Skinny puppies - remedies?

i had a pup opened up after she suffered too long(eventually pts) and the vet said she had a stomach lining was 3 times as thick than what it should naturally be. some genetic sh*t was what i was told. no matter how much food/antibiotics we tried, she got sicker and it developed into pneumonia. without nutrition, the immune system weakens...has anyone else experienced this before? im not saying this is the case, but she always was the small skinny one in the litter, and i was after a small housedog

 

In addition to going to the vets and testing, you can get some Nutri-Cal and try supplementing the food with that.

 

ABK,

Sorry i wasn't online to see this sooner.

here is what you need to do . . . definitely.

Okay, feed a premium puppy or all stages food to them. No corn, wheat, soy, by products or chemicals of any kind.

To fatten up I'd Solid Gold : barking at the moon. Or, if that's not available or too expensive, the best and most fattening one you can find without the above stated ingredients. Then, make sure to feed the skinnier ones extra portions, over what is recommended for weight.

Additionally, to get them to eat the dry food you should buy some Nupro if you can find it and use it to make a slurry, as recommended on the container. This will make the dry food coated in delicious gravy and it has like a million vitamins and such that the pups will benefit from.

If you want to bump it up even more you can add in raw ground turkey, venison, bison, beef, or chicken mixed with eggs and the Nupro.

If you need help with any of this contact me. I work as a Pet Nutrition Specialist and have had pups I fed this exact recommended diet to. It works great.

 

i have used calf manna and save-a-calf for years. Mix it up per directions and warm it up abit on the stove. Always had good results.

 

I'm with Mary Jane....

There could be something wrong internally with these pups, but a diet for puppies of PEDIGREE CANNED? I have never heard of anyone doing that.

Puppies should weaned directly onto a good dry puppy food that is soaked in hot water and allowed to become mushy.( I have had good luck with Chicken Soup products, which is reasonably priced -- not the BEST, but very adequate with some goodies mixed in). Mix some goodies like raw burger egg yolks, liver, small amount of left over grease drippings, etc in with it and you have a good puppy diet. Vary this a bit each day so that they learn to eat a variety of things. In between feedings, leave some dry kernals down so they learn to eat dry food as well. I do not ask puppies to eat dry hard food all the time -- it is always a delicious mush, especially when they are learning to eat solids and for a while thereafter.

I find veterinarians are not the best to go to for feeding advice. They are great at the medical stuff, but feeding, breeding, conditioning, etc info has to come from someplace else.

Get those pups on a decent dry food -- that is the basis of your diet...

Dreamer

 

I wouldn't worry so much about weight specifically. Just get them on a good dry food and mix in a variety of things -- mackerel is VERY good and they love it. But don't use mackeral only -- the variety is important and several things you can mix in have been mentioned.

Concentrate on a good diet, and the rest will take care of itself.

Dreamer

 

Good statement, I wouldn't worry too much, not to say don't worry at all. If they are eatting drinking water and keeping it down, then those pups might just be abnormal. My pup right now I can see his hip bones and a pinch of ribs. I got him at 7 weeks and he has always been this way. He has no worms (wormed and tested), Keeps all his food down and by far the most active and athletic pup I have seen his age. Are the pups in ? more athletic than the ones that are heavier? Sluggish goofy pups tend to be more on the plump side, and will make a lean athletic pup look sick in comparison. I think what you are seeing is a difference in genes, the lean pups may be tight skined easy conditioning dogs, where as the plump pups may fall around that 45ish 50lbs side. As long as they are not throwing up and don't have diariah. I think they will be fine. Good luck!

 

rofl, that got me good lol.........

Seriously though I hope these pups turn out ok. edit. btw if your talking pedigree chum thats bad advice, its very rich and goes right thru adult dogs let alone tiny puppies therein could lie the problem.

 

Yes, they could have some kind of internal malformation that may become lethal as they grow, OR they could just be super-skinny and be healthy and no diet will change what they are...

I just think Pedigree canned is a lousy diet ANYWAY and should be changed. I don't want others to think canned food alone (and especially Pedigree!) is a good diet for puppies!

Dreamer

 

My pup eats canidae and raw and loves them both, but I think he is just greedy.
And when I said abnormal I just meant as far as the litter of pups the dam is use to throwing.

