weight loss/Need food advice

[2rottiesmom]

We put our dogs on the Barf diet a few months ago. Our puppy is doing great but our 6 year old has lost a lot of weight and often is throwing up. She has lost a lot of weight. I went to the local pet food express and they recommended Premium Edge at first to see if she could hold it down. She is doing ok on it but they said it was very low in fats and that I might want to go with something else later. We want to get some weight back on her. What do you guys recommend to put weight on? She is very picky so we have her on Premium Edge dry and Wysong wet. I want the best for her and they carry Pinnacle, Wellness, and Canaidae. What do you guys think? She has lost 15 -20 pounds. The vet did blood tests and didn't find anything wrong.

[AngelBunny]

2rottiesmom:

I don't yet feed BARF; we feed Wellness and give treats of fruits, veggies, and frozen raw beef marrow bones. I'm very happy with Wellness and rotate between the three meat formulas to vary amino acids.

I'd be beside myself if one of my dogs lost that much weight--picky eaters have never lived in my house. I think a weight loss of that amount goes beyond being a picky eater and there's something wrong with your dog that hasn't yet been discovered. I find it hard to believe that even a picky eater would lose that much weight and not yet have caved in from simple hunger and start chowing. All my Rotties have been totaly, absolute chow hounds and as soon as they started going off their food, I knew something major was wrong.

The vomiting part--could she be allergic to something she's being fed in BARF? Has she had a sensitive tummy when you weren't feeding BARF??

[DixieGrl113]

What is coming up when she vomits? Has she been checked for worms. What do her stools look like? She may be reacting to a particular ingredient that your feeding. Or it could be that she is having problems digesting. In which case, removing the offending ingredient or supplementing with additional enzymes and probiotics may help. Roxanne had a problem digesting chicken fat when we first started BARFing. (1yr+ ago) she eventually worked it out. The weight loss...is she now underweight? All of mine lost weight when we switched with the exception of the pup. It was a needed loss though. Kibble was just keeping them too heavy. If she has lost a detrimental amount of weight something needs to change and now. If she vomiting up all of her food, it goes without saying that she's not getting any nourishment from it. Can you see the ribs clearly?Also if she picked up worms, that could be causing it too. Tapeworms seem to cause the quickest weight loss in my experience. Without knowing exactly what's coming up when she vomits its hard to say. Try some enzymes and probiotics if you aren't already. If you are and its not helping, pay attention to what specific ingredients causes her to vomit...if its everything even with enz/probio. then i would think she is just not adjusting to raw. She's 6yrs right? Are you 100% raw? Did you go cold turkey? Maybe you switched too fast. Simplify again or try half and half...with a good kibble. I'm a Wellness fanatic. So are my dogs. Since its baked and not extruded and includes whole ingredients, it would go well with a half raw half kibble diet. JMO :) We've been 100% BARF for over a year (cold turkey)and we've had our issues but they all worked out with a watchful eye and some detective work.
I've been absent from the boards for a few b/c i've been busy so please forgive me if I'm missing a part of your story/background with BARF. PM me if you'd like. I'm sure Barbara S, Judy C., Homer or Roscoe's Dad will be along shortly to offer additional help for you. (BTW, I've missed you guys :) We're still BARFin, they're still thrivin :D )

I see angelbunny beat me to the post ;) Hi angelbunny! :)

[Barbara Surplus]

2rottiesmom, the constant vomiting and excessive weight loss disturbs me (unless she was grossly overweight to begin with). The occasional up-chuck is no cause for concern and a small weight loss when introducing BARF is normal as it tends to stabilize the metabolism but...I would really try to look for the source of the problem first before messing around with her diet.

Alarm bells go off in my head when you say she's six...that seems to be an age which a lot of us have experienced chronic illness in our dogs. What did you feed her for the first 5+ years of her life? What about vaccines? Was she vaccinated at or around the time you switched her?

Dixie, we're fine too...haven't too much time these days to check in either...on holidays...I think I shall be glad to go back to work for a rest! ;)
Barbara