Underweight dog with allergies

[jessa028]

Hi everyone, I'm new and wondering if anyone could help me. Sorry for the long post!

I have a 12 year old spayed female GSD mix. She's lost a lot of weight in the last year or so. She's always been thin but she's so thin now that her ribs and bones are clearly visible.

Last winter/spring, she had diarrhea almost every day. The first vet visit, they tested her stool and found that she had a parasite (I can't for the life of me remember the name of it right now). So we treated it with meds and probiotics added to a bland diet of rice and chicken and in a couple of weeks she was fine. When I switched her back to her food - gradually - the diarrhea started again.

So I went back to the vet. No parasites, bloodwork was all normal. I didn't have the money to do allergy testing, but based on other symptoms (chronic ear infections, and she would always lick her paws and scratch at her mouth), the vet thought that it was probably allergies to her food (I was feeding Iams). So next I started trying different foods. I went through medicated ones from the vet, tons of brands from pet stores, etc. and everything still gave her diarrhea. I finally went to a natural pet food store and they recommended Tuscan Natural Simply Pure Chicken Meal recipe. About 2 months ago I started feeding that and she's doing great on it, no diarrhea, shiny coat, no more ear infections.

But she just won't gain any weight. She started losing it about the time the diarrhea started, lost more when she was on a bland diet, and has lost a bit more while on this food. She's gone from 70 lbs to 60 lbs, and she was already thin to begin with. It's a fairly low calorie food.

The vet checked her again. Stool sample, complete senior bloodwork, everything's fine and she has no other symptoms. I tried feeding her more of the food, but that made her throw up. Vet suggested increasing the amount gradually and feeding smaller meals throughout the day. So for the past few weeks I've been doing that, but there's no change.

Is there anything else I can do to help her gain weight on this food? I'm scared to death to try any other brand because she's doing so well on this one, but I will if I have to

If I have to switch, can anyone recommend a good brand of food for her? I don't know the exact ingredients that she's allergic to, but I think any limited ingredient or hypoallergenic food is good. I just need something high calorie to help her gain weight.

Also: Is there any medical condition that she could have that for whatever reason wouldn't be showing up in the test results? Should I get a second opinion from another vet? I'm still worried there could be something else going on with her.

Thank you if you read all of that and TIA for any help you can give!

[ChancetheGSD]

How much are you feeding her?

A food that is pretty darn similar to what you're feeding, only 71 calories more per cup, is California Natural Chicken Meal & Rice formula.

California Natural Chicken Meal & Rice:
Chicken Meal
Brown Rice
Rice
Sunflower Oil
Flaxseed

Tuscan Natural Simply Pure Chicken Meal:
Chicken Meal
Brown Rice
Rice
Chicken Fat
Olive Oil
Flaxseed

You could also try adding extras to her food like simple skinless/boneless chicken meat. Even a couple ounces a day can add up to quite a bit of extra calories each week to put on weight.

Just note that you don't want her to gain it back TOO fast. It's just as unhealthy to gain weight quickly as it is to lose it quickly. At her age she may never get back to her higher weight. There ARE some older dogs who simply can't keep weight on. And then you have elderly dogs like my girl Zoey who can't get it off. I wouldn't be too overly concerned as long as she's getting proper amounts of food, otherwise has some quality of life left in her and there is nothing you can find medically wrong. JMO.