Maggie has lost some weight. Here's the history. She seemed to be doing fine on Wellness kibble till about April 16. I would occasionally feed her raw meals (never mixed with kibble) in addition to her daily ration of kibble. She would occasionally not finish a kibble meal, usually in the morning. But, her poops were good and she was up to 63 lbs and a year old. (sig pic is from around that time-looks ok?).

April 16, took a trip and left her in kennel (she really does love the people there) that is when she was at 63lbs, she started having diarrhea and came home on flagil. After the antibiotic, her poops were inconsistent, logs in the am and pudding in the pm. She also started to look thinner. I tried upping her kibble portion, and I didn't give her any raw at this point, wanting to get her back on track. She would wolf it down, but did not appear to gain weight. But the pudding pooh only seemed worse. So I figured I was overfeeding her.

So, 2 weeks ago, we went completely raw. I have been following the suggested menu plan at the leerburg website. I actually think she is looking better, and I wish I had weighed her in then. Today we stopped by the vet to weigh her and she is just barely 60 lbs. In the last week, I have added more to her meals. BTW-poops are great from the day we went cold turkey. She loves the food and wants more all the time.

My vet is not a fan of raw, but said to go for it. But he also mentioned pancreatic enzyme deficiency and that we should look into it if she continues to loose weight. He did agree with me that she looked pretty good, just thin. He warned me that if it is the pancreatic thing, they don't digest food well, particularly fat...

My questions:
She is VERY active physically, I need guidance on how much more to feed her?
Fat? what should I do?
I want to give this at least another couple of weeks and then will weigh her in again, good idea or not?

How much are you feeding her now, in ounces, per day?

As a rule of thumb (and these numbers are just a place to start--every dog's different) a dog will eat 2-3% of their ideal adult weight in raw food per day.

A 63 pound dog, using this calculation, would eat 20-30 ounces of food per day. A couch potato or older dog might be at the bottom of this range...an active young dog, at the top end. A very active dog might need even more than this. But this is the ballpark.

Your answer could simply be to feed a little more. Have you tried increasing the meal size?





Edited by Tracy Collins (05/27/2010 12:06 PM)
Edit reason: further thought

I started at 20 oz per day, but this week we have gone up to around 30 oz (almost 2 lbs). She is not leaving ANY behind, and I guess I worry about overfeeding, but until she gets fat...

ETA She gets lots of exercise and her energy level has been great.

I would keep good records.

Her weight, and weigh her food.

Its a lot of info to remember, and writing it down will let you SEE where changes are taking place.

What is the poop like? Color and consistency?


eta

Specifically, I mean. Any odd color (pale?), any undigested fat, any mushy consistency?

Edited by Connie Sutherland (05/27/2010 12:49 PM)
Edit reason: eta

Hey Marcia, if she's 63Lbs in your pic, I don't think I would set a target weight of much more then that. Last year we kenneled my one shepherd and just like Maggie he had diarrhea and lost 3-4lbs. I'm no expert, but I would bet weight gain on raw takes a little longer then kibble and since it's going to be in the form of muscle instead of fat, it doesnt change her appearance as much. Be patient.

Marcia, I went through the same situation a couple of months ago with my female (minus the kenneling) We put her on 1 Digestymez capsule in the am and a packet of Fortiflora with the pm feeding (suggested by our vet) along with the raw diet, and the problem has stopped. Before that She also was eating great but was losing weight. Had her blood tested and all was okay. She has gained weight back also. I did get caught up in over feeding at that time but with Michael Wise's help got back on track.

Michael - I haven't been writing things down, but I am weighing every meal at this point. And will weigh her again in at least a week.

Connie- poop is darkish brown with bones. Today a little orangish - squash last night with dinner. Never mushy since raw and never mucous. No signs of fat.

Steve- I was thinking her target weight should be about 65lbs. I was wondering how fast weight gain should be, and yes sometimes I am impatient and want immediate results (with training, too-haha) I guess 3-4lbs weight loss would make sense from bout of loose pooh and stress...

And thanks Frank, I am glad to know that other dogs have had similar issues. It helps (especially when my vet rolled his eyes when I told him she was eating well and liked her food. He replied, "well, I like Twinkies but that doesn't mean I should eat them all the time" - I started to have doubts about this whole thing).

 Quote: Marcia Blum

... Connie- poop is darkish brown with bones. Today a little orangish - squash last night with dinner. Never mushy since raw and never mucous. No signs of fat. ...

Then there really aren't any EPI symptoms? I mean, besides the weight question? Did the vet mention what was leading him/her to consider pancreatic enzyme insufficiency (EPI)?

I would have asked the vet which is more like a Twinkie--a raw, natural, whole food, species-appropriate diet, or a processed, chemically enhanced pseudo food with an indefinite shelf life--like kibble?