Talon's weight again

Babyblue5290

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#1
Went to the pet stores to get Temeraire (gecko) some food and decided it's been a long time since Talon has gone out so we took him. He did so great! :) He was excited for all the people, and briefly met a few dogs. He behaved himself pretty well. He even met a guy with an electric wheelchair, he wasn't even phased. He was more interested in siting next to it so he could get pets and then searching for food in the pockets on the side lol :p He's a pretty stable dog with most thing, very little phases him. Now if we could get him to stop barking at people when near our apartments, it's the only time he barks now. >_<

However, though he did so well, I'm kind of sick of "he's so skinny? was he a rescue?" T_T No...no he is not a rescue, I then have to explain that's just how he is. Today I almost felt like I was being interrogated. I am *fairly* sure it was more just in case I didn't know and trying to be helpful, but it more felt like I was being accused of not feeding him. :(

I got asked about thyroid, worms, amount of food, how many times he's fed, supplements, etc etc. I kept trying to explain that he is completely healthy, but it seemed like she had "advice" about how I'm obviously missing something. >_<

It's not even like she was the only one. Every person that pets him has to say something about it. Yes...I do know he is too skinny, he's not kept this way on purpose!

Things I'm doing to help his weight:

-I've got him on supplements as I worry about vitamin deficiency.
-He is given a ton of food, but too much makes him vomit if it's given at one time, and too much but multiple times a day still gives him diarrhea, so that's not helpful. We've worked out how much he can handle and give him that.
-He get's some yummy meat balls (satin balls) as one of his meals to try and add some substance on him.
-His thyroid and blood work came back within normal range
-He has no worms, he's been tested a few times and we even dewormed him just in case.

He's energetic and happy and strong. His muscle's are really starting to develop and he is gaining a tiny bit amount of substance, it's just slow going.

I really don't blame people for being suspicious, but man is it getting seriously old. :eek: I wish I could take him out just once without anyone commenting on it! Is there anything else we can do, besides restricting excercise? I think part of the problem may be his sensitive tummy plus his high energy. He burns off most of the food he gets, more food means more time to move for him. Also, certain foods seem to give him a case of diarrhea.

So any other suggestions?
 

JessLough

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#2
What is he being fed? You could always try feeding him a food with higher calories if he can't eat more than what he is, if you're concerned.
 

Southpaw

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#3
A good digestive enzyme? Juno was looking emaciated about a month ago... I put the weight back on her with satin balls, but was a little worried she'd lose it again once I stopped giving them. But she's on a digestive enzyme now and has been maintaining really well.

I use this brand because it looked interesting and I had heard good things. Plus, the dosage is pretty small, so my $30 bottle will last me like, a year. But there are lots of others out there.
 

Beanie

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#4
What is he being fed? You could always try feeding him a food with higher calories if he can't eat more than what he is, if you're concerned.
Alternatively if he's on grain-free go for a grain food; you can also try going grain-free if he's on a grain inclusive and see if that doesn't do the trick.
Switching Payton to a food with grains is the only way I was able to up his amount of food without upsetting his belly and get any weight on him. But if he's on a grain inclusive food right now and too much makes him sick it might be the grains upsetting his stomach so try grain free.
 

Babyblue5290

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What is he being fed? You could always try feeding him a food with higher calories if he can't eat more than what he is, if you're concerned.
Right now he is on BBWilderness puppy. The supplements he is on is a vitamin supplement plus a high calorie past, I should've mentioned that. I don't know if there would be a higher calorie food, any suggestions?? If so let me know, I don't know if he will do ok on grains. He has only been on the one grain food and well......it was what made both dogs so sick (my guess was it was contaminated with something) so he has never been on grains.

A good digestive enzyme? Juno was looking emaciated about a month ago... I put the weight back on her with satin balls, but was a little worried she'd lose it again once I stopped giving them. But she's on a digestive enzyme now and has been maintaining really well.

I use this brand because it looked interesting and I had heard good things. Plus, the dosage is pretty small, so my $30 bottle will last me like, a year. But there are lots of others out there.
You know, it's really funny that you mention this. My BF just said this a few minutes ago! :p lol I think that's a great idea, we will definitely give it a try. I think I'll look in store first, as I just rather purchase something in my hands and get him started on it as soon as possible. Thanks!

Alternatively if he's on grain-free go for a grain food; you can also try going grain-free if he's on a grain inclusive and see if that doesn't do the trick.
Switching Payton to a food with grains is the only way I was able to up his amount of food without upsetting his belly and get any weight on him. But if he's on a grain inclusive food right now and too much makes him sick it might be the grains upsetting his stomach so try grain free.
He is on grain free currently, I'm so scared to change brands ATM because of the terrible experience we had with their last brand of food, plus his sensitive tummy. I'm not sure what his tummy doesn't like yet, so its hard to pinpoint the ingredients to stay away from. We went grain free because Art doesn't do grains very well, it makes him terribly itchy to the point that he is miserable all day. Do you think it might work if we mixed grain and grain free food so that way if he did have a reaction it wouldn't be as bad? hmm....idk, I think we will keep this as a backup and see how he does with the digestive enzymes first :)

I'm not sure what brand we would switch to if we had to, so suggestions would be great. :) I found a few dog stores that are smaller that sell better brands, ad I think they can order some as well. So suggestions for dogs with sensitive tummies but need to gain weight would be awesome!

