Author:
Lewis Jackson
Date Of Creation:
13 May 2021
Update Date:
1 July 2024
Content
If your dog is especially thin, you need to know how to fatten it.The key to successful dog fattening is to feed your dog sparingly but regularly, using functional foods to accurately compensate for the missing nutrients in the diet and ensure the dog is adequately dewormed. However, if your dog has anorexia, unexplained weight loss, diarrhea, or unwell, you should see your veterinarian. Whatever the cause, you should maintain a healthy weight for your dog to ensure that it is healthy and thriving.
Steps
Method 1 of 4: Determine the cause of your dog's weight loss
Determine whether the reason for being underweight in your dog is reasonable. If you know the exact reasons why your dog is underweight, such as a newborn female dog with a strong and greedy pack or a dog that has just been rescued from abuse, you can take it directly. .
- Make sure to keep an eye on your underweight dog to find the problem and fix it easily. For example, if you have several dogs at the same time, your dog is underweight most likely because other dogs were grabbing food.
Evaluate the dog's overall health. Illness can prevent the body from processing food and absorbing nutrients, thus leading to weight loss in dogs. If the dog is sick, the dog will show certain signs such as loss of appetite, constant thirst, lack of vitality, vomiting, diarrhea, and change in body shape.- Diseases that cause the dog to lose weight are often pancreatic deficiency, diabetes, liver disease, kidney disease, cancer and inflammatory bowel disease.
- Take your dog to the vet if you notice any of the above symptoms.
Get your dog checked at the vet. If you suspect that your dog is sick or has lost weight for unknown reasons, you should see your veterinarian. If your dog has suddenly lost his appetite for unknown reasons, you should also consult your veterinarian before the problem goes out of control. When your veterinarian has clarified everything and you realize that your dog is only picky about it, there are many ways you can get your dog to eat again. advertisement
Method 2 of 4: Regulating calories for dogs
Check your dog's actual weight against his ideal weight for each breed. You may also think that the dog is underweight when in fact the dog is only lighter than an obese dog of the same breed you came across. Maybe your dog has a healthy weight, and other dogs are too fat.
Check the food packaging against your dog's ideal weight. For dogs that are skinny but have plenty of energy and have a normal bowel movement, check to see if your dog gets enough calories with each meal. Dogs lose weight may be due to more calories consumed than caloric intake. This case seems simple because the dog is not eating enough. If this is the case for your dog, you can easily help your dog gain weight.
- The easiest way is to compare your dog's ideal weight with the recommended amount of food on the package.
- If your dog is of a particular breed, you can find information online about the ideal weight for your breed. You should start with the weight you want your dog to achieve instead of just focusing on his current weight. For example, if you have a male Labrador, try to help your dog reach an average of 40 kg.
Compare the dog food to the recommended amount. You should measure your dog's typical daily diet based on its weight. You can record the weight of the food and compare it with the recommended amount on the package.
- Be aware that the recommendations on the packaging often exceed 25% of the dog's actual needs (recommended levels tend to be excess instead of diminishing).
- If you feed your Labrador your dog 400 g of pureed food per day, but the food packaging recommends feeding your dog 500 grams per day, the dog's caloric intake will decrease by 20% compared to the recommendation, thus losing weight. You can easily overcome this by increasing your dog's daily diet.
Decide how much more food to give your dog. This can be a difficult decision as each food contains different calories and depends on the size of the dog. The consistent rule is to feed your dog 10% more than the original amount of food.
- If you feed your dog 400g per day, you can feed your dog 10% (40 g) more and divide it into 2 meals (20 g each meal).
- Give your dog another 2 or 3 days of food and check if he has diarrhea. If nothing goes wrong, you can feed your dog 10% more food and so on.
Slowly increase the amount of food your dog eats. Suddenly feeding your dog a lot can cause a bowel imbalance and lead to diarrhea. To be safe, you should gradually increase the size of the diet and monitor the dog's feces to make sure your dog's digestive system is still functioning properly.
- If the portion size difference is small, you can divide the amount of food added into 2 meals. If the difference is too big, you can give your dog one more meal (instead of giving him a big meal) to soothe his gut.
- A dog with diarrhea can be deficient in many essential nutrients, and your effort will ruin the river.
Method 3 of 4: Change your dog's diet
Give your dog foods rich in B vitamins. Liver is one of the richest vitamin B12 available foods available. You can cook beef or chicken liver and feed your dog 2-3 times per week between meals.
- For example, you can feed a 10 kg dog with 50-70 g of cooked liver.
