If I feed too much, does she absorb it?

I went through the same exact thing with my two.  I was overfeeding after Xerxes lost all that weight.  So once he gained back that weight I had kept overfeeding (by about a cup or so per day) and had all kinds of loose stools that confused me.  I lessened the amount per feeding and the stools firmed right back up.

It's Eukanuba Max Cal, which is why you couldn't find it.


What about making your own sort of SatinBalls out of only ingredients she can tolerate?
Can you give us a sample (here or privately) of what you typically feed her? Do you include grains at all?  You can cut out the lower-cal, lower-fat items and feed higher items, and if you are ok with it, potentially feeding grains to bulk her up (hey, they do a great job with ME!)

I'm fairly certain I miscalculated her calories.

Stacita, She gets cooked root veggies, raw other veggies, and raw meat. She's doing better, now, that she was when I cooked her meat.

Kate, The canned beaver is a FANTASTIC idea. I'd forgotten about that! Thanks!

Kim, I would be ok with grains, I suppose, if they're gluten free grains. Since she's epileptic, I do try to keep that stuff out of her diet, most of the time. I'm willing to try, though, and see how she does. She typically gets about 30% meat, with the rest veggies, and a tablespoon of oil. I've tried raising her protein levels (to raise the calories), but that didn't work for her. She's an HA dog, and she begins to display mild, neurological symptoms at 40% (meat, not protein.... surprizingly enough, she was ok with the OLD Barking At The Moon formula.... I fed the rest of that to a stray cat, though). The meat varies. She gets beef, pork, fish, turkey, eggs, venison (when I can get it), and the occasional rabbit. The veggies include potatoes, carrots, sweet peas, sweet potatoes, squash, various greens, etc.  She also gets some fruit (mostly cranberries and blueberries, to ward off UTIs). I use bonemeal for the calcium, and her chewies are things like bully sticks and Nature's Variety rabbit ears. No bones. You remember the last bone[&:]

Lori, the canned food has kelp in it, now. She was doing poorly on the kibble. She was getting four cups per day, and she was down a pound. She started pooping peices of kibble, so I quit using it.

Misskiwi, the EVO has kelp in it, and would make her protein too high[] She also only tolerates so much fat. I think, with her issues, there isn't a lot that I can do, unless Kim's idea of grains to bulk her might help. I was just wondering if diahrrea meant not processing well. I'll cut her back, so she's processing better. Too thin is fine with me, as long as she's getting the nutrition she needs and healthy. Her vets don't have a problem with her being too thin. They say she's one of the healthiest 'sick' dogs around[][]

WOW!!! That dry dog food (Eukanuba Max Cal) has 634 kcal/cup. The canned is 340 kcal in a little 6 oz can.

I'd be more than willing to try it, if it weren't chicken based. I'm going to email Eukanuba, and ask if there are any plans of a different protein source.

Jennie--Have you spoken to the vet about this?  She's eating more than Willow (50 lbs) and not able to maintain her weight at times.  I think this is more than just she's getting too much exercise.  Somethings not right. . .[sm=2cents.gif]  That Prozyme can't be working right.  She's not digesting right either. . .whole kibble. . .I don't know. 

She started pooping peices of kibble, so I quit using it.

 
So weird, my tzu used to do this as well--whole and partially undigested kibble wrapped in mucous--lovely. Same with any rice and white potato.  He also has all kinds of problems with  gluten grains, especially wheat and barley.  He has since been diagnosed IBD with colitis.  No problems since we cut out grains and now feed primarily raw.  If you do add grains to Emma's diet, maybe stick with millet and oatmeal.
 
We also cut back his exercise quite a bit, vet thought too much was overstimulating the bowels.  Seemed to work. He's still quite active, just less so.
 
 
 
 
 

Jennie--Have you spoken to the vet about this?

Yeah, lots of times. They just aren't that concerned about it. I guess it's not her biggest issue, and they figure she's living on borrowed time.

He has since been diagnosed with IBD and colitis.

That wouldn't surprize me at all. She was a parvo puppy, and has tons of allergies. I've been told by TWO nutritionists that parvo does such damage to the GI tract that it isn't uncommon for parvo pups to end up with that type of issue.

