Underweight puppy

[charliemerri]

I have 5 month old female. She was the runt. I got him from a home that the old man had serious health issues arise right after his female became preganant. He also had to pay for a c section so they had no shots when they were born. She is now current with her shots but is very skiny. she is onl 17 pounds. I can see her hip bones. Is this normal.. I was only feeding her twice a day then read that they should be fed three times a day.

 

[BxrMommieNAZ]

I would say if you're seeing hip bones that she's underweight. What food do you feed? Do you supplement with any fresh meat or a high quality canned food? How much food does she eat? What does your vet say?

 

[levic]

I had a similar problem

I had a similar problem with Heidi, she was not the runt but looked it...the second smallest to a litter of 9 (the runt was a 1 lb. smaller than her). The difference with Heidi is that although I was giving her a high quality food and feeding her 3-4 times a day, she had diarrhea and was so small that it concerned the vet and I. Checked for parasites, etc...all good. so I took the advice of a friend and with the green light from my vet, I started adding prozyme to her food (at every single meal). She started gaining weight and began having normal bowel movements. She was seen by the previous owner and he was amazed at her size, he says she is bigger than all the girls...but she is by no means overweight...very lean and muscular. So I am a firm believer in the prozyme. P.S. Now I am feeding her twice a day.

 

[RockyCody]

5 months

We havea 5 month old male and he is almost 40lbs. 17 seems to be VERY VERY underweight.

Everyone things we starve our guy but he looks healthy to me.

I agree with everyone so far - high quality food!

 

[TwoDogs]

You say she is current on shots, but has she been to a vet? Has she been wormed? A bad infestation can cause wasting.

Provided that she has had a full vet exam and there is no medical reason that she is underweight, then feeding a high-quality diet should do the trick. Some foods list portion sizes for pups based on the expected adult weight, but others list portion based on the current weight of the pup. If this is the case with your food, you should be feeding the daily portion that is recommended for what she should weigh, not her current skinny weight.

 

[Madea]

I have a 5 1/2 month male and he weighs 48lbs. 17lbs seems awful small. Hopefully she starts to pick up weight for you

 

[charliemerri]

she has a vet appointment next week. I am not feeding here gret food but Ive always used it and never had an issue. I am feeding her pedigree puppy. I also was onlly feeding her about 2-4 cups a day. I thought I was feeding her mor untill i measured it. Over the last couple Ive started feediing her 1.5 ti 2 cups three times a day. She has put on a couple ounds already but may be the weight. I need to get her some good food and ween her on t it. She dosent act sick at al. normal bowl movements plenty of energy just very skinny. she is lso about 13 inches tall at the back.

 

[charliemerri]

Also i am weighing her comapred to my weight on a home scale so the numbers probably arent totally accurate. i weighed her today and she was 20 pounds. so shes gained 3 pounds in two days since ive been feeding her the appropriate amount.

 

[pjack]

I have a 4 1/2 mo old male and he was 31 lbs 2wks ago. Please get a good quality food. Shw will be grateful, and you will be too later down the road. High quality food is really not that much more expensive. A good quality food requires less amounts per feeding, so it almost works out to the same cost. Not quite, but almost. And you will have less health issues in the long term. Maybe give her a few extra treats till she gets the weight back on? Maybe that last bit of advice is not the best, but would be hard for me to resist. Hopefully its not a medical problem and can be remedied with a good diet. Keep us posted please.

 

[charliemerri]

I weighed her again last night and she is 21 and a half pounds