Puppy - Very THIN looking

Hi everyone,

Looking for extra reassurance regarding out 10 mth old Roxy.

Roxy is active and goes to day care (7am to 5pm) weekly and well exercised at weekends.

Roxy is on Burns (recommended by the Vet - adult food - 200 grams daily) When she was about 5 months old, she start getting the "trots" and this has been ongoing since, we have tried "brown rice and chicken breast" etc and now the Vet has stated she might have a "gut issue" which is more common in Boxers. She has been placed on this for the next 6 months, but if we don't notice a change then we are looking at an operation.

We are both very concerned about her frame size. She is 14 inches high, and just looks like she is getting thiner and thiner, even though she is feed twice daily and with "extras" on each feed. Roxy is a "one food only dog", so even if we treat her and in dog care also, she is given her nuts and nothing else.

When is is lying beside us on the sofa, you can nearly pup a finger inside each rib and her back bone is so obovius, and when she is standing she looks so thin, if we weren't her owners, I would honestly think this poor dog is hardly ever feed !!!!

As Roxy is our first family dog and first staffy, can anyone advise if this "thinness" is normal? She is bright happy, drinks plenty and goes outside on request to the loo. She also now watch and clean up each loo trip, as she has started trying to eat her "poop", that hasn't happened since she was very young.

Many thanks for any replies.

Adele

I'd be changing her food and/or your vet. Burns isn't the best on the market and if nothing else I'd be concerned that her growth needs aren't being met especially with adult food. I'm not sure why your vet's recommended it and not something that has better nutitional value, unless there's a commission to be had.

I personally would be going for the best quality I could afford, and I'd also be continuing with a puppy/growing dog food to support her best at this age. Well, no, not really, personally I'd put her on raw, but I believe in a raw diet but it's not for everyone!

Why is she a 'one food only dog'? Is that because of her digestion or your preference? I also think that dogs need variety in their diets and that includes good quality treats. Ours get dried sprats, dried tripe sticks, bones, some meal based treats, etc. There's a wide range available now (hurrah!), so there should be something to suit.

You'd have to introduce new stuff slowly. Her gut isn't used to variety so would need to adapt. It might also be worth looking at a probiotic (anyway) to see if that helps. Gut flora is terribly important to good digestion and health.

And read, read, read. There's a lot of info out there about dog and puppy nutrition. This is a good place to start http://www.allaboutdogfood.co.uk/

just a thought but is she wormed regularly?

I must agree with what Liz has said, sounds like your vet is getting commission!! if she has started eating her own poo I would say she is lacking something in her diet. Try changing vets or try changing her food yourself if you know what she can stomach without upsetting her.

I would not be feeding as per vet instructions, they are given approx 4 hours nutrition training, and mostly from one particular brand. Find a proper dog nutritionist, and build her diet up to other foods with high protein contents.

In addition to diet, I'm also interested in the day care that she attends. What's the set up? Is she on the go playing/running about all day or are there specified "down times" allocated/how many other dogs are there? I've seen some day care centres that are essentially a free for all in a yard with a big group and where the dogs don't stop all day, others are just a couple of dogs in someone's house..

Yes that is a good point too. She could also be stressed in the day care which will cause weigh loss too.

Hi Everyone,
Many thanks for your replies and comments.

Liz, I would tend to agree with you, this product was given by the vet and we can't purchase it anywhere but a vets, so yes I am inclined to agree with you regarding commission based products. My hubby would boil brown rice and chicken every day but I don't think its good, all the time. So when you say "raw food" what exactly would you feed.

If she eats 2 types of foods in a day, she has major trots for the next few days, and it was suggested by a dog nutritionist to place her on Engage puppy Nuts, but the nuts were very small and she would end up choking on every feed. or getting sick. So it was our last trip to the vet, about 3 weeks ago and she has been on Burns since then, but her "poo" is now solid and not running like before.

The dog care she attends is a very large indoor / outdoor warehouse with 8 staff. Depending on dog size / age the dog are divided into groups in smaller enclosed areas, with qualified trainers and there are areas for the dogs to sit and have "down time". We all use the same hand signals for sit, stay commands. We can log into their facebook account and view the dogs and staff each day, and they do daily videos also. I think there are about 40 days full time and a few "drop ins during the week".
Adele

Raw is pretty well what it says on the tin (without the tin!). I feed straight raw minced meat/bone with some veggies & carbs, supplied by a specialist raw pet food supplier. Sadly, they don't cover NI, but there's a FB page for raw feeder that might help if you're interested:

https://www.facebook.com/BARF-RAW-Feeders-Northern-Ireland-125909580840451/

Alternatively, quite a few people here feed Nature's Menu, which I think is available in NI

http://www.naturesmenu.co.uk

The reason I started feeding raw was because we had a dog who had a list of allergies as long as your arm, so this way I could tell exactly what he was getting. It might be that Roxy also has a food intolerance, so raw could be a good option.

Burns has a high grain content, which is not great for dogs. They are meat eaters, not grain.

I would serioulsy consider a different food and more meat.

id concur and use a high meat content food for puppies id also seek advice from another vet to see if they give the same opinion. id get some tests run too to see the root problem with the stomach