Putting Weight On A Puppy

[Guest MsBee]

So my introduction to pet ownership (on my own, as an adult) was rough. I picked up my grey pup from his breeder with the warning that there was a chance of parvo infection because a neighbor's contagious dog had gotten loose and wandered onto the property. The chance was small, as the dog had only been on the edge of the property by my breeder's Springers, but their turnout shared a fence with the puppies', so there was a potential for transmission. She offered to hold him for two more weeks, just to be sure, but I chose to take him home. Between the stress of driving and flying, I think my pup's immune system was compromised. His symptoms started with inappetence and increasingly loose stool, which I couldn't be sure wasn't due to all the travel and newness, but we were in the clinic as soon as the diarrhea started. His vet wasn't immediately convinced he was parvo positive, despite a positive test, because of how recently he'd been vaccinated and how well and quickly he responded to treatment in one day. But the diarrhea persisted and the lack of appetite got worse, so he was hospitalized again the next day. For almost a week I tried to get him to eat *anything* and keep it down, with little success. The day he ate and kept down a whole pound of chicken, I could have cried. Doubly so when he finally had a formed stool (which I took pictures of and shared with my friends....). He transitioned onto a kibble and canned diet pretty easily after that. I'm currently feeding 2.5 cups of dry and a can of wet daily, split between two meals. I try to get him to eat a third, but he'll only pick at it. He's getting about 1500 calories a day, and he's been gaining over two pounds a week lately, but he's still ribby. His breeder says he looks thin, but that his gains are good. I feel like I can't get enough food into him to reverse his weight loss, and I'm afraid of stunting his growth or causing problems further down the line. Are there any high calorie foods/treats I should try?

 

TLDR: Puppy got sick with parvo and became a skeleton, and I'm having trouble reversing the weight loss. Diet suggestions welcome.

[greysmom]

You don't say how old your puppy is, and I'm assuming he's a greyhound?

 

Greyhound puppies grow fast and go through many growth stages in their first year. One week they will look like skinny string beans - all legs and ears, with ribs and vertebrae sticking out all over. In two weeks you'll have a rolly polly land shark who won't eat anything. Rinse and repeat about every 2 months or so

 

Yes, he's extra skinny because he was sick, but he should turn around soon.

 

An actual puppy kibble will have more calories than an adult kibble. Though you don't want to feed *too* much to cause him to grow too fast. You can add some calories with pasta or meat-based treats, cottage cheese, boiled ground meat. Basically whatever he will eat. If he's refusing food it probably means he's had enough. Our puppy would self regulate much better than our retired racers.

 

If he doesn't start to put on weight soon, another vet visit would be in order to make sure he's absorbing nutrients properly.

Edited May 20, 2017 by greysmom

[krissy]

I'd have to see the puppy to see if it's actually underweight or not. However, my experience with 2 greyhound puppies has been that they are ribby. They will always be ribby. They shouldn't look fleshy and roly poly. I fed both of my pups above the recommended amounts on the bag, plus they were fed out of Kongs at first so there was canned food as well, plus they had treats for training. And despite that they were both ribby throughout puppyhood. In fact, Kili looked downright underweight around the 10 month mark despite all the calories... she was just SO active. I can't even imagine how much I would have needed to feed to make them not ribby. My girls typically ate about 3-4 cups per day (depending on the age/weight recommendations on the bag), and maybe 1/4-1/2 can of wet food to make it all stick in the Kong. And then some treats during training (when really young I also often used a portion of their kibble).

 

So, it depends. If the pup is actually underweight, I would just increase the amount of kibble being fed by a little bit. I'd feed a good quality puppy kibble.

 

2 lbs a week is about the kind of weight gain you expect in the 7-16 week range (at least that's what I got with my girls), and then it starts to drop off a little bit. So if pup is between 7-16 weeks then the weight gain is appropriate, though if he really is a little skinny then a bit more might be ideal for a week or two. If he's over the 16 week mark and he's skinny then he's probably already doing a good job on gaining back any weight he missed while he was sick.

[Banjoman]

You could try feeding him slightly smaller meals more often so that he actually gets more overall but spread out to make it easier for him to absorb it. It is a long time since I had a puppy but they were on four, then three and finally down to two meals a day but it took several months to get to two.

