Weight Gain Needed

[Guest santanstone]

a rescued grey needs to gain a lot of weight (20-25 lbs). What is considered a healthy amount of weight to gain in 1 week, what are some good weight gain foods?

[kamsmom]

I am working on putting on weight for a little grey girl. What is working for us is to mix up hamburger and noodles with kibble. Others have had success with rice and wet dog food.

 

I am not sure what is healthy to gain in a week but I know my vet says slow weight gain is best.

[Guest longdoglady]

I had trouble keeping weight on my tiny girl until I added a small quantity of raw green tripe to her food daily. I only give her a cupful in volume daily but her weight, coat and digestion have all improved. The natural enzymes, vitamins and essential fatty acids in raw green tripe make it a very nutritous food and as an added bonus it also helps clean their teeth. A word of warning, never try cooking green tripe as the smell is horrendous.

 

For an underweight dog I feed the amount needed for the target weight, not the current weight, which should ensure a slow, steady weght gain. If the dog has been starved for a while then a gentle increase will be needed until their stomach can cope. If the food is going straight through feed less again then slowly increase.

 

Poor pup I'm sure you will soon have him/her back to a healthy weight.

[Guest TBSFlame]

a rescued grey needs to gain a lot of weight (20-25 lbs). What is considered a healthy amount of weight to gain in 1 week, what are some good weight gain foods?

 

Bil-jac frozen.

[Guest mcsheltie]

High fat ground beef, eggs and oil. You can check this site for the amount of calories in the type of oil you want to add.

 

I start out with a tsp per feeding and build up slowly. Sometimes you have to play around to find the oil they tolerate the best.

 

Also check out satin ball recipes. There have been threads on this site and you can Google them and get pages of recipes.

[Guest santanstone]

High fat ground beef, eggs and oil. You can check this site for the amount of calories in the type of oil you want to add.

 

I start out with a tsp per feeding and build up slowly. Sometimes you have to play around to find the oil they tolerate the best.

 

Also check out satin ball recipes. There have been threads on this site and you can Google them and get pages of recipes.

 

Thanks for the input. We use frozen bil-jac to give meds with, I had a dobie that had every allergy in the book so I am also familiar with the green tripe, & it is horrendous any way you want to serve it, dogs do love it though. We are gaining weight, but it is slow which is good. She is having normal stools. Thank you all for the greyt advice.

[Sambuca]

I personally wouldn't want the dog to gain more than 3 or 4 pounds a week. I would prefer anywhere from 2-3 pounds a week. This is what I would prefer, but I'm not a vet. You should ask your vet his opinion. I would also make sure the dog is under the supervision of the vet, because there can be other issues associated with malnutrition. I hope your guy gets strong soon.

[Guest argolola]

Our favorite is vanilla Ensure. It has helped both our pups come back from being super bony. God bless the little one you are helping.

[Guest KennelMom]

Unless you want to add a bunch of fat, weight is best put on slowly. If you've ruled out any medical issue causing the weight loss (ie, you know it's from neglect/underfeeding), then I would just add 1/2 - 3/4 cup of food per day to their total and let a slight calorie excess do it's job. Whenever feeding in excess (human or dog) it's important to keep up physical activity so all the weight gained isn't pure fat. For non-kibble additions, we usually go with raw ground beef. No need to mess with satin balls, meat with fat will work just fine.

[Guest Swifthounds]

Unless you want to add a bunch of fat, weight is best put on slowly. If you've ruled out any medical issue causing the weight loss (ie, you know it's from neglect/underfeeding), then I would just add 1/2 - 3/4 cup of food per day to their total and let a slight calorie excess do it's job. Whenever feeding in excess (human or dog) it's important to keep up physical activity so all the weight gained isn't pure fat. For non-kibble additions, we usually go with raw ground beef. No need to mess with satin balls, meat with fat will work just fine.

 

 

The temptation is to get weight on as fast as possible, but rapid weight gain is almost always fat heavy - not good for any dogs and worse for a greyhound.

[Guest santanstone]

I personally wouldn't want the dog to gain more than 3 or 4 pounds a week. I would prefer anywhere from 2-3 pounds a week. This is what I would prefer, but I'm not a vet. You should ask your vet his opinion. I would also make sure the dog is under the supervision of the vet, because there can be other issues associated with malnutrition. I hope your guy gets strong soon.

 

she is under the care of a vet, but she has a really bad leg wound too. We think we are on the right track, she gained 3 lbs the first week fairly quickly, then nothing. She is eating good, but it takes time & patience for this to correct, it was from a neglect situation. I really do appreciate all of your input & well wishes. Thank you.

