How can I get my dog to gain weight?

Question

My dog doesn't eat like he should. We've tried changing his food. We've done everything that we could think of. He will eat good for a couple days and then he will go a couple days without eating.

Answer 1

A couple days without eating isn't healthy!! If youi're having that much trouble getting to eat, you should be in contact with your vet. Not eating right can be a sign for magor internal problems.

However, if his appetite is just on and off, and he tends to get bored, get a very rich, top quality (preferably natural) dry puppy food (puppy for the calories, regardless of his age). To intice him to eat, use various flavours of the same brand of food, and use canned on top if need be. Dick Van Patten's Natural balance makes several great adult canned foods (don't do the vegetarian, it's too low-calorie) Another awesome one to look into is Wysong. It was actually made so you can switch between foods easily, without giving your dog's stomach too much problrms. Natural Balance runs at about the same cost as Iams ($35-$40 for the biggest bag), Wysong runs more like $45-50 for the big box.

Answer 2

1. Changing his food teaches him to hold out for a better offer.

2. Are you sure he really needs to gain weight? Most dogs are too fat!

3. Check with your vet. He can examine the dog's stool for intestinal worms - that's a frequent reason for weight loss. He may have a problem with his pancreas or thyroid which could cause him to lose weight.

4. Pick ONE quality food and stick with it. Look for a food that does NOT have "by products" in the ingredients list or you'll be paying a lot of money for garbage. Personally, I like Nutro - it has no by products and is reasonably priced and my dogs have done fine on it for more than 10 years. They make canned and dry dog foods for puppies and adults. Any changes in diet should be made slowly to avoid diarrhea - gradually mix more new food in with what you've been using until he's switched over.

Answer 3

definitely take him to the vet -- he could have a serious problem... do not feed him table scraps or any human food, only dog food...human food is too overprocessed and disgusting for animals to eat..... that's what makes them unhealthy to begin with..the vet will give him specialized food for a bit, then, once he's gained some weight, you will be able to put him back onto a more affordable good quality food (try to get something with no animal byproducts in the first few ingredients). Science Diet, Natural Balance, etc...

Answer 4

Changing his food may be the problem. Different food may upset his stomach. Use the same food for a while, and maybe add table scraps, bacon grease, etc.
If that doesn't help a little, call the vet.

Answer 5

If he is not underweight you should not worry about it. If you feel his ribs it's ok if they are somewhat visible but you should be able to feel a bit of meat between them. Also if you look at his hind quarter the two bones on top should not be too visible and should also have a small amount of meat. He is probably get the calories he needs for his amount of activity.

Answer 6

Think that something wrong with your dog's health, please bring him to the vet immediately without delay!!!

Hope your dog go back to good health after consultation and medication etc....

Answer 7

u can give your dog puppy chow it helps dog and puppys to gain wieght our cat dousnt eat much ether and we give it kitten chow .

Answer 8

Take him to the vet

Answer 9

make his food really yummy so he wants it. Or give him lots of treats or scrambeled eggs my dog LOVES scrambeled eggs he goes insane for them!!!

Answer 10

hm..well there must be something wrong with him. Find out what it is and ur good! just try to find something that he/she really likes. hope i helped