Is a Puppy Formula Better than Adult for Puppy that needs to gain weight?

[Adrianne Matzkin]

My newest GrandDoodle, Nina, is literally skin and bones under her coat. She was very ill with bordetella and then a bad UTI due to the heavy dose of antibiotics. Now that she is 100% healthy we are very concerned about her weight. She was dehydrated when she was sick so we were adding lots of water to her kibble which worked for the dehydration and since she drank the water first it stopped her from inhaling her kibble, she does not chew it. We are not sure if  she inhales the kibble because she was obviously underfed or if that is just how she eats. We had the 

in her bowl but the little stinker immediately figured out how to toss it out of her bowl with her nose.

She is eating the same kibble as the rest of the pack, Wellness Core Grain Free Reduced Fat, but she does get more - obviously not the right food for her.

So - do we go with a Puppy Formula or just Adult Formula?  We are planning on staying with the Wellness Core Grain Free unless we should be giving her something better for her weight gain. Just thought staying within the same type of food would be easier on her tummy. She needs to gain app 5 lbs. She just night have the skinny body type but this skinny just isn't normal.  

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

First, I would ask the vet to assess her weight. What looks too skinny to us is often exactly right in terms of health. If her overall health is good now, I would not be concerned if she is thin. It also takes time to gain weight, just as it does to lose weight. It's always better for any dog to be a little too thin than a little too fat, as long as there is no medical reason for the thinness.

That said, a reduced fat formula is absolutely the wrong thing for a dog who needs to gain weight. The only way to gain weight is to consume more calories than you burn. It doesn't have anything to do with Puppy formula versus Adult formula, it's just plain numbers. In this case, the Core puppy formula has 417 calories per cup and the regular adult formula has 421 calories per cup- almost identical. So it really doesn't matter which one you use. However, the reduced fat formula has only 360 calories per cup, so not a good choice for putting on weight, which of course is why that formula is for dogs who need to lose weight, lol.

If she likes peanut butter, you might give her some of that in a Kong in between meals to get some extra calories into her. There is almost no food on earth that is more calorie dense than peanut butter. 

[Adrianne Matzkin]

Thanks Karen!! Peanut butter and her Kong is perfect for her!!
You can feel between each vertebrae, nit just the ribs. She already gained 3 lbs even when she wad so sick. He does want her to gain more. We will get regular adult food for her and Charli.

[Dianne Carter ~ Trinity Doodles]

Hi Adrianne,

Glad to hear your little one is now on the mend.  I would presume since she has been at the vet and being treated they also feel she needs to gain a little weight but do agree with Karen that should be the first thing to confirm.  Also as Karen said that it takes time to put on healthy weight gain. 

Is Nina a puppy?  Most of the quality puppy formulas are denser in good fats than adult formulas and even if you did not feed her exclusively puppy perhaps you can supplement her food with something like Orijen puppy.  One of our boys sometimes gets very lean when we have had girls in heat here (one track mind induced hunger strike) and we have very often brought his appetite and weight back up by giving him Orijen puppy food for a short time.  I also supplement him with either Ziwi Peak or Real Meats air dried meats and sometimes a meal of raw in between his other meals. 

We use some of these same protocols when we need to provide our new moms with more nutritionally dense calories as well as a few other additions/recipes.  I would be glad to share further if you have any interest.  If she was on antibiotics for an extended time you may find it beneficial to also add some digestive enzymes or probiotics if they are not already in your food formula. 

Last I did just want to add that I have found the way they eat is not always reflective of if they were offered enough but rather their personality and what type of role they play in their pack.  Over the years we have had bulldozer puppies and more passive pups who would rather wait til the others had eaten and then move in and nestle asleep with mom upon filling up while the others are playing.  To this day our oldest doodle will wait for every furbaby in the house to eat first and then eat when they are all playing or sleeping.  We free feed so this has never been an issue of anyone not getting enough it is just his style.  We have also had some of our smaller puppies go home to become real porkers when there was no 'competition' at the bowl and some of those that fought for the most food early on to then only graze when they went to their home and were the only doggy at the bowl. 

 

Best of luck in Nina's continued path to great health!

[Adrianne Matzkin]

Thanks Dianne!!

Yes, Nina is a puppy, 9 months old. She gets the probiotics in yogurt that she just loves to share with her Mom, my daughter Suzanne. 

The vet does want her to gain a few pounds. I will talk to Suzanne about ordering the Orijen puppy for her to add to her meals.

Her Kong is filled with kibble and peanut butter and in the freezer waiting for her to come home. I hope she loves it and will nibble on it in her crate, which she hates! We want her to be crated when no one is home because Ms. Personality loves to 'pick on' Charli who is the least confident dog I have ever met. 

I have a feeling that is is one of the dogs that free feeding is just not in her future but only time will tell. She gets fed by herself since she is being fed 3 times a day so I take the other 3 either outside or into another room so there is no competition for food. Only time will tell.

Thanks for your advice!!!