Jericho
Well-Known Member
WOuld appreciate some advice on how to put some weight on my rather skinny JRT bitch. She really has hardly any layer of fat on her at all.
She is 2 yrs old, unspayed, fairly active in that she goes on a very active off lead run/walk for 30-60 mins every day, spends abouut 2-3 hrs down the yard with me and then is pottering around house, in car etc for the remainder. Wormed regularly, and fed on a diet of naturediet and adlib Orijen kibble. She will just about eat 1/2 a carton of the wet food (when really she should have at least one a day) and picks at the kibble. She never has been a big eater often will just turn up her nose and walk away and I notice if I leave the food down she eats it all up in the night ( usually fed around 5pm) but again when I have tried to increase amounts it gets left or if I introduce a breakfast again it gets left. I have tried her on a variety of dogs foods and s he will eat most but again not huge amounts. And have tried leaving it down for 10 mins and taking up until next time. Have also tried a part RAW diet with chicken wings etc but again she only eats 3 max and I am conscious chicken is lean anyway. She turned her nose up at offal!
I did some research on the Internet and found some advice on fattening foods: to mix mince, eggs and cheese together with oatmeal and I cooked her a batch today which she wolfed down. Not sure if is my imagination but she has seemed very down for a few weeks but after this dinner she really perked up and back to her normal self - so am worrying that lack of food is making her fed up
Now I know that it's not good for dogs to be fat and really they should just eat their own food, that she will know what requirements are but at the moment i dont feel happy with her condition and she seems to survive on such a tiny amount of food.
Obviously there may be other underlying issues at play here but would like to see if by stimulating her appetite and getting her to eat a bit more she will put on a little weight
Any advice on a better diet, encouraging eating, stimulating appetite gratefully received, with thanks
She is 2 yrs old, unspayed, fairly active in that she goes on a very active off lead run/walk for 30-60 mins every day, spends abouut 2-3 hrs down the yard with me and then is pottering around house, in car etc for the remainder. Wormed regularly, and fed on a diet of naturediet and adlib Orijen kibble. She will just about eat 1/2 a carton of the wet food (when really she should have at least one a day) and picks at the kibble. She never has been a big eater often will just turn up her nose and walk away and I notice if I leave the food down she eats it all up in the night ( usually fed around 5pm) but again when I have tried to increase amounts it gets left or if I introduce a breakfast again it gets left. I have tried her on a variety of dogs foods and s he will eat most but again not huge amounts. And have tried leaving it down for 10 mins and taking up until next time. Have also tried a part RAW diet with chicken wings etc but again she only eats 3 max and I am conscious chicken is lean anyway. She turned her nose up at offal!
I did some research on the Internet and found some advice on fattening foods: to mix mince, eggs and cheese together with oatmeal and I cooked her a batch today which she wolfed down. Not sure if is my imagination but she has seemed very down for a few weeks but after this dinner she really perked up and back to her normal self - so am worrying that lack of food is making her fed up
Now I know that it's not good for dogs to be fat and really they should just eat their own food, that she will know what requirements are but at the moment i dont feel happy with her condition and she seems to survive on such a tiny amount of food.
Obviously there may be other underlying issues at play here but would like to see if by stimulating her appetite and getting her to eat a bit more she will put on a little weight
Any advice on a better diet, encouraging eating, stimulating appetite gratefully received, with thanks
