Hello all
We have a 15 week old GSD pup.
He was born underweight and then had coccidia at a young age and was only 6 lbs at 8 weeks old. Since then we have struggled greatly getting him to eat.
When he first came home we gave the breeders food which was holistic kibble. He refused to eat it at all.
At only 6 lbs and being sick with coccidia we rapidly transitioned to Fromm large breed puppy. He ate very few kibbles but not nearly enough.
next stage- the vet asked us to start adding foods to encourage him to eat as he was severely underweight and dehydrated so we started adding cooked chicken and baby foods to the kibble. Sometimes rice or pumpkin if diarrhea. This improved the eating.
Now: weight is better and health is better. 25 ish lbs around 15 weeks. However he refuses to eat kibble alone now. We have been able to transition away from chicken and baby food and rice and now instead we do the Fromm kibble plus Wellness Core Bowl Boosters which is raw freeze dried beef. He won’t eat unless this is added to his food. Is this okay?
what advise do you recommend? Accept that he is going to need this topper / mixer forever? Try to transition to kibble only (this will be very difficult as he walks away from any food without the topper) or some other option? He seems to love the freeze dried raw food but I cannot find any affordable options for a raw diet we can give as a puppy.
We have a 15 week old GSD pup.
He was born underweight and then had coccidia at a young age and was only 6 lbs at 8 weeks old. Since then we have struggled greatly getting him to eat.
When he first came home we gave the breeders food which was holistic kibble. He refused to eat it at all.
At only 6 lbs and being sick with coccidia we rapidly transitioned to Fromm large breed puppy. He ate very few kibbles but not nearly enough.
next stage- the vet asked us to start adding foods to encourage him to eat as he was severely underweight and dehydrated so we started adding cooked chicken and baby foods to the kibble. Sometimes rice or pumpkin if diarrhea. This improved the eating.
Now: weight is better and health is better. 25 ish lbs around 15 weeks. However he refuses to eat kibble alone now. We have been able to transition away from chicken and baby food and rice and now instead we do the Fromm kibble plus Wellness Core Bowl Boosters which is raw freeze dried beef. He won’t eat unless this is added to his food. Is this okay?
what advise do you recommend? Accept that he is going to need this topper / mixer forever? Try to transition to kibble only (this will be very difficult as he walks away from any food without the topper) or some other option? He seems to love the freeze dried raw food but I cannot find any affordable options for a raw diet we can give as a puppy.