# Puppy Underweight, But Adding Food Brings Diarrhea



## infinite loop (Dec 14, 2010)

UGH, so frustrating. Maximus is a little over 5 months old now and only weighs in at 52lbs. His frame is obviously built for a much larger dog. He's so bony to the touch, and you can make out all of his ribs when he's walking.. the poor guy looks like he's starved. 

He's been looked at for parasites, everything is good. He gets 3 cups of Blue Buffalo Large Puppy twice a day (total of 6 cups per day) which he scarfs in no time at all. I will also add a pump of salmon oil to every other meal. Still, he won't gain any weight. If I add even the tiniest amount of kibble (say an additional 1/8 of a cup) he starts having diarrhea - it's almost as if he can only take in a certain amount of volume before his digestive track gets weird. I deal with the diarrhea by taking him down to 4-5 cups of kibble and adding one cup of rice for 2-3 days, that fixes him right up. 

Is there anything I can do to sneak in calories for him? He's a perfectly healthy dog otherwise.. coat looks great, energy level is up, but he's perpetually underweight. Any ideas would be appreciated.


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## carmspack (Feb 2, 2011)

provide a picture .


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## fuzzybunny (Apr 29, 2011)

His weight sounds normal for his age so a picture would be helpful. When you tried increasing his food did you add it in as an extra meal? Sometimes more food divided into smaller meals helps. I understand your frustration though because my guy is almost two and was underweight up until 1.5 months ago. How are the size and what is the frequency of his bowel movements? Are they normal in color? I'm asking because if they are huge then that could be an indication that he's not absorbing all the nutrients and stuff that he needs which would explain why he's underweight.


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## infinite loop (Dec 14, 2010)

these pictures don't do a good job of conveying how skinny he is. i do think though you can see a disparity between his head/shoulders and the rest of his body. his ribcage as you see it is all bone, there isn't any fat or muscle around them. you can feel each individual rib, to the point where it feels gross. you can also see all of the ribs, very clearly, when he is walking. 




























for a reference, here is his dad:


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## Verivus (Nov 7, 2010)

Impressive looking dad. He does look thin and could use some more weight. I would up the food intake more, spread throughout the day, since you said medical issues were ruled out.


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## infinite loop (Dec 14, 2010)

fuzzybunny said:


> His weight sounds normal for his age so a picture would be helpful. When you tried increasing his food did you add it in as an extra meal? Sometimes more food divided into smaller meals helps. I understand your frustration though because my guy is almost two and was underweight up until 1.5 months ago. How are the size and what is the frequency of his bowel movements? Are they normal in color? I'm asking because if they are huge then that could be an indication that he's not absorbing all the nutrients and stuff that he needs which would explain why he's underweight.


his stools are actually fairly small, and he alternates from having normal poops and soft serve stool.


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## infinite loop (Dec 14, 2010)

Verivus said:


> Impressive looking dad. He does look thin and could use some more weight. I would up the food intake more, spread throughout the day, since you said medical issues were ruled out.


thanks. 

any suggestions as to how to increase the intake? perhaps add an additional 1/8 cup every couple of days?


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## Verivus (Nov 7, 2010)

I would add another cup per day and go from there.


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

Since he has diarrhea when you add food, how about switching to a food with a higher calorie count? He does look pretty skinny but that age is so hard to keep weight on when they are growing so fast.


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## Franksmom (Oct 13, 2010)

Frank had the same problem with puppy food to feed him enough of the puppy food to keep the right amount of weight on him, gave him diarrhea so what I did was give him the amount of puppy food he could handle with out having bad stools and the extra food he needed for the weight I used adult dog food, So say he needed 6 cups of food totaly I would give him 4 cups of puppy and 2 cups of adult. I switched him totally to adult food at about 10 months.


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## infinite loop (Dec 14, 2010)

Jax08 said:


> Since he has diarrhea when you add food, how about switching to a food with a higher calorie count? He does look pretty skinny but that age is so hard to keep weight on when they are growing so fast.


bb large puppy is 450 calories per cup, any suggestions for a more calorically dense food?


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## infinite loop (Dec 14, 2010)

just a quick update. over the course of the last week, I've been slowly adding in oatmeal and additional kibble into the diet. i began adding 1/6 cup of the oats and kibble into each of his meals, and started gently increasing the amount each day. 

we're now up to 1/3 cup of additional kibble and 1/3 cup of oats in each meal. poop still has form, but you can tell it's soft. i'm going to continue to add food at a very cautious rate and see how he does. 

here's a pic from yesterday.. such a handsome mug! i need to get the rest of his body to look as good as his head/shoulders


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## sable123 (Jul 11, 2010)

infinite loop said:


> bb large puppy is 450 calories per cup, any suggestions for a more calorically dense food?


 
Yes. Dr. Tim's Pursuit. Dr. Tim's Pursuit is 4100 per kilo.

