Super Thin EmmaLee
I have rescued dogs before, but never one who was a bit damaged. We have rescued puppies, and our first dog Guido, but he adjusted perfectly. EmmaLee is a sweet girl and is adjusting well to our diverse pack. Let me tell you what I know about her background. EmmaLee was born in 2007, and has a sister whom she had been with since birth. Emmalee (Skye) and Cloud (sister) were given to a rescue in January of 2008. Since then, Emmalee and her sister have been living outside with numerous other dogs, and were living in a free feed enviroment. When we got EmmaLee yesterday, I weighed her at Petsmart, and she weighed about 43 lbs. Which is clearly underweight. She has a doctor's appointment on Friday for bloodwork, fecal, etc. to rule out any parasitic causes for such significant weight loss. Does anyone have any tips on getting her to gain some weight? How long does it take to see some weight gain? Currently, I am feeding her 2 cups in the morning (after walk). 2 cups around lunch time, and 2 cups in the eveing (after walk). I have mixed her current food (Pedigree), with Natural Choice Healthy Skin and Coat and a little bit of wet food. Should I feed her more/less often? Or is this too much or too little food? She just nibbles at her food, while Ed always licks the bowl clean. Which way is normal? |
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| I'm no expert, but I think you've got a good amount of food. She'll need to gain weight slowly but steadily at this point. Trying to do it too fast probably isn't good for her. Do her ribs protrude? When we got Rudy he was gaunt and underweight (not emaciated, but underweight). Six months later he's gained ten+ pounds and is filling out nicely. The vet says he's just fine...on the thin side, but well in the healthy range. If she eats slowly, but does finish then that's just fine. Our vet suggest a sprinkle of garlic on dry food to make it more appealing. You could try that if you want to encourage her to go at it with a little more gusto. If by nibble you mean she doesn't finish, then that would concern me too. You might want to add some canned food or something like that...at least for now. But then the nibbling could also be nerves at this point...she's been through a lot. I think that taking her in to the vet for a complete check up is a great idea. You may find she's got a parasite or there's something else going on that you can treat and help her move past. Kudos to you for rescuing this sweet dog. She's got a great life ahead. Keep us updated on her progress. |
| 6 cups a day is a HUGE amount of food for most OES - they would be really need to be on the large side to comfortably eat that amount of food. I see why she nibbles - she has to be stuffed! Chewie eats 3 cups/day of a quality food. He's 4 now, active, 23 1/2" tall and 70 pounds. Pedigree isn't that great - I would go w/ something else. Especially as you are trying to gain weight on her. Definitely vet check 1st, then go for a slow and steady weight gain. That's the safest. I read labels, and when I was trying to get Chewie to gain, I fed the ones with the highest kcal/cup. I figured if he only ate so much food, I wanted each bite to have the maximum calories. It worked really well. Good luck with your EmmaLee  |
Oooops. My apologies. I didn't read clearly. I thought I read two cups TWICE a day. I have to agree with got sheep - she clearly is a better reader than I am.  I'd bring it down to three to four cups per day, tops. (Rudy was sixty two or three pounds when he came and is now seventy five and healthy looking. On three slightly larger cups a day he was able to gain that much in six months. I wouldn't advise going any higher.) Reduce it to one cup three times a day for now. You can always make it a cup and a little more over time. But I agree, six is a lot. (This is assuming that by "cup" you do mean a cup sized scoop. We use a coffee cup that is a little bigger than an actual cup measure, so you have to take that into account as well.) Sorry, I'm usually more on the ball than that. |
| I was thinking that was a lot of food too! My dogs are currently on 2 cups daily of Taste of the Wild Pacific stream (Wendel's on a diet) and then they get 1 cup of green beans divided. When my dogs were on 4 cups of food a day, Wendel ballooned in weight. I agree, go with a different dog food without so much filler of corn products. Good luck with EmmaLee! Post some pictures! |
