HELP!!! My poor old girl Willow has lost a lot of weight recently. I was managing to keep her at a steady weight that was a bit low for my liking, but not too bad. But a couple of weeks ago she completely collapsed and was diagnosed with Peripheral Vestibular Syndrome. She is doing really, really well pulling herself back from the brink and has recovered to a large degree, but she has lost an awful lot of weight and now is just a walking skeleton. I have had her at the vet (obv!) and they have confirmed there is nothing very wrong with her - no diabetes or kidney failure. In fact, she is doing pretty well on that front. So now all I need to do is get a few pounds back on her, expecially important at this time of year I think. So, does anyone out there have any tips, hints or recipes they can recommend? Or even some brand of dog food they think is better for weight gain than the norm? I have been feeding her IAMS, but it's not doing the trick. The unfortunate thing is she has a very delicate constitution at the best of times and food does just run through her. She generally will poo 4 or 5 times a day, always has. The vet said I should try to get more protein into her, as opposed to oil or fat of any kind, so I will be heading to the butcher, but I am a vegetarian and am not sure where to start!!! Any help would be most gratefully received, by both myself and my Willow.
Thanks in advance.....
Jen

Hi Jenni
my old lurcher has lost weight and also has a delicate stomach. my vet suggested chappie dog food in tins which is mainly white fish and easily digestable and also scrammbled egg made with water as lunch.He is not vomiting as much as he was and now has solid stools.
I hope this is off some help

Lynne

Hi Jenni,
Our Billy had pneumonia during the summer and he lost over 3KG in weight over 10% of his body weight. You can see Billy's story on the forum here Our Billy Has Pneumonia

Our vet told us to feed Billy Carbohydrates to help put his weight back on.
We feed Billy and our other dog Lassie morning and night and the carbohydrates were given as extra to Billy at the same time as his usual feed. This way the food does not need changing and the poo's are okay.
Carbohydrates we used were:
Bread (1 slice) at each meal time. or even as a treat. Our two love toast!
Pasta or Rice Boiled up and even cous cous.
Porridge for breakfast mixed in with kibble

Complan build up various flavours is another way of giving Willow extra protein and carbohydrates. (Billy started on that when he started to eat again)He loved it.

It will take a long time for the weight to go back on but please persevere, in Billy's case it took the best part of 3 months.

We were weighing Billy every week at home it was fun I weighed myself first then lifted Billy got our combined weight and subtracted my weight to get Billy's and it was great to see his weight creeping up week by week.

We hope this helps you being a vegetarian as there is no extra meat for you to deal with but more so that it helps Willow put the weight back on especially that we are in to our horrible winter.
Unfortunately Greyhounds don't have any fat reserves and they loose weight so quickly when they have been Ill. The price of being sleek handsome hounds (Built for speed).

Hope this has been helpful to you. And keep us posted how Willow is doing thanks.

If we can help any more please email us.

Glad that Willow is doing okay otherwise after her ear infection(Googled it)

George, Morag

Billy and Lassie

My elder statesman,Max who is now 11 has lost a wee bit of weight. He too is fine but apparently older Greyhounds do get scrawny with old age whereas other breeds get podgy! I have always given mashed spuds with grated cheese or tuna, or sardines or pasta with Chappie or tuna in sunflower oil, scrambled eggs in with mashed spuds, brown bread mixed with tuna or oily fish. The old chancer is doing very well on his "make me chubby" diet!!! Any oldies have always put on a wee bit of weight for me so hope this helps. Regards, Maureen.

Chappie was the best thing for my lad Nipper who lost weight. He always managed it, 'original' seems to be the favourite. It's great dog food and cheap. Good luck with Willow.

