Underweight pooch

We have a male rescue staff called des who was underweight when we got him and we got him up to healthy weight of 18 kg - he's never been overweight as he's quite big and tall at 16 inches, he's a slim athletic build. Recently we went on a camping trip with him and he lost 1.5 kg so now he's 16.5. The vet has said give him fatty treats and an additional meaty meal in the middle of the day. Any suggestions on things to help him gain his weight please?

Are you able to post pictures? He may not need to gain weight. Many vets and people don't actually know what weight a dog should be.

Yes, before commenting I'd like to see a pic of him - one sideways on & another from the top if you can. He may not need to put weight on.

Have you got some pics we could see?

It could be that he is at a more healthy weight now for his build. Yes some pics would help

Agree with the others some pictures would be useful otherwise it's impossible to comment. The only thing I would say is that a 16inch Stafford at 16.5kg doesn't sound under weight to me. The KC Standard looks for between 14 and 16 inches at the withers and 13 to 17kgs.

Hi I have not loaded up pic on here before so will give it a try. We re measured him today and he's 17 inches at the withers. Hes def underweight as his spine is showing, at 18 kg he is slim but healthy.
He's very tall/large for a staffy to be honest.
We were told he was a staffy by the rescue centre but unless you have pedigree papers it can't be proved he's not a cross breed.
Will try and load pics today

This should help with the pics :- https://staffy-bull-terrier.niceboard.com/t12017-how-to-post-a-photos-onto-the-forum

Staffies can be up to 18" so 17 inches is perfectly normal for a male staffy. But yes 18kg would be about right. What do you feed? Its simple really...just up his food

Hayley wrote:Staffies can be up to 18" so 17 inches is perfectly normal for a male staffy.

Yes, he's tall for a stafford, but it does happen. Kenny, another member's KC registered dog, is 17", but 18" would be way over standard for a pure bred dog. An 18" would stand out in a show ring like a sore thumb!

It could be that the food you're giving him doesn't suit him? Or maybe he just needs to have a little more, but spread out over two or three meals?

What brand of food does he have?

i keep forgetting if its 16 or 18 for standard. can't get it stuck in my head!! lol

Thanks guys, he's on burns as he has a sensitive stomach and pedigree chum makes him hyper active :-)

its a mix of dry and wet food which he loves. I rang burns since my first post and they advised adding the following to his meals; 1 sardine or fried egg or 2 tsp mince, or 1 tsp olive oil.

We have always had a battle to keep his weight on so normally we swap to burns puppy food when he dips below weight which normally works but not this time :-(

I was wondering if a more meaty diet would be better? I have seen the frozen meat diets in pets at home?

I have been filling his kong midway through the day or evening with mince frozen in large cubes and stuffed in (about the size of an orange worth) also honey, cream cheese, pate or marmite.
I also chop up an apple from time to time and stuff the cubes in for him to wrestle out.
Some one gas suggested bread but won't that bloat him out?
Sorry lots of questions :-)

Not bread - wheat is notorious for intolerances & could end up making him lose even more weight! Not fried egg, either - don't give anything fried! I'm so surprised at a so-called nutritionist sugesting either of those things. I'm not over keen on Burns, anyway, ar too much rice in it for my liking. I'd be happier with something like James Wellbeloved or Eden.

By all means add a couple of sardines in oil (or tomato sauce - but oil preferably) to his food instead of the wet food (I'm not a fan of wet), or a raw egg every other day.

I'd also sugest adding a little raw tripe (green, not white) a couple of times a week - they normally love it, it's full of nutrition, and packs on weight far quicker than any other food I know.

Hi thank you, I was surprised about the fried egg comment too! It was a friend who suggested bread.

He does love his burns but I am considering changing. He doesn't like James well beloved but haven't tried Eden so will have a look.

Can I get tripe from the butcher? Or is it avail in the supermarket? I think that's a fab idea :-)

You won't get it from the supermarket as it can't be sold for human consumption. Some butchers will sell it, but not many - possibly a halal butcher, but you might need to buy the whole tripe & cut it up yourself!

It's available as a mince from Pets at Home (the ones that have a freezer) or you can buy frozen chunks online... http://www.naturesmenu.co.uk/product-tripe-chunks.aspx

Hi thank you, have called my local pet shop and they have some too.

Hi got some tripe and other frozen meat made by natures harvest so looking into options there. Des nearly wet himself when he smelled the tripe! I however put a brave face in and lit the insincence sticks :-)

Good luck on the tripe   Hope all goes well with the diet but regardless we really need to see some pics of your boy

Awww he's gorgeous, a tad thin maybe but I don't think he needs to put that much on

Thank you, he's a lovely chap. Yes he's not emaciated but needs just a little help to get his condition back.

Yes, maybe a little light, but not underweight by much.

The tripe will probably do the trick! By the way - don't cook it unless you have gas masks handy; it smells dreadful while it's cooking!

Hi thanks guys for your help, we have started to notice a difference already! His spine is not so prominent today :-).
So far we have tried sardines which we will not do again as the smell afterwards was horrific!
Tripe is bit smelly but goes down a trick and no side effects, we are looking into incorporating natures harvest more into his diet as he loves it, we can get locally and it is cheaper than burns wet food.
We are looking to combine burns dry food with natures harvest- am researching nutrition etc.
Will try the egg idea too, we also give fruit and veg in his kong and as treats.