I'll probably end up, if I switch brands, using the rest of the BBWpuppy for Art (mixed with his BBWchicken) and then just switching Talon as soon as possible.
 

Saeleofu

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We've had good luck at work at getting mystery cases to gain weight with vitamin B injections. Works on both dogs and cats. There can be nothing obviously wrong with the animals, even after extensive testing, but for whatever reason the B12 injections make them gain weight. It's not harmful to get too much B12, really, so in most cases it's worth a try even if it's a long shot.

Logan is a hard keeper, too. He seems to go through phases where he LOVES eating and will eat everything and gain/maintain nicely. Then he stops and picks at his food for a few weeks, loses weight, etc. I think he gets bored with the same food, because as soon as I switch foods he's back to eating everything again. Thing is he has a somewhat sensitive stomach so I hat switching formulas with him.

Coconut oil has helped Logan gain a bit, it's pretty high calorie and Logan gobbles it up with no ill effects. He's also on a digestive enzyme and sunlingual B12. He also will get diarrhea if he eats more than a certain amount. I think his biggest problem, though, is that he's just too active.

For enzymes, I use Enzyme Pro. I like it better than Prozyme - it seems to work better, and it's MUCH cheaper, and Logan likes the taste of it better (he gets VERY suspicious of stuff added to his food, enough that if he catches on he'll stop eating completely and only pick at it until he's SURE you're not poisoning him anymore :rolleyes: ). It's also one of the few enzyme/probiotic supplements that doesn't give him diarrhea. I get a pound for $15-$18 and it easily lasts 6 months with my 70+ pound dog. It's I think 1/4 tsp per cup of food. http://www.amazon.com/Enzyme-Pro-16...TF8&qid=1367041835&sr=8-1&keywords=enzyme+pro

Have you dewormed for tape worms? Most dewormers won't touch tapeworms, and you won't find them in a fecal sample either unless you happen to see tape work segments on the outside of the poop or clinging to his butt hair. They're very easy to miss. Praziquantel is really the only thing that gets rid of tapes. Dogs can get tapeworms from ingesting just a single flea, so it's not just dogs with flea problems that get them.
 
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#7
Gambit was the same way. I fed him and fed him without success. Full medical workup came back fine. He refused to eat more then he wanted and would just leave it. He was embarssingly thin and his crazy coyote behavior didn't help his case for being loved and cared for :lol-sign:
The only thing that helped was time. Once he hit 2.5 it was like a lightbulb went off and he gained enough weight that people quit speed dialing ac. He's still thin but not like he was
 

Babyblue5290

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We've had good luck at work at getting mystery cases to gain weight with vitamin B injections. Works on both dogs and cats. There can be nothing obviously wrong with the animals, even after extensive testing, but for whatever reason the B12 injections make them gain weight. It's not harmful to get too much B12, really, so in most cases it's worth a try even if it's a long shot.

Logan is a hard keeper, too. He seems to go through phases where he LOVES eating and will eat everything and gain/maintain nicely. Then he stops and picks at his food for a few weeks, loses weight, etc. I think he gets bored with the same food, because as soon as I switch foods he's back to eating everything again. Thing is he has a somewhat sensitive stomach so I hat switching formulas with him.

Coconut oil has helped Logan gain a bit, it's pretty high calorie and Logan gobbles it up with no ill effects. He's also on a digestive enzyme and sunlingual B12. He also will get diarrhea if he eats more than a certain amount. I think his biggest problem, though, is that he's just too active.

For enzymes, I use Enzyme Pro. I like it better than Prozyme - it seems to work better, and it's MUCH cheaper, and Logan likes the taste of it better (he gets VERY suspicious of stuff added to his food, enough that if he catches on he'll stop eating completely and only pick at it until he's SURE you're not poisoning him anymore :rolleyes: ). It's also one of the few enzyme/probiotic supplements that doesn't give him diarrhea. I get a pound for $15-$18 and it easily lasts 6 months with my 70+ pound dog. It's I think 1/4 tsp per cup of food. http://www.amazon.com/Enzyme-Pro-16...TF8&qid=1367041835&sr=8-1&keywords=enzyme+pro

Have you dewormed for tape worms? Most dewormers won't touch tapeworms, and you won't find them in a fecal sample either unless you happen to see tape work segments on the outside of the poop or clinging to his butt hair. They're very easy to miss. Praziquantel is really the only thing that gets rid of tapes. Dogs can get tapeworms from ingesting just a single flea, so it's not just dogs with flea problems that get them.
Eek injections! :yikes: lol I'm hoping the enzymes will work well for us, he just started them! :) Hopefully it does, if not we will look into other options, like the b12.

Do you remember how long did it take for you to see an improvement with the enzymes?

Yeah, we originally just did the roundworms/whipworms/hookworm combo, but eventually we got him tapeworm one as well just because nothing was working and we wanted to cover all the bases. :)

Gambit was the same way. I fed him and fed him without success. Full medical workup came back fine. He refused to eat more then he wanted and would just leave it. He was embarssingly thin and his crazy coyote behavior didn't help his case for being loved and cared for :lol-sign:
The only thing that helped was time. Once he hit 2.5 it was like a lightbulb went off and he gained enough weight that people quit speed dialing ac. He's still thin but not like he was
lol oh good, only a little under 2 years to go lol! :p

No, honestly I like hearing that some start improving as they get a bit older. I really don't mind him being lean, I'd just prefer him not be skeletal! lol :p

Thanks :)
 

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