Feeding underweight rescue

[woofwoof]

Hi everyone,

I am sorry if i am repeating something already covered but i have done a search and not found the answer!

I rescued a very abused and neglected blue merle collie last week. He is an absolute treasure, despite his understandable insecurities and fears. We think he is about 2 or 3 years old.

I am wondering how i can best help get him up to a healthy weight and healthy body. I feed him Burns complete which he has tolerated well although he has been car sick and i am unsure if this is because he mayb just cant tolerate travelling (journey was only about 20 mins and about 3 hours after being fed) or if the food is too much for him as he is clearly not used to being fed. HOwever burns is such a good balanced food i dont want to give him anything else, Especially as it may not be the food and he may just not be a good traveller! unless there is something else that could help him?

So i guess i am asking if there are any supplements i could give him (extra vitamins etc) to help build him up? Or is there anything else i could do to help him gain health and vitality?

thanks for getting this far and thanks in advance for any help you can offer

[woofwoof]

I should add I am feeding him morning and evening and I am giving him slightly more than what he should have for his weight. He is eating most of what i give him (assuming his little tummy is full when he stops as he eats with enthusiasm).

He only weighs 12kgs and you can feel EVERY bone in his frail body

I wormed him last week, however there is no sign of worms in his faeces (the joys!!! ) .

[runlikethewind]

Hi Woof Woof!

I'm not an expert for a start but I take a deep and great interest in canine nutrition. I have found and heard that some dogs have problems keeping the weight on with Burns - it has very little protein in it (something the ethos of the company is based on) and a lot of carb. The advice you'd get if you ring the Burns helpline about your skinny dog is to feed a whole load more rice with the Burns. Somehow, that doesn't seem right to me.

Obviously, you don't want to be switching foods when he's already unsettled. So it's a difficult one. You've only been on it a week - maybe try their Working Dog version which is higher protein. Read the raw food diet if you wanted to look at something completely different!!

I've also read and understood that additional vitamin supplements may unbalance the diet. In addition, vitamins wouldn't bulk him up.

Finally, about the car sickness, there are threads on here about this - giving the dog a proper view of the outside, some herbs which can be useful etc.

[runlikethewind]

Based on your last post, maybe try Orijen. Higher protein suited to skinny dogs.

[runlikethewind]

One more thing - also remember skinny dogs are more healthy than fat ones

[woofwoof]

Hi Runlikethewind,

Many thanks for your help - I had no idea re Burns. I have had all my dogs on it for years and guess I have maybe become a creature of habit. I will have a look at the food you suggested.

And absolutely I would much prefer he was on the thinner side than overweight but he loves his walks and I am a bit worried he needs more in the nutritional side for the development of his bones etc (which is why i was wondering about extra supplements) as he is so frail at the moment. He is getting good walks at the moment (about 45 mins twice a day) but its me thats holding him back out of concern for his frailty as he looks as if he could keep going for hours!!!!!

Many thanks for your help and suggestions - I will go and have a look now

[ladybug1802]

Hi Woofwoof!

My dog Dylan was also incredibly skinny when I got him as a rescue 11 months ago....to give you an idea, he now weighs about 23.7 kilos, and is still on the slim side (which i would prefer rather than fat) but when I got him he was about 15.5 kilos and like a hat rack. I started off feeding him James Wellbeloved, which is similar to Burns and both are good foods...he did fine on it, and I was feeding him 3 times a day and feeding him a bit more than the suggested amount for his weight. I didnt over feed though as it isnt good for them to put on weight too fast.

To be honest, even with feeding him more, it has taken ages for him to get to a 'god' weight because he is so active and just didnt put on weight fast. I did swap him to Arden Grange about 3 months ago and I have to say, he is doing great on it. He had no real issues on JWB, but his poos were rather loose on occasion. With ARden Grange he hasnt had this issue and he hasnt been itching as much. There are many different varieties but I feed mine Sensitive, mainly because he has rather sensitive skin. Have a look on their website though....it explains everything really well and you can ask their nutritionist any uestions you have. She answers really fast too!

If you are in the Uk let me know if you want to try any Arden Grange as I do now stock some of it to sell because I like it so much and have some small bags of certain varieties left....but also have some sample bags if you want me to send you some.

[woofwoof]

Hi Ladbug,

Many thanks for your reply and am delighted you've made such good progress

I have just about the Arden grange you suggested and it definately looks like a strong possibility and I would definately like to give it a try.

The sensitive range looks ideal for my other rescue who is a springer with regular ear infections ....I am convinced he has allergies that i just cant identify but because it was a pre-existing condition when i rescued him i cant get the testing done under the insurance. And it is SO expensive to do myself that i am just trying to work out what the allergies may be. The food is a strong possibility and the sensitive range may help.

I am in the UK (Scotland) and if you have samples i could try i would be very grateful. You could mail me so we could sort out cost etc.

I really appreciate your help - many thanks

Yvonne

[emmabeth]

I would also go for a grain free food - I have fed both Orijen and Taste of the Wild, though in conjunction with a raw diet.

Some dogs, especially collies, do tend to burn off a lot of energy on nerves and their very collie-ish nature and for some reason I find that occurs much more easily on a grain based food than on a grain free one. I also wouldnt worry about the protein levels in the grain free foods - it isnt as simple as a straight comparison between protein in a grain based diet at all.

Otherwise, feed little and often, more like you would feed a puppy.

[ladybug1802]

Oh yes - I should add,......I fed JWB cereal free, and the Arden Grange Sensitive is also cereal/grain free.

[woofwoof]

Thank you all so much for your replies. It really helps to have the support of so many fantastic willing helpful people - without your support the hard work of rehoming a rescue dog would be so much more difficult.