Need help fattening up my old guy

[Craigh]

It may be a temporary thing, but the whole milk ricotta cheese trick worked like a charm! I've been giving him a tablespoon stirred in with his food both morning and night, and he practically attacks the food bowl. He'd usually pick at it for 5-10 minutes and walk away after eating 1/3 of it. Now he wolfs down the entire bowl in 2-3 minutes.

I even tried mixing it with a can of Merricks that he previously wouldn't eat at all, and he wolfed that down as well. I'll report back in a week or so as to whether there is any weight gain.

[tanza]

@Craigh:

It may be a temporary thing, but the whole milk ricotta cheese trick worked like a charm! I've been giving him a tablespoon stirred in with his food both morning and night, and he practically attacks the food bowl. He'd usually pick at it for 5-10 minutes and walk away after eating 1/3 of it. Now he wolfs down the entire bowl in 2-3 minutes.

I even tried mixing it with a can of Merricks that he previously wouldn't eat at all, and he wolfed that down as well. I'll report back in a week or so as to whether there is any weight gain.

That is great… and again.. whatever works...

[MacPack]

Wonderful! Fingers crossed for some weight gain for him. At least he is eating now, congratulations for being so persistent.

Anne in Tampa

[Craigh]

Got Alex into the vet yesterday, and am having a blood work-up done. Should know something next week. He's eating pretty well, but still not putting on much weight if any. Weighed 20lbs yesterday. His weight during his 2006 annual checkup was 23.5lbs. Most he's ever weighed was 28lbs. . . a long time ago.

Feeding him a mixture of home cooked venison, ricotta cheese and Merrick's canned food with some NutriCal thrown in as a treat.

[tanza]

@Craigh:

Got Alex into the vet yesterday, and am having a blood work-up done. Should know something next week. He's eating pretty well, but still not putting on much weight if any. Weighed 20lbs yesterday. His weight during his 2006 annual checkup was 23.5lbs. Most he's ever weighed was 28lbs. . . a long time ago.

Feeding him a mixture of home cooked venison, ricotta cheese and Merrick's canned food with some NutriCal thrown in as a treat.

Sounds like you are doing well…. and you know, it is really difficult to put weight on sometimes.. but the fact that he is eating says that he is doing OK.....

[etzbseder]

All this talk about dogs weight is starting to bother me. My B only weighs just about 15lbs and is just over 1 year old. I believe he was the runt of the litter, because he was smaller than even his sisters, and his dad is almost 35lbs. I feed him two cups of royal canin 25 because I was originally worried about him being too large, because my parents dog is much overweight. I am going to start feeding him as much as he will eat in 10 minutes twice a day instead of just letting him eat his two cups over a matter of 20 minutes around 8 in the morning. My dog is only about 16 inches to the shoulders and i have never owned a dog before and my parents have only owned mountain working breeds so I am not sure when a dog is not of healthy weight. Sorry to steal the thread.

[Craigh]

Cassi, my female, was a small dog herself. Even when she looked a little plump, she never weighted over 18lbs. If your dog is small framed and no bones/ribs are protruding I wouldn't worry.

[tanza]

@etzbseder:

All this talk about dogs weight is starting to bother me. My B only weighs just about 15lbs and is just over 1 year old. I believe he was the runt of the litter, because he was smaller than even his sisters, and his dad is almost 35lbs. I feed him two cups of royal canin 25 because I was originally worried about him being too large, because my parents dog is much overweight. I am going to start feeding him as much as he will eat in 10 minutes twice a day instead of just letting him eat his two cups over a matter of 20 minutes around 8 in the morning. My dog is only about 16 inches to the shoulders and i have never owned a dog before and my parents have only owned mountain working breeds so I am not sure when a dog is not of healthy weight. Sorry to steal the thread.

15lbs for 16" is pretty light, but then again he is still a pup… and sounds like he was the smallest as typical male size is 17", 16" for bitches. And if he is very lightly built then he will not carry weight either. Has he been neutered yet? That might help if he is just burning calories.... and he should be neutered anyway by this age. Feeding twice a day is a better option for a young dog (and old dog for that matter). I prefer two meals....

I would NOT just give him as much as he wants... if you are going to increase the food then you need to add a little with each feeding and see how it goes... to let him "gorge" himself is not a good idea... IMO

[Craigh]

Even a little underweight Alex must be feeling pretty good for his age. He was out doing his business in the yard when the sprikler system kicked on and thoroughly soaked him. When I let him in the house to dry him off, he ran several laps of Basenji 500 around the couch. First time I've seen him do that since his last bout with Vestibular Syndrome over a year ago.

[tanza]

@Craigh:

Even a little underweight Alex must be feeling pretty good for his age. He was out doing his business in the yard when the sprikler system kicked on and thoroughly soaked him. When I let him in the house to dry him off, he ran several laps of Basenji 500 around the couch. First time I've seen him do that since his last bout with Vestibular Syndrome over a year ago.

That is super… go Alex!!!

[MacPack]

If he is eating and doing a B-500, I think you are making real progress. Woohoo!

Anne in Tampa

[MaxBooBooBear]

That sure must have been a treat to see him do a B-500.

[Craigh]

Got the labwork back from the vet today. Everything was normal.

[jaclempner]

I think that, like people (as Anne in Tampa mentioned) that food becomes less interesting, but I also feel that it's very likely that even when they eat well, and older dog's body just doesn't metabolize the food as well as it used to.

I have a five year old B-boy who has trouble keeping weight on him - he just came back from about 5 days in the kennel while we were away - the longest I've ever left him- and he's pretty skinny. I'm going to try the Satin Balls for him - and I have tried sweet potatoes - both my basenjis loved them! (although my female has the opposite problem - I have to be careful she doesn't become a little butterball!).

[jaclempner]

Glad to hear about the lab work and the B500!

[Craigh]

It seems like it's just a series of ups and downs with Alex lately. For the past two nights, he's thrown up his dinner shortly after eating. Looks like he might have lost a little more weight as well. He seems to hold breakfast down OK, but not dinner. He's sleeping more than usual too. Other than about an hour or so worth of pacing broken up into a few sessions, he sleeps most of the day/night. Even when he's awake, his usually tightly curled tail is drooping down and hanging between his back legs - not a happy camper.

Just had him checked at the vet last week (and bloodwork run) and nothing showed abnormal.

[Craigh]

Looked like the throwing up was food related. I cut out the cottage/ricotta cheese and the problem went away. It appears that Alex doesn't tolerate those foods well. He loves them, but never put on any weight (probably because he was throwing up all the time).

For about the last week I've been giving him a raw egg with on top of his morning meal. He seems to like that and has put on a couple pounds. Anyone else give their B's raw eggs on a regular basis?

[JazzysMom]

@Craigh:

Looked like the throwing up was food related. I cut out the cottage/ricotta cheese and the problem went away. It appears that Alex doesn't tolerate those foods well. He loves them, but never put on any weight (probably because he was throwing up all the time).

For about the last week I've been giving him a raw egg with on top of his morning meal. He seems to like that and has put on a couple pounds. Anyone else give their B's raw eggs on a regular basis?

I give mine a raw egg about once a week. They love it.

[elena86]

I scramble an egg and zap it in the microwave for about 30 seconds, then stir it up. So it's still sort of runny. Then I put it over a little bit of his dry dog food. He likes the egg a few times a week, especially at night.

[laskiblue]

Mine are all definitely raw egg fans, too.