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Getting a starving dog to gain weight

M

MJ808

Member
Joined
Jun 19, 2010
Messages
7
Location
Mililani Hawaii
Can anyone help? I rescued a German Shepherd who had been abandoned, last JAN about 5 months ago, we don't know how long he was out on his own. He is a beautiful and good-tempered dog, loyal and smart. the vet thinks he should weigh 90-100 lbs for his build, he was 55 lbs when I got him, he couldn't lift his hindquarters for the first week, now he is trying to run around with my very healthy Blue Heeler pup (1 yr old) and is keeping up, even established clearly that he is the Alpha. He needs to gain enough weight so that I can have him treated for heartworm. He is a beautiful guy who is savable if I can do this.

My question is how to get him to gain enough weight. I have had him for about 5 months and feed him cooked meat with rice, and whatever vegetables I can get him to eat. I add vitamins and enzymes (in capsules, because he turns down anything with a funny taste) He is a picky eater because of his level of malnutrition. I was advised by our vet to give 2:1 meat/rice plus vegetables, and go through about 5lbs chicken or hamburger a day. He is gaining 1-2 lbs per month, and is very hard to feed. After I put down his his meat/rice mixture sometimes he won't touch it. He has turned down raw hamburger. He does have energy to play with my pup, though I keep him in a small fenced areas so that he can't pick up speed with his heartworm. His coat is dull but thick.

Does anyone have tricks or advise on getting him to eat more and gain weight? Sometimes he comes and asks me for food but then he turns it down, I think he could eat more.
 
i knew someone that fed their dog an egg or two a day,don't know about the weight gain but it sure put a shine on his coat.
 
I bought a horse last year that was not used to the climate and range here in Wyoming. It wasn't long and he was going down hill, so I got some Amplify feed supplement from Purina. It was long and he looked better than when I bought him. I fed this too him and a couple of young ones thru the winter. They looked awesome come spring. My point is though, when I fed this stuff my dog couldn't keep out of this stuff when I opened the bucket. He would go after it like a crack addict. Is wasn't long, his coat was shiney, he looked healthy and he was getting a little fat. I had to cut him off. This stuff may not be for dogs but it works. It comes in a 30# bucket. I'm not a vet and what I say is strictly my opinion. It seems the meat and rice would be high in protien for muscle building, but wouldn't he also need some fat in his diet?
 
Get some vitamins from the vet

Biscuits and gravy

mix left overs from supper with his dog food.....

I've used that can gravy from WalMart to entice dogs to eat uptheir food when picky or hindin' a pill or so from them
 
I have one wiener dog that is a 'hard keeper' he is 5 years old or so, and he gets puppy food to this day because if he's on anything else he looses weight.

Also instead of one meal a day...split it up into two meals.

And none of our dogs can resist the horse feed buckets when we make em. They each get several bites while we make em up. LOL
 
Thank you everyone,

Some really good ideas I will definitely try to see what works,.. and I will keep trying. At least he is gaining and not losing. He hasn't been eating normal dog food (wet or kibble) unless he really gets hungry, and we don't want him to go a long time time without eating to get that hungry. But maybe if I make some home-made gravy out of the water the meat is boiled in and pour it on his kibble (we have Science Diet and Eukanuba out here). I will see about trying the Amplify too. The vet said that he should have a low fat diet with 2:1 protein to carbs, because his breed can get hip dysplasia if they get too big later, but he should be getting enough fat in the meat he gets. Thanks again!
 
You might want to see if he will eat raw cut up chicken skins. If you boil them, you would lose some of the fat into the water. You could also use the broth to make porridge and feed him that too.

You might want to do some internet surfing and see if you can find some good sled dog rations.
 
I found some good links that talk about canine nutrition:

http://www.highveldsleddogclub.co.za/feeding.htm
http://www.mushwithpride.org/Guidelines/Feeding.htm

We will experiment and see what works for him, he's still a young dog and is active as much as I'll let him. That and all he has been through have probably made him require more nutrition to heal and recover. Sounds like a little salmon oil is good too.

Thanks!
 
He had the heartworm when I first got him. Vet wants him to be about 75 lbs so we can deworm him, when the worm dies it releases a lot of toxins and the medication can kill the dog. So I am trying to get lean muscle and good quality weight on him so that his immune system can handle the treatment. He has a murmur, we hope it will be less when the worm is out, but I hate hearing it. He is a strong dog though, even with everything.
 
Ohhh my..... heartworm treatment alone can be dangerous, even to a healthy dog. The murmur is a worry too.

We just had the first heartworm positive dog in our area this year. So far it's always been a problem in other parts of the province, but those days are over. Our dogs have been on a prevention program for a couple of years, and this spring when I heard about the positive one, I was glad they were. I guess it was only a matter of time before it got here.

Being a German Shepherd owner myself, I'm sure hoping this works out for you. They are such wonderful dogs.
 
Try nutracal or a similar high calorie supplement. It is available at Jeffers or other cataloga like valley vet. I worked for six months at a local animal shelter and we used it to help orphaned and malnourished animals.
 
I also have a German Shepherd. The best way to put on weight is to feed him raw meat balls, along with raw chicken quarters, bones and all about a pound each for 3 meals a day. After a couple of weeks you can add more beef, pork or fish to the diet. I also feed a fish oil cap daily, great for the heart muscle.

Recipe for meat balls:

5 lbs ground beef
3 lbs ground turkey
12 raw eggs, with shells crushed
1 lb organ meat, chopped chicken livers, gizzards and hearts
3 tbs of probiotic powder, from health food store or your vet.

Mix together, place a scoop full into cupcake pans and freeze. Pop out and feed frozen or thawed as a treat or with meals. I keep this mix in zip lock bags in my freezer.

Good luck with getting this guy on the road to health. The probibiotics will help his immune system. You also might want to add some digestive enzymes to his diet. Nzymes.com has some great products.

With a raw diet you will notice a huge difference in his health within a week. Shiny coat, smaller, formed stools, white teeth and more energy. All of our dogs are on a raw diet of 80% raw meat 10% organs and 10% bones. We also feed small amounts of fat and vegetables too. Google BARF or raw diets. It's what nature intended canines to eat.

If a raw diet seems out of the question for you, please feed a premium quality kibble without any grains. Most grocery store dog food is full of grain fillers. Eagle Pac makes an excellent kibble for large breed dogs.
 
balestabber said:
i knew someone that fed their dog an egg or two a day,don't know about the weight gain but it sure put a shine on his coat.
Click to expand...

Dogs can not handle Raw Eggs - So cook them first.

Lamb and Rice is the best feed there is for dogs
I don't know how your set-up but I use to buy "Downer Ewes" Shoot them and cook them in a 55 gal barrel with Rice.

I would mix that 5050 with a high Quality Dog Food.
 
Update: looked on some links and saw that about 30% fat is acceptable and recommended for debilitated dogs, since canines use fat for energy more than carbs, unlike humans. He will eat the chicken skin if I leave it on and hamburger. He is starting to pick up,.. brought him to the vet today, looks like he will make weight soon and we can get that worm out of him. Thanks all who contrubuted!
 
If he was mine I'd try giving him raw liver treats. If he'll eat that mix a little raw meat and blood in his food. I'd also try to get him to eat some probiotic or youghart. You could also click on sled dog central and ask them. I think sled dog people know more about canine nutrition than the dog food companies. When they cook the food it takes some valuable nutrients out of it, especially enzymes. On the other hand heartworms are devestating, so good luck!!!
 

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