What's Wrong With Horse?

[Horse2008]

He's my hip height, so he's perfect for balance assistance. He's a lab x I think Newf, he has a thick double coat and huge feet.

I think his ribs extend too far down his body, they stop his stomach from digesting much food at once. His pelvic bones stick up because of his VERY short loin, thus resulting in people telling me my dog is starving.

He's fed 4 or 5 meals per day, or the food comes out at the same rate as it goes in. He is 29.7kgs at his heaviest, at 29.4kgs his butt looks seriously skinny and it worries me. He's fed a mix of cat mince, tinned dog food, chicken mince/necks an egg maybe once a week and every 2nd day he gets a carrot, which all adds up to about 1.5kgs per day.

Any opinions?

[Horse2008]

He's my hip height, so he's perfect for balance assistance. He's a lab x I think Newf, he has a thick double coat and huge feet.

I think his ribs extend too far down his body, they stop his stomach from digesting much food at once. His pelvic bones stick up because of his VERY short loin, thus resulting in people telling me my dog is starving.

He's fed 4 or 5 meals per day, or the food comes out at the same rate as it goes in. He is 29.7kgs at his heaviest, at 29.4kgs his butt looks seriously skinny and it worries me. He's fed a mix of cat mince, tinned dog food, chicken mince/necks an egg maybe once a week and every 2nd day he gets a carrot, which all adds up to about 1.5kgs per day.

Any opinions?

[persephone]

Welcome.

..and what does your vet say?

How old is the dog?

Where did you get him?

was he assessed by a vet /organisation prior to being trained as an assistance dog?

has he always been fed this diet?

[newfsie]

When I got one of my Rescue newfies she was also very thin and would not put on any weight at all. We did a lot of Allergy testing at the vets and she has a wheat allergy. She has loose stools and does not absorb it at all.

Change of diet, helped her immensely. She is also preservative intolerant ( not all but quite a few). We went to Werribee for all the tests.

She is now fed a wheat free/Preservative free diet.....In our case RAW.

But we started with blood tests and such at the vets. Thyroid problems can also cause weight loss.

I would suggest to see what your vet says.......Good luck, hope you find a solution

[Tilly]

Carrot is a filler ... I would be replacing carrot with real food. He certainly needs it.

[Kazhak]

When did you last worm him???

[Clyde]

Don't see any Newfie in him at all.

You need to feed him a better quality diet, I would also be feeding him smaller meals three times a day until he starts to gain weight. Firstly I woudl worm him, then I'd take him to the vet to rule out any medical issues.

He looks gorgeous

[Horse2008]

The 1st vet visit(RSPCA) she said he's very underfed, and told me to feed him 595g of Hills Science Diet(approx 1/3rd of his normal diet), one meal per day. He was in training at that time. He fainted during a run at the park, so I took him to Lort Smith, who said feed him at least 2 meals a day, feed him whatever works for him.

He's 3 1/2.

FTGH ad on gumtree when he was 18months old. His last people got him as a lab x border collie, but he grew too big and started jumping their fence.

The LS vet checked him and said without knowing his family history, there's no way to tell if he has any genetic problems, but he'd recovered from the RSPCA slip-up well, and there was no reason to not start training him.

His ex family gave him 2 meals a day of purina one large breed. When I started training, he ate the same amount, but half supercoat, half chicken mince. His diet slowly changed to what it is now because I was worried about his teeth, and the addition of more meals stopped the excessive poops and stopped him begging like he's never been fed before.

[Jumabaar]

I agree- a trip to the vet to rule out any medical problems that can cause dogs to burn up more energy than normal, and an intestinal wormer such as Drontal or perhaps Milbemax (depending on what you use for heart guard). Even if you do worm your dog it can be good to change brands (ingredients) occasionally to make sure it is still working.

I would be trying a good quality kibble- Black Hawk has a good name, as does Artemis and Eagle pack. These are more energy dense then tinned food which has a high water content ie your 1.5kg of tinned food might only be the equivalent of 500g of dry food or less! It should also mean that he takes longer to digest his food, giving him more time to get nutrients out of it.

[Danois]

He's my hip height.. He is 29.7kgs at his heaviest, at 29.4kgs his butt looks seriously skinny and it worries me. He's fed a mix of cat mince, tinned dog food, chicken mince/necks an egg maybe once a week and every 2nd day he gets a carrot, which all adds up to about 1.5kgs per day.

Any opinions?

IMO that diet is inadequate for any dog.

Lose the cat mince and tinned dog food (which is just water) and use a decent dry food like Eukanuba, Nutro etc if you want a mid range food. The dog is probably not getting adequate nutrition from the diet and using everything up in it.

I'd feed a complete diet dry food in conjunction with chicken frames. I would not feed chicken necks to a larger dog as they can be a choking hazard.

If you are on more of a budget you can make up some food to supplement the dry - I use a mix of cooked rice, raw mince (I get mine from asian butcher)and then put an assortment of fruit and vegies through the juicer and use the pulp (discarding majority of juice) and some yoghurt and bit of garlic. I also add some cooked pumpkin and sweet potato all mashed up.

