Is my dog too thin? What should I feed her to gain healthy weight?

It's difficult to tell from the picture, but she doesn't look too skinny, or too small to me. It would take a physical exam to make this determination though. I would question the need for her to gain weight if she was otherwise healthy and not too small for her age. As long as Stella has received appropriate parasite treatment from your vet and is getting the right amount of food, she would be expected to grow well. This is all assuming that she doesn't have any other medical issue causing her not to grow well. Your vet can help make sure that is not the case. You definitely don't want her to grow too much and too fast, because this can cause a few different bone and joint problems that can cause life-long problems. I recommend feeding her food labeled for puppies at the amount recommended on the back of the bag. This can be changed to adult dog food around 8 months of age. Make sure she also visits a vet regularly for deworming, vaccines and other preventative health care. With these simple tips, Stella should grow well and stay healthy. I hope that helps and all is well with Stella.

Why do you want her to be fat? It is not good for dogs to be fat. Can you post again with more information and some photos of the dog so we can help you better? Also, what are you currently feeding her? Thank you.

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.

Hi and thank you for using PetCoach. From the pictures it appears that Hugo has a body condition score of 1-2/9. https://oregonvma.org/files/Purina-Dog-Condition-Chart.pdf This is too thin. Even dogs of slim breeds such as greyhounds or collies should not have their bones this prominent. I recommend having Hugo check by a veterinarian. Some issues such as parasites can cause malnutrition and are fairly easily diagnosed and treated. Some animals may have other congenital conditions or illness that prevents weight gain. And in some cases it may be higher metabolism requiring a specialized diet. The vet will perform an exam on Hugo and discuss his diet and activity at home. They may suggest testing for parasites or doing other diagnostics. I hope Hugo is back on track soon.

A little information may be helpful like how old is your dog and what breed. Also, is he too thin? A photograph will help as well if possible. Make sure he is up to date on his deworming and that he has had his stool checked recently for other parasites which may steal nutrients and cause poor body weight. Best of luck and please feel free to post any additional questions.

I agree with you. She is very underweight. This is very abnormal. I strongly recommend you get her to a vet for an exam. Hopefully this problem is due to something easy like worms but I am very worried it is more serious like an underlying congenital problem with her liver and/or kidneys. Please, get her to a vet. This is not a simple instance of her just needing to eat more or eat supplements. Hope this helps. If you have more questions you can always opt for a private consultation where we can chat back and forth. That way you can ask as many questions as you'd like. Best wishes.

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.