No Obvious Weight Gain for Pigeon?

[ArtGypsy]

I was wondering how long should it take to have 'visible' evidence of weight gain?

(I don't have a scale at home).

Over all I can see that her skin condition has improved dramatically, but

Dar gets two cups a day of food and looks great.

Currently, I'm giving Pigeon 3 cups of TOTW Pacific Stream. *just checked the back (duh) and it says up to 3 1/4 cups a day for her age/weight)

Have never had a seriously underweight dog before.....

With having her on a grain free , fish Diet, I can't do satin balls....


any ideas guys?

[LMM]

I would just up her amount by feeding her in more frequent smaller meals. So instead of feeding her 3 cups per day, you can feed her 4 cups but 4-5 times per day instead of 2 or 3.

[BigDogBuford]

It takes some time.

[Malli]

she might just be a leaner dog, too...
I had a few people (non vet people) tell me Oscar was too skinny when he was younger, and he was free fed! Just the way he was.

[Malli]

how skinny is she?

[amazincc]

Faust only gets 2 1/2 cups a day, which is way under the recommended amount on the bag. He's about 75+ pounds, and while he isn't fat by any means he could probably stand to even lose a few pounds without it affecting him adversely health-wise.
Faust often acts like he's starving... but he's not. As evidenced by the green beans he manages to pick out and leave in a neat circle around his food dish lately...

What did the vet say about her weight?
In the pics you posted she did not look too terribly skinny to me.
How long has she been on TOTW? A week or so?

I would not do anything drastic to "fatten her up"... give her system some time to adjust to all the changes, and let the meds do their job on her skin/ear infection. Unless she's losing weight I would not be too concerned... dogs are supposed to have a waist.

[amazincc]

Can you post a good pic of her, standing up, showing her from the side?

[LMM]

Yea, good idea. I don't remember what her pics look like other than I remember her being super cute! I'll have to go back and look now.

[Malli]

yea, pic of her standing over top of her looking straight down, and from the side of her standing...

[TheRedQueen]

I'm with Christine...I don't remember her looking terribly underweight either. It will take some time to gain...because you want muscle, not just fat.

[hugapitbull]

I use a tape measure to keep track of Trouble. Measure the waist close to the hips. You can tell quickly whether or not you need to adjust. I keep Trouble about 23" which is about 56 pounds for her.

Once when I had her at the vet I had them get an accurate weight and then I went home and measured, so I would know how inches corresponded to the weight Dr F desired.

[ArtGypsy]

THANKS Guys........
I haven't been home since I posted the query, so I'll get a good picture of her tomorrow....

I THINK she's too thin. I can still see her ribs clearly and she looks pitiful to me.

(And I do understand that dogs aren't supposed to be as 'plump' as the average owner believes they should be; but REALLY. She's Thin).

And I wondered about her body/metabolism just needing time to recover; it's still fighting the infection and inflammation.


I've had her on TOTW for....TWO weeks come Monday...! (don't have a calendar here with me)
So Yeah...(nodsnodsnodsnods) she probably just needs time, and she will probably be on the lean side.

[amazincc]

And I wondered about her body/metabolism just needing time to recover; it's still fighting the infection and inflammation.


I've had her on TOTW for....TWO weeks come Monday...! (don't have a calendar here with me)
So Yeah...(nodsnodsnodsnods) she probably just needs time, and she will probably be on the lean side.

Yeah, you really can't expect to undo in two weeks what has been her "way of life" all this time... you know?
She's in a good place now, but think "baby steps" for her recovery.

[TheRedQueen]

Don't just judge by ribs either...I like to see some ribs on my guys (well, on the hairless ones that is...). I go by backbone and hip bones more than seeing riblets.

A nice easy way to figure out weight: hold your hand out, palm down. Feel the knuckles on your hand (the last ones, where your fingers join to your hands) with your other fingers. Then make a fist with the outstretched hand...feel those knuckles again. Then open the hand and flip it palm side up and feel the knuckles again. The first one should be what the dog's backbone *should* feel like. The second one...the dog is too skinny (you can feel individual knobs of the backbone). The third one...the dog is too fat...too much flesh over the backbone.

[pitbullmamaliz]

I think even that varies by dog. Inara's is pretty prominent, especially when she's curled up, but she's not underweight.

[TheRedQueen]

I think even that varies by dog. Inara's is pretty prominent, especially when she's curled up, but she's not underweight.

Yeah, but I find it a good one, other than just using ribs as a judge. And if you feel the knuckles the proper way, you *should* feel some backbone. Score's is readily visable too when he curls up. But...really the best, imho is hip bones...you really shouldn't see hipbones unless you're a saluki or an anorexic model or something.

[pitbullmamaliz]

I absolutely agree with the hipbones. I've never seen them on a healthy dog.

[mnp13]

Connor has backbone sticking up even when he's fat.

When we took him in he weighed 34 pounds, it took us four weeks to put ten pounds on him. Go s-l-o-w

[ArtGypsy]

I absolutely agree with the hipbones. I've never seen them on a healthy dog.

I think I can see hip bones....
DEF. feels NOBBY along her backbone....

[amazincc]

Post some pics!

Does the vet think she's severely underweight? I would think that had to have come up in conversation, right?