 

Hopefully he has made a full recovery from the parvo.

[Guest MsBee]

He'll be 14 weeks this Thursday. He's been on a grain-free puppy kibble since I got him to start eating. I've been giving him a probiotic to help restore his gut flora after the antibiotics and damage from the virus.

 

I'm not looking for roly poly, but I'd like to no see every rib and vertebrae.

 

EDIT: And lately most mornings he won't eat his breakfast in one sitting, so it goes with him to work and he has until his first potty break a couple hours later to finish it. Same with lunch sometimes.

Edited May 22, 2017 by MsBee

[Brandiandwe]

If he's eating, I really wouldn't be too worried. Perhaps take him to the vet, but he's a baby. They can't eat much, and regularly get hit with the ugly stick. Give him time.

[cleptogrey]

as soon as they gain weight, they take a nap and wake up skinny. that's a greyhound puppy. as long as she is healthy, poops are good and she's eating then don't worry. the larger sight hounds are not at all like any other breed when it comes to filling out. labs are role-polly, greyhounds...skin and bones, maybe 20 min. of looking good, then a growth spurt hits! just keep track of the weight weekly- hop on the scale and hold the critter. if you don't see a gain, talk to your vet. Krissy's numbers sound correct from what i remember.

 

parvo can be devastating, you are lucky your pup is alive.

[GeorgeofNE]

How did you get this dog on a plane without a health certificate from a vet? Because that's the only way airlines will transport animals--if there is a CURRENT health certificate from a vet dated within XX days of travel.

 

And why on earth would you even consider taking a puppy that the breeder said might be infected with parvo? Why, in fact, didn't the "breeder" take the puppy to the vet? It's actually illegal to sell a dog that you know is sick. I suppose if they disclosed it, and you took it anyway, that's that.

 

Gaining weight too fast is not healthy. I would just feed him a normal amount and let nature take it's course. He will bulk up with time.

[Guest MsBee]

How did you get this dog on a plane without a health certificate from a vet? Because that's the only way airlines will transport animals--if there is a CURRENT health certificate from a vet dated within XX days of travel.

 

And why on earth would you even consider taking a puppy that the breeder said might be infected with parvo? Why, in fact, didn't the "breeder" take the puppy to the vet? It's actually illegal to sell a dog that you know is sick. I suppose if they disclosed it, and you took it anyway, that's that.

 

Gaining weight too fast is not healthy. I would just feed him a normal amount and let nature take it's course. He will bulk up with time.

Your attitude is unnecessary and inappropriate. 1) You're making a fool out of yourself with your assumptions -- He had a health certificate from the previous week, which was not technically need as he flew as my ESA; 2) Try actually reading for comprehension -- The infected dog was loose on the edge of her property two weeks prior and only had direct contact with her adult Springers. Her puppies had no symptoms of infection. In fact, to this day, my dog is the only one who ever got sick.

[Guest Izzy2]

Hi msbee I was sorry to read you had a poorly pup please let us all know how she's doing a photo would be fantastic I've never seen a greyhound pup !!lol good luck with her you never said what her name is lol x

[Brandiandwe]

Your attitude is unnecessary and inappropriate. 1) You're making a fool out of yourself with your assumptions -- He had a health certificate from the previous week, which was not technically need as he flew as my ESA; 2) Try actually reading for comprehension -- The infected dog was loose on the edge of her property two weeks prior and only had direct contact with her adult Springers. Her puppies had no symptoms of infection. In fact, to this day, my dog is the only one who ever got sick.

 

Settle! The questions asked were pretty reasonable. Regardless of whether he flew as your ESA, the fact that you knowingly took a puppy who 'might' have been sick with parvo on a plane means that you risked infecting other animals on the flight. He tested positive for parvo. Which, as a pet owner, I would have been mightily annoyed about. I would also have been profoundly unhappy with the breeder, who should have kept all of the pups on the property until the risk was completely clear. GeorgeofNE's attitude was quite reasonable.

 

For the rest, as everyone has said, he'll gain weight slowly, but should not be roly poly. He'll look like a walking skeleton for some time yet.