Whippet Won't Gain Weight

[mumtoshelley]

Hi everyone I've got a bit of a problem here, it's my sisters whippet Misty she is a bag of bones I can count every rib and shee her hip bones. Misty has been like this for 2 months since she got gastro. My sister can't get Misty to gain any weight no matter how much she feeds her. My sister has been feeding her supercoat puppy biscuits and pal can food. My sister did worm her but she wormed her when she had gastro and she ended up throwing up after she gave her the worming tablet. I'm looking after for 4 days as my sister has gone out of town, I wormed her today, She doesn't look well even more so now since I wormed her. Since she has been here I have been feeding her ox cheek mince which she eats without a problem, She only seems to want to eat raw meat. Misty has no energy at all, normally she runs around with my Missy. My sister did take her to the vet they just said keep feeding her she will gain the weight on. Misty use to weigh more then Missy now Misty weighs 9.6kgs where Missy weighs 10.6kgs. The only thing I can think of is exocrine pancreatic insufficiency. Does any one have any ideas? I told my sister when she gets back to take her to the vet and get her checked out throughly.

[persephone]

There could be any number of reasons why she is not gaining weight ..and a thorough vet check will help...as in blood tests/worm count etc.

Supercoat and canned muck will not put weight on ..and is possibly not ideal after a bout of gastro, either

What caused the gastro? What treatment did the vet give her then? The two could well be related .

If she looked more unwell after worming , please do not fiddle with any more home remedies..but get her checked out from head to toe to find a cause.

Hope she is feeling better soon.

[Her Majesty Dogmad]

Firstly get her to the vet.

Provided nothing else is wrong with her, stop feeding her the Pal and Supercoat - it is simply not quality enough to put weight on her.

Last year at Iggy Rescue we took an Italian Greyhound that had had 3 bouts of pancreatitis in 12 months. We didn't know what we were getting but he was skeletal and it was winter time so who knows how long he'd have lasted. He'd been fed Pal for several months to that point!

We got him straight to a vets but then he was put on expensive biscuits with cooked chicken meat, Basmatic rice, sardines, vegetables etc. He was given 3-4 small meals a day initially.

That is what you need to get started on asap. No more Pal or any other canned food.

Puppy food is more nutritious so we have our starving whippets on puppy food at the moment and if you look at the rescue thread, you can see they've both put on over a kilo a week for 2 weeks.

Edited May 18, 2012 by dogmad

[Salukifan]

Supercoat is mostly cereal filler

Canned food is mostly water.

After a thorough vet check feed the poor dog some quality food. Premium junior kibble, chicken wings and some lamb too. No canned food.

The diet she is on now is probably not high enough in quality nutrients to put weight on her. No wonder she's hoovering the mince.

You can't feed Whippets crap and expect them to do well. Upping the quantity is just feeding more crap.

Wormers are damned hard on a dog's stomach - frankly the LAST thing I'd be giving to any dog with a gastric upset. A decent probiotic wouldn't go astray but frankly this is down to your sister. Not much is going to change in 4 days.

ETA: One more thing. Where does she sleep and does she wear a coat at night? Its getting colder and no Whippet is going to be in great shape if it can't keep itself warm.

Edited May 18, 2012 by Haredown Whippets

[mumof4girls]

Poor baby I would have changed vets :-( hope this precious girl gets the right food and vet care soon..

[Her Majesty Dogmad]

Oh yes, I would have to add that I'm presuming she is in a very warm spot inside - she'd need thick coats and a heat pad to keep her warm enough if she isn't under your doona.

Otherwise, she may just get pneumonia and die.

[tlc]

Poor Misty, her diet is definatley no good. Can you get your sister to at least agree to feed her some better quality food? If memory serves me you have some of yours on Black Hawk? The puppy BH would be ideal. Along with chicken necks or wings or the good suggestions above. Also 3 or 4 small meals a day. Hope she gets better soon. If my guys have been a little off I give them a week or so of inner health plus. ( human tablets) this might be a good idea too.

[Sandra777]

Poor dog!

PLEASE stop shoving worm pills down the throats of dogs which obviously aren't doing well!!!!!!

Good food, a warm place to sleep and no more randomly administered drugs to upset her stomach and I hope she improves.

Supercoat and Pal ?