I agree that something isn't right, here. I'm just not quite sure what I can do about it, except for finding the highest calorie things and feeding them to her. I guess I could go to a digestion specialist, but, again, this is NOT her biggest issue. She seems generally 'healthy' (though we know she has huge issues), otherwise. Bloodwork, skin, coat, muscle mass, teeth, and energy levels are all fantastic. She feels good, and she's happy.

Jennie--Have you spoken to the vet about this? She's eating more than Willow (50 lbs) and not able to maintain her weight at times. I think this is more than just she's getting too much exercise. Somethings not right. . . That Prozyme can't be working right. She's not digesting right either. . .whole kibble. . .I don't know.

 
I thought the same thing.  Mine get about 3 to  3 3/4 cups a day between kibble and home cooked and they all are between 68 and 76 pounds.  I never heard of a dog going potty so fast they passed whole kibble.  Something does seem amiss.

Why not try canned baby food? You can get it in meat and veggie dinner mixes that she can tolerate. This will add calories to her meals and since everything is pureed, she should be able to digest it.

I do puree all of her veggies. Her meat is not usually pureed, but sometimes, it is. It doesn't seem to make much of a difference.

Now, for something I  thought of earlier today that might give somebody an idea...... She always gains weight when she's on metronidazole. I ran across a little bottle, with a refill on it, when I cut my finger, earlier. I'm wary of leaving her on antibiotics long term, but doesn't that calm down inflamed GI tracts?

how does she handle fat? If I want to put weight on a dog, I add extra fat to the diet, anything from fatty meats like duck and lamb, some butter or oil poured over the food. Or some cooked oats.
Also, red meat evo is incredibly high in calories per cup, not sure if it has any bad ingredients for you.

She always gains weight when she's on metronidazole. I ran across a little bottle, with a refill on it, when I cut my finger, earlier. I'm wary of leaving her on antibiotics long term, but doesn't that calm down inflamed GI tracts?

 
 
I have great luck calming the GIT with L-glutamine.  My holistic vet recommended it--helps to heal and rebuild the mucosal lining.

Jennie, one of those meds does slow down the GI - is it metronidozole? That's an interesting idea.

The beaver was GREAT but spendy []. I'm going to get more when I get paid from my last contract (if ever). [:@] It really did the trick - I was able to cut back Ben's kibble by a third with just a quarter can of teh beaver per day. And his coat, wow! Needless to say he's not allergic to beaver, by the way (whew).

Ben's eating a teeny can of holistic cat food every day now instead. I got a case of Whole Foods brand cans from Big Lots for less than a quarter a can, yay! That's working nicely too. It's hard to find cat food with no chicken, though! I was glad that most of the flavors left at Big Lots were the fishy varieties. []

Mudpuppy, she does ok with fat, but only so much. It has to be either raw, or top quality fat. Things like pet store pig ears always (even as a puppy) made her sick. I've got a few pig ears (cut into peices) roasting in the oven, for nightnight snack. I'll see how she does with those. I do buy the fattiest meats I can get my hands on, including the nastiest, cheapest ground beef I can find (I take special trips to low end grocery stores, lol, that's where I found the pig ears!). I need to find some duck... I'll keep an eye out for that. She really likes duck. I'm not sure about the EVO RM. I don't really feed dairy, especially with her being epileptic. She's not the best with kibbles, either, so I'll probably stick to cans or fresh stuff.

I'll look into l-glutamine, tzu_mom. I don't think that one's too expensive. I'll take her to the health food store, this week, and energy test her.

Becca, my mom has been giving her dog the little cans of Whole Foods dog food from Big Lots. They're just right, for him, and he really likes them. I'm going to see if I can get ahold of the canned beaver through a contact I have[] I might be able to get it for less than the going price. If so, I'll use it as the meat in her food, some weeks. I'll probably do some pricier meats, for a while. Beaver, and duck, and lamb. She didn't do so hot on lamb kibble, but she hasn't had it in years, so it's worth trying, again. Kibble and raw are two totally different things.

You may want to seriously give some thought into adding in some oatmeal to her diet, or something like that. One of my good friends has a high energy (think Rah-type) dobe that she had trouble keeping at a good weight (And financially and maybe mentally wasnt willing to feed the amount I feed him), so she added in some oatmeal and it did the trick!