Getting a bit of weight on a dog

..Well - specifficaly Tassle.

When she first had her spinal issues she dropped about 2 kgs....down to 12 kgs (she is a BCx Whippet we think and is about 19/20inchs to the shoulder)

She has never been a chuncky dog but always hovered around the 14-15 kg mark.

Anyway - since getting back the muscle tone, everytim I habve weighted her at the vets she has been between 13.5-14 kgs. However - you can easily feel all her ribs and her hip bones really seem to stick out (you can't see it becasue of her hair)
The vet was not particularly worried but said it wouldn't do her any harm to have a bit more weight on her.

She is on PLT (steroid based Anti -inflam) and eats twice a day. She does not really like dried food, so has a mix with either pet mince or nature diet. If I up her food any more she will not eat it all....

I should mention - she has never been a big eater - as a pup I got her at 5 weeks and I don't believe she was weaned properly.

Any ideas would be gratefully recieved...

Butchers Tripe? or the 'real' stuff if you can stomach it.

Or, when I used to volunteer at the Dogs Trust, really skinny dogs would be fed these:

http://lowchensaustralia.com/health/diet4.htm

I did use butchers tripe for a while.....(a couple of weeks) maybe I didn't give her enough.
I'm not sure I could stomach the real stuff...but if push came to shove.

I am just so worried that if she contracts something she has nothing to fall back on. As soon as she feels the slightest bit ill she will not touch any food.

I've never had a fussy dog before!

Well you could always do lots of trick training with fatty treats - sausage and the like.

Otherwise what about a bit of tripe mixed in with her dinner? Or tripe sticks as a chew treat.

Must admit, I'm also having difficultly putting weight on Tip - unlike Tassle he will eat whatever I give him, but if i feed him too much or the sort of thing that would put weight on him, it just goes straight through him - somewhat defeating the purpose!

Thanks.....we are a bit limited in our trick training - she gest bored quite easily with the exercises that she is allowed to do.

Tripe sticks are an idea - she could go in the car with a couple ever day (have 5 others drooling is not fun!)

How about an enzyme supplement for Tip to help him digest?

hi,i 2 had the same problems with my whippet x collie,no matter what he ate or how often he ate it,he always looked too thin (in my opinion)i tried everything to get him to put weight on and after any health issues were ruled out i just resigned myself to the fact that that was just the way he was,although i did get told to feed him a meal of just plain pasta every few days,i never tried this but i was told it does work to gain weight,like i say this is not a tested method on my part but whether it helps u or not i thought id just tell you about this "method"

Did you see the recipe for fat balls? they really work.

I know what you mean about having nothing to fall back on. It is hard to get the balance right with some dogs.

Yep - I will add these things to my shopping list....maybe if she had one every 3-4 days it would help....

Thanks all

well you can always really reward her big style (e.g. whole cocktail sausage for one trick ) for those that she can do. But then if she's not really food orientated, she probably isn't bothered either.

the odd spoon of peanut butter might help too + cheese.

Though of course if she is a fussy eater anyway, adding all these fatty, tasty things will probably make her even more fussy long term!

I've tried probiotics for Tip and slippery elm but will look into enzyme suppliments - thanks for that

I got weight on Daisy when she was really out of condition by giving her lamb flaps for breakfast. On the other hand - if your dog is happy at that weight I`d leave it personally - does he have enough energy? Is he playful?