Skinny Boxer :(

[luvmybxrs]

Looking for advice to see if anyone knows of something I can feed my boy to put weight on him faster. He's going to the vets next week and probably going to be referred to an internal medicine specialist but in the interim he needs some groceries.
his diet currently consists of:

The honest kitchen - Keen - about 1 cup twice daily, mixed with some of the sojos original and fruit n veggie mix. He also gets whatever I'm eating - within reason of course - and cookies out of his ears. He's about 70-72 lbs and I see his ribs and spine too much. He looks good around 76-78 lbs. he also occasionally gets stuff like scrambled eggs for b.fast, chicken etc.

Just some background info - history of grade 1 MCT removed a little while ago - maybe 6 months or more - he's already had bw, negative fecal and urine and is on hw prevention, he's also minimally vaccinated - rabies only after his 3yr dhpp, and is pretty much a couch potato. He runs and plays when he's outside and is active in that respect but isn't a crazy critter Oh and he takes 50mg Benadryl twice a day and 30mg Famotidine. He's going to be 6 in April. :o)

Thanks guys :o) I always come here for help when I'm running out of options and someone always has something, hoping for the same this time

 

[whiskers]

It seems really common for dogs to have a hard time maintaining weight on those dehydrated brands like THK and Sojos. When Juno was on Sojos she needed about 4 cups a day in order to maintain, and she's only a 50lb dog.

You can try just increasing the amount you feed him, or add some fattier foods to help him out a bit - cooked oatmeal, whole milk yogurt, coconut oil etc can be helpful additions. Some dogs just are too difficult to maintain on these diets alone and need a little bit of kibble added in to help them out.

 

[luvmybxrs]

Thanks Whiskers - I will def try that. I tried adding simple stuff like pasta, but I think he is somewhat gluten intolerant as his stool became slimy n smelly. everything else about him is great like his coat etc. Maybe I'll add some rice too and try the yogurt and coconut oil.

My other boy is doing fine, he had always been a lil chunkier but this food has helped him be leaner. Kato always seems like he's starving tho and I hate to feed them such a large meal at once as I've heard that con be a bloat risk factor-consuming very large meals at once.

 

[sjtorr]

I'm not sure how many calories are in what you're feeding, but a dog that size probably needs 1500-1900 calories a day (depends how active). I'm feeding 4.5 cups of homemade food PLUS veggies, PLUS oatmeal and egg yolk PLUS fruit - every day. Now, she's still growing, but even at full grown it'll still probably be 3.5 cups plus everything else.

Maybe add cooked steel cut oats to his scrambled eggs (if he'll stomach it that is). I second the yoghurt idea too - i switched to greek yoghurt because it's more substantial and seems to fill her a little bit better than plain yoghurt.

Good luck!

 

[luvmybxrs]

Well I'm pretty sure it's my fault and I've been starving him! The food is dehydrated raw - and initially I would make one portion per meal at a time - then I thought I would be productive and make 3 days food at once in a large tub. Well the food is designed to be given in DRY measured cups - not wet, after it's reconstituted. So a soaked cup of food is way less actual food than dry. I'm going back to measuring out and i'll also supplement with some enzymes, meat and yoghurt / cottage cheese. My poor boy, I feel like a bad Mommy. I think to that now that I've realized it should be easy to fatten him back up. Thanks for the extra suggestions tho guys.