No Weight Gain

I took Ivan to the vet today. I'm a little worried since the last time he went to the vet (Dec. 6, 2012) he was 96lbs. Today he weighs 95.8lbs. No weight gain at all in so much time. It worries me since he's so young and should be growing like a weed, plus seeing how big he is (head size, height, breeds) he should be much bigger than what he is.

His gut is a wreck, the vet said it sounds like a washing machine, just churning and most likely inflamed. He gave some medications for that. I want to give Ivan satin balls to help with his weight and nourishment but was thinking maybe I should wait until his gut is back to normal. It might be too much of a shock for him just yet.

i would steer clear of all the wheat and chemical crap in satin balls. what kind of food is he on, in general? if you want to see any weight gain i would just get some fatty scraps (most butchers can save you the fat they cut off of beef or pork as its just trash for them anyway) and give like half a lb a day of that

definitely get his ibs under control first tho, or youll get canon butt no matter what you do.

Has he had a fecal check done recently?

We had a pup come to work for a visit and he wasn't gaining weight properly. Owner finally brought in a stool sample and the pup ended up having whipworm and one other parasite (can't remember what).

If he is having gastrointestinal upset, that could definitely be contributing to his lack of weight gain.

Ivan was vet checked before he came here. He's UTD with vaccines and was dewormed multiple times.

i wonder if chicken and rice and broth would be "monoingredient" enough to calm his gut enough....

or maybe tripe? because of the enzymes? *rubs chin* but its not necessarily that his gut flora are lacking, its just irritated, yes?

Well, depending on what he was dewormed with, me may still be harboring a parasite. Generic dewormers don't cover everything, so unless he had a fecal check done to see what parasites (if any) he was harboring, the deworming may have been ineffective.

I'm just going by what was told to me by the shelter and by the vet paperwork that came with Ivan; all animals were dewormed but the paperwork doesn't specify with what.

I guess I could take in a sample next week.

I'd honestly recommend it. We've had quite a few shelter dogs that have been dewormed with generic dewormer come in and when they have a fecal check run they have whips. Typically what the shelters use just takes cares of hooks and rounds.

I second a fecal check. Also check his back end for tapeworm segments. How old is he?

When my dogs have an upset stomach I feed either chicken or salmon with either canned pumpkin or mashed sweet potatoes. The fiber in the pumpkin or sweet potato bulks up and solidifies the stool and is easier on the stomach than rice. Gavroche gets chicken, but Logan usually gets salmon because he handles it better than chicken.

Logan had a nasty GI tract when he was a little over a year. After not getting any improvement from dewormers, we did a fecal PCR and found clostridium. I'm assuming he picked it up in transit somewhere, flying halfway across the country. The stress of traveling so far probably weakened his immune system just enough to allow the sucker to take hold. He was straightened out with a course of Tylan/tylosin (it was 6 months of antibiotics, but I think it was overkill...I hear most vets do six WEEKS) and switching to a grain-free fish-based diet. Vitamin B injections tends to help many, many intestinal issues, too, and they're cheap.

There is an alternative Satin Balls recipe, one I would be willing to feed Payton...

1lb ground beef
2-3 eggs with shells
1 pint cottage cheese (full fat)
1 envelope Knox unflavored gelatin
2 tablespoons fish oil/coconut oil/EVOO
2 tablespoons natural peanut butter
2 tablespoons raw honey


I've not tried it yet but apparently some people have issues getting them to stick together without any kind of grain binder and suggest using mashed potato flakes... ugh. I think they would hold together reasonably well enough to at least make it from fridge/freezer to the dog bowl.

I would definitely check with a vet further though, and I agree with your thinking that throwing this in while his gut is riled up might not be the best decision.