# 5 month old eating 7 1/2 a day and thin!



## djm899 (Jan 23, 2014)

Hi, Ivy is 5 months old, 50 lbs, and eats 2 1/2 cups of Fromm Gold Large Breed Puppy 3 times a day. She is always hungry after she eats, and very thin. I've read a bunch of threads here about how much a puppy should have, and they all seem like less than she eats! Yet, it doesn't make sense to me to restrict her food when she is so thin. She does not have worms, she is very healthy and active.
Her sister Luna is 80 lbs and is eats under 2 cups twice a day! 
Any suggestions on this would be appreciated. It's not exactly a problem, as she is healthy, but every day I feel like I'm starving her.


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## annabirdie (Jul 3, 2015)

Have you had her checked for worms?


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## annabirdie (Jul 3, 2015)

Oh sorry, just read again! You have checked her for worms. Sorry-


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## cloudpump (Oct 20, 2015)

Is she going through a growth spurt? Is she high energy?


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## newlie (Feb 12, 2013)

What does her vet say about it?


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## LoveEcho (Mar 4, 2011)

What is her body condition like? If you're going by numbers alone, her sister is most likely overweight... 80 lbs at 5 months is huge, and most people are accustomed to seeing fat dogs as the "norm." 50 lbs is much more in the normal range. I wouldn't compare the two. Regardless, go by body condition and take into account that as puppies, leaner is better. Lay your palm flat on a table and feel the back of your knuckles- that is what her ribs should feel like. 

When you're feeding that massive a quantity of food, most of it is going undigested. 

How do you know she's hungry after she eats? Puppies (and most dogs in general) will continue to look for food, even if they're not hungry. A lot of dogs would gorge themselves if allowed, which is part of why free feeding is a bad idea. 

What kind of food are you feeding? A higher quality kibble is going to have a better nutritional value, requiring that you feed less.


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## eddie1976E (Nov 7, 2010)

At about that time, mine was eating 6 - 7 cups a day of Fromm LBP. Let's see a picture of her, maybe she is the right condition.


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## djm899 (Jan 23, 2014)

She eats Fromm Large Breed Puppy, which I believe is a high quality food.
Here's a picture...it doesn't show how skinny she is. 
But Her parents were both very tall and she is already almost as tall as her 3 year old sister. Her sister is not an actual sister...she is 3 years old, and 80 lbs.


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## djm899 (Jan 23, 2014)

One thing is she looks pretty tall, almost as tall as Luna , her 3 year old sister, who is good sized. 
I tried to get her height and length...pretty hard with a puppy! It seems to be 22" high at the front shank and 24" from her rump to the same shank. 
Her parents were huge, amybe that's it and it's normal?


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## pyratemom (Jan 10, 2011)

6-7 cups of kibble per day seems like a lot. Have you tried adding some canned salmon, cottage cheese, chicken, or coconut oil. I found adding a little salmon and cottage cheese to the 2 cups of kibble morning and evening and my 5 month old is much more satisfied. I also mix in a teaspoon of coconut oil and a teaspoon of canned pumpkin because she likes it. She is near 50 pounds now.


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## joeinca (Mar 19, 2015)

50lbs @ 5months seems pretty spot on to me. I have a 5mo old that I feed Fromm LBP 2x daily and she is at this weight too. Advice I was given was keep her lean through puppyhood and slow growth is much better for her. Not sure you have a problem to fix IMHO.


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## Palydyn (Aug 28, 2014)

Yes, Fromm LBP is good quality food. In addition to toppers like cottage cheese or yogurt as already mentioned perhaps you should consider supplements. Coconut oil is good but there are many others out there. Momto2GSD's (member here) is really knowledgeable on that. She has helped me. As I recall Rommel was eating about that amount at about that age. But he slowed down in quantity quite a bit. I think he was like 92 or 94 lbs at 10 months and still a little on the thin side but pretty tall.


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## Castlemaid (Jun 29, 2006)

Are your sure you are measuring out 2 1/2 cups per feeding? 7 1/2 cups a day seems like an insane amount.


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## Carriesue (Aug 13, 2012)

My 5 month old female is 38lbs and is eating 2 cups of the grain free LBP Fromm a day plus raw. 7 cups seems like A LOT. Is her stool normal? I might have her checked for EPI just to rule it out.

Also sometimes dogs who have trouble keeping weight on do better with grain inclusive foods. Dr. Tim's pursuit could be a good option, it's much higher in meat content, fat and calories than Fromm.


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## WIBackpacker (Jan 9, 2014)

Castlemaid said:


> Are your sure you are measuring out 2 1/2 cups per feeding? 7 1/2 cups a day seems like an insane amount.


That's kind of what I was wondering. I'm feeding a 5 month old puppy Fromm LBP right now, and she's eating closer to 3 cups per day (plus a dollop of coconut oil or bone broth, an occasional egg or raw bone, etc).

My 75lb adult maintains nicely at 2 cups of Fromm per day + eggs, some raw, and oil/broth. 

7.5 cups does seem like a very large amount.


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## djm899 (Jan 23, 2014)

I am certain that I am measuring out 21/2cups 3x a day. Maybe I'll bring her to the vet to see what they think now. But honestly , she is very thin, her stools are somewhat soft, and she is very healthy and active . It seems like a ton of food to me too, which is why I'm writing , but how could she be healthy, thin, and having too much food? If she was even normally weighted it'd be different, but she is a big string bean !


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## RobertT (Apr 21, 2012)

Helo is 6 1/2 months old now (75#) and has been on science diet Z/D since end of August. He had Giardia and suffered severe irratitable bowel. Diarrhea was bad and we think he had a beef allergy that caused vomiting as well. We were worried we were going to lose him when he lost 5 of his 55# in a week. After a hospital stay we put him on Z/D because the hydrolyzed chicken didn't cause an immune response in his bowel. I was feeding him 5-6 cups dry plus 2 cans of wet everyday. The wisdom was that the adult food had less protein than puppy food (which he couldn't handle) so he needed more of it. He needed that extra food when he was 5 months. Now he's looking much better with a normal bowel and we are feeding him about 4 1/2 - 5 cups and 1 can a day.
I did think some residual diarrhea was pehaps too much food. Bowel tolerence has to be worked on gradually like with any baby. Since then we are at 3 meals vs. the old 4 meals a day with a slightly reduced amount of food.


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