What To Feed To Gain Weight

[CheekyMonkey]

Ok my dog hasn't eaten in over a week due to her contracting parvo and has lost ALOT of weight, I'm not rushing into feeding her anything as when she starts eating she has to eat hills i/u but that still won't be for a few days, Her drip came out saturday night but she's still not happy eating or drinking so she's back at the vets today getting a new drip put in.

But i'm just wanting to be prepared for when she can tollerate normal food again, what's a good diet for gaining weight?

She used to be on the dog rolls and supercoat kibble and usually a bone a day, but she's not too much of a kibble fan and wont really touch it, usually only eats it if it's had 'yummy' food poured over the top or when my 2yr old is feeding her, she LOVES roo meat but i don't think that would be too good giving her every day, even though she was getting fed a fair bit of food i think it was the wrong type as basically she was still a bit underweight for her size and is a pooping machine to be honest, I clean up her mess every morning and seriously i think she poo's more then my 2yr and 6mth put together!

[Nic oh lah]

What kind of dog are we talking about? Eg - breed, size.....

For instance my GSD does very well on Uncle Albers but can't stand Eukanuba or most dry kibbles. She gets a mix of Uncles Albers Kibble and homemade (raw i guess) eg, chicken / beef mince, cooked pasta and vege's, aswell as chicken necks and wings. It's so dependant on the dog though. Rule of thumb - feed the best you can afford. If Sophie would eat Eukanuba or Royal Canin i'd give her that, but she loves Uncle Albers and she is in a beautiful condition on it, so it works for us. I won't ever feed her a kibble from a supermarket - there's nothing sold there that I would put in my dogs mouth other than vege's, pasta and human grade meats.

[Guest Ams]

The important thing for a dog that needs to gain weight is to feed very small amounts but often. So give handfuls of food every 2 hours (6 - 8 meals a day) instead of the 1 - 2 normally given. This means the stomach has more chance of digesting all the food rather than only some and passing the rest through.

Once off the i/d I'd suggest chicken carcass mince added to the kibble. It is good for them and the marrow is high fat. Once the dog has gained some weight you can just give the carcass whole and that way it is also good for their teeth.

Some rescuers use satin balls which work very effectively as they are made of a combination of eggs, peanut butter, cream so they are very high in fat. There is a risk of dogs on these very high fat diets could develop pancreatitis. Once they have this it means a lifetime of dietary monitoring and low fat foods.

[ellz]

I'm not a huge fan of either dog rolls OR supercoat, for maintenance let alone weight gain.

Uncle Albers/Great Barko are really good for weight gain. Both are quite high in fat and you don't need to feed a lot. I find that giving my dogs the recommended amount has them looking like the Goodyear blimp!!!

[CheekyMonkey]

Well im in a small country town so choice isn't much hence the supercoat, she's a 6mth stafford

[ellz]

Well im in a small country town so choice isn't much hence the supercoat, she's a 6mth stafford

Do you have a feed supplier? If so, you should be able to access at least Great Barko or Uncle Albers. Made by the same company, Laucke Mills in South Australia. If your feed supplier doesn't stock it, ask them.

[CheekyMonkey]

I'll have to drop in there, it's pretty small so don't know if they'd stock it but worth a shot, otherwise saw theres a place 40min away

[oakeydoak1]

Another hands up here for Great Barko. I only just put my 4 BC on it last week - I went away 2 days after they were put on it - my mum fed it to them whilst i was away and when I got back they were different dogs - they had gained weight - their coats were so shiney they almost glowed and they were full of energy without being "silly". If you have a produce store nearby it should stock it. Also it comes in 22kg bags so if there was a bigger town that you sometimes go to and buy it you would not have to go often as it would last your staffie for ages - and the best thing is the price. Very reasonable.

[CheekyMonkey]

Yeah i saw the price it really isn't too bad considering i paid around 33 for a 12kg bag of supercoat

[ellz]

I purchased a bag of Uncle Albers just this morning. $31.90 for 22kg. And it goes such a long way. Many people regard it as a poor quality food but I have seen (and heard about) some outstanding results so I'm going to continue to use it whilst I can still get it.