Too skinny

[Akash]

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Hello,
I have a labrador puppy. I bought it when she was 35 days old. Now she is three and half months old. I have been feeding her royal canin maxi starter but she always remains skinny. My get said she has digestion problem. I am giving her liver tonic and digeton tonic.

I have been trying to do lots of surfing on the internet to make her healthy but no luck.
I must say she was okay when she was young.

 

[JoanneF]

Could you be a little more specific about what your vet has said Akash?

 

[Akash]

Certainly Joanne,
I am consulting two of the veterinary doctors. Both of them said that your dog has a digestion problem. They made me do the Xray of my dog. The doctor said that there is some gas being produced in her stomach which leads to the problem to digestive system. I started consulting the doctor because blood was popping out from my dog's poop.Then we figured out that it has a digestion problem.
They gave me digestion tonic(digyton) and a liver tonic(Liv.52).

The problem is no matter how much she eats, she won't put up wait and her ribs are always shown.

 

[JudyN]

Have your vets suggested any particular diet, or any foods she should avoid? Royal Canin isn't a great food, but any recommendations given on the forum should ONLY be given with your vets' agreement as they know what's going on with her digestion. Foods that help to put weight on dogs could be really bad for her - we simply can't tell.

How long has she been on the medication for, and what are her poos like?

A clear photo of her standing, from the side, and from directly above her, would help us assess just how underweight she is - some dogs, even labs, are naturally skinny when they are young and so many labs are overweight, people can think that naturally skinny but healthy ones are underweight. But again, what advice we can give is likely to be be very limited.

 

[Akash]

Here you go with the pics.

 

[JoanneF]

Poor girl does look thin. But really you can only follow the advice of your vet and feed good food, perhaps adding a meal or supplementing her normal intake with things like egg and meats. Does she enjoy her food?

Has your vet suggested worming?

You could also ask your vet if something like this might help - it's a complete liquid food that convalescent animals sometimes find appetising.

Liquid food - Ideal for weaning kittens or puppies. Also appeals to the sick or older cat or dog

 

[excuseme]

An extremely skinny puppy !
Have you wormed her since you have had her ?
Royal Canin is not a very good product it is full of grains and they also use, or have used feathers in some of their products!
Our dogs digestive systems are not designed for grains, although there are many dogs who manage perfectly well with them. (this could be your digestive problem ! )

You have obviously done the correct thing by taking your pup to the vet.

Unfortunately our modern day vets have little or no tuition with regards to our digs digestive systems and their dietary needs.
Why shouldn't our dogs eat grain? The answer lies in its effect on the pH balance in their stomachs. Normally this is quiet low (between pH 1 and pH2) because only with a low pH can dogs digest raw meat and bone. Grain has the effect of elevating the pH level and weakening the stomach acids. Weak stomach acids mean that proper digestion becomes impossible.
This is why dogs fed a lot of grain (and there is a lot of grain in most processed dog food) produce high levels of waste matter. It goes in one end and comes out the other.
If grain is processed in some way ( rolled soaked, cooked/heated ) dogs can digest a small amount, which food manufacturers rely upon.

We humans can eat carbohydrates and convert them to sugars and store them in our bodies to use later. Dogs have no capacity to do this. Grain (rice, wheat, maize/corn )is much cheaper than meat and easier to process, which is why so much is used in manufactured dog food.
I would suggest that you consider adding either some raw meat or ( raw chicken wings, bone in ) would be fine, or carefully change to a raw diet.
There are also quiet a few good quality Grain FREE kibbles these days that may help digestion. "Millies Wolfheart" and Acana are both very good but start with a low protein, there are 50/50 choices which are good to start with. Only small amounts of these better quality foods are needed.

The above is just my suggestion.

 

[Akash]

If not royal canin, how is pedigree?
Or which food is heavily dosed with meat?
And will it be available in India?

 

[JoanneF]

Akash, Pedigree isn't great either to be honest. I don't know what would be available in India but there is a very good website called www.allaboutdogfood.co.uk.
It is an independent dog food comparison website which scores all types of foods (dry, raw, wet) on a scale of 0 to 5. You can set filters for your dog's weight, age etc and choose to view only the foods scoring, say, 4 and above. Then you can show them listed according to daily feeding cost so you can see what gives you best value for money.

You could have a look at what is good and see if any of them are available for you.

Or, you could make your own raw diet. @excuseme will definitely be able to advise.

 

[Akash]

Hi Joanne,
I figured out that N&D growth is the grain free food which i can feed my dog. I am also feeding her eggs and planning to give her some meat along the food. I just want to know how much quantity to be given to her.

 

[JoanneF]

It looks good but it isn' a food I am familiar with. So I would suggest feeding the upper end of the manufacturers guidelines and get a bit of weight on to her, perhaps supplementing with some live natural yoghurt, eggs, chicken (raw chicken wings are great) etc. @excuseme might have more advice.