Astro's Too Skinny...

[Guest Whippet]

Hello all!

 

With the years, Astro's becoming more and more nervous and even if he eats 6 cups of food a day, he's way too thin.

 

What can I give him that would put some weight on him?

 

(P.S.: Nothing I have to cook please...)

 

Thanks.

[greyhead]

Spencer's internist recommended Ensure-Plus for him, as he's a skinny IBD dog who's going on 10. No cooking involved! But we did start out giving him 1/4 to 1/3 of a bottle per day, as it promotes looseness at the beginning, until they get used to it. Does the same for humans, I'm told. Good luck!

[Guest Whippet]

Spencer's internist recommended Ensure-Plus for him, as he's a skinny IBD dog who's going on 10. No cooking involved! But we did start out giving him 1/4 to 1/3 of a bottle per day, as it promotes looseness at the beginning, until they get used to it. Does the same for humans, I'm told. Good luck!

 

That's a wonderful trick and I know he will love it.

 

How long did it take for him to gain weight?

 

Astro's only eight but like I said, he is getting more and more nervous (something that falls like the remote will make him jump a foot in the air, literally...) but he's in such great shape, it is sad to see him so skinny.

[Brindles]

For a while I was mixing in some Iams wet food for Dazzle and that put weight on him fast. Didn't bother his tummy much either. I stopped giving it to him though because he doesn't really need the extra weight.

[greyhead]

I'll let you know how long it takes! We just started this strategy last week. History: he lost 20 lbs with his intestinal troubles and prednisone. Discontinued the prednisone and he stopped dropping weight so fast, but we were very limited with what we could feed him. Only venison and sweet potato! Somehow he gained 10 lbs back, and we called it good. That put him at 80 lbs. A year later he's down to 76. He seems to have lost the four pounds over the summer, and I think it's from walking too many miles. He's healthy enough for the mileage, which DH was pushing whenever I wasn't along, but it promotes weight loss, so I had to tell DH to quit it!

 

So first I put sleeveless jammies on him at night, as the house gets down to 69. And that helps but it's not enough. So internist suggested the Ensure. I noticed at the store there are about four kinds of Ensure. The Ensure-Plus is suggested for weight gain. And, of course, it has to be the vanilla flavor. I think some people mix in some water to make it less rich, but Spencer seems to like it straight! The directions say to serve really cold, but he has to drink it pretty slowly when I do that, so I let it sit out a few minutes after taking it from the fridge. I plan to give it another week and then take him in for a weight check. He has been getting half a bottle once a day. I might be more aggressive about that if I weren't a little worried about loosening the poop of an IBD dog!

[greyhead]

Oh, I meant to mention that B-vitamins do wonders for the nerves. If Astro doesn't have any gut problems, you can give them in pill form. B-12 is the most important to nerves; it can also improve appetite significantly. We have to give Spencer injections, just under the skin, because his gut troubles left him unable to process B-vitamins in the gut. If you're okay with doing that kind of injection and your vet will set you up with a bottle of B-12 and some syringes, two shots (1 cc each) per week would be quickly effective, changing to one a week after two weeks, and then once a month as needed. OR the vet can just give the injection in the office, but that's way more expensive.

[Greytlady94]

Has Astro had any blood work done recently? I would ask the vet to do a comprehensive senior panel and a complete thyroid panel. If Astro is eating 6 cups a day and losing weight there is likely a medical reason.

[Guest argolola]

We use regular or generic vanilla Ensure. Our pups have never had loose stools from it. In fact, our pancreatitis pup is using it right now and it really slowed down his Big D, and he is also being treated for hooks. Please keep us posted on how your boy is doing.

[greyhead]

Just to add that the Ensure-Plus has significantly more fat than the regular Ensure. This may loosen things up at least initially for at least some pups.

 

I also believe that if Astro is losing weight on, literally, six cups of kibble daily, a vet consultation is warranted. Sure hope it's nothing, though, that more calories won't fix.