Advice For Weight-Gaining Foods?

[SIGreyLady]

Kelsey went to the vet for a check-up and everything checks out fine but she has lost weight - from 59 lbs to 50 lbs since the spring. Next week she will be 11 years old. She is looking a bit bony so I'm giving her potatoes, pasta, rice adding broth to her kibble. Any other suggestions for gaining weight?

[Guest mb_in_md]

If her liver and kidneys are working well, how about more protein? Beef, chicken, tripe?

 

Remember, it isn't always about total number of pounds, it is about maintaining muscle mass.

[JJNg]

Is she picky about her regular kibble? Will she eat it if you just increased her portion of dog food? I'm assuming bloodwork was done and that all checked out normal?

[Guest kess]

what about mixing raw or cooked meat in with her kibble

Edited November 10, 2012 by kess

[DocsDoctor]

I had this recently with Doc, my eleven year old, who was looking too skinny after a bout of worms,and then a small op and an antibiotic afterwards which upset his digestion. The vet advised adding some extra protein and fat to his regular food, rather than extra carbs, as being the easiest thing for ageing digestions to metabolise . Very popular with Doc, who likes nothing better than having some cheap raw beef mince (nice and fatty!) mixed into his dry food. Or other kinds of mince when I can pick these up cheaply, raw green tripe, offal - usually pigs' liver or kidneys, a couple of scrambled eggs, little tins of sardines ... he quickly put the weight back on.

 

Go easy with any of these, though, until you know what suits your dog's digestion. All these suit Doc, but some other additions I have seen suggested don't - both raw eggs and cottage cheese give him terrible wind! And I don't serve liver too often, as I understand it shouldn't make up more than 10% of a dog's total diet, or you run the risk of creating a vitamin deficiency.

[Guest Carstel]

Canned pumpkin! Easy to digest, adds weight.

[JJNg]

If she won't eat more kibble, I'd go with a high-protein option like meat or eggs. Not sure about canned pumpkin - it's high in fiber and often recommended to add volume when cutting back on the amount of food to get a dog to lose weight. An entire can of canned pumpkin has fewer calories than 1/3-1/2 cup of your average dry dog food.

[Guest greytone]

My Freddie will be 12 in February and since he's gotten older I've had a hard time keeping weight on him. I give Freddie eggs, cheese, hamburger, chicken, pasta, rice, potatoes, cottage cheese, and canned pumpkin.

[SIGreyLady]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I have been giving her chicken with rice and low sodium gravy mixed in with kibble. She also has been eating the potatoes and pasta but I'll try some other proteins with her.