Beef Up My Whippet

[Whippet's Mum]

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Our whippet, 7 months old, is still looking a bit knobbly - his spine is showing a bit, his ribs are a tad xylophone-like - not too bad and the vet's not worried, but said he could carry a bit more fat. We swapped his food from James Wellbeloved to Burns a month ago, and have kept him on three meals a day. We are ignoring the amounts of food suggested on the packet of Burns as it doesn't seem enough at all, so we are feeding more than recommended - but he's still ribby!

Every now and again we add a carrot or banana, and sometimes if he's lucky some giblets...and leftovers such as mashed veg, if we have any.

What can we add to his diet for weight gain other than increasing the amount of Burns? His food is expensive, so is there something reasonably cheap and padding that we can give him? Pasta? Eggs? The giblets are free, I just need to make more of an effort to get hold of them from the butcher.

Also, we changed to Burns because of a persistent loose tum in the afternoons on James Wellbeloved which wasn't linked to anything else. Cleared up immediately when we changed his food, so we felt awful for letting it go on for so long. Stools are now perfect, but I have noticed he's a bit dandruffy between the shoulders. I don't want to change his main food again, because in all other respects the Burns has been great. Would adding oil to his food eg. sunflower oil help with the dandruff, and also the weight?

Many thanks for any thoughts or suggestions on the above!

 

[Hula]

I would expect a whippet pup of that age to be thin . He will fill out in due course . If the vet is quite happy then I would be content with that . :thumbsup:

My own vets whippet looked like a cruelty case at that age but she did eat plenty and had no health problems .

As she became an adult she did fill out nicely .

 

[~Annie~]

Active pups at that age usually are quite ribby, he certainly won't beef up any time soon ... I have a 9 mth old (not that ribby) who having finished growing upwards is starting to fill out now, but as with all my whippets I won't expect him to carry the muscle he'll have as a mature adult any time soon. And seeing a few knobs of spine is normal, even desirable ... whippets are meant to be thin. Personally I wouldn't worry too much but if you do want to add a bit more to your boys diet every day try some oily fish ... mine love sardines :thumbsup:

 

[Noise]

we swear by tripe :thumbsup:

 

[eve]

Toddy came to us at 7 months looking like a creulty case. Like yourself, I was very worried. I put him on to James Wellbeloved. He has had 3 meals a day breakfast 90g, lunch 120g, and supper 90g (about double for his recommended weight) for the last 7 months. I should add that he is a VERY active chap. He has gained weight at a regular reasonable rate from 7.5kg - 13kg over the last 7 months. I was told on the forum that 2% of bodyweight in quality food was an excellent guide amount to give a young dog. Toddy had 3% and has done very well on that. I made the allowance of the extra 1% because he was ultra hyper.

He is now 14 months and is only just beginning to loose the ribby look and put on muscle and quieten down. I notice that young whippets (especially dogs) can look very ribby.

As long as you are feeding him a reasonable quantity of a quality food, I would not worry. Worm him every 3 months and persevere.

Toddy has now swapped his 90g breakfast for 4 HILLS T/D (dental Buscuits) at breakfast. These are very high in calories but are an excellent product to start at about 18 months to prevent tooth decay later in life.

Please do not worry. As long as he is eating well, the weight and muscle will come in time. Forcing the issue by giving un necessary food to help bulk him out may only lead to health problems.

 

[jinnyfizz]

Will your butcher make up pet mince for you? I prefer to feed mine raw food, mainly whole chicken wings, meaty bones and pet mince. It suits my pocket and my pack

Green tripe is an excellent option for weight gain - once again, feed raw to retain the nutritional value.

You should be able to buy bags of minced tripe at a local pet store ..........

http://prizechoice.co.uk/products/freeflow...meats/tripe.php

As mentioned above, at 7 months of age he is growing upwards and not outwards which is normal. As a rule of thumb you should aim to be able to feel the ribs but not see them (apart from maybe the last 3 ribs showing faintly when he moves). When he muscles up, his vertabrae and pin bones should be covered but easy to feel :thumbsup:

They all differ though, just like us humans, some are more prone to be thinner/fatter - that's life :lol:

 

[Sadie]

Your concerns are similar to mine with Jack our 5 month old. He is a big pup with plenty of bone so needs a calcium rich diet. I don't feed Weetabix now as a K9 member suggested this might not be doing him any good.

After a couple of weeks experimenting we feel we have the right package for him and he is looking much better covered than he was.

That said, he is on the go all day except one and half hours mid afternoon when he crashes for a snooze! He finally finishes his day at 8pm and sleeps like a tortiose thru until 7am. (Just like a baby!)

We give Jack Butcher's tinned food now - they do a really good variety which Sam love too. I use pasta and rice alternately. I decided not use a complete food as it is expensive and the dogs were only picking out certain bits!

Oily tuna is useful a couple of times a week as is scrambled egg. I crumble a crumpet up in Jack's and he loves it. Motion is regular (2 times a day) and firm.

