Suggestion for putting weight on an old dog

[RiderWriter]

My darling heart dog Sunny is a 14 y.o. Springer Spaniel (yes, I am very, very lucky to have her still with me!). Despite having increased the amount of her twice-daily high quality kibble I noticed she was looking a bit thin starting about a year ago. I upped her kibble and started adding (quality) canned food to the evening meal. She maintained okay for a while like that and then started looking skinny again. I changed food to a high-protein kibble and fed more of that. Six months ago I was really starting to see ribs so I upped kibble yet again and am now adding canned food to both feedings. This helped - she doesn’t look horrible - but I don’t like that I can feel her backbone.

At this point I feel like the amount of kibble she’s getting is pretty much all her tummy will hold at one time without making her barf. I’m treating her multiple times a day with various biscuits and chicken jerky and giving her yogurt at bedtime. She eats everything I put in front of her, gladly, though it takes her longer to chew breakfast and dinner than it used to (I moisten with chicken broth).

The vet doesn’t have much to offer on this topic - she suggested puppy kibble but the kind I’ve found is the same protein level as the food she’s already on.

My pup (thanks to Corta-Flx Crumbles, which I just mentioned in another thread) gets around very well and is happy, bright-eyed and energetic. She is on several prescription meds (enalapril, levothyroxine and Proin). We’ve tested her thyroid levels nine ways to Sunday and they are perfect, so I really don’t think it’s that.

I’d rather not add fish oil as I’ve tried salmon-based kibble and salmon canned food and they make her breath worse that it already is. (Can’t do a dental due to heart murmur)

Any suggestions to help add some muscle back on? Or is this just an “old dog thing?”

[supaflyskye]

How many calories per cup are in the food she’s currently on?
If possible, you may want to look into switching to something higher in calories.

I feed my girl (who has historically always had a stupidly fast metabolism, though now at 6 it is beginning to slow w/ age) Canidae “All Life Stages” dry food, which is a fantastic ‘bang for your buck’ quality wise & nutrition wise. It’s a good food, w/ good ingredients, contains about 470cal/cup (468cal IIRC), & a 40lb bag is only about ~$55 from Chewy.
Some of the really high end foods have per cup calorie counts into the 500s.

[pony_baloney]

https://www.amazon.com/Dyne-High-calorie-supplement-ounce/dp/B00061MRZE

Or make Satin Balls: http://www.holisticdog.org/Nutrition/Satinballs/satinballs.html

[sisu27]

Satin Balls or cottage cheese. My worry with Satin Balls is pancreatitis so don’t go crazy.

Tripe is good as well. It can be found fresh or in a can. It does stink but doesn’t linger in their mouths like fish.

[Angela_Freda]

Emma Lou who is 14 plus 2 next month gets 3 or 4 feedings a day, of the same total daily amount, just smaller meals.
Because she is wonky behind, I don’t really want more weight on her, but I do want her getting the food she needs to maintain and have energy.

Puppy food might be more easily metabolized/digested? That might be why it was suggested? Ie she will get more out of it?

My other two [9 and 12 y.o.] get a Wellactin capsule once daily. I’m not sure it’s a lot of calories, but it does have anti-inflammatory properties, and is good for skin/coat and a few extra calories. Emma won’t eat them cause they are mint flavored- go figure! I have no idea why a Vet product for dogs that is fishy would be ‘mint flavored’. But maybe that is a plus for your situation?

[RiderWriter]

Thanks everybody! I will look into these options. (Except for tripe, which I accidentally ate ONCE and instantly decided was the absolute worst thing I’ve tasted in my entire life. *shudder :lol:)

[sisu27]

Well I wasn’t suggesting you eat it lol! If the human grade tripe was revolting you would really hate the dog tripe omg it stinks! Dogs go mental for it however and it is very good for them.

@Angela Freda all my dogs have loved mint! My last Dobe was a terrible thief and was always stealing the horses mints. Didn’t matter where he was on the farm when he heard that mint jar jangle he would come flying in! I always thought it was odd that mine love mint so much but maybe most dogs do.

[Angela_Freda]

@sisu27

Well I wasn’t suggesting you eat it lol! If the human grade tripe was revolting you would really hate the dog tripe omg it stinks! Dogs go mental for it however and it is very good for them.

@Angela Freda all my dogs have loved mint! My last Dobe was a terrible thief and was always stealing the horses mints. Didn’t matter where he was on the farm when he heard that mint jar jangle he would come flying in! I always thought it was odd that mine love mint so much but maybe most dogs do.

It’s funny, she’s a pleaser, and will normally eat what I ask her to [and of course what I wish she wouldn’t]… but mint fish oil is a definite ‘no’ for her.
I’m not sure the JRT tastes her food, so… and the Beagle is so grateful to have meals she wouldn’t dream of protesting.

[D_BaldStockings]

If you are looking for higher protein, you can supplement with meat of any kind - pork or chicken seems high value to mine: I can get frozen chicken hindquarters for .50 / pound. If no teeth, get high fat ground hamburger when it goes on sale or is close to expiration date for half price.
If you are looking for calorie dense to add weight, then think fats: beef suet, chicken skins, lard, butter, swiss cheese, peanut butter… ask for trim at the meat counter.
Eggs are good protein and good fat and very digestible.

a very high protein high fat dog food is Victor Ultra Pro 42 Grain-Free Dry
https://www.chewy.com/victor-ultra-pro-42-grain-free-dry/dp/120708

[D_BaldStockings]

If your dog hasn’t been wormed recently, I would look into that, too.

[S1969]

I would also not discount the very real possibility that she is losing weight because there is something else going on with her. The vet didn’t want to run any labs? That would be my next step.

She may be losing condition and just won’t look as muscular as she did, but I’d be checking her organ function too.