My dog wont gain weight?

Question

I give my dog half a can of wet food in the morning and the other half at night. She always has dry food out but wont eat it. I have tried to mix the wet and dry food but she picks out the wet food and leaves the dry. I got her about 2 years ago and when i did she had parasites. I was given medicine for her but was told that she went so long without treatment she eould always have problems. Anyway, she has been checked for worms and what not and doesn't have anything like that. She is very skinny though. She is a basset hound and weighs only 32 pounds which is pretty skinny for her breed. her vet doesnt seem concerned, but she looks awful which worries me. Any suggestions on how to get her to gain some weight?

Answer 1

I am very suprised the vet didn't offer you a prescription high protein diet. She is skinny for her breed. They usually weigh between 50-70lbs. Check the protein percentage on the cans of wet food and the dry dog food. More (higher) protein will help her gain weight. Which in turn builds more muscle mass. Be careful not to give too much protein as she could get fat. But that seems like a long way off for her anyway. A good way to tell if she is at a good weight is to see if you can feel his ribs by placing your hands on his body by standing over the dog. I think I can picture you dog as having ribs that you can count with your fingers. Sound about right? As far as her picking the wet food out, you need to slowly wean her off of it. I am totally amazed she hasn't gotten fat from a strictly wet food diet. As you stated before you got her with parasites, and you say they are gone, but as the vet said, she may always have problems. Did you finsish all the medicines completely even after it looked as if they were gone? Have they had a more recent worm check to make sure they don't have fleas, tapes or another worm that could be thinning them out? Another checkup might be in order to make sure they haven't come back as her body could have done a relapse because of having them so long. Switching her to dry food needs to be done gradually. I think this may have not happened with her a long time ago, and she has became a picky eater. Dry is better for her because the kibble scrubs her teeth keeping that nasty plaque away. Its ok though to give the wet food once in a while like once a week on the weekends. This is what I do for my 2. Its a special treat and they love it! I just use a high protein canned food (like large breed) and just buy the large breed adult formula dry for them to eat all the time. I feed the Eukanuba brand. I alos make sure I run them everyday to ensure they don't gain weight becasue they are on a hight protein diet. Exercising and feeding your dog a supplement of high protien is the key.

On the first day of change, you should have plenty of the old dog food left. Add three quarters of their old food, and one quarter of the new food. You should do this for at least two days. After two days or so, add in another quarter, so you have half old food, half new food. Again, keep it at this level for another two days or so. Then add in a third quarter (one quarter old, three quarters new), and finally you can phase out the old food completely.

What happens if you don't do it gradually?
Stomach Cramps
Heartburn
Indigestion
Diarrhea
Vomitting
Refusal to Eat (your dog)
Consistency in pet foods is more important than variety. Please keep this in mind whe you pick a brand, and stick to it.

Answer 2

i'm surprised your vet wasn't concerned, i just searched for bassets average weight, and that is well below. it sounds like she has been trained to be picky, she knows she will get canned food, so she isn't eating the dry. you could try to give her ONLY dry food, because a healthy dog will not starve itself. since she is underweight though, i don't know if that is the best idea. you could just up the amount of canned food you are feeding. i would suggest making sure you get a high quality canned food though (not something from the grocery store). you could also try mixing other things into her food, cottage cheese, plain yogurt, etc. to put weight on her. you could stuff a kong or bone with peanut butter or give her raw marrow bones. peanut butter and marrow are very high in calories and she'll probably love them! if you start giving her high fat foods, be prepared for her poo to be a little messy. but that is normal and she should adjust. give her more treats during the day too! hope this is helpful!

Answer 3

When the Vet starts worrying, then you should too. If you are concerned, talk to the Vet about it. They could recommend a course of action if there is a problem. Tell your Vet how you feed your pup. Ask them if you're feeding her the right amount.

Some dogs just don't like certain foods. I had a dog that would only eat cheap dry food. He hated everything else and wouldn't eat it. Maybe you just have a fussy dog in that respect!

Answer 4

Parasites is worms . I would find another vet and have her rechecked for worms . A bad infestation can actually kill your dog . In the mean time you might try giving her some brewers yeast . It comes in a powder you can mix in the food and also in capsules. It is high in vitamin B and will increase her appetite . I always gave it to my dogs when they were pregnant .You might also have the vet do some blood test to check her thyroid .

Answer 5

try to rub meat on the dry food . so that it has the smell of meat on it and she will want to eat it . on of my dogs had kinda the same problem and that worked for her .or try to switch her food . there is gravy you can buy to pore over the food . you can work her and help her build an appetite .then may be she'll eat but if that dont work i would say try takein her to a different vet and see what they have to say about your poochy.......... i hope you find some thing that works good luck . and much love from me to your pooch and u n your family

Answer 6

Give her puppy food. It has more nutrients. If that doesn't work, try cat food. Dogs love it.

Answer 7

give her scraps from the table or give her different dog food

Answer 8

she probably has sinsitive teeth because my dog does pay close attention to the dog when you give it bones