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Puppy too thin

3K views 19 replies 7 participants last post by  jeffscott947 
#1 · (Edited)
My pup is one week shy of 7months old. He suddenly had a growth spurt within the last 2 weeks. He’s around 55lbs and 23”. He grew an inch just recently and I noticed today I could see his ribs where I couldn’t before. You can see them more when he lays on his side, but even standing today I could see them. I upped his dinner another 3/4 cup tonight. He’s already eating almost 5 cups of PPP large breed puppy food plus treats. I never see anyone on here feed that much usually. Is 3/4 cup extra enough, and from the pictires, how many lbs do you guys think he needs to gain? He’s been getting fed twice a day, but I’m going to start feeding 3 times. He doesn’t have worms. I’m thinking it’s because he’s growing taller...sorry for the sideways pic.
 

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#3 ·
if you can go by a drugstore and get some pyrantel pamoate (it will be in w the children's pinworm treatment) he would need a dose of +/- 275 mg for his weight. Whether it seems he has parasites or not, per fecal, he likely does have a load as most dogs have a load.
I'm not suggesting it would make him underweight to have a low parasite load but I'm suggesting it won't hurt to deworm him twice a year in this way, just because he is a dog.
Where I see him as underweight is at his tailset/hip bone and I think he needs about 5 pounds. Watch that area for protruding bone. Maybe add some good fats rather than more volume of food, like some fish oil. OR you can get a tub of Super 14 from the feed store (it'll be in the horse section) and add that to his food- it's very high calorie/low volume.
 
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#4 ·
Yes he does look a bit thin. I remember when Denver was 8-9 months suddenly got taller and looked super thin. Plus with the activity level in the summer he was burning up most of his calories. We have fed PPP SSS since he was 7 months old, and had to add another cup daily until he gained a few pounds, now that its fall, we are back to feeding 3 cups/day. Have you considered transitioning to adult food?
 
#6 ·
I’m definitely going to follow y’all’s advice! Will go now to look for the pamoate, and will add some fish oil. Is the fish oil you recommend the liquid bottles, and how much oil should I give him? I don’t think he has a sensitive stomach, but will watch for it. I was thinking of transitioning him to adult soon, but was advised against it since he was still growing. I heard if it wasn’t large breed puppy food that I should, but he’s on the large breed formula. It’s 415 calories a cup, and I do see the sport is 465 per cup, but the normal adult is 396 cals. Luckily I’m in the south and there are several horse food stores around me. I’ll go look for the super 14! Thanks so much for all the information! I feel horrible I didn’t catch this sooner. How long would y’all say it’d take for him to add another 5lbs?
 
#14 ·
#7 ·
I don't think I would give both fish oil and super 14- that's a lot of fat!
FO easier to find, Super14 has more calories.

He'll probably all of a sudden one day look heavier to you. Maybe 2 weeks or so?
And the deworming would be good idea just in case I just can't remember what the brand name is for the kiddo pinworm (look @ ingredients be sure it's pyrantel pamoate and then figure out how much to give him to get the right# mg.) I buy a large Columbia Labs bottle a year- pinworm size is much smaller.
 
#8 ·
I’m out now shopping. I went to Hollywood Feed and got the salmon oil pump. The lady’ there told me to give him 3-4 pumps per day. Does that sound about right? I’ll hold off on the super 15 then and try the oil for now. I’m still out trying to find the worm stuff. Walgreens didn’t have it, so I’ll try a couple more stores. He is taking heartguard plus, and it does have that ingredient in it. Do I need it anyway? He took his 1st dose of that a few days ago. I had had him on Advantage plus, but just switched to the heartguard.
 
#9 · (Edited)
I gave him the oil. It says for his current weight to give 3-4 shots a day mixed in his kibble. Unless you guys think otherwise, I was planning on 4 shots total and divide it between his meals. This is a pick of the heart guard ingredients. I wanted to get your advice before giving it to him. I gave him the over 50lb pill.
 

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#10 ·
Don't give another Heartgard. The pyrantel in it is not enough to do more than kill whatever they picked up that month. And you wouldn't want to give him that much ivermectin, which is the active ingredient for the HWs. That's the amount for one time a month.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Reese-s-...BO_s0ZgzeW5I07qAm1boEMH8enr1Rvj4aAgI9EALw_wcB
This is what I was thinking of, unless you want enough to dose him the rest of his life lol.
 
#11 ·
Haha! I didn’t make myself clear in my last post! I wasn’t going to give him another heartguard, but was wondering if I still needed to give him the extra +/- 275 dose since it was in the heart guard we gave him earlier this week. I’ll give him the pyrantel pamoate, but wanted to ask if I needed to give him a lesser dose. Thanks for the link!
 
#12 ·
Thought I’d give an update. The salmon oil, extra protein toppers worked. He’s filled out and we can’t see his ribs anymore. He’s almost 60lbs. Thanks much to everyone who has offered suggestions!
 

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#13 ·
Be careful about overfeeding him though -

He looks like he's going through a rough growth phase. His rear is high and more developed than his front and he's got a dippy back.

The harness as well - I would not put that on a growing puppy because I can see the negative impacts of pressure going around those elbows and shoulders. Not good.
 
#15 · (Edited)
Thanks for the advice! I had backed his kibble and oil down some this past week and will also try the sardines! I had just bought the harness a few days ago, so thankfully this is the 1st time I’ve used it. Do you think he’ll eventually look normal? I was looking at his past photos and he didn’t start looking like that until he had the 2” growth spurt in the last few weeks. I really Appreciate the comments!
 
#16 ·
Happy to hear that he is doing so much better..
Please remember with the Sardines, to only get the ones packed in water..nothing else. When I go looking for them, I have to hunt thru a ton of other cans packed in everything from mustard to oil. They also sell out fast here for some reason, so I stock up when I locate some (.the dogs go wild even at the site of those cans..). I find no difference in brands so far..Bumble Bee to Walmart Great Value brand; all seem the same..looks and contents wise..Smell too..LOL (Nose clips help)
 
#17 ·
Megora's right - he's just going through a growth spurt- I'm sure his forebody will catch up w his rear end and he'll level out at a good weight. I don't like the harness either fwiw. If you're using it because he pulls on lead, try doing some what we used to call doodling exercises, now are basically a lot of the rally exercises.. stops and starts, sudden turns the instant he begins to pull, etc.
 
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