- Eggs also contain quite a bit of vitamin B12. In addition, eggs are rich in vitamin A, riboflavin, folate, vitamin B12, iron, selenium and fatty acids. You can add an egg to your dog food and feed your dog 3 times per week.
- Make sure to add food slowly to avoid hurting your dog's stomach.
Gradually switch to energy-rich foods for your dog. Energy-rich foods are high-calorie foods that are easily absorbed and metabolized in the body. High-energy foods help prevent weight loss, and also help your dog gain weight.
- Hill's Science Diet Energy® and Royal Canin Vaterinary Diet High Energy's most respected brands are Hill's Science Diet Energy®.
- You could also try switching to puppy food. Puppy foods contain more calories than regular foods because they are designed to serve the high energy needs of the growing puppy. However, puppy foods are usually very fatty, which can cause an upset stomach.
- Make a gradual transition by adding a teaspoon of energy-rich foods to your existing foods, then gradually increasing them for 4-5 days. Monitor your dog's feces and stop giving new food to your dog if he has diarrhea.
Switch from wet to dry food or vice versa. You can imagine how boring you would be if you ate the same dry food or the same cereal or soup from day to day. Dogs also have a similar feeling of boredom with food. Sometimes switching from dry to wet canned foods or vice versa can be a trick to getting your dog back to eating well.
- Keep in mind, however, as canned foods often contain a lot less calories than dry foods. By weight, wet food contains only ¼ calories compared to dry crushed food, so the nutritional value of dry food will be higher than wet food. Wet foods contain up to 60-80% water, so they may taste better, but can fill a dog's stomach with water and risk a calorie deficit.
Feed the dog Homemade foods at home Follow a veterinarian approved formula. Homemade foods are often more varied and enjoyable to dogs.
- The typical recipe for dogs is Founder's Veterinary Clinic of Brea (California). This sample recipe is for a 10 kg dog and you can divide it into 2 meals for a 5 kg dog or double the amount if a 20 kg dog. This recipe includes 100 g of cooked skinless chicken, 1 cup of brown rice, 1 cup of peas and carrots, 1 teaspoon of vegetable oil, and 1/4 teaspoon of a salt substitute. Cook all of the above ingredients and mix well.
- You can try other recipes like chicken rice or raw foods.
Method 4 of 4: Improve your dog's overall health
Give your dog a supplement. The B vitamins mainly support the enzyme system that stimulates the dog's appetite as well as the energy metabolism of fats, proteins and carbohydrates. In general, B vitamins help to easily convert energy sources such as fats, proteins and carbohydrates into energy necessary for the growth and maintenance of dogs. Excess energy from a dog's appetite and appetite can be converted into fat, which helps prevent catabolism or muscle loss.
- The best B vitamins are Pet-Tabs® and LC-Vit®. Be sure to follow the directions on the packaging.
- A water-based multivitamin like LC-Vit® (3ml daily) is recommended.
- Alternatively, you can take your dog to the vet for an injection of a B vitamin if you don't have time to replenish it each day. Dogs can be given vitamin B injections once a week for four weeks. If your dog does not improve his appetite after the last vitamin B injection, then you need to send him more shots.
Worming your dog with an anthelmintic. You need to be dewormed regularly because the worms can eat all the food in the dog's intestines and make the dog lose weight by silently absorbing all of the dog's nutrients. Unfortunately, dogs with severe worms can have an enlarged abdomen, but the ribs and hips are usually visible because of the loss of fat.
- Choose an anthelmintic that is capable of removing a variety of worms, such as Praziquantel (Canex®).
- The dose of deworming for an average sized dog is 1 Canex® tablet) per 10 kg of body weight. The dose of Canex® for large dogs is 1 tablet per 20 kg body weight. For younger dogs, you can break the Canex® tablet in half and give it to the dog.
- If you are deworming your dog for the first time, you can do it 3 times in 2 weeks. After the first time, you can deworming your dog after 6 months or 1 year.
Give your dog an energy-boosting supplement. Dogs that are active, work, breastfeed, walk frequently or are getting used to a new home tend to lose weight and stop eating. You can give your dog an energy supplement that is rich in carbohydrates and easily absorbed vitamins.
- Nutri-Plus Gel® is an energy supplement to choose from. You can give your dog 1-2 teaspoons per 5 kg of body weight or 10 cm of gel per day (use a plastic gel applicator or a measuring instrument).
Warning
- You should be careful not to overfeed your dog to avoid overweight and affecting his health.
- If your dog has not gained weight after following the steps above, you should see your vet immediately.