 

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Hi guys! Thanks for all the replies & all the good info. I have switched them over to the canned Pedigree per the vet's advice. I lam in a small town & can't get any of that fancy-pants pet food here. The only place you can get food here are grocery stores which of course carry junk food or co-ops which carry low to mid grade working dog food.

But anyway, to get back on the subject, I have started adding some canine red cell in w/ the Pedigree, as well as some water & kibble & they're turning around & are gaining weight slowly but surely.

The only problem is the little female (who is the skinniest) will still not at as well as I would like. She eats like a horse before going to bed but at breakfast & lunch she'll just eat a bit then she wants to run around & explore.

She may just have a high metabolism or something b/c she doesn't walk anywhere - she runs! And her mom was a very high energy bitch, bordering on spastic. Her half brother (both are out of the same female, diff dads) is the same way - all go, all the time.

But anyway, I will give updates as I follow their progress. Thank you all again for the good advice!

 

If you post some of the available foods I would be happy to tell you if any are a better quality than what the vet recommended. Vets have little to no training on nutrition unless they pursue it themselves and are trained by Hill's Science diet, so they only care about the nutrition analysis, not how the dogs are getting said protein, fat and carbs which will make a huge difference.

 

Thanks. Here are some of the foods available to us to in my town:

Canned:

Alpo
Iams
Pedigree (of various types)
Mighty Dog
Cesar
Beneful


Dry foods:

Iams
Eukanuba
Science Diet
Pedigree
Purina (of various types)
Kibbles & Bits
Beneful
Alpo
Diamond (of various types which I will NEVER feed in ANY form!)
Loyall
Sportsmix
Enhance
Exclusive

Then we have "house" brands both canned & dry such as:

Ol' Roy (of various types)
Fred's brand
Old Yeller (Kroger brand)
Dollar Store brand (don't know the name)

Hope this can help ....

 

Good grief...just get them off the canned stuff okay?

Of the foods you have written down, I have used the Iams/Euk in the past and the dogs did just fine on it. Right now I am actually feeding Diamond Premium Adult and dogs are doing just fine. There is another Diamond food - I can't remember which, that a lot of people swear by. I personally think Diamond is pretty under-rated. Chicken Soup is the high-end Diamond product. I feed the regular Diamond because I can't afford the really pricey stuff. But I also add raw meat and mackeral and other stuff that is often on sale.

Try the Diamond with some raw meat and other stuff mixed in and you will be much better off than with the damn canned food!

Dreamer

 

You should be adding a little canned food to a decent kibble, not the other way around!

Dreamer

 

Thanks Dreamer. But after Diamond killed 2 of my dogs, I will NEVER, EVER feed Diamond or any of their other products again, be they high end or not! I would feed my dogs Ol' Roy before I EVER fed them Diamond!

As for the Iams, I've never used it. In the military they fed the K9 dogs Eukanuba. We all called it "Puke-anuba" b/c in reality it's just a mediocre dog food that was packaged & promoted well. I'd feed it if I have to, but was never impressed with it.

EDIT: Forgot to add - I am using canned as a base & adding kibble b/c of the high water content. I do not want the puppies to get dehydrated. And before anyone asks, I have tried moistening the dry food, they don't care for it very well. Heck, I have even tried feeding them hamburger mixed with milk & they don't like that very well either. They prefer the canned food with water so I feed them what they like. I'd rather they eat canned food then not eat & end up starving or dehydrating themselves to death.

I added a few handfuls of kibble per the vet's advice. But I will try your advice Dreamer & up the kibble ratio to see if anything happens. One thing that would really help is if I could get that little female to sit still long enough to eat a good meal. She'll eat a bit then she wants to run around & check out everything.

I have tried putting her in her litter box so she can't run all over the house, but if she hears anything, she stops eating, goes over to the edge of the box & looks out. I have to put her back to the bowl over & over. She is really a nosey Nellie! But thankfully while she doesn't eat as much as I would like at breakfast & lunch, she eats really well at dinner time. So she is coming along slowly. You can't see her shoulders or ribs anymore & can only see a hint of her hips. Her brother is still small but you can't see anything on him anymore. Their other 2 brothers (who eat the same thing they do) are big, fat & sassy.

