Ribs/Spine finally not showing but had to double food amt. Bad??

[IMustBeMad]

Weight issues

Good day everyone. I'm a newbie to the forums. I have a 5 year old brindle female (DJ) and just added a 4 year old brindle/white male (Owen) this past week that needed a good home. He is perfectly healthy as the previous parents had him to the vet the night before my husband brought him home. Unfortunatley he is all bones, ribs and spine sticking out. He didn't seem to have a great appetite at first, so I started mixing in 1/2 small can of salmon with 2 cups of food twice a day. He devours it. Unfortunately my female feels very left out and I have to give her a little taste or she pouts and pouts!
Owen is very active and has boundless energy so I'm not getting too worried about it right now, and hope that this will put some weight on him. I welcome all suggestions...

 

[SC's Mom]

Awhile back I read in the recipe forum about a recipe called satin balls (I think that was the name at least) it said it could be used to put on weight but not as a constant supplement.

Also, Caesar doesn't hold weight well so our vet told us to keep him on the puppy formula vs adult dog because it has more calories. Later on in life we'll just have to add the necessary supplements that he'll require. Or hopefully, he'll be able to go to "big boy" food.

I just read on the recipe forum that satin balls should only be used to help sick dogs gain weight. It is not just for any dog that you'd like to put weight on. It said that if you have a healthy dog chances are that the weight is fine for that dog (or something close to that--I don't want to quote anyone).
But bottom line is satin balls are only supposed to be used for a sick or non eating dog.

Just thought I'd clarify.

 

[JackRabbit]

Our Bailey is 26 months old and as skinny as a rail. Whe weighs about 47 pounds. She was raised on IAMS large breed puppy food for the first 18 months the we switched to regular IAMS. She has laways just eaten her food when she is hungry. After she still wasn't gaining in weight we we back to IAMS puppy food. Still no weight gain. One of the guys I work with suggested Purina Exclusive Chicken & Rice and brought me a one cup sample. Bailey devoured it. She is now on her 3rd, 35 pound bag. She is suppossed to eat 2 3/4 cups a day, but we give her about four. She's still skinny as a rail and her back bone shows. We've taken her to the vet and she's in excellent shape, not problems at all.

She just runs all the time. We have a one acre yard and she runs fromt he time we let her out until we call her in for the night. (She stays kenneled in the house during the day). She will run after butterflys and birds, grass hoppers and you name it. We have just decided that she is destined to be thin. (I wish I had that problem).

Dale, Elayne & Bailey

 

[totallyhip]

Hiya,
My boxer (Luke) is 15 months and only weighs 48 pounds. I am quite concerned about his weight too. You can clearly see his ribs sticking thru.

The last owner was only feeding him 1 cup of food a day. In the month that we got him, we doubled his food to 2 cups per day. We are feeding him Wellness Dry food www.oldmotherhubbard.com I love this food because it contains no bad preservatives and is very good quality. The vet says that Luke needs about 10 more pounds and hasn't gained anything in the last 3 weeks. He said we'll have to check him for worms if he doesn't gain in the next month or so. He is great otherwise... really gorgeous coat and healthy. Vet suggested to change the food to something else. The fellow at the petstore, who breeds boxers suggested to change him to the puppy Wellness food because it has more fat content. My only concern is that it also has more protein which (correct me if I'm wrong) makes the metabolism burn faster. Anyhow, were feeding him the puppy food twice a day at 3 cups per day.
What do you guys think?
Sounds like it is normal for them to be so skinny when their young.

 

[Jan]

You need to feed whatever it takes to get him up to the right weight. If 3 cups isn't enough, feed more! It really doesn't matter what the bag says, it is only a guideline. All dogs are different and their activity levels are different.

 

[ZeekBurke]

2 Skinny Boxers

I am glad that we are not the only one with skinny boxers. Our oldest (Matthias) just passed away and weighed about 80 pounds. He was thick but healthy. Zeek weighs in at 55 and Burke at 75. Burke is so skinny though! His legs are quite long and he is lean. It amazes me how much energy they both have! Zeek is finally just getting where you can't count his ribs although Burke is not there yet.

 

[totallyhip]

It seems that its not that uncommon in Boxers. They just have fast metabolisms. I have seen other Boxers that are heavier than Luke but they also don't get as much activity and eat alot more junk food. Were feeding Luke the Adult Wellness Super Mix 5 again at 3 cups per day. He looks like he is thickening out but to my surprise, I weighed him the other day and he hasn't gained any weight. Its only been a couple of weeks on the new diet so I will give it another 2 or 3 weeks and see. Otherwise we have to test him for worms. I would like to see him at least 55 or 60 lbs. Its sometimes annoying how when were walking & people (who I don't think know alot about Boxers) always comment on how skinny he is. They always look at me like I'm starving him to death :(

 

[diego's heart]

Its sometimes annoying how when were walking & people (who I don't think know alot about Boxers) always comment on how skinny he is. They always look at me like I'm starving him to death :(

That's because they're not FAT :mad:!

I had been feeding Diego 3 cups of Innova or 1671 cal/day, plus treats, etc. for 2.5 years - even when is activity had been halted by an injury for 4-5 mos, he never gained weight. When his waistline began to disapper at 84lbs, his metabolism obviously changed . I quickly discovered is ideal weight range is betwen 78-82#. He's nicely trim and lean now. As I'm sure most on this board are already aware that most domestic dogs are generally overweight.

I had a neighbor just last weekend make a comment that Diego looked "skinny" (which is he not!), but I replied "You mean he's not FAT." This was after he told me his vet told him he needed to take off 5-10lbs on his overweight lab - poor Obie :(.

Ribbiness is characteristic of a young boxer, but once the hips & spine appear, that's not normal and should be resolved sooner than later.

~ Lisa