05:22 PM

If he is perfectly healthy and just won't gain weight due to nervousness try feeding him raw meaty bones. If he is nervous and burns his energy by pacing (my old dog used to do it) this will work cause it will help keep him still as well. Labs are generally the opposite, they are generally in need of losing weight. If full blood work hasn't been done I'd be requesting it, just to make sure it is just a nervous thing.

***Jade*** · #5 01-19-2005, 05:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RSbunny


	Labs are generally the opposite, they are generally in need of losing weight. If full blood work hasn't been done I'd be requesting it, just to make sure it is just a nervous thing.

Ditto.

Chrisanne · #6 01-19-2005, 07:28 PM

I second what Carmen said too. Considering my lab is just that... overweight and he only gets 2.5 cups a day.

Chinchilla_Girl · #7 01-19-2005, 07:31 PM

I also agree, full blood workup if it hasn't already been done. That's a lot of food per day for a lab mix.

TareG · #8 01-20-2005, 12:07 PM

That is a lot of food!
My first guess, given this situation, would be a thyroid problem, but I believe a blood test would discover that, so maybe not.
I would suggest meaty treats and definately a very thourough exam.

***Jade*** · #9 01-20-2005, 01:42 PM

I believe you have to send off blood to do a thyroid panel.

Chrisanne · #10 01-20-2005, 01:49 PM

To do an accurate blood panel for thyroid it does need to be sent off. Not to mention, more often than not thyroid problem causes overweight dogs, not underweight.

Also, might I ask WHAT kind of food you're feeding him. That could have a HUGE impact on weight

CavyGrl · #11 01-20-2005, 06:59 PM

At first we thought that he was eating way too much also, but when we got him from the humane society thats how much they told us, in between 3-5 cups. Before we got him and also after he had complete blood work done and he's fine (the blood work is required at our humane society). We feed him Dad's Little Bites. We got him the little bites because he wouldn't eat the larger food pieces. The humane society vet also recommend the Dad's. The next time he goes to the vet, in about a month (give or take a couple of weeks), we are going to ask about the relaxers because we have only heard good things about them. I'll let you know what's happening with him!

SugarLovesRats · #12 01-21-2005, 02:26 AM

Well first dads is pretty much crap. Lots of grain and fillers. If he is indeed perfectly healthy I woud reccomend switching to a raw prey model diet. I am currently switching my dogs. They love it and I heard it can be good for managing weight on either side of the scale. If raw is not possible I would reccomend Nutro Large breed.
Also raw eggs are good and tuna.

Chrisanne · #13 01-21-2005, 10:45 AM

I am sorry to say your humane society is way off base if they recommend that particular food. SugarLoveRats is right, it is NO good. #1 ingredient is ground corn, blah.

Nutro is a good food and would be way better. You could also try Canidae, Wellness, or Solid Gold. They are all good foods. My dogs personally get Canidae and are now also given some raw along with it.

4-5 cups is to much feed. My Newfie didn't even eat that much and he was a giant breed dog.

Personally, I would explore every other avenue before I considered drugging my dog. In some cases they are good, but more often than not it is done more for our own convience rather than for the good of the dog. Medications should be the LAST resort.

piggiemommy · #14 01-22-2005, 11:23 PM

Find out the details about the blood work the HS did. They probably only did a presurgical type of screening before his neuter (bare minimum), which is NOT the same as a full blood panel.

I agree with getting him on a better diet. As a rule of thumb, if you can buy the food at a grocery store, it's junk, a waste of money and not good for your dog.

If this has been an ongoing problem for two years and your vet hasn't helped figure out the problem, try finding another vet.

May I ask how much your dog weighs and how old you guess him to be?

***Jade*** · #15 01-22-2005, 11:50 PM

Just an FYI, I did a little searching for info on canine hyperthyroidism and wasn't able to find much, as it's more common in cats than in dogs. What I did find said symptoms were: increased appetite, rapid heart rates, increased activity levels, nervousness and fever.