How to put weight on my spaniel?!

Karran

Karran

Well-Known Member
Joined
14 April 2011
Messages
1,558
Location
London
Visit site
Mrs Spaniel went to be spayed today but the vet refused to do it as she was too skinny!
Bit annoyed as she went for her jabs last week and they knew she was getting done as we talked about it during the appointment.

She weighs 10.9kg and is typical young spaniel, into everything and very greyhound looking. She has lost a little lately as she went on holiday so fretted a little, but her coat is wonderfully glossy, she's wormed regularly and the vet when I took her for jabs wasn't too concerned

We feed her a mix of the nature's menu/harvest stuff, some raw chicken drummers and we're starting to experiment with offal, she had lambs heart over the weekend and I've got some kidneys and liver to try as well. She has about 200g a day so the obvious thing would be to give her more, but is there anything better I can be doing for her? We've rebooked for a month's time and I really want it done before she comes into season again.

The vet suggest Hills and Royal Canin but I don't want to mix up biscuit food and raw stuff really as I've read it can be harmful?
 
We needed to put weight on our boxer x spaniel and boxer x staff, we fed them Natural Instinct duck mince as it was the highest fat and they piled it on, they now get a mix of the chicken mince and the duck and our previously skinny dogs are spot on.

I would look at what you are feeding and see if you can feed a higher fat alternative - we got hold of some duck carcasses too, they looooved them.

Wouldn't touch Hills or RC with a huge barge pole.
 
Cool, might get onto ordering some of that for her.

What about this stuff?

"Working Dog Duck
Designed specifically for working dogs with an extra shot of vitamin C, for a healthy immune system and to maintain healthy ligaments and joints. VAT free!

Ingredients: British duck with bone (85%), Butternut squash, Apples, Carrots, Spinach, Sea kelp, Scottish salmon oil, Vitamin C"
 
Is that Natural Instinct - the ingredients sound familiar! If it is that's the one we fed along with duck necks and carcasses.
We live close to their head office so took the dogs down to get advice and they told us duck was the best in their range for weight gain. We noticed a difference quite quickly and the dogs loved it.
 
Yes Sorry! I have spent all afternoon googling to find a local supplier! Found one that stocks loads of RAW food and mixes!
We took Mrs Spaniel along (she got a nice trotter out of her trip) and are going to experiment with the NI working dog Duck and Puppy Food Chicken, some beef heart chunks along with some lamb kidneys and chicken livers
So we'll be upping her intake for now to 500g a day, 200 in the morning, 100g later in the day and a final meal of 200g in the evening
We'll be jazzing it up with a small lunch time meal of heart chunks and chicken, hopefully a mix of all of the above will get us somewhere!
 
Raw tripe works wonders for putting on weight. You can get frozen blocks at most pet shops. Don't get the bleached stuff from the butchers it's the green smelly one you need
 
Tripe and salmon oil. If you're desperate you can get powdered bovine fat from zooplus to really fill the out in the short term.
 
Why are you only feeding about 200g per day as that is the amount a fairly inactive, supposed to be 10kg dog would normally need?
If growing or underweight up to double this would be usual.

Tripe, lamb & oily fish are all good for skinnies.
 
Tripe is actually low in fat (this is lamb):

Moisture 71%
Crude Fat 11.7%
Protein 15%
Ash 1.23%
Phosphorus .14%
Calcium .12%
Calories 756/lb
pH 6.12
Lactic Acid Bacteria 12,000 CFU/g
Linoleic Acid 2.72%

It's a successful food because it stinks and most dogs like it.

Lamb and duck, plus upping intake will put weight on. Salmon oil or fish body oil will help skin, coat, weight.

Echo avoiding Hills and Royal Canine. RC contains BHT/BHA.
 
all of the above and you can feed dogs micronised linseed too,
my lurcher was on 4-5% of her body weight when on raw and that was just to maintain weight, so it does sound like she is not being fed enough to me
 
s4sugar said:
Why are you only feeding about 200g per day as that is the amount a fairly inactive, supposed to be 10kg dog would normally need?
If growing or underweight up to double this would be usual.

Tripe, lamb & oily fish are all good for skinnies.
Click to expand...


I asked the nutritionist at PAH for advice when we picked her up as she was skinny then and that's what they advised! She had actually PUT on weight a tiny bit when we switched to a mix of raw chicken and Nature's Menu before she went on holiday and now has come back skinny again :( I put it down to perhaps being a bit stressed by having moved home for two weeks and then coming back here.

I never really thought much more about it as she doesn't steal food and like I say, looks and acts really healthy and jolly. Even the vet when I took her for her jabs last week didn't comment about it being low when I spoke to her about it, just suggested I try the Hills/RC or a kibble designed for dogs like greyhounds!

I'm used to labradors that look at bones and get tubby not the other way about!! :(

Have upped it to about 500g a day now though. Urgh. Poor dog. Been starving her unnecessarily. :( :(
 
Karran said:
I asked the nutritionist at PAH for advice when we picked her up as she was skinny then and that's what they advised! She had actually PUT on weight a tiny bit when we switched to a mix of raw chicken and Nature's Menu before she went on holiday and now has come back skinny again :( I put it down to perhaps being a bit stressed by having moved home for two weeks and then coming back here.

I never really thought much more about it as she doesn't steal food and like I say, looks and acts really healthy and jolly. Even the vet when I took her for her jabs last week didn't comment about it being low when I spoke to her about it, just suggested I try the Hills/RC or a kibble designed for dogs like greyhounds!

I'm used to labradors that look at bones and get tubby not the other way about!! :(

Have upped it to about 500g a day now though. Urgh. Poor dog. Been starving her unnecessarily. :( :(
Click to expand...

Can't see that they'd have been any harm done, doesn't sound like she's felt hard done by much better than taking a tub of lard into be spayed. :)
 
personally I would not jump from 200g daily to 500g it is likely to go straight through her and defeat the whole thing. I would increase to 300g for 4 weeks and re weigh her, if she has another season so be it but I would be more concerned about causing issues by rapid feed changes
 
Agree wholeheartedly with Twiggy. More than doubling is dodgy and likely to cause issues. Increase gradually, don't suddenly load her down! Wait and see how she looks with say 300, condition score her (download the chart from Google) then add more if she needs it. My lot are all fed by eye rather than their weight or weight of food. When growing, I used about 4-5% of projected adult weight. The amounts suggested of wet food for the last pup I had were derisory, I doubled it and the boy was still skinny, but then springer pups tend to be, no matter how much they're fed.

My current favourite is frozen chicken parts from Sainsbury, mostly drumsticks. If they need a bit of weight on them, they get a couple of those. Mine are all full grown and their food amount varies according to how they look and how much exercise they do.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top