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Does someone have any recipes for fattening up a dog, or at least stimulating their appetite? I heard Satin Balls do the trick, but everytime I tried the recipe I always ended up with Satin poop
I always use Natural Balance rolled food for dogs we pull from shelters that are very underweight or picky eaters. It's expensive so I don't use it long, just enough to get weight on them or get them used to eating and slowly transfer over to the regular food we feed. Has worked wonders with our fosters.
My vet had some prescription food that was for dogs or cats, and it was specifically for malnourished animals. We used it for a rescued stray kittie and later for our old cat who was dying. At the end it was the only thing she'd eat.
It even has "blood plasma" in it (yeech). I'll try to find the name.
I used the above cat food for my cat when I got him in July, he was very malnurished, and underwieght. He now has a lil' cat belly! Finally looking normal. I don't think that you can get an under weight animal normal looking for a few months. It just takes that long for them to get back into eating normally, and eating good, healthy food. My cat was actually quite sickly when I got him, and normal food was actually too rich for him. I fed him small amounts and worked my way up to normal amounts of food. It took about two months for him to look better.
For our fosters, we always feed Puppy formulas. They have a lot more calories but don't require you to overfeed which is really important not to. We had success with Satin Balls, but dogs have to be fed them exclusively for a while - not in addition to grains otherwise you do run into diarrhea issues. Malnourished animals need a bit of encouragement too - so feed those treats! The favorites here are Pupperoni, Caesar Dog Treats and of course Alpo Squares. No - they aren't something I really love to feed since I am a big Orijen/ACANA food fan but if it helps with training and confidence I am for those treats.
Good Luck! Just do the gradual thing and you will see the pup start to fill out in no time. If you want to try an additional supplement, I would try NuVet - we gave that in addition to help. It does seem to make a difference.
When ever I had a foster that needed to put on some weight I'd add a scrambled egg to the food. It's high in protein, easy to digest and they sure love them. ps: this was vet recommended
Of course you first check with the vet to see if there is anything medical causing the problem. If no medical issues, they ussually can prescrib some prescription diet to get the ball rolling. Just make sure you follow the vets and manufactures directions as some of these foods shouldn't be feed if on certain medications or after a certain period of time. malnurish is one thing, skinny dog is another. You should match the food to the condition your trying to correct being aware that some of those prescription diets for malnurished dogs are very tasty and you need to transition to regular food as it shouldn't be feed after the condition is corrected. You may end up with a second problem if the dog decides the prescription food is so much more tasty over regular food, but that;s a minor issue.
Thanks guys for all the help, the pup actually had round worm, which was causing her not to eat/digest food. If you guys have never seen a live bunch of round worms in a pile of dog poop-PLEASE THANK THE HEAVENS
Getting it treated, so hopefully that will work-Thanks for all the advice!
When ever I had a foster that needed to put on some weight I'd add a scrambled egg to the food. It's high in protein, easy to digest and they sure love them. ps: this was vet recommended
My vet recommended this to me years ago for a dog who was badly underweight; it worked. Eight years ago I got a three year old American Eskimo who weighed eighteen pounds, less than half of his proper weight. I gave him regular wet food morning and evening and two scrambled eggs for lunch. His weight went to normal in a couple of months.
I now have two dogs, the aforementioned Am. Esk. and another of the same size who may be part Border Collie. They split one scrambled egg for lunch. It's one of their absolute favorites. Well, it's one of mine as well.
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