Dog can't put on weight - any ideas??

[holi]

My son has a hyper-active spaniel. He has been neutered and they just cant get him to put on weight. His bowels can be quite loose at time and on advice, they have him on a gluten free diet and give yoghurt daily. He has an enormous amount of food but you can still see his ribs (he is very well muscled, alert, nose wet, coat good etc)

So any ideas as they are getting rather fed up with negative comments about his weight!

[ruthp]

Over active thyroid?

[clipclop]

I've seen very good results from skinners field and trial duck & rice - hypoallergenic, gluten free and high oil.

How old is the dog?

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[kizi]

Ok this may sound mad..but anyway..
I have a seriously hyperactive dog that for 3 years we struggled to put any weight on her at all because what ever suggestions we tried it made her behaviour even worse.. My other dog was on a diet food and I ran out of mad dogs food and gave her diet food.. Not sure why I stuck with it, I can't remember but basically she's getting more quantity which means more fibre and for the past year has gained and maintained a good weight on the diet food. It's been either hills but mostly royal canine one.
Her behaviour is also improved a lot compared to before..
For the past few months they have been getting 50/50 nuts and home cooked food, until I can afford to do all home cooked.. But she's still holding weight and has plenty energy. On the hills light food one dog had loose poop too and I felt it was lack of fibre so for a while I added wheat germ or bran or something which helped until I found the royal canine one..
Anyway, my point is that because the diet food has less energy and more fibre, just like with the horses, she gained weight!!! The vet diagnosed her 3 years ago as ADHD and when she last saw her she couldn't believe the change in a year! I also find running helps with her behaviour a lot, she just wants to run and run.. There's no end to her! But it took years to get her settled etc
Good luck it's just a matter of keep trying until you find what works.. Unless the vet thinks there's tests etc needed

[heidi]

How old is he? Several of the whizzy Spaniels I know were pretty lean until they got to about 2 1/2 - 3 years old.

After trying several varieties of food (obviously over some time!) I found Naturediet produced nicely scoopable poop from my boy!

[VeronicaF]

Hi holi, my snowy German Shepherd has EPI


we have been lucky enough to find him okay on chappie dog tin's food, but must be
original tin's

he is a nervous aggressive dog, so we first thought the lose stools were because of that. but it wasn't, your dog might not have this but there is this condition in some dogs that some people don't know about

chronic loose stools are usually the first visible symptom


prevalent in Boxers, German Shepherds, Poodles, Great Danes, and spaniels


What is EPI?
Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency, or EPI, also referred to as Pancreatic Hypoplasia or Pancreatic Acinar Atrophy (PAA), is a disease of maldigestion and malabsorption, which when left untreated eventually leads to starvation. One of the major difficulties with this disease is in the prompt and accurate diagnosis. Astonishingly, visible symptoms may not appear until 80 to 95 percent of the pancreas has atrophied.

There are two primary functions of the pancreas:

(1) Endocrine cells produce and secrete hormones, insulin, and glucagons.

(2) Exocrine cells produce and secrete digestive enzymes.

EPI is the inability of the pancreas to secrete digestive enzymes: amylase to digest starches, lipases to digest fats, and proteases to digest protein. Without a steady supply of these enzymes to help break down and absorb nutrients, the body starves. When EPI is undiagnosed and left untreated, the entire body is deprived of the nutrients needed for growth, renewal, and maintenance. In time, the body becomes so compromised that the dog either starves to death or dies of inevitable organ failure.

Incomplete digestion causes the continual presence of copious amounts of fermenting food in the small intestine. This can lead to a secondary condition that is common in many EPI dogs, called SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth). If an EPI dog has a lot of belly grumbling/noises, gas, diarrhea, and sometimes vomiting, she most likely has SIBO.

The condition occurs when the “bad” bacteria that is feeding on the fermenting food overpopulates the tissue lining the small intestine, further impairing the proper absorption of vital nutrients and depleting the body’s store of vitamin B12. Treatment of SIBO includes a course of antibiotics, to eliminate the bad bacteria. Treatment may also include supplemental cobalamin (B12) injections that help reestablish friendly bacteria colonies, which in turn helps inhibit the malabsorption.

Severity of the disease may vary, making it even more difficult to diagnose. EPI can be subclinical (no recognizable symptoms) for many months, sometimes even years, before it worsens and becomes noticeable. The symptoms can be exacerbated by physical or emotional stress, change of food or routine, and/or environmental factors. The most common symptoms include:

¡ Gradual wasting away despite a voracious appetite.

¡ Eliminating more frequently with voluminous yellowish or grayish soft “cow patty” stools.

¡ Coprophagia (dog eats his own stools) and/or pica (dog eats other inappropriate substances).

¡ Increased rumbling sounds from the abdomen, and passing increased amounts of gas.

¡ Intermittent watery diarrhea or vomiting.

