Fattening Up A Greyhound

[Finnsliz]

Birdie has dropped a lot of weight with her illness. (IMHA) We are feeding her 3x daily a mix of her regular kibble and Winks homemade slop (pasta or rice with hamburg, ground pork and veggies) She is not gaining weight.

 

She is turning her nose up at some things she used to love, like bananas. I think it may be the chemo drug she is on as I know chemo affects humans taste buds, but that is just a guess on my part.

Any other healthy but fattening suggestions for the skinny one?

 

She is currently feeling just OK, not back to normal, but not feeling badly either. Just had another blood check today and her platelet count has remained at 28.

 

We are giving the medication one more week and then will be off to the Internal medicine vet if she is not more improved. (Doxi, pred, azathiapromine, sucralfate)

 

So .... the fun part is fattening up a greyhound.... suggestions please.

[GreytHoundPoet]

Have you tried mixing Sardines into her food? They are a good source of protein and I have yet to meet a hound that will turn their nose up at stinky fish.

[RedHead]

I would be hesitant to suddenly add a whole bunch of really fatty foods to a diet (that can lead to other issues), but the hamburger/carb mixture you are giving sounds like a good idea. Other healthy protein sources like eggs, sardines, liver, cottage cheese, etc. might help. I don't know if it is true but I remember reading an article from an experienced grey person who swore oatmeal helped to put on weight better than any other carb. Maybe sub that in for the rice/pasta and add a bit more meat??

[Hawthorn]

If Birdie's appetite is reasonable, I think I'd just try to add in a couple more meals so she's getting five in total. I agree it's best to avoid fatty food as steroids increase the risk for pancreatitis, but chicken, extra lean beef mince, sardines, eggs should be OK if she likes them.

 

We had the same thing with our boy when he came back skeletal from two weeks at a specialist hospital for a severe case of IMPA (Immune Mediated Polyarthritis) but he had a very poor appetite too which made things doubly difficult. We fed him five times a day, but he would only eat a little of any one thing, so his meals would all be about 10 courses. We'd start with kibble and see how much of that he'd eat, then move on to canned food, then real meat, then a few biscuits, then a tripe stick etc. For weeks the fridge was full of things we'd bought to see if he'd eat them and little plastic containers of things he'd eat one day and not the next.

 

We got there in the end, though, as I'm sure you will too.

[Batmom]

As Hawthorn suggested, couple more meals if you can squeeze them in. I would try to focus on things with a fair number of calories yet still watch the fat content, for the reasons given (pancreatitis, diarrhea ...). What you try to tempt her with really depends on her. Some things that have often worked here include a drizzle of honey or molasses or vanilla ice cream on most anything; Tripett (canned green tripe); spaghettios; scrambled eggs with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese. Best luck to you and your girlie.