Posted: Tue Oct 19, 2010 9:55 am Post subject: Trying to put some weight on Lola
Lola has always been a slim lab and tbh I'm happy with that, however in the last few weeks she just seems to look skinny rather than slim. I tried increasing her food and it just seemed to lead to her simply pooing more.
The other day she indulged in some of next doors horse food and some hoof clippings (sorry but even saying that makes me sick) and was then crying to be let out in the night as she had terrible diarhoea. The following day she looked awful! From some angles you can always see her ribs but suddenly you could see her ribs and the line of her spine and this terrible concave stomach. I realise she was probably dehydrated too. Anyway I don't think its right that she can't even withstand a slight upset stomach without looking like shes severely malnourished.
Added to all this someone actually commented to me the other day that I can't be feeding her properly as you can see her ribs. I was quite upset as you can imagine.
I have now changed her food onto the Science plan sensitive stomach, which is costing a fortune but at least for now I can live with that if it helps her. I have also added lunch back in (she's nearly 11 months so on 2 meals usually) I've made lunch oily fish, sardines or mackerel. Her meals are slightly larger but not much as I don't want to give her a bad stomach, I'm around the feeding guide for her weight but I don't usually take that much notice.
She's a typical greedy lab and I'm happy for her to be slim but I don't want her to be unhealthily skinny. Has anyone else had a problem with their dog keeping weight on (I knnow its usually the other way round for labs) and what did you do? Does what I'm doing sound ok?
Incidentally she has a lovely glossy coat and is full of beans usually.
That sounds like a sudden drop in weight.
Did you starve her after the diarhoea? Then start on a bland diet?
Has your vet has a look at her?
After she had the bad tum did you just change her food to science hill?
If you've ruled out any health problems, you could try adding some tripe to her diet. Melvin's breeder recommended it to me for putting weight on them..... it certainly helped when Melvin went through a skinny phase
She was back to normal the following day so I didn't take her to the vets. He has seen her in her 'normal' slim state and says that though she is at the lower end of normal he thinks her weight is quite healthy. She does have a strange sort of rib cage (that sounds a weird thing to say), when she leans forward it seems to stick out loads and she looks very ribby. She is definitely a slim type of lab and I'm not unhappy with that, its more that she does suffer from a sensitive stomach, ALWAYS caused by her eating something that she shouldn't, on her normal food she has nice solid poos that pass the chopstick test (not that I've tried). I think what worries me is that, like a very thin child, when she is even a little unwell she just looks awful. To me she could do with just an extra couple of pounds and I'm looking at ways to do this.
I'm mixing the science plan in with arden grange which she was having before.
My Morgan was exactly like this ..... Vet kept saying he was perfect - but to me he was far from it.
I changed his feed (though same brand) to working dog - and now I am really happy with him. He's always going to be slender (he's very tall) but you can no longer see his ribs and you can cuddle him without fear of snapping him.
Hi, my two are slim, when Murphy stretches you can see his ribs but not his other bones so I don't worry too much but it does sound like Lola is getting too thin.
Which Arden Grange are you feeding? I found the lamb kept mine a good weight (its one of the more calorific dog foods is AG) but chicken gave them whippy's. It could be worth you continuing with Arden Grange if it agreed but maybe adding some of their wet food, say half a can with each meal. My two are on Fish4dogs now and with the colder weather they are also having some Arden Grange tinned for extra calories.
Lola sounds very much like my Tess. She's 16 months old (nearly 17) and weighs only 20kg. She looks like a famine victim if she so much as has a sloopy poo let alone gets the runs. Her brother weighs only a kilo or so more but looks so much better and healthier, although they both have good coats etc. The vets have checked her over and say she is fine so i just give her a bit more than Jake and hope that she is just having a growth spurt and will fill out soon enough.
I don't want to increase her food too much as i don't want her to get the runs and end up looking worse.
I'll keep an eye on this thread to see if there are any good tips of good weight gain.
I was going to suggest Raw Tripe too. If you introduce it slowly, it is not only good for putting weight on, but it is great for toughening up a sensitive tum, as it is full of that "Good Bacteria" they talk about on TV .
My girls are very jealous too. We haven't been to the yard while the Farrier's been there, for ages.....and Hoof Clippings are their absolute favourite.
I think what you're doing sounds as good a plan as any and if it works I'll be copying it for Nell
Nells back down to 24kg (from 26kg) she's a skinny bum too and tbh a little too skinny. But she runs everywhere and burns it off. Spaying hasn't slowed her metabolism either.
Our vet thinks she might have a touch of IBS as so many foods just create piles of slop and it's like she takes no nutrients.
I put her onto raw to see if I could fathom out what the problem might be but didn't really find out.
Even Tripe didnt have her pile on the pounds.
She's on burns now which I know many say makes a skinny lab but I do feel the brown rice suits her better than white as she seems to be digesting more.
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum You cannot attach files in this forum You cannot download files in this forum
.