Due to the lack of absorbed nutrients, the body starves: muscle mass wastes away, and bones may also be affected. An EPI dog’s teeth may be slightly smaller, and older EPI dogs appear to have a higher incidence of hip dysplasia. Every part of the body is at risk, even the nervous system (including the brain), which in turn wreaks havoc with the dog’s temperament. Some EPI dogs exhibit increased anxiety, becoming fearful of other dogs, people, and strange objects.

With hunger as an overwhelming force, many dogs act almost feral. Desperately seeking vital nutrition, many ingest inappropriate items, but nothing gets absorbed. As the disease progresses, the deterioration becomes quite rapid. Some dogs lose interest in any activities, preferring to just lie down or hide somewhere.


Many owners of EPI dogs become increasingly frustrated, as they feed more than normal amounts and yet their dogs continue to waste away before their eyes.



Since chronic loose stools are usually the first visible symptom

[portiabuzz]

Hope he is ok soon x x

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[annas]

Oh i can sympathise. My German Shorthaired Pointer was incredibly skinny when he was younger, he didn't get to an ideal weight until he was at least 3. I remembering being at a country show with him once and someone asked if he was a rescue, i was mortified!!

Even now (he is 5) and i have to really watch his weight as he will loose it so quickly. It is all because he is just so active and bouncy, everything that goes in just gets used!

I tried a lot of foods over those 3 years including working mixes and some wet foods. However i found that i had to feed him loads over 3 meals a day to even keep his weight stable. He also quite often had loose poops especially when he was younger. No food seemed to sort it out.

For a long time i settled on Fish4Dogs, tum seemed ok on it (although not always perfect) and he kept his weight stable. Thing is he had to have 3 large meals a day and there were a couple of instances when i was very concerned he had bloat. Luckily he was ok.

To be honest now i feed raw and he is much better. Also that just means i can feed a bit of fattier meat when he needs a bit of weight gain. I know it is not for everyone and it is personal choice but i am glad i changed.

Another trick i used in the past was to add suet to his food. That adds a lot of calories without much bulk. However be careful as too much can cause loose poops too.

[holi]

Thanks for the comments and ideas - I'll pass them on but if anyone can come up with anythimg else - all gratefully received!!

The dog is just under 2

[heidi]

When he's been to the vets have they said, "My goodness what a skinny dog!" Or have they said "He looks very fit!" My friend often had people commenting on how skinny her Working Cocker was, but the vet said she was very fit and in great shape. Unlike the many fat dogs around! They are athletes after all and Mo Farah and co couldn't be accused of being plump!

It seems to me that some dogs do more scoopable poops first thing in the morning, when they have been resting all night and less scoopable ones when they have been zooming about. Does your son find this or are they just not that firm at any point?

There have been similar topics to this on the Gundogs Training Forum, should you want to have a search on there!

[holi]

Yes to poo problem as they get looser with the running. Vet said he could do with a bit more weight but not huge amount - he has that big head problem at times that very thin humans get! I've got him for a week soon so will have a go with him- they might be over exercising him as well as my son is a bit of a live wire too and always exercising lol! He might need some chillin'

[kizi]

Maybe more brain exercise that required less physical exercise?!!

[heidi]

Good luck! Hope you (and he!) enjoy his stay!

[julz]

What food is dog being fed just now? If it's the likes of Bakers or Wagg it really needs to change. There's a website that tells you how to grade dog kibble. The higher the grade the better the kibble but ofcourse the price is higher too. But there are equally good middle grade kibbles out there too.

If dog is particularly skinny, can up his food to three times a day and worm too.

I'd stop the yogurt as this could be contributing to the loose stools. If you want to keep using it then buy a probiotic one and just put a spoonful in his dinner once a day x

[janwilky]

Jun 22, 2014 19:37:53 GMT 1 clipclop said:

I've seen very good results from skinners field and trial duck & rice - hypoallergenic, gluten free and high oil.

How old is the dog?

Sent from my GT-I9195 using proboards

I fed that to my working cocker all his life and he did very well on it. He always remained very lean, but typical of the breed he was very active and fit and he just ran it off. The main thing though is he was healthy and well-muscled and didn't have diarrhoea. As heidi says, people are just not used to seeing healthily slim dogs (just like with horses) so there can sometimes be a perception issue - though of course there's a limit, too thin is too thin and needs addressing.

Most spaniels I know are not that interested in food, they eat to live rather than live to eat (not like labradors lol!) so if they're offered plenty of exercise they take it with great joie de vivre and remain very lean. You could always see Scamp's ribs if he got wet, and my current dog Meg (retired working Sprocker) is the same. I did consider feeding raw but Scamp always seemed very healthy on the Skinners Duck & Rice so I didn't change it (he was killed in a car accident sadly, but was bouncing with good health to his last breath). I feed it to Meg now too, though I'm also considering raw for her....