please dear gappers help

[animalslave]

As you may know my two greyhounds are my first. I'm only twenty and as such not very experienced but I love my dogs and would do anything for them so I'm asking for help.
what's the best way to help a greyhound put on weight?
My dogs recently haven't been very well for a couple of months. They have had repeated vet trips and are now all better and have been given the all clear by the vets but while they weren't very well they lost a lot of weight through dire rear and not feeling well enough to eat. They are still running round like mad things on their walks and energetic in the house but they are now underweight and however much I feed them they don't seem to be putting any on.
any ideas will be great fully appreciated.
Thankyou in advance

[Jo&Chris]

Hi, glad our hounds are on the mend What are you currently feeding?

[Letty's Mum]

So glad they're feeling fit and well now.
Not much advice on feeding. Other peeps know more about that than me.
Have they been wormed recently though? I would be tempted to worm them both if they're not putting weight on
Helen x

[gazer]

When Cara came here she was very underweight from kennel stress, I gave her 2 meals like the others were having but until her weight was normal I stuck another slightly smaller meal in around the middle of the day, added pasta in too.

These hounds always seem to lose weight at an alarming rate when something is wrong or through illness, but it can take a while for it to come back on, especially if they are quite energetic.

Glad to hear they are both fighting fit again

[andywillow]

We had a very poorly dog here who was very underweight, I made her get fat loaves!!

Cheap mince (higher fat content), mixed with oats, oil, eggs. I think as I remember I used 500g of mince, 3 eggs, a good handful of oats and a splodge of vegetable oil.

I used to add it to her kibble and it really did the trick.

Glad your hounds are better now, I agree with Jacqui, give them an extra meal a day, pasta is good too.

[lilypie]

I have been struggling with harrys appetite and weight for a while and and have been giving him the loaf that andywilow suggested, he loves it

[andywillow]

Aug 2, 2013 14:59:10 GMT -5 lilypie said:

I have been struggling with harrys appetite and weight for a while and and have been giving him the loaf that andywilow suggested, he loves it

Oh glad he likes it Helen, it does go down well here! Roy also had some when he lost weight, he loved it too!

[animalslave]

Thank you everyone
I'm feeding dry kibble in the morning and evening and rice or pasta with boneless chicken in the middle of the day.
Thanks Helen it's a relief they have been wormed within the last week. I worm them regularly just incase.
Thanks andywillow I will pop and get some eggs tomorrow and give that a go. I never thought of anything like that
Thank you again everyone I really appreciate it I'll keep you all updated on how they are doing
Jo x

[andywillow]

Aug 2, 2013 16:35:35 GMT -5 animalslave said:

Thank you everyone
I'm feeding dry kibble in the morning and evening and rice or pasta with boneless chicken in the middle of the day.
Thanks Helen it's a relief they have been wormed within the last week. I worm them regularly just incase.
Thanks andywillow I will pop and get some eggs tomorrow and give that a go. I never thought of anything like that
Thank you again everyone I really appreciate it I'll keep you all updated on how they are doing
Jo x

What kibble are you feeding them?

[animalslave]

It's wagg beef and veg because they refuse to eat any of the others :/

[julies]

Hmmm I'm not a nutritionist but I like to be sure what I feed my dogs is as good for them as I can afford. If you look at Wagg's ingredients you'll find there are lots of cereal in it and look for the 'preservatives' BHT and BHA also known as E320, E324 and E321 - these have been found to cause cancer in dogs and people, greys are often 'intolerant' to beef and rice )and other things like chicken etc etc).. I always check the protein level - racing dogs are fed foods with protein of more than 20 per cent whereas the greyhound maintenance feeds are less than 20 per cent so ... I would logically think .. if your food is high in protein, high in E numbers and colours and high in sugars (I understand Chappie is but not sure about Wagg but .. ) plus possibly your dogs are a little intolerant to some thing in it (tho actually don't need to be with the other 'possibles' ) then it maybe making them, too hper so they run off any weight they put on.

If you want to feed a kibble then Burns Pork and Potato is excellent and a very ethical feed, Wainwrights I think do a Salmon and Potato which would be worth trying to see if a lower protein plus moving away from beef and rice helps, you could add lamb if you can get a reasonable priced raw .. check out Pets at Home if you can't find a local raw meat supplier, lamb is fatty meat. Add a bit of extra pasta and split their daily ration into 3 feeds and add another third until they get to a good weight. I've found Yumega Boost has really helped my girls coat and weight gain - you get it on the Internet and it costs about £20 for 8 weeks supply for one medium greyhound, it's helped Lucy's coat too so now I've got her 'right' I've stopped the Boost and just feed her Yumega Show dog (very rich in Omega Oils) which would help weight gain and their coat.

There was a great receipe on here somewhere for putting on weight - a friend did it for hers and was very impressed ... it's hopefully at the top of a thread somewhere I think it's called Golden Balls or similar LOL

The book by Kris Owen - A La Bark Baking has lots of good receipes too, it's only £7.99 and a donation is made to greys and lurcher rescue ..
Good luck with them

Julie

[samburns]

Jo I hope Mayday and Murphy are starting to put some weight on and are both feeling much better

We also feed Wagg and if anything I've found its one of the foods that keeps weight on them best.  Hopefully combining their kibble with Sue's recipe, additional meals and/or upping the quantities slightly will get the weight back on them  


We stopped feeding Wagg a couple of years ago when the colours started resembling Bakers and were feeding them PAH worker which suited them.  We changed back to Wagg recently because the PAH worker was never in stock.  We now give them Wagg worker beef & veg, which they all really like and again seems to be really suiting them.  I've a feeling it has changed since we last fed it as it doesn't look the same to how I remember it! 

TBH I've looked at and bought more expensive brands over the years but when you start looking into the ingredients many of the more expensive ones IMO are not that much higher quality ingredients to justify the price......and personally I think you've just got to find something that suits your dogs.  ie the protein content in the Wagg worker is 22%, higher than what is generally recommended for greys but they are not bouncing off the walls, they are all just as lazy as ever!  I know its not nutritionally the best food out there but they are all healthy on it.


Julie can you point me in the direction of where the info on the Wagg ingredients comes from because looking on the packaging and googling I can't find it and would like a nosey

[jodav]

Have a look at www.dogfoodanalysis.com - defines and gives advice on ingredients such as 'meat meal' and 'wheatfeed' the BHT and BHA that Julie mentions and other controversial fillers. There are reviews of numerous dried foods with pros and cons for each. We feed Wainwrights and try to buy a couple of large bags when it is on special offer. It is a worry when your dog is a fussy eater and hopefully your dogs will put on weight and thrive with the advice already given.

Jo

[julies]

Also check out www.canine-health.concern dot co dot uk I think but Google it .. lots of info on there too ...

Fish4DOgs have done a nice little leaflet on They are What They Eat ..

Julie x

[animalslave]

I've tried burns and wainrights and a company which uses fish can't remember the name. The only ones they will eat is wagg and the dreaded bakers (they stole it from neighbours dog) so I've been trying to feed the better of the two :/ I'd love to give them a food thats better for them but they'll starve because they will happily go without food if they don't like it and while they are underweight I can't go through the stress of letting them leave it till they are hungry enough because they'll loose more weight :/