While you may be feeding 1.5kg a day it is clearly not the right diet. The recommendation of 600gm of Hills does not sound too low. I feed my 60kg 3 year old dog around 750gm a day of a super premium dry food.

Edited July 10, 2011 by Danois

[Horse2008]

The carrot is only one carrot, I thought he needs something to chew! He tends to gobble food, not eat it, the chicken necks were swallowed whole until I started to cut them in half.

Our last vet visit was 2 weeks ago, the vet gave him canex then revolution.

He eats a variety of food, not just the tinned food! We're always out doing things, a bit of extra water won't kill him.

Edited July 10, 2011 by Horse2008

[Jumabaar]

Posted similar in the other thread but will add it here too....

An intestinal wormer such as Drontal or perhaps Milbemax (depending on what you use for heart guard) will be a good start. Even if you do worm your dog it can be good to change brands (ingredients) occasionally to make sure it is still working.

If you hadnt been to the vet already I would be suggesting going and seeing about any medical problems- fainting in the park is a bit of a worry!! Was it a hot day or did the vet believe it was because of lack of energy? Also did they do any blood tests- ie glucose levels just incase it is diabetes, metabolic or hormone problem.

I would be swapping a good quality kibble- Black Hawk has a good name, as does Artemis and Eagle pack. These are more energy dense then tinned food which has a high water content ie your 1.5kg of tinned food might only be the equivalent of 500g of dry food or less! It should also mean that he takes longer to digest his food, giving him more time to get nutrients out of it.

Edited July 10, 2011 by ~Woofen~

[Jumabaar]

The carrot is only one carrot, I thought he needs something to chew! He tends to gobble food, not eat it, the chicken necks were swallowed whole until I started to cut them in half.

Our last vet visit was 2 weeks ago, the vet gave him canex then revolution.

He eats a variety of food, not just the tinned food! We're always out doing things, a bit of extra water won't kill him.

I make the comment about water because some are up to 80% water. So you might only be feeing him 300g of actual food and 1200g of water!! Tinned food is great in addition to kibble but with a dog that is under weight you want them to be getting in as many calories as you can, not filling them up with water.

Carrot is a great treat- mine get them as chew toys as well. They also get bits sweet potato and pumpkin however I dont consider this part of their meal as they really dont contain much in the way of calories. So as long as you know this feeding them is fine. You could perhaps use some extra bones- lamb necks or roo tails as treats as well since your dog doesnt need to watch its wait

Edited July 10, 2011 by ~Woofen~

[Mason_Gibbs]

I would be feeding him lamb / mutton mince and bones to put weight on plus good quality kibble

[Xyz]

'Fainting'. Could be EIC?? worth DNA testing him.

[Larrikin]

What's Wrong With Horse?

I thought you were asking about feeding 'horse meat'

[Clyde]

I wouldn't be mucking around with low fat filler foods, he needs proteins and good fat to gain weight.

You could also try him on a quality puppy kibble. One of my dogs struggles to maintain weight but she's doing well on the Black Hawk.

Try Lamb flaps, chicken wings etc etc. Ditch the Supercoat and tinned stuff, terrible food.

Lab X Border Collie is much more on the money than Newfy.

[persephone]

I would recommend taking the dog to a vet and getting blood tests/worm cultures done if you can... Is there anyone you can ask to help you with finances ?

and also feeding the absolute best quality dry dog food you can afford- plus lamb flaps /chicken carcases (necks for a dog his size pose a choking risk ) and some pulped vegetable (only a VERY small part of his diet) . Dog are designed to eat and digest meat/bone.

Unfortunately - him being ill/emaciated means he won't be able to comfortably do his work - While I'm glad you came on here to ask - you really do need to look into the problem further . it's not fair to ask him to look out for you if he is unwell.

Tinned food is indeed mostly water - and not much use.

[Clyde]

, a bit of extra water won't kill him.

With that attitude how do you expect your dogs health to improve? Your dog is suffering. You are feeding him a poor quality diet and he is not thriving on it. You have two threads full of helpful information and you don't seem to be absorbing any advice. I hope you can lose the flippant attitude and do what is right by your dog. Wishing you all the best with his recovery.

[persephone]

. you have been given good advice .

The comment of 'a bit of extra water won't kill him' well - it may well do !

feeding an extremely thin dog watery canned food is not helping him . your dog needs REAL food ..every mouthful should be packed full of what he needs - and, in his FOOD bowl - he doesn't need water to fill his belly .

That photo is very sad-

His pelvic bones stick up because of his VERY short loin

I don't think that is the cause at all . There is just NO muscle on his rump to pad the bones.

he needs immediate vet care - from a vet who will actually do tests to find out the problem !! There is no muscle on his back end - and for a young dog , that's a bad sign.

As I said in the other thread - Horse can not be expected to do his work to the best of his ability while he is in such a poor state -

if you do not have the money to get proper tests done - see if the vet will allow you a payment plan ?

Edited July 11, 2011 by persephone