Wworm

Hiya Pals,

I am doing better these days, keeping my food down for 1 whole week now!
My diet is slowly advancing from chicken, rice, & broth, to the addition of kibble and yogurt now. And I finally drank some water on my own today (first time in 2 weeks).

But I have a case of the skinnies. So much so, my person told me not to post a pic of my anorexic self 'else it might scare children

Yeah, it's a little weird, but even tho I am keeping everything down for a week (and making some, but very little #2), I lost almost a pound since last Thursday. I have lost ~4 pounds total since this started 2 weeks ago. We went to the vets to get weighed today, but did not see the vet. The vet tech tho thought maybe i'm not getting enough to eat?

Is it possible, basset pals, to lose weight on a chicken & rice diet? I have been on that for almost 2 weeks, because of the intermittent vomiting & diarrhea. tho we are advancing it now, because I've had neither for a week now.

my person thought she was feeding me enough. Out of curiosity (and to note for the future), how much boiled chicken/rice have peeples given their bassets per day when their tummies are sick? We were doing 2 1/2 to 3 cups/day, and that seemed like a lot. But perhaps we are wrong?

ok yeah, so here are my questions:
1. Does it make sense that I lost weight on my chicken & rice diet, as I described above? Remember I have kept all my food in me for the past week, but still ended up losing almost a pound.

2. How much boiled chicken & rice do you give your bassets/day when they are sick?

3. I've lost 4 pounds in past 2 weeks of being sick. (I am at my 9 month old weight, and I am almost 18 months now... boo hoo) It seems important to gain the weight back, are we right about that? And would peeples agree that I should gain it back as fast as I can?

On the body condition scale, I was a 3.5 and told to gain weight. Then I did, and was a 4. But now I am probably a 2 or 2.5.

4. What is the best way for me to gain the weight back? Please keep in mind that I have recent nausea/vomiting issues, so my diet is advancing slowly. but we can perhaps try to add higher fat food or is there Doggie Ensure or something like that?

5. How fast weight gain should we aim for? I am now at 34.2 lbs.

6. The vets did mention something about ultrasound again. but we would like to put it off if possible? does it sound reasonable to try the above to gain weight first, before deciding the weight loss is due to something else? also, if we do go that route, how long should we give it a try for, before deciding if it's not working...

7. are we doing anything bad, by continuing to feed lotsa food in, (i have been getting 3/4 cups of food 3-5 times/day) even with little output. we did talk about before that maybe because no fiber in chicken & rice, we shouldn't be expecting much output? also if there is a partial obstruction somewhere, which apparently is a possibility... is it problematic to keep eating a lot? we aren't sure about the partial obstruction thing, because no more vomiting and i am pretty energetic... any thoughts on this appreciated.

so many questions!!! well, we did not talk to the vet today to be able to ask them... and we thought maybe peeples here will know.

Thanks basset pals,
Worm

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see what the Worm is up to: http://bassetworm.blogspot.com/

eclairs mom

Hiya Worm; when Ethel came home she wasn't eating much because of being sick. Ground turkey and rice was pretty much it. Dr C told us that it was good because it was a bland diet and her intestinal tract was upset, but as soon as we could we needed to get her to eat a high quality dog food for more nutrition. Her switch over came quickly once she started to feel better, and she gained 3 lbs in 10 days once she was eated.

Ettie was at 20.2 when pulled for rescue, gained a total of 9lbs now and was just shy of 30 last vet visit. She is all ribs and spine and needs another 10-15 to be healthy

barneysmom2510

When Barney was on chicken and rice for his tummy he had trouble gaining weight also. Some people were even rude enough to comment on how skinny he was. Once the diarrhea stopped and he went back on a normal diet he caught up quickly to where he should be. The diarrhea really keeps the weight off.

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-LISA


Mini daschunds Sadie Lou & Daisy dukes
Chihuahua Lola
Bassett Hound Barney

henry'smum

Dont rush weight gain!!!! Its the best way to upset your tummy Wormie!!! Ask mum to start adding a handful of puppy kibble into every meal she gives you which should get your tummy used to having something substantial in it rather than over filling it all at once.
You know how Hen looks like a racing basset? Well He weighs 46lb so i can imagine how your looking as you too are so alike. Stick with chicken and rice and add kibble and lets see how you are feeling then ....oh and Yeah for drinking water!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Annie714

Yeah I think I remember reading some of our more knowledgeable members saying that to put weight on a skinny basset you should feed them what they would eat at their ideal weight. I think that's what they said...I'm sure they'll be along to correct me lol.

I still think that the chicken and rice is so easily digested that there wouldn't be much output if that were all he eats. I think Henry's mum's idea of adding a bit of kibble with each feeding, gradually increasing til you're back to just kibbles would be the best route to take. Maybe add in a fiber source, pumpkin, sweet potato, peas, cooked carrots, green beans, etc.