| Welcome to you and EmmaLee! Six measuring cups is a lot of food, probably close to double what she needs. Oscar is 113 lbs and the most he ever ate was 4 & 1/2 measuring cups per day. You want her to gain weight in a slow and steady manner, so I think feeding her smaller meals, three times a day, is a great way to do it. (Just to reiterate what others have posted, all scoops are not created equal. If you are using a scoop of some sort, you might want to convert it to an actual measuring cup, so you can accurately assess the amount of calories EmmaLee is getting.) Oscar was underweight until he was about a year old, due to Inflammatory Bowel Disease and other autoimmune issues. I also mix canned food with dry and have had a great result, as he gained the appropriate weight. Plus it calmed his digestion down as well. I am sure your vet will have recommendations too. Thank you for rescuing EmmaLee. Laurie and Oscar |
| I'm agreeing with above. Much better quality food and less of it. Also I'd looking into adding probiotics since the dog has been under nourished. You can find them at any on line pet supply company KV Vet for example) and excellent dog food stores. Places like PetsMart sell a variety of foods, some good, some .........less good. I'm not sure I've seen probiotics in there. I do get it at in independent pet food store. Another thought is to do a search on line for the better foods......just ask here and we'll chime in. In the web search you'll discover who is your local supplier. It may be a store or an indivdual who is also selling to offest the cost for his/her own dog by buying in bulk wholesale. Yes, you pay more upfront, but you feed less and your dog is healthier in the long run. MO, my small sheepie gets 3/4 to 1 cup twice a day. Jack my big lazy guy gets 1-1 1/2 cups twice a day. The others are in between. BUT first is bad wormies tests: parasites, heartworm, etc. Thank you for taking a dog in need! |
| Let me specify...the Pedigree is not something we feed our dogs. That's what she was eating at the rescue, so we are weaning her off of it to avoid an upset tummy. Our dogs eat Blue Buffalo and/or Natural choice, we switch every so often because the Greyhounds are finicky and get tired of the flavor. I do a lot of research on dog foods, and those are the best I have found that the dogs like the flavor. We have also tried Wellness. I know what to feed sheepies normally, but my question was if I should or should not give her more since she is so thin? She hasn't been eating all the food in the bowl either. She eats about a cup, then quits. I pick it up, and toss it since it is mixed with wet food. I want her to gain weight, she is just way too thin. You can feel her spine and ribs. IMO, she seems almost emaciated. We also use actual measuring cups. Greta is a little extra fluffy so we have to portion out her food, so we portion everyone elses. |
got sheep wrote: I read labels, and when I was trying to get Chewie to gain, I fed the ones with the highest kcal/cup. I figured if he only ate so much food, I wanted each bite to have the maximum calories. It worked really well. Which high calorie food did you use? |
| 43lbs sounds super thin and that seems like a lot of food. I am thinking worms or a parasite. Definitely a trip to the vets is worthwhile. I have Bella on Proplan which was recommended by one of the people running the oes rescue. Bella has done well on it. No gas or poop issues and her coat is great now. |
andibear01 wrote: got sheep wrote: I read labels, and when I was trying to get Chewie to gain, I fed the ones with the highest kcal/cup. I figured if he only ate so much food, I wanted each bite to have the maximum calories. It worked really well. Which high calorie food did you use? The highest calorie that I found was California Natural Puppy Lamb and Rice. It has 535 kcal/cup. http://www.californianaturalpet.com/pro ... el=ga&id=4 I mixed it 1/2 and 1/2 with whatever food the rest were getting (I rotate foods every few months for the whole group). He liked it and did well on it. I mixed it as I figured it would be too rich full strength and he no longer was a puppy - I did this for about a year when he was 2.5 to 3.5 years old. He wasn't a picky eater, he just didn't eat a lot. |
| I agree to first test for parasites including tapeworms and also get some baseline bloodwork on her... gives us a glimpse of what's going on with the entire dog including liver and kidneys. Everything may be perfectly fine but it's good to get some numbers to rule out a more serious cause for her being so thin. Gradually transfer her over to the better quality dog food as you're now doing. I think 3 meals a day is probably good... sometimes feeding 4-5 smaller meals starting early in the morning and ending late at night can also be good but you have to play it by ear because sometimes the dog never truly gets enthusiastic about the next meal because she's never truly hungry. (That was Kaytee and home cooked meals.) You might supplement with some fresh foods and cooked meats. Quote: Emmalee (Skye) and Cloud (sister) were given to a rescue in January of 2008. Since then, Emmalee and her sister have been living outside with numerous other dogs, and were living in a free feed enviroment. Did you get her from a rescue or private party? If there was outdoor free-feeding is it possible that other dogs might have simply kept her away from the food dish? But... she's not gorging herself so that may not be the case. It's possible that something icky may have gotten into an outdoor food dish kept filled. Gradual weight gain is what you're striving for when a dog is underweight. 