Too thin

[lucasmum]

Luca is 11 months and has always been on the skinny side. He's not my first boxer so I do know all about the skinny stage, but, he's had a couple of nasty tummy upsets ( he's a terrible scavenger ) and hes now really skinny, good muscle tone but you can see every rib, spine and hips. Does anyone have any ideas about what I could feed him to put a little weight on? I don't want to change his food because he's quite sensitive , but maybe something high calorie I could add? Thanks for any suggestions, it's starting to get embarassing taking him out, I'm sure people think he's ill treated!

 

[dizzydogmom]

Maybe give him more of his regular food or an extra meal a day? If he's got a sensitive tummy, that's probably the safest way to go. You could also buy him a sweater or tee shirt (*********.com has some awesome shirts, among other sites) to hide his poor little bones on walks.

 

[gmacleod]

What is needed for building muscle mass is protein. Within reason, fat is good also (instant energy), but I'd shy away from adding more carbs to his diet (dogs don't have the digestive systems to deal with carbs well, so they end up stored as fat).

How about adding some fresh meat and offal (raw or lightly cooked) to his diet? In the same vein, a raw or lightly cooked egg once or twice a week is also a good healthy addition. And perhaps the occassional meal of canned oily fish (things like sardines, mackeral or pilchards - not tuna).

 

[lucasmum]

Thanks for the replies, I've been giving him his recommended amount of dried food, which is Burns Canine Extra. In the dog food analysis page it says this food contains good ingredients but is lacking in meat content, so I add cooked chicken and fish, also rice and mashed potato and occasional scrambled egg, but I'm not too sure how much chicken I should give.

 

[gmacleod]

That's good How much extra meat kind of depends on your budget in a way. I'd say you could probably add up to around 500 grams daily. It's OK if it's less than that. If you do add that much extra meat, then an additional calcium source would be a good idea. You've actually got one right at your fingertips in the shells of eggs though Just half a teaspoon of smashed up eggshell per 500g meat will provide a perfect balance.

 

[lucasmum]

Thanks so much.

 

[lucasmum]

Re- last post from gmacleod

Hi, gmacleod, I've just re-read your post, thanks again, I just need to make sure I've got this right. If I'm giving an extra 500 grams of chicken or meat, but say, over 3 days, would I still give the eggshell every 3 days or is it only if that amount is given in 1 day? Also what about when he has plain white fish ( cod ), does he need the calcium then? I just want to make sure I get this right because I know it's bad to give too much calcium. Bearing in mind that the chicken and fish is in addition to his dry food which I assume has the correct amount of calcium. Thanks.

Jane

 

[gmacleod]

If you're spreading that amount of meat out over several days, then I don't think there's any need to add calcium. The correct amount of calcium isn't a specific amount, but a range. In short, when it's only a small addition like that, it's unlikely to make a big enough impact to require calcium addition.

If, on the other hand, you were adding 500 grams of meat daily - well, that's actually about half his total diet. It would require balancing with a calcium source (and actually, would also suggest a need to cut back the kibble a bit ). The half-teaspoon added would not represent an excessive overall amount of calcium though.

 

[lucasmum]

Thanks for clearing that up.

 

[billbgh]

I had the same problem with Apollo. I started mixing in Innova Evo ancestral diet and he's putting weight on. I tried to go alone with this same food, but his system couldn't handle it, so I went back to mixing chow he'll eat with chow that is good for him(Innova).. It sounds like you have things under control, but I just wanted to let you know what worked for me so that you might have another option.

Erin