[Humphrey2011]

We adopted a lovely 3yr old greyhound a month ago who came to us a little on the skinny side, you could see a few of her ribs. Since we've had her, she seems to have lost weight as you can now see most of her ribs and her back bone. She gets fed dry food and meat twice a day but obviously it is either not enough or the wrong food for her as it is not fattening her up. She always eats all of the meat and most of the dry food. She also gets walked once a day for about 30minutes so it isn't a lot of exercise compared to what she used to get.

I'm after some tips on how I can get her to put on weight ie, should I give her a lunch time feed or would changing the food she is getting be better. My sister suggested rice and mince, does this help with weight gain? Our other dog has always been on the heavier side so we have always had to watch what we feed him instead of trying to get him to plump up so I feel a bit lost!

[Unatheowl]

Have you taken her to a vet and discussed your concerns? This may be a good starting point. If she has lost weight, I would certainly get her checked out first and then discuss a plan with your vet about what a appropriate weight is for her and how you should get her there.

[Jenflea]

Could it be worms? I think a visit to the vet for a check up would be my first port of call.

[ubermum]

Yep, I would be taking her to the vet.

[Humphrey2011]

We are taking her back to the vet this week but we are pretty sure it is not worms or anything as she was given a clean bill of health when we got her. When I spoke to the vet on the phone he seemed to think she most likely lost a bit of weight due to the stress of another new home (she was previously at 2 foster homes since January) and she now has another dog to play with but obviously he can't give a diagnosis over the phone so we are going back in.

For any greyhound owners, can I ask how much food you feed them?

[follies]

Just be aware that you are supposed to see a greyhounds ribs.

[lizb87]

switch her to puppy food (slowly over a week or she will get a gastro, ont do this if any history of pancreatitis) and feed more/three times per day - best to actually calculate how many calories she was getting and then increase by approx 20-30% (short term, dont want a fatso, just want to prove if nutritional or other cause!!). weigh her now and in 2-3 weeks, if not gaining then off to the vetsalso measure her water intake over 24hrs a few times - if greater or close to 90ml/kg/24hrs then there is definitely something else going on. (normal is 40-60ml/kg/24hrs)worms unusual in adult dogs BUT given her history give her an allwormer now and in two weeks time just in case!

[Unatheowl]

Yes, they are a slim breed. Ribs you may be able to see in a normal dog. Backbones visible, that's not so normal. It may well be that she has lost weight adjusting to a new home but it's good that you will check her out again just to be sure. It's also useful to ask your vet that question about weight gain as you can then work out a plan withi them and they can follow though with you.

[lizb87]

double post

This post has been edited by lizb87: 06/04/2012, 09:39 PM

[Humphrey2011]

Just be aware that you are supposed to see a greyhounds ribs.

Yeah we have been warned about letting her put on too much weight and the vet said we should be able to see 1-3 ribs but at the moment you can see a lot more than that. I don't think it helps that our other dog is quite a solid dog so when Bettie stands next to him she looks even skinnier!