My dog eats cat food, losing weight. How to get her to gain weight?

Provide food that is high in calories, like puppy food or a food that’s designed for active, athletic, or working dogs. Higher protein and fat pet foods are best. Underweight pets should be eating foods that are around 30% protein and 20% fat if they’re eating dry kibble; 7% protein and 5% fat (or higher) if you’re feeding a wet food. Intersperse your pet’s diet with small amounts of high-calorie supplemental canned food or canned products made of 100% meat sources. These will have a high protein and fat content, like 100% pheasant or bison, for example. They won’t say “complete and balanced” but rather “for intermittent or supplemental use” because they’re not meant to replace regular feeding. Some moist foods may be easier to digest, so your pet may retain more nutrients, and more importantly these products tend to be more palatable and tempting to a pet who isn’t eating enough. Any diet changes should be done gradually over a week's time as to not cause any GI upset. Hope this helps. Best wishes.

Grains are beneficial to dogs, and I only recommend putting a dog on a grain free diet if there is a medical reason why they shouldn't have them, such as allergies. If Adel eats very little of this food, it could be that she doesn't like it and may benefit from another food. I personally recommend feeding dogs Royal Canin or Hill's Science diet. Both are high quality foods that dogs find very tasty; in fact, my dogs eat Royal Canin and love it. You could consider switching her to one of those foods to see if she eats more of it, but if you do make the switch, I would do it slowly to prevent GI upset. You can increase the number of times you feed her, and you can also try to tempt her to eat her food by soaking it in gently warmed low sodium beef or chicken broth. If she does eat it, gradually reduce the amount of broth you add to her food until she is eating the food only.

First, I think it is important to determine Malia's ideal weight for her size. If your vet says she is underweight, then you may need to make some changes. But if she a good weight at 32 pounds, then eating a couple cups of food a day should be adequate for her weight. My 30 pound dog only eats about 1 cup per day. Don't forget that it is much healthier for a dog to be a little lean. If Malia is underweight, then you may need to look at foods that are more dense in calories. You can consider some of the super premium foods like Natural Balance, Wellness Core or Orijen which tend to have more bio-available calories in each cup. You may also consider The Honest Kitchen which is a dehydrated food and dense in calories. https://www.thehonestkitchen.com/ Good luck! I hope that was helpful. Thanks for using PetCoach.

I would recommend having her body condition score figured out first to determine if she is indeed underweight. Some pets are just leaner than others but are not considered to be underweight at all. https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&hl=en-us&ei=3essWYH8BcWXjwT5u4agBg&q=canine+body+condition+score&oq=aaha+body+condition+score&gs_l=mobile-gws-serp.1.0.0i71k1l5.0.0.0.53939.1.1.0.0.0.0.0.0..0.0....0...1..64.mobile-gws-serp..1.0.0.tM15jVEPrL8#imgrc=D5srd2kpWBMU1M: If she is considered to still be underweight then I would try to find out what is causing her weight loss and treating that directly. If there are loose stools then it's best to check her stools for intestinal parasites through your vet. If her stools are normal, then she may be going through a transient period of not gaining proper weight due to a previous illness. Increasing her current food amount can help. You can also try mixing in a high calorie puppy food for a few weeks. I wouldn't suggest this unless she is otherwise healthy and nothing else seems to help, because a consistent high calorie diet can do more harm (i.e. Pancreatitis) than good in some cases. Best of luck with your pet Layla.

First, consider an exam with your veterinarian to diagnose any underlying medical causes. Next, you can feed a high quality performance diet to get weight on her. Once she is at weight, you can adjust the diet as needed for maintenance. You can also try a puppy diet until she is at weight.

If you need to put more weight on Sassy, make sure she is parasite free and feed her a higher calorie food. The information will be found on the nutrition label. Also make sure you are feeding her a very high quality food. I recommend Royal Canin. It has high quality, easy to digest protein which helps to build muscle. I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions.

Dog food is not formulated for cats nutritional needs, so he really needs to be on cat food. First of all, I would get him seen by your vet to find out why he has lost so much weight and get him started on a treatment plan. Based on his medical condition, it may be necessary to feed him a special diet for whatever is causing his illness. If he doesn't require a special diet, it may be that he prefers wet food now and you may need to offer that primarily and leave dry out for nibbling during the day.