Hello, brand new to the forum, but have been lurking around for some time, gaining valuable information from all the great people on here. I have a almost 2 year old Cane corso. She is only about 70lb, she used to be 90. She eats 4lbs a day. She eats mostly raw and kibble on odd days. Is there anything I could add to the food to make her gain weight, or any food that is very fattening? Sorry if this has been posted before, I am tired of people asking us if we starve our dog, and whats wrong with her. She is healthy otherwise. Thanks!

You can try Satin Balls
http://www.njboxers.com/satin-balls-recipe.htm

Or these recipes
http://www.holisticdog.org/Nutrition/Satinballs/satinballs2.html

A lot of rescues use Satin Balls to put weight on an emaciated dog.

Disclaimer: use at your own discretion bla bla... I'm not a vet etc. But I still hope these help you.

Catherine, are you saying she lost 20Lbs? Has she been to the Vet? 5 Lbs on a large dog is a pretty good weight loss. My dog stays between 100 and 103 Lbs on 2.5 to 3Lbs a day. He gets roadworked, worked, and hiked all week.I'm not a vet either but something seems awful wrong there.

Thanks Angela for the recipes, I will definitely try them for sure. Steve, Zoey used to live with me and while still growing ate no more than 3lb/day. She was about 88lbs when she went to live with my ex(we have joint custody, Zoey and Aurora my dutch shepherd are best friends) He takes her to the off-leash a lot more than I did. She runs like crazy and swims in the ocean. I believe he said she is now 75-80lbs, but was down at one point to 73? She doesn't appear to have worms. I read in another post something about dogs worrying their weight away. She has seperation anxiety, most destructive dog I've ever met. I dont know if thats possible, or if she just plain needs more b/c she is so active. She did change foods. She was at the vet before she left and I guess my ex wants to try to put weight on her before he takes her to the vet b/c the vet will just blame it on the raw and tell us to put her on hills. She seems healthy otherwise. I know she should be lean but she looks like one of the rescued starving dogs on animal cops meanwhile we're spending $400/month on food. What do you think we should say to the vet if we do take her in? Do I say shes on raw? I guess Im hesitant too b/c my last vet was scared of her at 6mon and had another vet come in to give her her shots. He was rough with her and wouldn't look in her mouth b/c he was scared, he also told me I didn't care about her b/c I wasn't giving her her 2nd set of shots. I know new vet, but its hard, I don't have a car yet. Steve you're rottie is so handsome.

Thanks. Somewhere here on the forum( I can't seem to find it right now) there is a list of vets that are pro-raw. Maybe someone has posted one in your area. I really don't know what the proper weight is for your dog but a 20lb loss on a dog that wasnt way overweight is huge. I think I would stick to my guns as far as a raw diet and have the Vet check her.

Catherine,

Since you feed the dog so much I would definitely take this dog to a vet to get a full blood panel run including thyroid testing. Loosing that much weight with the amount of food you are giving your dog just doesn't add up. A dog that is that far underweight screams out to me that something is wrong. Please see a vet asap, lie if you have to about what you feed them if it makes you feel better.

Kimberly

Hello, no she has never been overweight. I will try to find that post. Proper weight is usually 90-110lb for the breed. She looked good at 90, still got skinny comments from people and their pudgy dogs, she looks emaciated now. I am going down, planning to move there(yah Im moving to be closer to the dogs) so I will try the recipes and see if I can get her a vet appointment. I will let you know how it goes, haven't had many good experiences with vets, I will try to stick to my guns! Thanks.

 Quote: kimberly bunk

Catherine,

Since you feed the dog so much I would definitely take this dog to a vet to get a full blood panel run including thyroid testing. Loosing that much weight with the amount of food you are giving your dog just doesn't add up. A dog that is that far underweight screams out to me that something is wrong. Please see a vet asap, lie if you have to about what you feed them if it makes you feel better.

Kimberly

Absolutely agree here. My Mal is really tough to keep weight on and I have had every test done on her that we can think of....twice.
She is just a "hard keeper"....but I could not rest until I had all the stuff done.

FWIW, I wouldn't lie about what you feed. I understand how tempting it is, given the attitude about raw feeding, but Connie told me once it's a really bad thing to do and I took that to heart and came clean with my vet.

Wasn't fun but screw 'em...they work for me.

What you CAN say is that diet is off-the-table for this visit and you simply want a full blood panel, urinalysis, and physical. Shouldn't be too difficult to get a vet jumping to part you with your money :wink:

sounds to me like she's not getting enough calories - if she's getting a lot of exercise, then she probably needs to eat more. 4 cups/day is not a lot of food for a big dog. IN fact the only dog of mine (GSDs, 60-90 lbs) that is eating @4 cups/day is one older dog that doesn't get a lot of exercise. The others who do get a lot of exercise are getting between 6-8 cups/day of good-quality kibble plus raw egg. You could give her a kibble with more calories (ie puppy food) or give her more calories added to the kibble you're feeding now - such as canned food (yuk I know but it will pack the weight on quickly), raw eggs, or just MORE FOOD. Split the meals into more feedings per day - at least two - and I think you'll see the weight pack on.
Of course to be certain there is nothing medically wrong with her, bring a fecal sample to the vet to check for worms, have her heart-worm tested and get a physical exam too. But sounds to me like she's just not getting enough calories per day to make up for the calories lost in exercise.