Extremely thin Doxie

TainaPR

New Member
Joined
Apr 15, 2012
Messages
33
Likes
0
Points
0
#1
Hi...in the owner of a one year old female Doxie. Taina is refusing to eat her kibble even after food changes vitamin B shots deworming and Nutrical 3 times a day. While she has always been on the thinn side her refusing yo eat has caused quite alot of weight loss. She is always looking for table food even though we do not give :yikes:her any. I am looking for ways to get her back on her food and put some weight on her. Ive heard about satin balls? Im desperately seeking any tips. Ive even gone as far as feeding Eukanuba which she ate for a bit.
 
Joined
May 6, 2008
Messages
1,945
Likes
0
Points
0
Location
Minnesota
#3
Hi...in the owner of a one year old female Doxie. Taina is refusing to eat her kibble even after food changes vitamin B shots deworming and Nutrical 3 times a day. While she has always been on the thinn side her refusing yo eat has caused quite alot of weight loss. She is always looking for table food even though we do not give :yikes:her any. I am looking for ways to get her back on her food and put some weight on her. Ive heard about satin balls? Im desperately seeking any tips. Ive even gone as far as feeding Eukanuba which she ate for a bit.
Have you tried anything other than kibble? Canned food, dehydrated, or premade raw? Some dogs (like mine) are just not a fan of kibble, and need something a little tastier. With a smaller dog, it wouldn't be expensive to feed canned or raw, especially if you were mixing it with kibble. Weruva, Lotus, and Stella & Chewy's freeze-dried seem to be popular.

I cannot stress variety enough when dealing with picky dogs. You need to switch things up constantly, so they get used to eating new things and so they don't get bored with eating.

ETA: I second having bloodwork done, to rule out any possibility of health issues.
 

SizzleDog

Lord Cynical
Joined
Nov 12, 2004
Messages
9,449
Likes
0
Points
0
#5
How are her poops? Color/consistency etc. Whenever I hear of super skinny dogs now, my mind goes to EPI.
 

TainaPR

New Member
Joined
Apr 15, 2012
Messages
33
Likes
0
Points
0
#6
How are her poops? Color/consistency etc. Whenever I hear of super skinny dogs now, my mind goes to EPI.
Her poops are about the same as always (firm, small and darkish but not too dark) She's been pooping quite a bit less since her hunger strike.

How long have you had her? How long has her not eating been going on for?
I've had her since she was 6 weeks old more or less. She's now nearly a year old.

While she has always been a tadbit picky this is taking things to extreme. I believe it all started nearly two months ago. We purchased a bag of Wilderness (I think...its from the Blue Buffalo line) and about halfway through the bag went bad for some odd reason. She completely refused to eat and had a horrible bout of diarreah from the small amount she did eat.

We bought her a small bag of Eukanuba Naturals Lamb and Rice as it was a bit of an emergency and our regular pet shop was closed. She went through the bag absolutely fine and I decided to keep her on this brand. Even though its not the best at least she was eating again.

But her second bag of food she has refused to touch it.

*Her bloodwork came back good. She just doesnt want kibble but would kill for a piece of chicken LOL. The NutriCal has been getting her to eat a bit but half a cup will last her 2-3 DAYS.

Is there any good quality canned food sold at PetsMart? Im in Puerto Rico and this is about the only place I know that sells decent food. Ive also seen these food rolls there (but was hesitant to buy as I was unsure of quality)

Thanks!
 

Romy

Taxiderpy
Joined
Dec 2, 2006
Messages
10,233
Likes
1
Points
38
Location
Olympia, WA
#7
Do you have Petcos too?

Natural Balance is sometimes carried in the big box stores and is decent. It's not as good of a value for your money as some other premium brands, but when your selection is limited it does the job. Their canned foods come in a huge variety of protein sources and flavors too. Duck, turkey, chicken, venison, bison, beef, lamb, etc.

Good luck with her. We had great success with satin balls when my borzoi went through an ultra lean spell. I substituted the Life cereal with one that didn't have as much sugar though.
 

Kilter

New Member
Joined
Jul 4, 2012
Messages
536
Likes
0
Points
0
#8
You should look into raw for her, as it might be a better quality food that you can work with. You can pick up meaty bones where you shop for your own food, supplement with some egg, yogurt and so on depending on what's around. If you can get a whole chicken, cut it up into meal sized chunks and feed, not too hard and for a little dog not bad in price.
 

babymomma

Remembering Casey ♥
Joined
Mar 29, 2009
Messages
2,422
Likes
1
Points
38
Age
31
Location
canada
#9
My yorkie went through a phase where she refused to eat. I went to the pet store and bought good quality canned food to mix with her dry food. Since the cans were so large and go bad so quickly because the smaller dogs dont eat it fast enough, what i used to do was put the food in an icecube tray and freeze it. I would thaw out a cube twice a day and mix it with 1/4 cup of dry food and mix it well so she couldnt just pick around the dry food to eat the wet. We had alot of success.
 

JessLough

Love My Mutt
Joined
May 16, 2009
Messages
13,404
Likes
2
Points
38
Age
33
Location
Guelph, Ontario
#10
Out of curiosity, can you explain her condition when you say "extremely thin"? Is her spine stucking right out? Can you see all her ribs?
 

noodlerubyallie

Sprayin' the spiders
Joined
Jul 3, 2008
Messages
1,181
Likes
0
Points
0
Location
Iowa
#11
Noodle has always been a tiny, skinny thing - usually 6 lbs or less, with easily seen vertebrae and ribs. There were times she would only eat every other day, even after being extremely active. She's no longer like that, but the only thing that really "solved" it was switching over to raw. Kibble just didn't provide her with enough to keep weight on past what she needed to get through the day and exercise.

I think pics would help to see what kind of condition she's in.
 
Joined
Jul 23, 2004
Messages
668
Likes
0
Points
16
Location
Toledo, Ohio
#12
Molly from 9 years on was very thin, even though I was sneaking her extra stuff when the "boss" wasn't looking, and since I free feed, she had all the food she could eat, and since she's gone, I found out she was eating a LOT of food, dry, canned, and off the table, but she still was "very thin" at best. It was good for her bad hips, but King looked almost fat (52 pounds isn't fat) next to her, and a couple of people asked me if he was "letting her eat". He only kept her from eating a few minutes at most. Since she's been gone, 2 inches in their dish lasts King days (I toss it if it's there overnight). The amount of turd cleanup has dropped by at least 75%. I think when some dogs get older, like people, they just get kind of thin, no matter how much they eat. A friend of my mom's is like that, eating cookies by the dozen every day, on top of quite a bit of regular food, ice cream and candy, and weighing a whopping 100 pounds at 5'7" (she used to be almost 5'10" and weighed 140 or so until she got into her late 60's). She walks 5 miles a day, and is very healthy at 84. her 86 year old hubby looks like her son though, she isn't even recognizable from when she was young, but her husband looks like an old version of himself from 50 years ago, Fred Flintstone with 50/50 grey and black hair.
 

Members online

No members online now.
Top