ETA: stuffing her full of food she's not used to after gastro and being underweight and being wormed will probably make her feel worse, not better

Edited May 19, 2012 by Sandra777

[WreckitWhippet]

Change vets and full bloods need to be run, to rule out illness.

If the dog is not ill then I'd suggest a combination of dry and raw foods. Picking a dry such as Royal Canin, Canidae, Pro Plan Performance or Advance Active and feeding chicken wings, minced carcass, lamb flaps etc will go a long way to helping.

One raw meal and one dry meal a day.

I've had a lot of success using "Veanavite Farmyard" on top of the dogs dry. I use about a table spoon depending on the dog and add some water to mix it through the dry. It's sweet and encourages them to eat and it also contains protexin.

I looked after a dog who had some long term issues with her digestion and it made a world of difference to her.

and finally once again

GO TO A VET

[dianed]

I couldnt agree more with Dogmad and her recipe of chicken,rice,sardines and good quality dry all mixed up.Throw in a few chicken necks, cheese & yogurt.

I had a young gsd here who was rather underweight and could not handle raw food. It worked a treat and she put weight on fast.

Winters coming and the poor baby needs some covering fast!

[Starkehre]

You have wormed the dog today.... she feels crappy and flat cause you wormed her. This is common and normal. Give her another 24 hrs or so prior to making a judgement on how she feels. It will take a couple of days for the worming treatment to have done it's job, be out of her system and for her to have benefitted from it.

Like others have said, look into a complete diet change, but this should be discussed with your sister as she owns the dog.

Whippets need plenty of warmth, particularly if they are under weight.

She may be unwell, or she may be struggling to improve because of the poor diet she is on, the weather being colder now and perhaps she did require a good worm out. Ensure she is either kept inside or is wearing a quality, warm dog coat.

If no noticable improvement in her general demeanour by Monday, take her to a good vet. And try not to expect weight gain over night.

Edited May 19, 2012 by dyzney

[mumtoshelley]

I know the diet my sister has Misty on isn't good and I'm afraid she can't afford premium food. My sister has given me premission to take Misty to the vet, they are closed now unless I ring emergency number. She seems better this morning but wouldn't eat her food, I've told my mum to stop feeding her goodos. I think Misty is suffering from speration anxiety, She sleeps inside with my parents on the bed under her own blanket. She can't sleep in my room as Misty and Missy will just play,plus theres no room on my bed lol between 2 humans 1 whippet and a chihuahua.

I thought I was doing the right thing by worming her first. If Misty was my dog she wold have been at the vets already, Whippets don't have much fat so when they get sick it takes it out of them fast. My sister didn't take her to the vet when she had gastro she just stoped feeding her for 24 hours then feed her cooked chicken and rice for a few days then slowly induced her normal diet.

[Salukifan]

I thought I was doing the right thing by worming her first. If Misty was my dog she wold have been at the vets already, Whippets don't have much fat so when they get sick it takes it out of them fast. My sister didn't take her to the vet when she had gastro she just stoped feeding her for 24 hours then feed her cooked chicken and rice for a few days then slowly induced her normal diet.

If Misty never saw a vet, how was she diagnosed with Gastro??? Oh *forehead slap* -is this YOUR diagnosis.

If the dog is eating goodos, SHE's EATING. Maybe she prefers goodos to what else is on offer - can't blame her really.

Isn't this dog on a regular worming program? You don't just toss one down their throat when they look skinny.

Seriously, your stories change every time you post. Get the dog checked out and stop feeding her crap. It's not rocket science. You've been receiving nutritional advice on this forum for over 12 months - surely you have some idea by now. If there wasn't a sick Whippet involved, I'd not be responding to you at all. Feeding canned food is feeding expensive water - chicken wings would be cheaper by the kilo than that. Most of what your sister is feeding is ending up in the poo shovel. You don't need to be a millionaire to feed a dog well. Why can't you share the costs of some Black Hawk??

Maybe you should simply let your mum feed her - she's had good success putting fat on your other dogs.

Edited May 19, 2012 by Haredown Whippets

[Florise]

I know the diet my sister has Misty on isn't good and I'm afraid she can't afford premium food.

So why post?

[Salukifan]

I know the diet my sister has Misty on isn't good and I'm afraid she can't afford premium food.

So why post?

