How long should it take Aspen to gain weight?

[stacwase]

Aspen has been living with us for 15 days now. She was very underweight when we adopted her from the shelter. Her stool was negative for parasites.

She weighed 55 lbs last week - the vet says she needs to gain at least 10 lbs.

Max weighs about 90 lbs. I have been feeding Aspen the same amount of high-quality dog food that I give Max every day(about double the recommended amount for her), plus supplementing with scrambled eggs, grilled chicken breast, etc.

She sure doesn't look like she's gaining any weight. How long does it usually take?

[Shelteez2]

I'm not sure how long it should take, but I don't think I would feed her the same ammount you feed Max. I would feed her what it suggests for a 65 pound dog (since that is what the vet figures her ideal weight is). Then she won't gain it too quickly and you won't have any problems cutting back when she reaches the weight you want her to be.

Maybe you could weigh her every couple weeks so you can keep an eye on the weight gain? Then adjust the food accordingly.

[stacwase]

I'm getting worried, though. I think she needs to put some more weight on soon. I can easily see every single rib, and her hip bones jut out.

She's reluctant to go outside much - I think because she doesn't have enough fat to keep her warm. To get her to potty, I have to make her stay outside longer than she would like to.

I think I might need to bring her to a vet, but I don't want to jump the gun and bring her in unnecessarily. She was just in to see a vet last week and had a complete exam, but the vet was so mean and awful. If I bring her in, I'll bring her to a different vet an hour's drive away from here.

I don't know if I'm just imagining it, but I think maybe she's actually getting thinner. I don't think her hip bones were sticking out so much last week, but I'm not sure. My friend says he thinks she's gaining a little (but men can be so unobservant).

I don't know what her personality is normally like - so it's hard to tell if she's acting "normal" or not. She seems distant, and she sleeps a lot. She's only 1 1/2 and it seems like such a young dog should be more energetic and playful.

?????

[sammy101]

how many times are you feeding her everyday?I would recommend 2-3 meals a day/that might help some.:confused: I dont really know how long it takes for a dog to gain weight.I watch the Animal Cops shows on tv,and the thing dogs on there can easily gain 15 lbs in a week.
hopefully she puts on some weight soon!!

[stacwase]

Sammy, I'm feeding her full meals twice a day, plus snacks.

[stacwase]

Bump

Can any of you who have rescued emaciated dogs give me any ideas?

I'm just wondering if Aspen is normal for not gaining or if I need to get her to a vet.

[Pit Chick]

I've rescued emaciated dogs that took just 8 days to plump up and I've had some that took about 3-4 weeks. I would have her checked again for any internal parasites and given her condition, it doesn't hurt to take a dog like that to the vet every week to monitor her progress. I would get a copy of her medical records from the vet who was mean to you and take them to the other vet also. What does her stool look like? Is it formed and firm or is it softer than it should be?

[stacwase]

Sometimes her stool is very soft - kind of like a cow pie. And there's a LOT of it. But other times it's formed and firm. She goes 1-2 times per day.

I know this is gross, but maybe it means something - I did notice a great big glob of mucous hanging from her bottom the other day after she went pottie. I didn't see the stool that time - but I had to wipe her butt.

It couldn't hurt for me to develop a relationship with a new vet. I think I'll go to the one I brought Max and Kamble to one time. I wonder if it would be OK to give it just 1-2 more days?

[ramanth]

Zam, my cat, was underweight when I rescued her and the vet told me to feed her Kitten chow even though she was a year old.

Once Zam put on the weight, I weened her off the kitten chow and started her on adult food.

Maybe puppy chow would have the same effect?

[Pit Chick]

It definately sounds like there's still something not right going on in her tummy or intestinse.

[stacwase]

Kimmy, I thought of the puppy chow, too. I asked the vet about it and she said not to give it to her because she's a large breed dog, still growing, and it wouldn't be good for her.

Maybe I'm overreacting, but this kind of scares me. I'm almost certain her hip bones were not sticking out so much when I brought her home. In fact I thought she was just "a little skinny" at first. My son asked me yesterday if she was losing weight.

She has a vet appointment at 3:20 today at the new vet. I think you're right, Pit Chick - something is wrong with her digestive system.

Oh, I hope it's just worms or something easily curable. She's less active now than she was when I brought her home. I don't know if she's just "settled in" or if she's sick.

[wolfsoul]

Might want to try Satin Balls (http://www.holisticdog.org/Nutrition/Satinballs/satinballs.html) . Great for fattening up. If you look on google, you will find recipes that are similar but varied, incase you don't have the right ingredients on hand.

Mucous in the stool can be causes by intestinal worms. Definatly get her checked for that, and keep the other dogs away from her stools or anything her stools might have touched, including her bum. It would be a good idea to wash their paws after they come in from the outside.

Intestinal Worms (http://www.thepetcenter.com/exa/worms.html)

[Denyce]

Mucous could also be from colitis or an inflammatory bowel condition which would also explain the periodic loose bowels and lack of weight gain also. It seems like a vet check is definately in order.

Denyce

[dragondawg]

Have the Vet run a thyroid panel, as the dog may have a hyperactive thyroid condition. Also have the gastric/pancreatic enzyme levels checked. Supplementing the enzymes may be a good first try. If the food isn't absorbed and broken down, it does not matter how much the dog eats.

[stacwase]

Thank you VERY much for all of your advice, everybody! I took her to the vet, and she said that it's most likely either whipworms (which might not have shown up on my visit to the other vet) or a pancreatic deficiency.

We're going to treat her for whipworms and switch her food. She has another appt. scheduled for 3 weeks from now - when she'll be getting her second Lyme and Giardia vaccines. If she has gained weight by then, she'll give her a 2nd round of whipworm treatment. If she hasn't gained she'll do some pancreas testing and maybe thyroid, etc.

She had me switch her to Eukanuba and told me to give her as much as she'll eat every day until her ribs stop showing.

Thanks for the Satin Balls recipe, Wolfsoul - I think I'll try them.

Here are some pictures of how skinny she is right now:

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid161/p2a26333ec01d7d32c87be1877a89c4b5/f4d2b0a1.jpg

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid161/pb56f045596fdc3d25f5b837e0ceba552/f4d2b09f.jpg

[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. :D Shelters are pretty bad about breed IDing. :rolleyes:

[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. :D

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

And yes, I can see some pittie in her. :D

[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. :D

[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. :rolleyes: :p

[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:o)

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??:confused: 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!

[anna_66]

Sorry I didn't see this sooner, but I'm sure glad to hear that Aspen is doing so well now:) She sounds wonderful!

Our Huney is just naturally a skinny dog. When she was washed last week by Amy and Kay she looked like you could almost wash her down the drain:eek: She doesn't eat very much (of course unless I add something good like people food or canned dog food) and maybe your Aspen is the same.

I hope she keeps gaining weight because it sounds like she's doing great now.

PS Glad you got a vet that you like, that makes all the difference in the world!

[ramanth]

That's great news Stacey! :D