Drinking water on your own Wormie?! Good job!!!

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Blog about the antics of Annie and I. http://thechickandthehound.blogspot.com

smitte21

Yeah I'd try adding the kibble in. Don't go too crazy trying to get the weight back on him as it will come as his system regulates itself better but getting him on regular food will help.

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paisleysmom

Wworrmmie we are all happy you are getting back to your oldself (sent you an e-mil this morn) -- I agree with what everyone is saying -- a chicken and rice diet will settle that upset tummy but there is not much in way of nutrition in it for the long span...no wonder you are loosing weight ...BUT remember slow and steady wins the race... just a bit of kibbles until your tummy gets used to it.....before we know it you will be back to wanting to eat everything in sight!
My Mom is having a particularly BAD day ...... sisters student in her play slept in so she had to drive 30 miles to pick him up in a blizzard... couln't see the end of her car..ran into some nut in front of her with a big truck ...he chewed her up and spit her out again even tho there was no damage to anyone....then couldn't stop at another 2 red lights and had to slide thu those... all of this while driving about 15 miles per hour... with a new all wheel drive car.... she now wants to sell the car and buy back her old one..... the GOOD news is the kid made the play and the play is good.....Thanks for listening ....she had to share with someone since Dad is out!!!!

Mikey T

Annie is 100% correct! The best way is simply to feed the amount of food as you would for wwormy if he weighed what he is suppose to you do not want fast weight gain. you may want to up it slightly from what you were feeding if you want to get him to a 4.5 As I understand he is on a large breed puppy formula and at or near a year old? if that is correct and you are/were having trouble maintaining weight look at the analysis of protein and fat on the large breed puppy food if 28 or below on protein an 12 or below on fat I would consider either switching to a adult dog performance food with higher protein and fat numbers or a regular puppy food. At this stage of development the calcium levels are not as critical because: 1. there is much less bone growth and 2. when a puppy is young their bodies can not adjust the blood cacium levels as they mature they get better at it . Adult dogs can hand quite a large spread in calcium numbers.

Something else to look at on the bag of food is calories per cup some times its kilocalories per cup this is how energy dense the food is by volume so with a food that has a higher calorie count you can get more calories in the same volume which if the dog is not eating enough on it own to maintain a healthy weight can help. Fat and protein is were it at for weight gain higher prtein numbers are required to support muscle growth and dogs are much better at utilizing fat than carbs as a fuel source and fat is much more colirical dense as well.

as for how much to feed of boild rice and chicken IMHO the rice should be measure dried that gets a more appropriate equivelent to kibble keep in mind boiled rice has a huge amount of water. hence why I think you noticed much less dirnking from WWorm he was geeting the moisture need for the food same thing happen with dogs feed a canned food diet they tend to drink a lot less water than those dogs that eat kibble. Boild chicken and rice is much less dence in term of calories than kibble so the dog needs substantial more. When the dog is feeling better adding a tablespoon or two of vegitable oil will help as well

Wworm

Hiya Basset Pals~ thanx for all the really good advice! and we felt bettah hearing that i could lose weight on my chicken & rice diet, yeah, that's probably it. now it makes sense to us-- it helps the tummy, but doesn't really help w/weight gain. ah ha! k, i'm tolerating my kibbles today, so that is a good sign. it's getting mixed in with my "chicken stew."

and righto (thanx Annie & everyone!)... no fast weight gain. i guess we were thinkin' that because i recently & rapidly lost the weight, should gain it back fast (as opposed to a dog who has been low weight for some time), but glad we know what to do now.

Ethel! only 20 lbs. so glad u r doing bettah.

Mikey, thanx for explaining the labels. we will take a look (haha, but the bag is gone. everything's in containers because of those moffs from a couple months ago). we looked at the label & tried to understand them before and it was like reading a foreign language so we gave up. now we know what to look for.

Paisee!!! oh NO. pleeeaz tell your person sister to beee careful out there! driving in a blizzard in icy conditions is soooo scary! she musta scared your Ma, Paisee! and you too. oh yes, maybe she should go back to a car that WORKS in road conditions like that... do be careful! silly student who didn't go to skewl.

i's on the mend methinks. my person took a few pics tonite & i'll share them.
--Worm

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see what the Worm is up to: http://bassetworm.blogspot.com/

Boomer's Mom

Worm, momma said to tell you she is glad you are doing better. She was VERY WORRIED about you (ok, me too!).

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Boomer: Born 4/18/2010
Biscuit: Rescued 1/26/12, approx. 2 yo

Chez Basset: Come for the kibble, stay for the belly rubs.