It is not always accurate to judge the calories by the cup go by the calories per Kilo, BB at 3500 per Kilo is not impressive and the fat content is very low for a dog that thin. 

Others would be Annamaet Ultra, Precise Endurance, Euk 30/20 & Pro Pac High Performance.


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## schatzi14 (Sep 29, 2005)

infinite loop said:


> his stools are actually fairly small, and he alternates from having normal poops and soft serve stool.


I know you said he was tested for parasites...but I'd have them re-check for giardia. My male was always hungry, would never gain weight and normal to soft serve stool. Giardia is pretty hard to detect...he was 5 mos. old. Gave him the medicine and he never had a problem with weight or poop again.


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## infinite loop (Dec 14, 2010)

sable123 said:


> Yes. Dr. Tim's Pursuit. Dr. Tim's Pursuit is 4100 per kilo.
> 
> It is not always accurate to judge the calories by the cup go by the calories per Kilo, BB at 3500 per Kilo is not impressive and the fat content is very low for a dog that thin.
> 
> Others would be Annamaet Ultra, Precise Endurance, Euk 30/20 & Pro Pac High Performance.


Thanks. I grabbed a bag of Eukanuba 30/20 yesterday. I'll be adding 1/3 cup to his bb and see how he reacts.


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## carmspack (Feb 2, 2011)

check for whip worm , 

this dog is definitely scrawny looking , too much tuck , hip bones prominent, no resources should he go off his feed, or become ill.

I think this is malabsorption and would recommend a probiotic .

He is a calm dog or does he tear around?

Instead of adding grains and oatmeal why not give your dog some hemp hearts , full of easily digested plant based protein , essential fatty acids and minerals. I would supplement with spiurlina and kelp , give the dog minerals , probiotics and essential fatty acids .

If you have a picture of the dam that would be helpful . Her condition has a greater impact on the pup then the sire would. 

Carmen
Carmspack Working German Shepherd Dogs


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## infinite loop (Dec 14, 2010)

carmspack said:


> check for whip worm


via fecal sample?



> I think this is malabsorption and would recommend a probiotic .


any one in particular?



> He is a calm dog or does he tear around?


he's out of his mind crazy.. almost as bad, if not worse than my lab when it comes to energy level. 



> Instead of adding grains and oatmeal why not give your dog some hemp hearts , full of easily digested plant based protein , essential fatty acids and minerals. I would supplement with spiurlina and kelp , give the dog minerals , probiotics and essential fatty acids .


i give him salmon oil for efa's. i tried giving him nupro but that gave him really runny stool. i give him the oats because i have some on hand, and i figured the fiber would help. 

is there a lone supplement that will do all of what you're recommending, or would i be looking at getting them all? 

here's a picture of his mom - it's small, but you can tell she's not skin and bones like my little guy.


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## sable123 (Jul 11, 2010)

infinite loop said:


> Thanks. I grabbed a bag of Eukanuba 30/20 yesterday. I'll be adding 1/3 cup to his bb and see how he reacts.


Do that for a few days but after that don't mix foods. In 2 weeks he will look better. 

That food is very good for hard-keepers.


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## BR870 (May 15, 2011)

Nothing wrong with a young pup being skinny. As long as they are putting on weight, skinny is actually good. It keeps stress off the growing joints, and helps prevent them from growing too fast. Several studies have shown a correlation between eating too much and hip dysplasia.

6 cups sounds like way too much BTW. Abbie is getting 1.25 cups twice per day of Wellness Complete LB&S plus treats at training. I got that amount from the vet, and two online calculators confirmed a similar amount. Abbie is 5 months, and she's only 40lbs btw.

This online calc says a pup the size and age of yours should be 3.5 cups total per day of BB large breed puppy...

Dog Food Calculator


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## WVGSD (Nov 28, 2006)

sent you a private message


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## infinite loop (Dec 14, 2010)

another quick update. he's up to 2 cups of the blue buffalo large breed puppy and 1 cup of eukanuba 30/20 twice a day. he's still skinny, but getting a tad better. his poops transition from mud pies, to formed (but soft)


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## kr16 (Apr 30, 2011)

Natural balance synergy formula is amazing. Its made for the poops, lol. My dog gets a small amout of it each day mixed with his regular food and we have had no issues. My moms jack russel has colitis and just switched to this and its like a miracle food. 

To everyone complaining about pudding poops that food is the answer.

My pups 13 weeks gets 2 cups of natural balance ltd duck and about one cup of the synergy. Was on a vet science diet high fiber canned just a couple of teaspoons a day, weaned him off that crap and all is still amazing.


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## infinite loop (Dec 14, 2010)

Another update.. he's maintaining 2 cups of bb large puppy and 1 1/3 cup of eukanuba 30/20 twice a day. He's slowly starting to fill up and his poops are nearly solid. Thanks everyone for your help, I think we've turned the corner! I'm going to take him in to get weighed on Friday.. I think he's probably put on a good ~5-8lbs since his last weighing a month ago.


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