Too Thin!!!

[jamalyn810]

I am wondering if maybe someone can help me out....I have a male boxer that is 1yr and 3 mo. old. He is very, very thin....only weighing 56lbs. All of his ribs are very visible, along with his backbone and hips. He has always been very thin and a very picky eater. I just thought he would fill out with age, especially after having him neutered. He actually just looks more underweight, and his appetite is still very poor. I fed Diamond Puppy until a few months ago, then switched to Eukanuba, but still no change. He has had multiple worm tests done, and all are negative. Does anyone have any advice on filling him out or similar experiences? Thanks!!!

 

[dughrt]

I am no expert but my though would be to try switching to a puppy type of food. It is usually given to pregnent dogs to help them maintain nutreants so maybe it will help with your dog.
What does your vet say?
Do you know what the parents and litter mates look like? Maybe they are familure with you problem and can help.

 

[Russell]

It's probably the dog food My dogs won't eat Eukanuba they hate it my vet said it's to salty I would try feeding him puppy again and also try canned food that should fill him out then go back to kibble
so he doesn't get too chubby!!!
Heidi

Mommy to Zeke and Zoey:D

 

[nolaboxer]

Hi!

I rescued Sam in February from a neglectful home. The previous owner was feeding him Pro Plan puppy. He said that it reduced the volume of poop. When I asked about his weight and why he was so skinny, he said that he can't figure it out, but the vet had checked him for worms and there was no problem and that he was just a skinny puppy. I did get the vet records and they had done two wormings, both negative. I had another done when I got him, also negative. Sam is 10 months now. He was 25 inches and 52 pounds when we got him. Every rib and his hips, spine and shoulder blades stuck out. My dachshund has been on Nutro since I took her off puppy food. She is gorgeous and healthy, if I do say so myself. After doing some research and talking with other dog owners, since I am to lazy to BARF, I put Sam on a combination of Nutro Natural Puppy and High Energy/Performance (it is in the orange bag). Sam is thriving. He is slowly adding weight. He is now almost 27 inches and 62 pounds. He is still thin, but not emaciated. Our obedience instructor has noticed a remarkable difference. The vet, who essentially told me not to feed Nutro (mostly because Nutro doesn't give kickbacks and incentives), remarked how gorgeous he is looking when we had him in for his neuter last week. He did drop a pound or two from surgery, but he is getting it back. I prefer the Nutro products because they do not use any chemical preservatives and they do not use by-products. Sam also gets some yogurt in his evening meal and some canned pumpkin in his morning meal. Good luck with your boy! Give him some time if he doesn't take to the new food right away. Always introduce a new food slowly. Start by adding about 20% new food to the old food for 3-4 days, if he doesn't develop diarrhea, etc then increase to 40% new food and continue until you are giving all new food. If there are any signs of diarrhea or stomach upset, then back up a step and continue a few days longer and then try again. Good luck!

 

[Scrapper's Mom]

If he is a picky eater, you might try giving him a little breakfast in the morning of some good canned food - you can mix in some supplements, maybe some extra vitamins, a little cottage cheese or yogurt, and he will probably slurp that right down. If he is picking at his food, maybe he doesn't care for it that much. I'd try the soft food to entice him to eat more, and maybe another variety of kibble. Just think if you hated eggplant, but every day after day that's what your mom put in front of you. You'd just pick too!

 

[MigglesBoxer]

Our Talos was so thin when we rescued him, you could see all his ribs and his whole spine. He was really pitiful and so sad :( . We had science diet, dry and wet (we did not know about it at the time that this was not good for him). When he did get much better in the first week, we began researching the best food for him.
We switched to Canidae and his appetite and weight have improved-he's now 59 1/2 lbs and our vet thinks he is about 15 months. We add oatmeal in the morning and PB for a snack. About every other day we give him a mix of chicken, rice and kibble. This has made his weight stablize and he has more energy; he is doing so much better now! :D

There was a poll several months ago about food, check it out...
http://www.boxerworld.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=30729&highlight=food+poll

 

[jamalyn810]

Thanks for all of the advice! I spoke with my vet this morning, and she said the diet additions will be helpful, however, she still wants him to come back in 2 weeks to be weighed. If he has lost any weight, she will do a blood screen and kidney screen. I will keep him on Eukanuba puppy for the next two weeks, and I'll add some 'goodies' to it, hopefully increasing his appetite. I am hoping he will gain a few pounds just because he likes the add ins, and the solution will be changing his diet rather than running all the tests! After the two weeks though, I am planning on switching to a different brand of food, probably the Nutro or Canidae. Thanks so much!!!

 

[Meadvillemom]

Similar Situation.........

We had a very similar experience when we adopted Joe-Joe aged 9 from a no kill shelter. He weighed about 60 lbs and the shelter staff was unable to put any weight on him even though they tried for the whole 8 months they had him. I posted here a while back about comments people made at Petsmart about how skinny he looked. His backbone and ribs showed. The shelter was feeding him a low quality kibble mixed with Iams canned puppy food because he has many missing teeth. They had him to their vet due to poor weight gain and they suspected either cancer or kidney disease. When we got him home we noticed that he ate very healthy amounts for a day or two and then would not eat for 24 hours during which his stomach gurgled audibly and he laid around and slept.He also had MAJOR gas. After checking with my vet to rule out other causes, and reading the posts here we switched to a higher quality food(Nutro)dry which I give him in the amount of 2 cups in the am and 2 in the pm with a 1/2 can of Nutro canned mixed in each time. He has gone from 60 up to 80 lbs in the three months we have had him and now he has no ribs showing and I actually had to go out and buy him a larger collar. I never believed that food could make such a difference but it certainly did in our case. Joe-Joe is much healthier and happier.I agree with the other posters, try it and see if it makes a difference.

 

[gordsan]

Mason is now 14 months and has always tended to be skinny and a picky eater. I've been putting treats in his kibble (Natural Balance) (cheese, Natural Balance sausage, beef broth) and they help but recently I was reading through the Boxer Board and saw a recommendation about heating the kibble. I tried microwaving it for a minute and was amazed at how much Mason loved it! Now the treats are saved for special occasions and he is started to fill out. He still doesn't eat all of his kibble, but definitely more than he used to!

 

[tjefferson]

Alex was very thin until I started feeding him Science Diet. He did not seem to be putting on weight and when we visited he vet he suggested that I try it. Another thing that my vet told me was that as long as they are very active they WILL NOT put on a lot of extra weight.