He's losing weight.. advice please!!

[wyoung2153]

My 2 y/o GSD was a healthy 96 lbs.. some days a few pounds more some a few less when I started the raw diet in Novemeber. Since then, he has been losing weight. At first I didn't worry about it. He's not partial to change and wouldn't eat sometimes. But I was sure that once he started eating he would be fine. And he did start eating most everything but I was still having trouble getting him to eat his Chicken quaters/necks/backs/etc. I left on vacation for 2 weeks, and he didn't come with me. My friend watched him for me and said he ate almost all his food everyday, this was when he wasn't eating poultry that wasn't ground. So she while I was gone she substituted MM for RMB if he wouldn't eat it that day. He was getting about 2 lbs a day because he wasn't as active when we started the diet and when I left on vacation at the end of Dec. When I got home, he looked thinner so I up his amount to 2.5 lbs a day. When we went to the Vets on 14 Jan he was 85 lbs a whoel 11 lbs less! He just looked so thin to me. The vet said he looked fine, but could afford to gain a few. So I started feeding him 3 lbs a day. On saturday Athena had a vet appointment so I brought Titan with me to weigh him again in hopes that he gained a few lbs back but he lost another 3. Now he's down to 82 lbs and the vet said that she has seen this type of thing with the raw diet, dogs losing weight on it because it matabolizes different than kibble, so to just keep upping the amount and if he gets below 80 lbs she would like me to try something else. She is not against raw at all, just wants him to gain more weight but isn't very familiar with the raw diet so doesn't know too much of what to suggest except more protein. Both him and Athena get the same amount, as she is going to weigh roughly 110-120 at her adult weight. Athena has gained 11 lbs since the vist on 14 Jan.. though she is a growing puppy so I'm sure that has a lot to do with it. She seems just fine on the diet though. But I'm scared because Titan keeps losing. If this helps, this is what he is currently eating:

Mornings:

1 lb premade ground chicken with bone
1 lb premade ground beef with organ
2 fish oil pills
Throughout the week: eggs and plain yogurt

Nights:
1 lb premade ground beef with organ
6-8 oz Pork Neck
Pureed veggies: carrot, spinach, and broccoli.
Spoonfuls of cottage cheese throughout the week.

I would LOVE to keep him on this diet but he just keeps losing weight. We aren't any more active than before and he eats everything I give him. His stools are normal, varying on how much bone he ate the previous days. Any advice would be great.

[EJQ]

Although I do not believe in the raw diet, I'll respect your decision to go that route. The one thing that seems to be missing (you didn't mention it) is the series of tests that your vet has performed. You mentioned "The vet said he looked fine, but could afford to gain a few." Was that a casual observation or was it based upon the tests that they might have run?

If it were my dog I would expect a true analysis that would include things like thyroid, EPI, parasites etc.

I surely understand your concern and I hope you get to the bottom of this.

[Holmeshx2]

Have you had him tested for worms? Especially tape worms maybe something is in him taking the nutrients so he isn't getting the nutrients he needs. Personally I do not like premades because theres just no way to know what they are using. You don't know how much bone to meat they are getting you don't know how lean the meat is etc... Also if you are giving fish oil you need to give vitamin E and he really needs more variety then chicken beef and a little pork.

[wyoung2153]

No that's the next step. She didn't want to run tests yet because she said since it seemed to be the same time that I switched his food, she wanted to tackle that first. Athena has her final booster in 3 weeks. I will bring him in and weigh him (possibly earlier than that, then and if nothing has changed I will schedule a work up. My first thought was the food, but then when he kept losing, I started to think it may be a parasite, or something. *sigh* Just hope he's ok. He's not acting any different really. Still just as playful only change I have noticed is his annoyance to the new puppy, lol. If she is around he won't bring me the ball because she will take it as soon as he drops it. Ha!

[wyoung2153]

Originally Posted by Holmeshx2

Have you had him tested for worms? Especially tape worms maybe something is in him taking the nutrients so he isn't getting the nutrients he needs. Personally I do not like premades because theres just no way to know what they are using. You don't know how much bone to meat they are getting you don't know how lean the meat is etc... Also if you are giving fish oil you need to give vitamin E and he really needs more variety then chicken beef and a little pork.

I agree about the variety. The premade is from Blue Ridge Beef. It's a family owned business with Human Grade, USDA qual meats. But I have wondered about the ratio thing a few times. To be honest I only switched to it because of time and money at the moment. It's actually cheaper than making it myself due to the fact I don't have a local butcher in my area and have to buy from grocery stores. For, timing, my shifts at work provide me with exactly 2 hours a day to do anything other than work or sleep. So until those are over I needed something easier for me. Someone on here suggested Blue Ridge beef, and there happened to be a supplier in my area. I bought a "trial" box to see if he liked it and decided with my next order to go with Beef, Tripe, and Chicken. They don't do any other protein than that. Which I can see being a problem which is why I get pork neck for him.

I am going to get him checked for sure. It seems that a tape worm might be the obvious. So if he doesn't gain any.. I am going to ask her to run a work up on him.

[Holmeshx2]

actually they do.. I know they offer a quail formula and a rabbit formula. The quail is the same price as the tripe I'm not sure about the rabbit a friend said he purchased it for the same price however when I called they said it was the same price. I'd ask your person about ordering other stuff because I know for a fact blue ridge has other formulas.

[wyoung2153]

Really!? well now I am excited. haha. I looked at their website, and it didn't show it. I never asked her about it.

this is the site I looked on..

Blue Ridge Beef: Raw Meat for Dogs - Cats

[Jax08]

How many calories is he eating per day? How much fat compared to the kibble? Yes, kibble breaks down differently than RAW but if the calories and fat are equivalent then it would seem that would not be an issue.

How are his stools? Are they tiny? Is it soft like he isn't breaking it down and absorbing it?

My 62# girl gets 20 oz per day, just for a comparison of what you are feeding to what I'm feeding. In the summer she is very trim and lean, in the winter she has a layer of fat because we aren't as active.

[wyoung2153]

Originally Posted by Jax08

How many calories is he eating per day? How much fat compared to the kibble? Yes, kibble breaks down differently than RAW but if the calories and fat are equivalent then it would seem that would not be an issue.

How are his stools? Are they tiny? Is it soft like he isn't breaking it down and absorbing it?

My 62# girl gets 20 oz per day, just for a comparison of what you are feeding to what I'm feeding. In the summer she is very trim and lean, in the winter she has a layer of fat because we aren't as active.

You know to be honest I haven't even looked at calorie count. I will definitely do that tonight. I looked on the website of the premade raw (posted above) to see but I couldn't find anything. The dealer told me what her dogs are on and Titan is eating the same thing just larger amounts, obviously.

His stools are the same saze and amount as they were before. They are a little lighter in color than when we was on kibble, sometimes creamy white and then usually I lower the bone content a little until they go back to normal.

[EJQ]

Originally Posted by wyoung2153

His stools are the same saze and amount as they were before. They are a little lighter in color than when we was on kibble, sometimes creamy white and then usually I lower the bone content a little until they go back to normal.

Hmmmm the light stool color might be a red flag - I don't think I would wait too much longer before you schedule a work up.