[Robyn H]

I need help ASAP, I DO NOT NEED nasty comments. I am currently fostering a 10-12 year old pit bull (we think) that, on a scale of 1-10, is a 9.5. I have offered, Orijen, raw, raw and Merrick canned tripe together (which she liked) Stella and Chewy’s Duck, Duck Goose. She’s been wormed, and is HW positive and being treated. Per Doc orders, she on Doxy for the HW and Melatonin for her skin. She’s had 3 BM’s all of which were pure liquid. I need sensible suggestions on what to feed her. I need to get weight on her in a safe way.

[Bobby dog]

Hi Robyn H:
Do you know what your dog was eating previously at the rescue? Has she had blood work to rule out other health issues that could inhibit weight gain? Do you supplement her meals with anything such as probiotics or digestive enzymes? Also, I don’t have any experience with HW treatment or Melatonin do you know the side effects of these drugs?

[Robyn H]

Hello Bobby D.
I am her foster mom and have had her less that 48 hours. From what we found out from the person we rescued her from and from her trip to our vet, “Freedom” wasn’t being allowed to eat, she was a yard dog with 4 others. Her previous owners would put food out for all the dogs and she was always lat to eat, if there was any left. She’s HW positive and not diabetic and the vet does not suspect cancer. She’s also been dewormed. The Vet will see her next Thursday to see how she’s progressing and will check her weight and determine if blood work is needed.

P.S. Is there a way for me to attach a photo of her?

[Cyndi]

I would just suggest any kind of canned food along with some canned pure pumpkin for the runny poop. Poor thing! I hope you get her to eat.

Why would you think you’d get nasty comments? We’re a polite, helpful bunch here….most of the time! 😉

Good luck with her!

[Robyn H]

I just copied and pasted my post to a raw feeding group on FB…and they can get a little nasty at times…lol

[Cyndi]

Oh, well that explains it, lol! We’re not like that here, not usually anyways, lol! We all try to help each other because we all have the same goal…..making sure our pets are well cared for and loved.

Sounds like you’re offering excellent foods, is she just not eating them or just not putting weight on?

[Bobby dog]

Robyn:
I am not sure how to attach a photo, but others can help!

Has your Vet checked for giardia and coccidia? Those parasites can cause runny stools and I have read that owners sometimes have to run tests several times as they sometimes don’t detect them initially, IDK.

I don’t have too much experience with putting weight on dogs, and certainly not with an emaciated dog. I am throwing questions out to you in hopes others can offer help and to bump your post up.

Maybe you could try a lower protein/fat kibble such as Nutrisource to help with the transition to a new diet. My dog and cats do well on Nutrisource products. I always add canned, lightly cooked fresh meats, or commercial raw to my dogs kibble. I would keep offering her a canned food as well.

As Cyndi suggested, canned pumpkin might help with her stools. I feed some everyday to one of my cats so I always have a frozen bag full of ice-cube sized canned pumpkin on hand. In most cases it helps with diarrhea or constipation; good food with multiple uses! Some other products for help with firming up stools are:
• Firm up pumpkin supplement –dehydrated pumpkin
http://www.dydusa.com/firmup_p…
• Fruitables – canned fruit supplement
http://fruitablespetfood.com/f…
• Honest Kitchen Perfect Form supplement
http://www.thehonestkitchen.co…

[Robyn H]

My bad, the vet did blood work and Dr says’ she’s anemic and wants to put her on an iron supplement and a fatty acid supplement as well. I’m going to put her on a green tripe diet for the time being and see how that works. Any suggestions on the supplements?

[Bobby dog]

The supplements the Vet suggested should help with her anemia, poor thing.

I have a healthy, younger pup and supplement with MSM daily, kefir for probiotics, garlic 3x/wk, fish oil capsules 3x/wk when I don’t feed sardines, coconut oil 3x/wk, and vit E 1x/wk. For fresh foods I feed some vegies, fruit, lightly cooked fresh meats (he does not have a taste for raw), and a 1 minute poached egg 1-2x/week which helps keep his skin and coat beautiful. I know their are some wonderful commercial supplements out there that would help with healing her immune system, but I don’t have any suggestions for a dog with her health issues. I do recommend looking into digestive enzymes and probiotics for starters. Some probiotics recommended by regular posters are Dr. Stephen Langer’s Ultimate 15 Strain Probiotic, Swanson Ultra Soil Based Organisms (I believe this might also contain digestive enzymes, not sure), and Mercola complete. Here is a link to Dogaware for a starting point that might help you find info on supplements for her and some other topics as well.
http://dogaware.com/diet/supplements.html