I "treat" with healthy marrow bone chews plus denti sticks. We never throw suitable scraps away ie veggie as my husband swears by their nutrients. (He used to keep greyhounds and said they were fed as good as the those sitting at the table with the exception of eating potatoes!!)

Here they are tucking into a bone and Sam taking time out for a rest! (Sam has an auto immune condition which has affected his skin.)

Good luck! :luck:

Hannah x

we swear by tripe :thumbsup:

 

[Whippet's Mum]

Thank you everyone for your replies - I am greatly reassured!

I really like the idea of tinned sardines, I've got three or four nice cans of expensive french ones in the cupboard which I keep meaning to eat for my lunch but can't quite bring myself to...the Boy would love them! I'll rotate sardines and giblets and bananas as extras with his lunchtime kibble, and an egg if he's lucky and we need to use them up....but I refuse to do tripe - I've never knowingly seen it, eaten it, smelt it, but from what I've heard it is foul. Chopping up giblets is bad enough...

 

[Lal]

My dog LOVES his sardines :thumbsup: Despite the pong I found Tripe a godsend when he needed to gain some weight when he was younger, and it disappears so quickly from his bowl that the smell doesn't have time to linger, I just make sure the bowl is tightly covered when it is defrosting! With it coming in freeflow frozen packs the handling is minimal. But I do understand!

 

[Suerose]

Grace is two and half now and has only recently filled out to my satisfaction. I think a few weeks enforced lead-only exercise after spaying helped! I add a little wheatgerm oil to her food to improve her skin condition, and I guess it helps with weight gain too. Just a teaspoonful or so a day.

 

[whippetfan]

I'd be wary about trying to put weight on a growing pup. Some rib and a couple of vertebrae visible sounds pretty normal to me for a Whippet. My vet says up to three visible vertebrae is fine on one.

That said, it was suggested by some hound folk to add some whey powder to my 18 month old boy's diet. It's high protein and low in fat - great for building muscle (this is why body builders swear by it), a useful source of calcium and great for coat condition too.

It does seem to have helped my boy put on some muscle condition but my guess is increased road work is the main reason.

 

[Seraphina]

I'd be wary about trying to put weight on a growing pup. Some rib and a couple of vertebrae visible sounds pretty normal to me for a Whippet.

Absolutely, youngsters suppose to be on the skinny side. Extra weight puts stress on their bones and joints. Unless they are looking unhealthy I would not try to put weight on them. Unfortunately, for showing the dog is expected to be well covered even in this stage; but I rather do not show at the lanky stages, than trying to cover them.

 

[Eleanor Gibbins]

If you can't cope with raw tripe (and I can understand why you wouldn't!), try giving him the tinned Butchers tripe - it is free from any additives or nasties and is what my 4-year-old whippet has lived on for the past 2 years. It still smells a bit, if you put your nose in the can, but it isn't nearly as horrible as the raw frozen stuff! Merlin has 400g a day, split into two meals, with the addition of some good wholemeal mixer (I use Fold Hill terrier meal). He has a good covering on his ribs, energy to burn, and the only time we have 'poo' issues is if he steals something from the bin! On the rare occasions when he is windy, I add a dollop of bio yoghurt to each meal.

As others have said, don't worry too much about him being at bit ribby at his age - he'll soon fill out. Despite the fact that Merlin is, to my eyes, perfectly covered, I still get people out on walks commenting on 'that skinny dog'. I think a lot of the time it is due to the fact that a huge percentage of dogs (like people) are overweight, so a fit, muscular dog looks like an aberration to them!

 

[Janet]

I had a very finicky boy who at one time looked really thin so I gave him yorkshire puddings with his main meal (value ones from Tesco) which he loves and they certainly did the trick. They all loves a roast dinner at the weekend yorkshires, roast potatoes and the veg. If you can force yourself to use tripe you soon get used to the smell and I keep rubber gloves for handling it. I did use Burns for a while on the latest pup and it can cause dandruff so the oily fish (mine adore sardines and mackeral) should help with that.

 

[TillynPip]

I had the same weight issues with 11 month old Gracie and a bout of hemorrhagic diarrhoea last Oct/Nov left her looking very thin. However, now she is back to normal, her weight is at a steady 11 - 12 kg which still sounds light but she is a very dainty little girl. I feed Burns Adult (she was on the mini bites but prefers the larger stuff) am and pm with some Hill's ID (a hangover from when she was ill but she loves it) and fresh chicken or sardines. She eats well although she's been a bit picky of late but I'm putting that down to the fact that she's in season, and she looks lovely. Someone recently likened her coat to a soft chamoix leather! I haven't had a dandruff problem with either of my girls, both on Burns. Don't become too paranoid about your whippet's weight, they do take time to fill out and lose the gangly appearance. I agree with the remark about fat dogs, there are so many of them about that a slim, athletic dog is a rare sight.