Beats me. In the entire history of MTS's time on DOL, I've yet to see her accept and act on advice.

*reaches for blood pressure tablets*

[mumtoshelley]

I thought I was doing the right thing by worming her first. If Misty was my dog she wold have been at the vets already, Whippets don't have much fat so when they get sick it takes it out of them fast. My sister didn't take her to the vet when she had gastro she just stoped feeding her for 24 hours then feed her cooked chicken and rice for a few days then slowly induced her normal diet.

If Misty never saw a vet, how was she diagnosed with Gastro??? Oh *forehead slap* -is this YOUR diagnosis.

If the dog is eating goodos, SHE's EATING. Maybe she prefers goodos to what else is on offer - can't blame her really.

Isn't this dog on a regular worming program? You don't just toss one down their throat when they look skinny.

Seriously, your stories change every time you post. Get the dog checked out and stop feeding her crap. It's not rocket science. You've been receiving nutritional advice on this forum for over 12 months - surely you have some idea by now. If there wasn't a sick Whippet involved, I'd not be responding to you at all. Feeding canned food is feeding expensive water - chicken wings would be cheaper by the kilo than that. Most of what your sister is feeding is ending up in the poo shovel. You don't need to be a millionaire to feed a dog well. Why can't you share the costs of some Black Hawk??

Maybe you should simply let your mum feed her - she's had good success putting fat on your other dogs.

I didn't tell my sister it was gastro she came up with that herself, I told her to take her to the vet and get her checked out but she wouldn't. I have been trying to get Misty to eat black hawk but she refuses to eat any kibble, She would eat raw meat and goodos easy enough, But this morning she didn't want to eat raw meat either ate a small handful of goodos tho.

Oh the reason why my mum manages to get my dogs to gain weight is they will eat anything and everything put in front of them, There garbage guts lol. I've got my dogs all sorted out Rascal is lossing weight slowly he was 5kgs and is now 4.3kgs and still lossing. Shelley has also lost fair bit of weight pictures make her look bigger then what she really is. So my dogs are prefectly fine and are doing great with there diet.

[Salukifan]

So in the first post you said the dog had seen a vet.

Now you say she hasn't?????

YOU KNOW WHAT THE DOG NEEDS. Any further posts by you in this thread will either be reasking the same questions or giving reasons why you can't act on the advice given.

Sayonara MTS - I simply give up.

[mumtoshelley]

so what you are all saying Instand of helping Misty I should let her go and suffer, If she is no better on monday I will ring the vet and see if I can get her in, The vets are closed here now and don't open till monday. The reason I posted is to help Misty not get talked down and made out to be the bad guy. I can't exactly force Misty to eat can I, I try feeding her throughout the day but most of time she will not eat or only have a bite full then walk away.

[Salukifan]

so what you are all saying Instand of helping Misty I should let her go and suffer, If she is no better on monday I will ring the vet and see if I can get her in, The vets are closed here now and don't open till monday. The reason I posted is to help Misty not get talked down and made out to be the bad guy. I can't exactly force Misty to eat can I, I try feeding her throughout the day but most of time she will not eat or only have a bite full then walk away.

:banghead:

You've been given the advice you need to help this dog.

You're now coming up with excuses as to why you can't act on it. Don't try and foist responsibility for a skinny Whippet that's on a crap diet anywhere but where it belongs. Your sister. She's feeding her cut price Whippet a cut price diet and the poor animal is paying for it.

If she won't change the dog's diet then for pity's sake stop bleating about it here. It's distressing to read about a breed I love in this situation.

The dog is willing to eat Goodos. Give her more effing Goodos if that's all she wants. Keep her warm and coated and save your attitude for your sister.

Edited May 19, 2012 by Haredown Whippets

[mumtoshelley]

So in the first post you said the dog had seen a vet.

Now you say she hasn't?????

YOU KNOW WHAT THE DOG NEEDS. Any further posts by you in this thread will either be reasking the same questions or giving reasons why you can't act on the advice given.

Sayonara MTS - I simply give up.

I said she wasn't taken to the vets when my sister suspected gastro, she just stopped feeding for 24 hours then feed a blend diet. My sister took her to the vets a week or 2 later cause she wasn't gaining the weight back, the vets said just keep feeding her which she has. It is now been 2 months and Misty still hasn't gained back the weight. Sorry if I confussed you.