[Guest eaglflyt]

We will be visiting her tomorrow and delivering a care package. Hopefully she will find some of it to her liking and enjoy vet approved extra calories. She will be at the vet at least one more week. Although she hasn't had much weight gain the last several days, her leg wounds have been making remarkable progress using Silverlon dressings. I think many of her calories are going to repair her leg by regrowing new tissue.

 

We plan to home cook some liver treats soon. We're cautious about using anything with high fat content as we don't want to cause pancreatitis. We're also concentrating on foods to help her correct her anemia. Her anemia is improved, although still significant.

 

It's just difficult to remain patient and know that slow and steady is what we need and we can't hurry the process up for her. There's an online site that stated that weight regain the first week would be significant, then slow to nothing for the next couple of weeks. That seems to be where we're at now.

[Guest Lovey_Hounds]

I have 2 hounds who have "weight issues" one has an over active thyroid and the other is just dainty. i have started adding raw chicken with bone in to their kibble and they have done very well i also add dried sea kelp to help with extra vitamins. when i have needed to add extra calories i give gerber baby cookies they are 30 calories a piece.

[Greytlady94]

If at all possible feed three or even four times a day. That way you don't have to feed such a large amount and the dog's digestive system will likely handle it better. I also add Dyne to the feedings. Two tablespoons (one ounce) is 150 extra calories and they usually like it a lot. It can be found in most feed stores or online at.... Dyne link

[Guest eaglflyt]

She is being fed multiple meals per day. Thanks for the Dyne link. I'm going to order some.

 

We have a very elderly horse with cancer (has survived over 14 mos., so far, post diagnosis and still gets around well) and I think this would be beneficial for him, too. I'm going to run it past our canine and equine vets and if they approve, we'll put in an order pronto.

[Batmom]

Hopefully she'll be back to gaining this week. FWIW, I usually use dog's regular, balanced food -- just more frequent feedings -- or additions of things like cooked egg, tripett, ground beef. For somebody in Sweetheart's condition, wouldn't hurt to mix some carbs in with any meaty/fatty additions; most dogs without wheat allergies really enjoy noodles. These days I prefer to cook ground meat; cooking makes it easier to control fat content (drain it all, drain some, etc.) based on what else she's getting.

[mychip1]

Multiple small meals per day if possible!! Seems to provide a more even weight gain without have it burden her digestive tract. Hugs to you for rescuing!!!

[Guest sheila]

 

 

she is under the care of a vet, but she has a really bad leg wound too. We think we are on the right track, she gained 3 lbs the first week fairly quickly, then nothing. She is eating good, but it takes time & patience for this to correct, it was from a neglect situation. I really do appreciate all of your input & well wishes. Thank you.

 

I know it seems like Sweethearts weight gain has stalled, but I'm sure a lot of energy is going to heal that leg wound right now.

In addition to the above suggestions I have used black strap molasses as an add in to a senior dogs kibble.

[Guest mcsheltie]

She is being fed multiple meals per day. Thanks for the Dyne link. I'm going to order some.

 

We have a very elderly horse with cancer (has survived over 14 mos., so far, post diagnosis and still gets around well) and I think this would be beneficial for him, too. I'm going to run it past our canine and equine vets and if they approve, we'll put in an order pronto.

Be very careful with Dyne. It is 50% fat and can throw a dog (or cat) who is not well or susceptible into pancreatitis.

[Guest eaglflyt]

She is being fed multiple meals per day. Thanks for the Dyne link. I'm going to order some.

 

We have a very elderly horse with cancer (has survived over 14 mos., so far, post diagnosis and still gets around well) and I think this would be beneficial for him, too. I'm going to run it past our canine and equine vets and if they approve, we'll put in an order pronto.

Be very careful with Dyne. It is 50% fat and can throw a dog (or cat) who is not well or susceptible into pancreatitis.

 

WOW! Thanks for the heads up about the fat content.

 

At her weigh in today, she was up to 37 lbs! Her leg wounds are healing rapidly, too. I'm sure many of her calories are going to healing her leg and entire body. If all goes well she will go into home care with frequent vet visits beginning this Saturday.

[Guest santanstone]

Well I guess the word is out that the dog I have been refering to is the rescued greyhound we are calling "Sweetheart". I am new to this group & I have really enjoyed & appreciated all the the support & advice. As you read she has gained 7 lbs in 2 weeks so I think we are on the right road. Keep comments & advice coming as all have been helpful

[Guest longdoglady]

Wow Sweetheart is aptly named

 

What a generous, life loving spirit she has and so so pretty. Praying for her continued recovery and many years of sassy mischief