Need help getting a starved rottie back to normal weight

[K-9Girl]

As many of you have seen in my previous post in chit chat I have rescued a rottie from the neighboors and named her Annie.

She is VERY thin, you can see and feel every rib, her hip bones protrude, and you can see her shoulder blades. Since I have had her (about a week) I have been giving her one cup of Canidae in the AM and one cup of Canidae in the PM. I know that I needed to start out slow or it would make her sick. She has done fine with the cup in the AM and cup in the PM. Her coat has even begun to shine a bit!

My question is do I need to continue with the cup in AM and PM for a bit longer? Do I need to increase to a cup and a half? I want to get her looking good and healthy as fast as possible.

Any tips or advice?

Thanks

[Judi W]

I would certainly increase that. Going slowly doesn't mean keeping the stuff that low. Three meals a day would be better than two if you can. You will know when you give too much as there will be a smushy stool. Then you can cut back a bit if that happens. My grown girls eat 4 cups a day. They are decently active and maintain weight at that amount. I certainly think you can increase to 3 or 4 cups a day. Just watch the stool. Again, best to have 3 meals instead of two for the time being if your schedule allows it.

[K9-man]

When I adopted my Black Lab male in March, he was skin and bones.

The second day he was here I started giving him 4 cups of Canidae 2x a day and he did just fine with it. No problems. :)

Btw - he's still eating 8 cups a day

[AngelBunny]

K-9Girl:

Feed Annie more.

Our current foster (27" male, 87 lbs) came into our house 70.8 lbs. He was a walking skeleton--it hurt to look at him and I winced everytime he laid down on anything hard.

We fed him 8 cups of Wellness/day, divided into two meals. He also got a frozen raw beef marrow bone a few times/week as a treat, and fruits and veggies.

His muscle tone was also very bad, so whenever he began to tire on our walks, we went home. Usually, I'd leave him home and then go out again with our girls.

Now, he's totally another dog; it ook him 2-3 months to get to this point. Because he's a very lazy dog, now he's only fed about 3-1/2 cups, divided into two meals.

[K-9Girl]

Thank you for your replies!

This is my first time doing this and I didn't want to make her sick. I know what you guys mean when you say that it was painful to look at them. Annie is so thin....I can't wait until she has more weight on her. I have now increased her meal to 2 cups in the am and pm. She also gets milk bones and Canidae treats around lunch time.

I have also started to take her out on walks.....I have noticed that she gets tired quickley. We stay close to home.

Thanks again for the help.

[ILoveRotts]

My rescue Drake was 14 months & 60lbs when we got him. He should have been 120lbs (he's a big boy). So skinny sooo sick.

Sounds like you have the feeding under control. My only advice is watch out when Annie reaches her ideal weight. I fed Drakey too much and made him chubby! (he was my 1st Rott & I didn't know better). It has been a struggle ever since to get him to an ideal weight.

Good luck and bless you for saving Annie! I like the name by the way.