How long should it take Aspen to gain weight?

[ramanth]

Oh Poor Aspen. I hope now that a cause has been discovered that she'll start putting on the weight.

[Glacier]

What breed is Aspen again?

One of my dogs, Ozzy, is very skinny, but it's the Hound in him. He eats like a horse, but he also uses every calorie he takes in. Oz is in constant motion. He never stops long enough to gain any weight. He's perfectly healthy, just skinny.

Is Aspen active, playful? Does she drink enough water? Dehydration is much more dangerous than being strictly underweight.

What's her temperment like? I've found with nervous, anxious dogs it takes them much longer to gain weight. I truly believe that being nervous burns calories!

Paxil is really hard to keep weight on. I add plain old rice to her meals. She loves it and it's easy for her digest. As she has had pancreatitis, I can't add fat to her diet. The rice seems to be working for her.

[stacwase]

Glacier, the shelter said she was a boxer/shepherd mix. The vet thought that was about right.

I really don't know her temperament. When we brought her home, she was energetic and playful, possibly a bit nervous. Now she's mostly lazy, occasionally playful, but not nervous at all. I think she's so sick that she's not acting like herself.

We started that whipworm treatment and she had her second dose yesterday. The first night we got the Eukanuba, she pigged out on it but yesterday she would barely touch it. I got her to eat some of it by adding some gravy (the packaged kind). She ate some eggs for me, and some treats.

The vet says she's not dehydrated - she drinks well.

I just don't know about her. She really seems sick. She hates going outside - maybe because she's so skinny and gets too cold. Yesterday I had to force her to go out, and she just came right back in. I had to leave for a few hours and when I came back she had poo'd on the floor. She's housetrained but she just hates going outside so much that she won't stay out long enough.

I'm scared that she's not going to make it or something.

[ramanth]

How about getting her a doggie sweater to wear for the outside trips? It might help.

Don't give up hope, Stacey. Aspen has to make it. *HUGS*

[sammy101]

have you given her canned food?That probably would help quite a bit.Mix it in with her normal dry.

[Glacier]

You might want to try cooking some hamburger and rice for her. It's very gentle on their tummies and most dogs love it. It might at least keep her eating while she gets rid of whatever is making her sick.

[Pit Chick]

Ah ha, whipworms. Those little bugers can be tough to kill. Did the vet pescribe Panacure? Aspen is a cutie. I see Pit Bull all over that face. Shelters are pretty bad about breed IDing.

[stacwase]

Good news - Aspen was ready and rarin' to go outside this morning. She ran through that door like a bolt of lightning. Lots of energy!!! Yesterday she was wrestling with Max a little, too.

I could swear she's putting on a little weight - her ribs are still easily visible but I think they're a little deeper. I did notice that you can see all of her vertebrae on her back though. I didn't see that before, but I think it was the light. Everybody says they think she's gaining a little weight.

I will cook her up some hamburger and rice tonight - and I started mixing canned food with her dry food yesterday and adding some water. She ate all of her breakfast and half of her dinner.

Next - Satin Balls!

The vet prescribed Panacure, yes. She didn't have any evidence of whipworms, but she said they don't always show up in the stool. We decided to treat her as if she had them, anyway.

By the way - should we put it to the vote? How many people think she has pit in her? (I've been thinking that, too, but it might be wishful thinking)

[ramanth]

Yay!! Keep it up Aspen.

Just don't let her exercise all the weight off as she gains it.

And yes, I can see some pittie in her.

[Glacier]

Glad to see the happy update! Go Aspen!!

She does look a little pittie to me, but I don't know much about the breed--not many of them in the North! Given the current movement of breed banning legislation, even if she is a pit cross, I'd probably fail to mention that to anyone--like a vet or liscencing office, insurance salesman ect. I do that with one of mine--she is not a wolf hybrid, she is a Mal-Shepherd mix--that's my story and I'm sticking to it!

[KYS]

Thank you for the good news update on Aspen.

[Pit Chick]

We'll keep it a secret. Just for the sake of potential breed bans, I've never registered my dogs with the county or city. I know, I'm a criminal.

[roscoe3]

When Roscoe started loosing weight, I did not think it was a concern as this was what happened every year this time he looses weight as he runs more. When he was having trouble with his back joint (Roscoe is golden lab X german shepherd) I thought it was his arthritis kicking in as the vet said the last time he saw Roscoe. I was not worred when these things happened as the Vet told us when he last saw Roscoe ,these things were what the vet told me the last time. I just found out he has leukemia nd he only has a couple of days left. Find a Vet that you feel comfortable with and find our why otherwise you will have the heart break we are experiencing now

[pitc9]

Both of mine were under weight when I adopted them. I fed them puppy food and it put weight on them pretty fast. But Sierra will always be skinny. She is 60 lbs and you can feel her spine, ribs, hips, every bone. My vet has tested everything ($$$$$) tested for EPI (pancreatic disorder) etc, and there is nothing wrong with her, she is just a healthy skinny dog.

(She looks great with her winter fur, but I hate Spring time when she blows her coat, people ask me if she's sick because she's so skinny)

She eats okay.. she's a picky eater, she'll eat good for a few days, then she'll skip a meal here and there, then go back to being good.

Does Aspen eat good at every meal?? What I don't understand is why your vet would tell you NOT to feed her puppy food because she's still growing?? That's when puppy food is the most important. Plus she'll put weight on faster if she eats puppy food.

[stacwase]

Hi, everybody.

Sorry it's been so long since I posted - all kinds of things have been going on in my life! But now it's calmed down for a while, at least.

I just wanted to let you know that Aspen is doing a lot better. I brought her to the vet on Monday and she has gained 2.5 lbs. I know that doesn't sound like much - but she was losing pretty quickly before. She has all kinds of energy now - like a different dog. Her ribs still show but not nearly as badly. I can't believe what a difference 2.5 lbs makes.

I just love my new vet. She knows her stuff, and she's really nice too. She prescribed more hookworm medicine, and I got some for Max too (just in case he got them from Aspen).

Thanks for all the support and advice!