Thanks so much everyone, I will try everything you have recommended and see which suits her best. Being a hound, she has always had a ravenous appetite but that's not the case any more, I'm having to more or less hand feed her everything. Even kibble that was drenched in my mums home made chicken stock didn't seem to excite her. But I'm not giving up any time soon, so she will be getting a real smorgesbord of delights until I can find something that gets her back to her usual greedy self! Thanks for the advice and the support. I will definitely keep you all up to date with her progress.
Jen x

Mattessons smoked sausage cut up and heated in the microwave-its a race between my two and me

i'm sad to say i think i'm losing the fight with my willow. she just won't eat more than a couple of mouthfulls of anything, and believe me i've tried most everything at this stage. it's almost as if she recovered from the original collapse just enough to stay with me long enough for me to get used to the idea she is going to leave me. she is disappearing in front of my eyes, physically, and yet she is still there, still my girl, not wanting to quite give up yet. i'll keep trying as long as she does, but it's not looking good. i am more grateful than i can say that i am getting this time with her and that i have my two boys (a lurcher and a shih tzu) to keep me going. keep everything crossed for us all please :(

Hi Jenni,
It's a desperately long shot, but antihistamine tablets encourage dogs to eat, apart from their obvious use.
Good luck and best wishes.
Celia and Jimmy.

Sorry to hear this Jenni. I've had a search on the internet and found this which I hope will help. Have you gone back to the vet for more help? I wonder whether a course of steroids might help?

Hi, thanks for your suggestions and fond wishes. The last time I had her at the vet they made it fairly clear that if she lost any more weight I should call it a day. But I have thought about going down the appetite stimulant root, just to see if it would make a difference. But I'm just not sure if I should put her through it, I don't want her to suffer at all. It's such a difficult call, trying to work out if it would be for her or for me that I put her through more. You know? I guess if the stimulant was fast acting, if I could see almost immediately, or within 2 days say, that it was working and she was getting her appetite back it's worth a shot? If it doesn't work I will know I at least tried it. I'm sure she'll forgive me for wanting to hold on a while longer. I will say though that I definitely won't go down the route of force feeding. If she can't or won't eat on her own (even if it's out my hand for the rest of her life!) I will let her go with her dignity still in tact. She has her moments of goofiness as all greys do, but she is a dignified lady for all that and force feeding would be a horror for her. Will keep you all informed. Jx

Jenni, our last boy was desperately ill just before we took him on. He went almost blind, lost his coordination and the weight fell off him. The last thing the vet tried was steroids (prednisone I think). Within a few days his eye-sight was restored and so was his appetite (it turned out his optic nerve had wasted away). He remained on the steroids for the rest of his life. He had a good five years with us after recovering from that (he was seven when it happened). When his time came he found a way to tell us.

Provided your vet agrees, I think at this stage steroids would do no harm and might, just might give her a few more weeks, even months or years. Obviously there are no guarantees, but like you say when you reach this stage anything is worth a try.

hi. sorry for the lack of update, i'm only just feeling capable of talking about this. i lost my beloved Willow on the monday before xmas. i had her at two different vets latterly but they both believed there was little to be done for her as she was clearly very ill indeed, with some horrible malignency going on. i didn't want to put her through a battery of tests and the vets didn't think she was strong enough to cope with that anyway, so i stayed with her constantly and her last days were spent in the manner to which she had become accustomed - that of a princess, being waited on paw and foot. my heart is broken but i know that one day i will be in the right situation to take on another grey, as they are definitely the dog for me. but not yet, my lurcher and shih tzu (i know, from the sublime to the ridiculous!) boys will have me to themselves for the forseeable. i do intent to visit you sometime soon though, as i have coats that i am sure you guys could make use of, as well as liquid foods etc that again, i'm sure may come in handy for you. thanks for the advice, support and understanding. although the outcome wasn't what i had hoped for it did help knowing you were out there .......kind regards,
Jenni

So sorry for your loss. May she rest in peace.

Hi Jenni,
We're so very, very sorry for your loss. Only time can heal, but, remember you gave Willow a wonderful life and while she was here she appreciated it. You were a great Mum to her.
Run free over Rainbow Bridge dear Willow.
Celia and Jimmy.

Very sorry to hear of Willow's passing, but fully concur with Celia and Jimmy - your dear dog will have known great happiness and you gave her the best of care.

So sorry to hear your news. Remember the good times, Willow will always be with you in your hearts as you are in hers while she lives over the rainbow bridge. She will never leave you.

Thinking of you all xx

Kaz & Pat Brundell and a hug from Ace

So sorry for you lost
I am sure willow had a wonderful life with you
Mags

Here is a picture of the beautiful Willow.