skinny little coco

our 12 week old coco seems very underweight/skinny.he didnt have the best start in life ie owners weren't bothered about the welfare of the pups they had just the money they were making sadly.so when we got him he was very underweight and lefargic.we started slowly upping his food quantities which is now about a tin of processed over 2 feeds and a hearty bowl of james thingymajigs dry in the evening but he just isnt fattening up at all.dont get me wrong im not after a tank of a boy but hes my little boy and want him happy full and healthy.i know he was fed full fat cows milk and only that by hes previous owners which i thought was a joke and did say to them dogs are lactose intollerent?? i've heard that evaporated milk and some water will help,is this right? any advice would be great please as our new 8 week old kaiser is very nearly the same weight as c

Not sure about the milk, but 8 weeks is still very young and and he is developing and adjusting. He will start to fill out soon, when he is settled on a correct diet. Is he on puppy food? I also think you should try 3 meals a day at the mo build him up gradually cause he will shoot up in time

he is on 3 meals a day consisting of wet wet dry.its puppy food and hes 12 weeks now.weve had him 6 weeks and hes exactly the same as when we got him

He's a pup, he'll fill out. Moo was a rescue so like you not great on the puppy stuff, but I'm sure its nothing to worry about. Coco will fill out, have the vets been happy with him? x

Tin processed food is not very good its largely water and poor meat content. Caryll told someone on another post that tripe is good for weight gain but ive never tried it myself. I know your boy is only very young and he didnt have a good start in life but maybe he will always be that way and its his natural definition

yeah the vets were happy enough,said hes a little under weight but no biggie,not her actual words lol.i was thinking the same gem that maybe hes gonna be naturally built like a whippet.dont mind that at all just want him healthy.thanks everyone feel reassured

im not sure what others will say to this but i fed bully 3-4x a day when he was a pup. first meal was tinned food with sml amount of biscuits, second was porridge (he was getting weaned on this by his mums owners and they said it was good for wieght gain ect ect so i caried on with it till he was a yr old) third was dry meal and forth was any scraps left over from the dinner table

tripe is fantasic i sweer by it for all my dogs
youcould try asupplment called lacttol that we use for your pups you can get it at pets at home shops itfor pups thet did not have mums milk for long enuff
and they love it

gem wrote:Tin processed food is not very good its largely water and poor meat content. Caryll told someone on another post that tripe is good for weight gain but ive never tried it myself. I know your boy is only very young and he didnt have a good start in life but maybe he will always be that way and its his natural definition

It doesnt seem quite right that he hasnt gained any weight in 6 weeks. This could in part be due to the poor nutrition he was receiving before he came to you. His body will probably take a little while to 'catch up' to the decent food he is getting now and the weight gain wont be immediate but you should start to see a difference soon. I presume you are feeding him JWB puppy as its higher is protein than adult dog food and will help him to gain weight.

You could also try splitting his meals into 4 per day, little and often is a great rule to go by. Maybe add an extra meal where he has 2 scrambled eggs every day or every other day. Stick at it, it will take a little time before you start to notice a substantial difference but he should start to bulk out too. Sardines in sunflower oil are another good one as they are quite high in good fats, like omega 3.

Coco still looks skinny, but got him weighed yesterday and he weighs 7kg and hes 14 weeks old this Saturday.
Thanks everyone for your advise

that sounds like a good weight for Coco at 14 weeks..... was that at the vets when they weighed him? They must have been happy with that .... sounds like you have it all under control!!

I weighed him on the scales in the waiting room while we were at a puppy party organised by the vets. Coco isn't seeing the vet until the end of the month. Im so glad he has finally put weight on.