Info on kefir and coco oil:
http://ottawavalleydogwhisperer.blogspot.com/2012/05/foods-rich-in-probiotics-beneficial-for.html

http://ottawavalleydogwhisperer.blogspot.com/2012/02/coconut-oil-is-good-for-your-dogs.html

I will throw this out to you which may or may not interest/help you to improve her kibble diet if that is what you are going to continue to feed her. I follow Steve Brown’s “ABC Diet.” It is an easy menu plan that helps you improve any quality of kibble following a simple menu and according to the dog’s weight with fresh foods (raw or lightly cooked meat) you can buy at the grocery store.
http://www.seespotlivelonger.com/home/sll/page_41/see_spot_live_longer_the_abc_way___electronic_down.html

[Cyndi]

I only have a sec, but to attach a photo, you need to use Photobucket, or a similar site & then just paste the link. Hope that helps! Would LOVE to see a pic of her. I love pitties. My girl is a pitbull/border collie mix.

[Naturella]

Robyn,

In addition to the other suggestions, try this:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Put-weight-on-your-dog-with-satin-balls/

This is supposed to work wonders on emaciated dogs… I would just use coconut oil instead of vegetable/flax oil.

Another option:

http://therobertabadydogfoodcoltd.com/

This company makes kibbles that are close to 800 kcal/cup – designed for weight gain. I would check out the Maintenance and Stress Adult formulas. You could maybe even throw some of this kibble in the satin balls, or feed satin balls for one meal, Abady for another.

Good luck with everything, and you are great for taking this poor girl in!

[Cyndi]

I couldn’t do it before, because my internet is being a pain today, but here is a pic of my girl. 🙂
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u182/Sidney0805/2013-01-21_16-56-56_107.jpg

If you click on the pic, it opens better. It doesn’t look so squished then.

• This reply was modified 10 years, 1 month ago by Cyndi.

[Bobby dog]

Very beautiful, love the crossed paws, very dainty and lady like, and laser eyes! 🙂

[Cyndi]

Ha ha Thank you! She is very dainty, lol! I hate the glowing eyes. Wish there was a setting on my phone to fix that. 🙁

[theBCnut]

WHOA!!!!! EVERYONE!!!!!

A dog that has been starved will have its system completely overwhelmed just by getting regular food. PLEASE!!! Slow down!!

Start with something bland like chicken and rice and only feed about half of what you think she should be getting, for about 3 days. Feel free to add probiotics and digestive enzymes at this time and keep feeding them until all her issues are worked out. After a few days, increase her food to about 3/4 of what she should be getting and then a few days after that increase it to the full amount. Then after a few more days, start adding in some quality dog food, just 1/4 of a meal or less at first. Slowly transition her to full dog food. After that, if you find she still needs different supplements then add them in one at a time every few days.

Your poor girl cannot physically handle all the good things you are trying to do for her. Her body has to have time to adjust to just getting regular meals.

[Cyndi]

I’m so glad you commented on this BCnut! I was thinking about this all day and remembered she did write “Emaciated” in the title, so, or course, you are completely right.

Without seeing the dog, I was just picturing a regular pitbull, but, if she’s been starved, yes, I totally agree with what BCnut said…

[Susan]

Hi Robyn, this dog hasn’t eaten properly probably for years, poor thing, I would be cooking for her just till her tummy gets use to food again, I’d boil chicken breast or turkey (lean meats) add some boiled white rice, get a kibble with the fat% around 10%-12% just to get her use to fat again, I wouldnt do raw just yet, I’d say she was probably just feed a cheap kibble, when she could eat, poor thing.
I rescued a boxer years ago & she was skin & bones, I wanted her to gain weight as it was soo embarrassing on our walks, but I had to do it slowly cause she’d vomited or diarrhea, so vet said just something simple for 1 month till her stomach starts to get use to food & 4 small meals a day, as her stomach would of shrunk & she’d feel full real quickly, her stomach will slowly stretch again…
I’d love to see a picture of her, I love Pit Bulls, scroll down you’ll see right down the bottom ‘Contact Us’ in blue on ur right click on that & it will take you to “How Can I add a custom image to my personal profile” just click on that then you’ll see a link to the “Visit the Gravatar Website”….

[Susan]

I just read the posts, yes what BCnut has written, I HATE humans what some of them do to animals just breaks ur heart, You have a beautiful soul Robyn being a foster mum…its hard sometimes but very rewarding…

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