my dog ribs are showing

[chilled]

hi
my 4 month old boxer cross rhodesian ridgeback ribs are showing, you might say he will fatten up but since we have had him his ribs are there.
he did have worms about a 3 weeks ago but still looks the same.you can see all the ribs and when you touch them u can feel them.

he eats meat and we give him what the pack says, after he ate he could eat more, hes never full up.

could he have something in side him which is not making him fatten up.

he is putting on the weight but only in the lenght.

i have put a picture of him in the puppy section for you all to have a look.

any advice please

[Bella's Mom]

I would have him tested for worms again, also what food are you using?

[Renee750il]

WHOA! You're right - he is too thin. What kind of worms was he tested for? You need ot have him checked for the full spectrum - including tapeworm and heartworm.

How are his stools?

What kind of food is he eating? My Dad took a spell where he insisted on buying some pretty bad food for Purdue at one point and Purdue just kept losing weight no matter how much he ate. Once the vet told him bluntly that Purdue was starving to death because there wasn't enough nutrition in the food things turned around.

[Fran27]

I got Tips at 2 months, he was really underfed by the rescue i got him from (can't really blame them as the dog was in a shelter first). He was way too thin. The vet didn't find any worms but we treated him for it anyway. I fed him nutro but it wasn't getting better, although he was growing fine. People here advised fish oil, I ordered some at www.seapet.com, got it a few days ago, so I've been using that, to hopefully make things even better, but just switching from Nutro to Innova helped a lot, after over 2 weeks of it he's finally less skinny on the sides. I've been feeding him more than the recommended dose though, but he has lots of excercise.

What food are you using? It might be your problem. Just feeding meat is not a balanced diet at all. I suggest you look at a good food (wellness, canidae, innova, eagle pack) and put him on that. There are others decent food (royal canin, nutro's natural choice, chicken soup for the dog's lover (I think?)) if you can't afford it, but in your case I think you should really try the best available.

[poeluvr]

i didnt get the pic of him?
also maybe, you think he could eat and eat, but his ribs are showing..it is showing that he is still hungary and since his ribs are still showing, maybe you arnt feeeding him enough?

[Julie]

Please tell us what your pup eats, and how many cups per day?
You also need to deworm your pup again. Have you dewormed for tapeworms? That could require a different type of medication, depending on what you used for the other worms.

If the pup had roundworms, Your pup will need to be dewormed 2 maybe 3 times at about 3 weeks apart, or your pup will never get rid of them all.
Also, the pup will reinfect itself if there is dried aged poop where it frequents.
Clean all of that up to reduce the chance of reinfection.

Please let me know, as I am worried about your pup.
Julie.

[Zoom]

I really don't want to hijack the thread, so I'm sorry about this, but I've got the same question with Sawyer. He had a mild-moderate case of worms that was supposed to be cleared up by the time I got him. He's 50 lbs so I feed him three cups of food (Iams chunks, in the process of switching to Royal Canin) a day and he's getting less exercise than he's used to right now because it's so **** hot outside. He's also on Interceptor, so wouldn't that take care of any remaining infestation? Or should I just feed him more?

[EliNHunter]

I really don't want to hijack the thread, so I'm sorry about this, but I've got the same question with Sawyer. He had a mild-moderate case of worms that was supposed to be cleared up by the time I got him. He's 50 lbs so I feed him three cups of food (Iams chunks, in the process of switching to Royal Canin) a day and he's getting less exercise than he's used to right now because it's so **** hot outside. He's also on Interceptor, so wouldn't that take care of any remaining infestation? Or should I just feed him more?

Zoom... I would get Sawyer tested for worms again. Interceptor is just for heartworms, isn't it? Maybe add some yummy canned food to his kibble to get some weight on him, too.

[Julie]

Zoom,
I think your dog is ok on the worm thing. (unless he had tapeworms). But one dose of tapeworm med.(praziquantel) usually gets them all.

Interceptor for dogs prevents heartworm disease, while it protects your dog against roundworms, hookworms (A. Caninum) and whipworms. But have a fecal done, if you have seen something.

But if your still worried a call to the vet might help your worries.

Julie.

[Zoom]

Thanks EliNHunter and Julie.

You can have your thread back now, chilled. Thanks for the loan!

[smkie]

i posted this under your pic in the gallery, but i will repost here as well..if this were my dog i would have a complete blood work done..i feel this is more then tapes..and i would go to petsmart or whatever local petstore that carries nutrical..buy several tubes and through out the day i would give him as much supplement as allowed..this pup is emaciated, there is loss of muscle tissue as well..the nutrical is a high calorie, high protein, vitimin supplement especially designed for situations like this, it is a gel that you can either have them lick off the spoon or if they are too weak ( i have brought many back from the brink with this) you can adhere it to the bridge of their mouth and they can slowly swollow it with their saliva. You can add a number of things to his regular food as well, from fish oil which is better then vegetable oil, but veg oil is better then nothing..honey, powdered milk and cheese. Peanut butter would be a good treat. I would sock the calories as much as possible. Since this is a puppy the growth period is critical and you will want him fat and sassy as quickly as possible.

[chilled]

i took him to the vets 2day.
they said that he will fatten up it will take time, just feed him 20% / 30% more food.
the thing is duke can only eat meat as biscuits upsets his stomach.
im going to worm him again 2moz.
smkie you said cheese? wot cheddar?
how much peanut butter shall i give him?

[Gustav]

Oh my! your pup is thin!! I suggest that you feed him at least 4 times a day, little and often is the best way to go. Feeding him lots all at once won't help him to gain weight! I would really try to get him onto a complete dog food, Mordy will be able to advise you as to which foods are best for sensitive souls! Good luck!! :D

[Renee750il]

Eggs are also wonderful for underweight dogs, and you can mash up some cooked yams with a bit of butter to give him something different and add much needed nutrients to his meat. A little cooked oatmeal wouldn't hurt either.

Cheddar cheese is fine - you can start him out with a heaping teaspoon of peanut butter every 2nd or 3rd day or so.

[Gustav]

I just thought, can you get Complan? It's like a meal in a glass! Very good for weigh gain! Martin has to have it from time to time as he is a skinny little thing!! :D

http://www.complanfoods.com/

[Fran27]

We still don't know what you're feeding him :( You say you feed him meat, if you feed him only meat it's not a balanced diet at all... I really suggest you go buy a good brand of food and give him that.

You say biscuits upset his stomach... What kind of biscuits? You're sure it's just not an allergy to the product you used?

All the advice given here is good... But the most important thing to do is give him a balanced diet, and good food if possible. Tips was really skinny when I got him and switching him to a good brand of food fixed it, he's much better now.

[Renee750il]

Fran, in England dog food is often sold in a biscuit form that is crumbled and mixed with meat. I'm hoping some of our members in Europe and England can help with some suggestions for good foods that are available there, but until then, feeding Duke a diet that's home cooked or raw may be the best way to get his weight up to normal and his system working properly.

[Gustav]

James Well Beloved is a good food that is available in the UK, You can also get Royal Canine.