[neezerfan]

I’ve had my rescue dog for about 5 weeks now. His vet exam was excellent, bloodwork, fecal, urinalysis, dental all good. Vet said he needs to gain weight. He was 12 lbs 5 weeks ago, should be 13-14. So I used the dog food calculator on this site and have been feeding him enough calories for a highly active 13 lb dog plus giving lots of treats. I weighed him yesterday, 11 lbs! I realize it’s a different scale so could be some discrepancy so I’m going to the vet this week to weigh him there, but I’m trying to get him to gain and he ends up losing? WTH? He is very active, he’s a jumper, pacer and runs a lot with my other dog. My current rotation is Farmina kibble (it’s a winner!), Darwin’s, NV Instinct frozen raw, Whole Earth Farms, Nature’s Logic and By Nature canned. I know Darwin’s can be a little on the lower calorie side so I’m making allowances for that. His poops are a much bigger volume than my other dog’s are. My poor guy is so skinny! His ribs are prominent.
My plan is to order Abady’s granular to add into his food, maybe make some satin balls when I get the time. But here’s my question: do you think he’s more likely to gain if I add in more carbs? What he’s getting now is high protein, do you think that’s just not working for him for the weight gain. If more carbs are the answer, I’d rather give him home prepared additions to his food.
TIA for any advice!

[theBCnut]

I would start by adding coconut oil. Start with just a tiny bit and increase to about 3/4 of a teaspoon or even a whole teaspoon. When you get the Abady, add it in slowly too. I wouldn’t do satin balls for such a little one, because it would be too easy to get too much fat in his diet and cause problems.

I don’t know how much time he spent in a crate at the rescue versus what he does with you, but I would assume he is more active with you, and just increase his food a bit. Also, if he wasn’t very active with the rescue, then he has probably put on more muscle, and more muscle uses calories faster, so that could be another reason he needs more food.

[neezerfan]

I already give him coconut oil. He was itchy when I got him so I alternate the coconut oil with a krill oil capsule. He gets one of them daily. He’s not itchy anymore but I still give it.

[theBCnut]

Give the coconut oil every day. Remember that the dog food calculator is just a guideline. They have no way of judging your individual dog’s metabolism. It gives an average estimate of how much a dog like that will need. Whenever something gives an average, there are always some values above and below the actual number. Your dog is one of the ones that need more.

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