# Too Skinny Saint



## soppinaro (Jan 27, 2015)

Hello all!

I shall properly introduce myself in a more in depth post when I have time, but at the moment I really just want to get this up to see if there is any advice out there from other Saint Bernard or giant breed dog owners. 

My sweet boy, Monty, is a handsome 2 y/o fellow. He weighs 107lbs right now sadly, and is thin for his body's build. We keep having bad run ins with gastroenteritis and have ended up in the emergency vet on more than one sunday night (I happen to work at a vet clinic, but this of course happens the one night a week we aren't open)! Each run in sets us back weight wise. At his biggest he was 118lbs, and still thin in build. He has allergy issues, both environmental and food. We've switched him over to Royal Canin Hypoallergenic. No digestive upsets in the two weeks since we've completely switched but now we have to figure a way to help put healthy weight on my boy. 

As you can imagine, Monty is all utd on vaccines, worming, health visits, and lab work. I do a fecal on all my pets every 3 months since he is a therapy dog and comes to work with me a lot where there are a lot of of other dogs present. I do full comprehensive blood work on Monty every 6 months, all tests have come back normal. We are currently exploring the possibility of IBS since every other test has come back negative. 

So, any suggestions an additive to help gain some weight? Or a different brand fellow gentle giant owners have had luck with that is sensitive on the stomach and grain free? Prefer few ingredient food. 

Also I'm completely open to the idea of homemaking his food, with the price of Royal Canin it would actually probably save me money in the long run. I also have an 80lb German Shepherd/bullmastiff mix who is 5 years old in good health and in good weight, I would love to be able to feed them the same food again! 

Thanks in advance!
-Soppinaro and Monty


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## Kassandra (Jun 6, 2012)

Do you know his food allergies? I absolutely HATE royal canin, especially for a dog with allergies. There are tons of other options out there. My sisters Chi was on their food, and finally with her 6th bout of gastro problems , as well as a false pregnancy (she was spayed) she listened to me telling her to switch the food.. hasnt had a problem with her since, besides being very slightly overweight.

I've had so many problems with my setter and her weight. She was all skin and bones until around 2.5 years old, finally got it under control then. What's his feeding schedule like? I found different schedules either helped or hurt my girl, in the sense she would either eat and gain weight or refused to eat and lost.

So yeah, my questions would be: what are his allergies? and what is his feeding schedule like?


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## soppinaro (Jan 27, 2015)

He mostly just has a grain allergy, and tends to tolerate Salmon, Bison or Venison based foods better than the poultry diets. We've also tried Blue Buffalo, Taste of the Wild, Nature's Recipe and Canidae. Most resulted in gastritis flare ups or his ears flaring up. He also refused to eat some of the formulas, he is a very picky dog. 

I feed him three times a day, four cups a feeding and he typically eats anywhere from 2-4 cups of what I offer. He eats his full dinner, most of his breakfast and grazes at this lunch. His meal schedule doesn't change as I take him with me to work and he eats lunch when I do.

While there are some out there that doesn't agree with Royal Canin, we haven't had any digestive or aural flare ups in the two weeks he has been on it. So it's at least got that going for it. His coat has always been full and healthy.


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## Kassandra (Jun 6, 2012)

My personall prference is only to feed at night. Again, doesn't matter AT ALL, just that's what works for me and my dogs. They get treats throughout the day but no actual meal until around 10pm. 

My dog is also allergic to grains. She can't eat foods with poultry as they are grain fed and somehow that also messes with her allergies. She can eat chicken that has been free range, not fed grains, though. I still just don't give it to her because we are better safe than sorry. I found Acana Pacifica was one of the only foods I could safely feed that completely cleared up her itches and that let her fur grow in properly the way it's supposed to. Acana grasslands is also excellent for her, and we sometimes rotate when I feel like getting them both. 

We tried GO! Sensitivity + shine salmon for a while, she did pretty good on it, her allergjes cleared up but she still didn't gain any weight which was our goal because she was all bones. I switched to acana just to see and that's when she gained her much needed weight so obviously I think pretty highly of the line.

Sorry for any m?ss spelling and stuff.. On my phone which tends to hate me!


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## Kassandra (Jun 6, 2012)

Also GONNA add.. My dog is very picky on kibble, too. The Pacifica is super smelly and she always goes right for it. Little too smelly in my opinion but you can only smell it when it's feeding time, not a smell that lingers. 

Have also been thinking about giving her a half cup in the mornings now that she's eating well and seeing if she likes it better that way. But that doesn't concern you at all haha mostly just thinking out loud.


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## Kritter (Jan 9, 2015)

Hi-so my dogs are quite a bit smaller but I do have one that's been skin and bones since I got her over a year ago. She is a chihuahua/whippet mix. I feed raw, with a little grain free kibble. I find that when I add oatmeal and coconut oil to her raw meals consistently she looks better. I have also been giving her unsalted peanut butter as a snack as much as I can remember (sometimes smeared inside of beef trachea). She is slowly gaining weight. 

Have you heard of satin balls? They are supposed to help add weight.

Finally, I will add that my older dog was a little chunky before going raw. I gave her a lot of recreational beef marrow bones back then. Although I wouldn't necessarily recommend it now (broken teeth possibility) they would add weight if fed regularly.


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