About The Food & Weight

Question
QUESTION:
Hi, this is Fiona CHEUNG,I have adopted a 3-month years old toy poodle girl, she is from my friend's friend. I took her to consult veterinary when the second day I took her home, and the veterinary said she was too thin (1.3kg, her parents around 3.2 - 3.5kg ), cough, throat inflammation and asked me " she has to put on weight!"

One week later (last friday), I took her consult the same verterinary again, and he said she hasnt recovered yet, and she still too thin (1.4kg), emphasized that " she MUST put on weight! she cannot have epidemic control injection because she hasnt recovered, and she feels pain if she still that thin while injection"  

Yes, I know she has to put on weight, but she is a very quiet dog, rare to play for long time, in fact, she is accustomed to play with me and my husband around 15-20 mins, and then she would go sleep.

Additionally, she is accustomed to eat a bit, she can only finish ONE table spoon wet food (for puppy) and she likes to have some pieces of dry food as well. We give her food in the morning (8:30), Evening (7:00 & 11:00) a day; nevertheless, we are so worry about why she just has a small smount of food every meal. (we touch her belly, but it seems really quite full enough!)

We observed, she doesnt feel passion for food, and she likes someone accompanies with her while she 's eating.

I dont know how I can make her put on weight if she doesnt want to eat, and I dont know how to do, furthermore, she is the puppy lack of confident of everything. (I heard that her parents, brothers and sisters treat her not good just because she is the thinnest and smallest one in her family)

Would you give me some advices? I really need help, thanks a lot.

Regards,

Fiona


ANSWER: Hi Fiona,

Your puppy acts so quiet and gets so tired after only 20 minutes of play because she is so weak. Normally, a three month old puppy has boundless energy.

Has your puppy been checked for intestinal parasites? If your puppy has a case of "worms", that would certainly prevent her from gaining weight, cause her to have a lack of energy.

You didn't say what you're feeding your puppy, but it should be a food specifically made for puppies. You can add a scrambled egg or grated hard boiled egg to help fortify her meals.

If you need to switch from one brand of food to another must be done slowly to decrease the likelihood a digestive upset, or diarrhea. Start with 90% of the food you are currently feeding and add 10% of the new food. Increase the amount of new food a little bit each day. The complete switch-over to the new food should take place on day five or six.

You've said you feed the puppy mornings and evenings, that's not enough. Feed your puppy at least three times each day, while she needs to gain weight in-between meal snacks, such as a biscuit would be okay too.

Right now, it's so important that your puppy should eat and gain weight. Don't worry about the fact she wants you near by while she's eating. There's plenty of time for her to learn other lessons, such as eating alone, once she's at her proper weight.

If your dog continues not to gain weight, talk to your vet, and ask for a guidance. There may be a prescription food that's especially made for puppy weight gain.

Best of luck,
Patti



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi, Patti,

Um, nope, she is fed 3 times a day, and she has been fed " Canidae and hill's (for puppy). She has had only 15-20 pcs of dry food in every meal, but she is more naughty now, she plays for 45 mins with us after had her food.

And she has body-check, but vet said she is fine, but very thin enough, I dont know whether she is too thin or not, but I read many information that a toy poodle puppy should weight around 2-4kg? So I dont know whether she is tooo thin or not...

Answer
Hi Fiona,

I've estimated that at approximately 3 kg, your puppy is roughly 6 pounds 9 ounces, or almost 7 pounds. An adult "Toy" Poodle's weight is usually between 4-7 pounds.
Might your puppy be Miniature Poodle, and not a "toy"? An adult Miniature Poodle's weight is between 15-17 pounds (roughly 7.25 kg) on average.
So, at 3 months old, your puppy doesn't really sound underweight.

A healthy puppy looks slightly plump, but hasn't got a distended stomach. Its skin should feel loose instead of sticking to the bones.

Canidae is an excellent puppy food. If your puppy isn't gaining weight as your vet feels she should, ask your vet about a product called "NUTRA-CAL". It's a diet supplement gel used mostly for animals who won't eat due to illness, but you could give it to your puppy if she needs the extra calories.

One of my dogs is a Chihuahua, needless to say he was tiny as a puppy. When he needed his first vaccines, the doctor gave them to him in two separate office visits, because of his small size. Perhaps your vet would be willing to consider this, since your puppy is so small too.

I hope I've been a help.
Patti