Feeding More Raw, But Still Not Gaining Weight!

[Guest ravenchilde]

Hey all,

 

I've been feeding Miley a raw diet for almost a month now and it's going really great! My only problem is I can't seem to get any additional weight on her, even though I'm feeding her double what we started her out on. Currently she is eating 2 pounds of bison (meat/bones/organs) and we've selected bison, because of her IBD and she seems to handle that protein well. She cannot eat Beef, it gives her a flare up, and we haven't really tried chicken yet. She currently eats 2 pounds of meat and that is currently 4% of her body weight. She's at 53 pounds, and I think an ideal weight would be 57-58 pounds.

 

Anyways, any ideas on how to help her gain some weight? Perhaps I need to add some fat or oil to her diet. Any suggestions?

[Guest PawPrintsLife]

Are you saying that the ONLY thing Miley is eating is bison? If so, that's a very incomplete diet. She needs the right balance of protein, nutritious fat, and fiber, as well as high-quality carbohydrates, antioxidants, prebiotics, probitiocs, chelated minerals, vitamins from natural sources, and more! It's no wonder she can't gain weight!

 

Please, please check this out: http://www.pawprintslife4u.com/e/ld?RK75RJ

 

Rebecca Forrest

 

Logan (7 yr old male brindle)

Zelda (4 yr old female parti black princess)

Jordie (3 yr old goofy male brindle)

Izzy (4 yr old female lab/beagle mix--our timeshare dog)

Lucy (17 yr old female tabby cat--the dogs think she's a dog, too!)

[Guest IrishGH]

2 1/4 - 2 1/2 lbs of raw mixed with kibble is what I saw being fed to females in a race kennel.

I got a boy straight from the track that needed a little more weight, he was one that concerned the trainers on the farm and at the race kennel as it was hard to keep weight on him. I've found that even a slight decrease in the amount of food he will lose weight, we feed him more then our 80 lb male. I would suggest increasing her to 2 1/2 lbs every day and check her weight every other day. When she gets to your projected weight try cutting back to 2 1/4 and continue to check her weight, adjust as needed.

 

Pat

[Guest greyhound9797]

There are a couple things you can do. Bison tends to be lean so I would try a fattier meat like chicken or pork. As with any new food, start slowly. Has Miley had a flare up from raw beef or just beef in kibble? It may be possible that she needs more food but 2 pounds seems like enough for her to be eating. What is her activity level? How old is she? How are stools? Does she eat all of her food in one sitting? Does she seem hungry during the day? How long have you had her and what was her racing weight as well as the weight you got her at? Sorry for all the questions but your answers may help us to help you. Oh, and I wouldn't add kibble if you are married to feeding a raw diet. No offense, Pat, it's just that if you are a raw feeder, raw is what you feed, not kibble.

 

Sandra in FL

Edited April 24, 2011 by greyhound9797

[Batmom]

Oh, and I wouldn't add kibble if you are married to feeding a raw diet. No offense, Pat, it's just that if you are a raw feeder, raw is what you feed, not kibble.

 

That makes no sense. There's no reason not to feed some raw, some kibble, particularly if that's what works for the dog.

 

May need to feed more fat and/or less bone in that weight. FWIW, my 55-lb elderly, not terribly active, tidbit-of-a-greyhound needed 1.2 lbs raw weight medium-fatty meat (no bone) + a goodly handful of treats per day to maintain weight.

[Guest ravenchilde]

There are a couple things you can do. Bison tends to be lean so I would try a fattier meat like chicken or pork. As with any new food, start slowly. Has Miley had a flare up from raw beef or just beef in kibble? It may be possible that she needs more food but 2 pounds seems like enough for her to be eating. What is her activity level? How old is she? How are stools? Does she eat all of her food in one sitting? Does she seem hungry during the day? How long have you had her and what was her racing weight as well as the weight you got her at? Sorry for all the questions but your answers may help us to help you. Oh, and I wouldn't add kibble if you are married to feeding a raw diet. No offense, Pat, it's just that if you are a raw feeder, raw is what you feed, not kibble.

 

Sandra in FL

 

 

Hey Sandra,

 

I know bison is super lean, but we decided to try that because of her IBD, and it seems to work well to prevent flare ups! We've even been able to reduce her medication by half, so we're super excited about that. We haven't tried pork - I haven't found any pork around my place? We are slowly introducing some chicken in the form of chicken backs, which disappeared in like...2 minutes flat.

 

Yes, 2 pounds sounds like it should be enough! We also toss in a little sweet potato and oats for filler and fibre (about a cup total per day). She loves those too.

 

But, to answer your questions! Her energy level is sort of up and down. We've been battling hookworms, so sometimes she's not as active. However, she's a rather medium level energy dog. She has energy bursts when we get home, but otherwise, she's snoring away. Miley is 2.5 years old. She gets three meals per day and eats ALL of it each time. She would eat forever, if we had an unlimited supply of food. We've had her for 6 months. I'm not exactly sure what her racing weight was - we got her when she was about 52 pounds, and right now she's just a little bit over that, 52.6-53 pounds. But when we were feeding her kibble, she got up for a nicer 56-57 pound weight, and she looked great. Oh, and her stools are great on the raw diet - which is why we switched from kibble. On kibble, she has anything from pudding poo to really soft serve poo and it was difficult to pick up. On the raw diet, she has nicely formed poops. Her poops were really hard, actually, when we were just feeding her the meat, but with the oats/sweet potato, they are formed, but not little tiny crumbly pellets. When you look at Miley, you can see three almost four ribs, and you can see four vertebrae on her back. Her hip bones can also be seen. Which is why I'd like to get her back up to 58 pounds, because at that weight, she looked so much better.

 

I hope this helps describe Miley!

[Greytlady94]

First I would try a little more meat without more bone.

[Guest mcsheltie]

I was having the same problem with one of mine. I fed her three pounds a day for almost two months! And every rib and vertebrae was still showing. All of a sudden she stared putting on weight, it seemed to happen overnight.

 

You need to be very cautious adding fat to an IBD dog. In fact I wouldn't. My suggestion would be that the 2 lbs you are feeding be all meat. Keep feeding the same amount of bone, just don't figure that into your total. That will up your calorie content just a bit more.

 

Also, a month into a new diet with an IBD is not long enough for the inflammation to subside in her intestines. And as long as you are still battling worms, the inflammation isn't going to subside either. So she is not able to absorb nutrients correctly yet. I would just stay the course, get rid of the worms and as long as her stool are normal I think you will be just fine.