My dog can't seem to gain and keep weight, she looks like a skeleton. What do you suggest?

Question

Hello,

I will get right to the point since I know you are terrible busy.

I have a female GSD that to us, is awesome. Great temperament and drive and a wonderful mother. Here is my problem, she has since a puppy, had bouts of loose stools. She will go along for a while doing just fine then start in with the runs. Also, she is pretty energetic yes, but I don't think she is overly, so I don't understand why we can not get weight on her. 

I have had a full blown blood work up done on her, she is in great health, excellent hips, etc. It's just the weight! I know I could try to give her higher fat food like maybe hamburger or chicken skin but I always run the risk of putting her into a full blown watery stool again. Right now, she is nursing a litter, they are doing great, she has a terrific appetite so I am feeding her more than normal, she is just barely having a decent stool, almost formed, but not quite. I am feeding her Bil Jac, rice, carrots, a probiotic designed for optimal digestion and a very small amount of Goat milk.

In the past, I have used Embark (I don't think I have ever tried it with Ana) like on our litters when we were weaning them, I think it was fantastic, their little stools were firm and small so I know they were getting a lot of the nutrition.

So, I guess part of my question is do you think I should try Ana on the Embark? I really need to get some weight on her, she looks like a walking skeleton practically, and she has been this way now for 3 years. She was at our trainers for almost 2 years ( I won't even go there) and I know he loves the dogs and is very knowledgeable but even he could not figure out what to do.

I'm at a loss, do you have any suggestions? I know you promote the raw diet, I'm really worried about that for a couple of reasons, that is why I was using the Embark, I felt better about that and still felt they were getting the nutrition they need.

I hope I haven't kept you too long and you understand my problem.

Thanks so much,
Terry

Accepted Answer

I would say that Bil Jac is NOT a food I would ever consider feeding due to the by products and corn in it. A nursing mother especially needs proper nutrition and she is not getting it from what you are feeding.

This is my recommendation. Discontinue Bil Jac and cut the carrots and rice out of her diet. Dogs don’t need grains in any form and the carrots don’t really give her anything but roughage.

If you can’t switch to raw, then Embark with the addition of raw meat would be the best. Goats milk is fine to give in moderation. Milk can cause loose stools so I would be careful with it.

If you still want to (or have to) feed kibble, then go for something without any grain at all. We are going to start carrying a grain free kibble this week for our customers that want to feed occasional kibble or kibble and a raw diet.

Read this article on feeding a raw diet. It’s a work in progress but there is a lot of good information there.

I would also recommend these books, Natural Nutrition for Dogs & Cats and Raw Dog Food.

You can also go to our Feeding Dogs Page for a list of articles and books that will be helpful to you.

There is a list of recommended kibbles on the Feeding dogs page.

I hope this helps.

Cindy