My puppy is hungry and too thin on low-fat food. What to do?

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I would have his stool checked for intestinal parasites and be sure he has been dewormed a few times. You can increase the volume of food at each meal by 25%. And see if that improves his weight in 2 weeks. Be sure he is seeing a vet for vaccines. Good luck!

Unfortunately, there is no pill or medication that can make Lil gain weight. There could be an underlying malabsorption or maldigestion condition. This may require special blood tests or biopsies to diagnose. You could try a high performance or high protein diet to get the weight on. Any diet change should take place gradually over 7-10 days to avoid stomach upset.

Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! It is definitely concerning that Sadie does not really want to eat and is thin. I recommend having her seen by a vet as she may have some chronic inflammation of her intestinal tract or a sensitivity to certain foods. Your vet can also recommend some diet changes that have more calories to help Sadie gain weight. If Sadie is eating bones, I recommend stopping as they are not nutritionally adequate and can cause chronic irritation to the intestinal tract. I hope this helps and am happy to answer any other questions you may have!

There is not a photograph attached to this post. If she is too thin, I recommend to increase her food intake. Also make sure she is current on her deworming medication. Puppies at her age are lanky, they are like teenagers so being thin is normal. They don’t generally begin to fill out until closer to one year of age. I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions.

Some young, growing, active dogs require more calories then other dogs. If she feel she is lean then i would up the amount of food you are feeding or add in another meal per day. I typically recommend increasing the amount fed by 25%. You can spread this extra amount over the meals. You can also try supplementing some extra protein sources like chicken or ground turkey. You can also look up the calories (kcal) in her diets to figure out if she is getting enough. The Ohio State University Veterinary Medical School has a good site about determining how many calories a pet needs. If you google Ohio State pet calorie calculator it should come up. This will allow you to figure out her energy requirement (kcal/day) and compare this to what she is eating. Keep in mind that she still may need more then what you calculate if she is not gaining weight as every dog is different. I hope this helps and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

Hello and welcome to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. It's great that you are adopting a dog, congratulations and have fun with her! Start by feeding a bland diet (boiled/boneless/skinless chicken breast and boiled rice) in small frequent meals. Do that for 2-3 days, and then introduce puppy kibble to her. The puppy food is higher in fat and energy that she needs. Transition to this puppy food over about 2 weeks. Keep her on the puppy food for about 2 months, and then slowly transition her over to adult food. Best of luck with Macy!

It’s alright to increase the food since she’s thin. I like to increase the amount of food at each meal if they are very hungry. I would also feed three meals daily until she’s at a normal weight. Very active dogs need much more food than usually recommended to grow and stay at a good weight. I adjust the food depending on your dog, not what it says on the bag. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you care for Bruno.