6 cups a day is a lot of food but it appears she's only eating what she feels is needed which is good. You might cut down some to just a little more than she's eating to save on kibble cost. If she cleans her bowl, you might add a little more next time as long as she isn't gaining too fast or not processing her food properly. Does her poo *look* normal... like she's digesting food properly? Maybe get her on a probiotic and digestive enzyme to help her system. I'd also weigh her twice a week to be sure she's heading in the right direction and not continuing to loose. Hoping the vet can help get your new baby on the right track. Do you have a picture? |
6Girls wrote: Did you get her from a rescue or private party? If there was outdoor free-feeding is it possible that other dogs might have simply kept her away from the food dish? Does her poo *look* normal... like she's digesting food properly? Maybe get her on a probiotic and digestive enzyme to help her system. I'd also weigh her twice a week to be sure she's heading in the right direction and not continuing to loose. Hoping the vet can help get your new baby on the right track. Do you have a picture? Thank you so much! I am going to try fresh food and cooked meats. I just want to get some weight on my skinny minnie. I got her from a rescue that was at PetsMart. I am not sure if the rescue is legit.  They had another bloodhound that was skinny, and the rescue lady said Emma's sister (who we couldn't adopt) is thin too, but only I had her feel Ed than feel Emma. The rescue lady seemed suprised when I was so shocked with how thin Emma was. I had to have her feel Edmund than feel Emma so she could tell the difference. I am in contact with my vet and people to see if anyone will adopt Emma's. This group is also not on petfinder. Strange.. I am going to post Emma's on the other forum tonight. I am worried to because she is not gorging herself, but it could also be nerves. She is afraid of doors, cars, sudden noises, and new places so she me just be nervous. My hubby said he gave her two cups in the morning and 2 cups in the evening and she cleaned her bowl today. I am out of town right now...  Her doodles look normal. A little moist because of the wet food, but no visible parasites and what not. But those little nasty critters are stubborn Where can I find a doggie probiotic? Is it the same stuff people can take? I am going to add a pic if I can figure it out. I am very technology challenged. |
| I am not a Vet or anything, but I agree that a complete checkup is in order. If everything appears to be OK after all the testing I would reccomend using one of the higher quality dog foods. Here is a web site where you can see the listings of most of the various dog foods out there. http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/ Bear in mind that "extra" calories may not really be what is needed. If those calories are just empty calories they will do more harm than good. When Bailee was a puppy we fed him Inova Large Breed puppy food. On the web site it was rated as a 5 out of 6. When we first took Bailee for his initial Vet visit our Vet strongly suggested we buy only the high quality foods that are available. You will definately spend more for the food but as our Vet told us we saved a significant amount of money on Vet bills. Bailee's health has been excellent, he is almost 2 now and we have not had to take him to the Vet for anything other than the routine and normal shots and checks. He is 78 pounds and full of energy. We switched him to Taste of The Wild (Bison) about 8 month ago and we feed him 1 1/2 cups 2 times a day with another 3/4 cup at lunch. He devoures his food and is really a perfect size. The better foods also will result in better bowl movements since there is no "fillers" in the food. Believe it or not Bailee has never had a case of loose stools since he has been on either Inova or TOTW. Good luck in whatever you choose to do. |
| Just to let you all know, Emma went to the vet on Friday. She is perfectly healthy except for the hookworms. We are so happy! |
 Yay WTG Emma! |
Great news on Emma! Now, I wisdh I had the problem of having to bulk up!!  We use some shredded cheese in the food which can add some calories. I think she'll start gaining weight now that she is in your home getting all that love! |
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