 

Out of the brands you have listed try these varieties for the best ingredient content. . .

Mighty Dog: the following two are fine all else are horrible!
Mighty Dog Lamb & Rice


Ingredients:
Lamb Broth, Lamb, Lamb Liver, Lamb Tripe, Rice Flour, Dried Egg Product, Fish Meal, Lamb Meal, Dried Beet Pulp (sugar removed), Minerals and Vitamins. Guaranteed Analysis %:Moisture (maximum) 78
Crude Protein (minimum) 10
Crude Fat (minimum) 6
Crude Fiber (maximum) 1.5
Mighty Dog Prime Cuts Turkey in Gravy

Ingredients:
Turkey Broth, Turkey, Rice Flour, Chicken, Fish Meal, Dried Beet Pulp (sugar removed), Dried Egg Product, Minerals and Vitamins. Guaranteed Analysis %:Moisture (maximum) 78
Crude Protein (minimum) 10
Crude Fat (minimum) 6
Crude Fiber (maximum) 1.5
Sportsmix Lamb Meal & Rice Formula (the only corn free sportsmix)

Ingredients

Lamb Meal, Brewers Rice, Chicken Meal, Rice Flour, Rice Bran, Chicken Fat (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of natural Vitamin E), Dried Beet Pulp, Dried Egg Product, Salt, Yeast Culture, Potassium Chloride, Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement, D-Calcium Pantothenate, Niacin Supplement, Choline Chloride, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Folic Acid, Thiamine Mononitrate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Biotin, Calcium Iodate, Copper Sulfate, Ferrous Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Zinc Oxide, Magnesium Oxide.


Enhance (I cant find the ingredients online for puppy but you might wanna look into it)

Enhance® Professional Athlete Formula Dog Food
Ingredients

Chicken Meal, Rice Flour, Brewers Rice, Chicken Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols, a source of natural Vitamin E), Dried Beet Pulp, Fish Meal, Dried Whole Eggs, Brewers Dried Yeast, Flax, Natural Flavor, Potassium Chloride, Choline Chloride, Garlic, Lecithin, Vitamin E Supplement, Zinc Oxide, Ascorbic Acid, Copper Sulfate, Glucosamine Hydrochloride, Extract Of Rosemary, Manganese Sulfate, Chondroitin Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Biotin, Vitamin A Acetate, Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Niacin, Thiamine Mononitrate, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Riboflavin Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride


Exclusive™ Chicken & Rice Adult Formula
INGREDIENTS: Chicken, chicken meal, brewers rice, oatmeal, whole grain brown rice, chicken fat preserved with mixed tocopherols (a form of vitamin E), corn gluten meal, dried beet pulp, dried egg product, flaxseed, natural chicken flavor, fish meal, potassium chloride, salt, cholline chloride
glucosamine hydrochloride, vitamin E supplement, iron proteinate, zinc proteinate, copper proteinate, ferrous sulfate, zinc sulfate, copper sulfate, potassium iodide, thiamine mononitrate, manganese proteinate, manganous oxide, chondroitin sulfate, ascorbic acid, vitamin A supplement, biotin, calcium pantothenate, manganese sulfate, sodium selenite, pyridoxine
hydrochloride (vitamin B6), vitamin B12 supplement, riboflavin, vitamin D supplement, folic acid.
Exclusive™ Lamb & Rice Adult Formula
INGREDIENTS: Lamb, lamb meal, brewers rice, whole grain brown rice, cracked pearled barley, oatmeal, chicken fat preserved with mixed tocopherols (a form of vitamin E), dried beet pulp, flaxseed, dried egg product, natural flavor, fish meal, potassium chloride, salt, choline chloride,
glucosamine hydrochloride, vitamin E supplement, iron proteinate, zinc proteinate, copper proteinate, ferrous sulfate, zinc sulfate, copper sulfate, potassium iodide, thiamine mononitrate, manganese proteinate, chondroitin sulfate, manganous oxide, ascorbic acid, vitamin A supplement,
biotin, calcium pantothenate, manganese sulfate, sodium selenite, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), vitamin B12 supplement, vitamin D supplement, folic acid.

Hope that helps

 

Thank helps a lot, thank you! I would have never thought Might Dog would be a decent food.

Thanks again!!!

 

How are the pups getting along?