[brondevenish]

I took my 10 week old rescue pup for his check yesterday. I am absolutley heart broken. Vet said he is Severly emaciated. His pelvis and spine have absolutely NO flesh on them and when you touch him all you feel is bone. The vet said he thinks he may have a congenital heart issue as he could hear a slight heart murmur.

He said we will just have to wait and see how it goes with him. The poor little guy just looks so down and hopeless. I dont know what to do and I am so worried he is not going to make it. Please if anyone can help here with nutrition I would be so greatful. I have tried to order some Orijin, but it is not readily available here and the one supplier I did find said I would have to wait a few weeks to get the stock in. He is on Iams large breed, and does not like it very much (the rescue shelter put him on it). I gave him some egg and raw steak and he loved that. Im desperate to get some high quality nutrition into this little boy who does not have much of an appitite at all. I need to find a good recipe to feed him to make sure he is getting everything he needs.

 

[BlackthornGSD]

Did he have a normal fecal exam? Any signs of coccidia or other issues? Are his stools normal?

If he's been eating with the rescue and with you and hasn't put weight on, that might indicate some additional problems.

Although I think that Orijen is an excellent food, it sounds right now like what your pup just needs is *good* food, frequently, as long as he has normal stools and his tummy doesn't seem upset.

Get some good quality canned food and start by adding about a quarter of a can to a cup of dog food--the Iams he is on is OK for now. Feed him 1/2 cup + canned food 4-5 times a day (he may not be able to eat all you give him--adjust amounts according to what he is eating). If you change his food right now, he might have digestive upset that it sounds like he really can't handle just yet. Better to keep him on something he can tolerate for now.

You could also mix in an egg with his kibble or mix some oatmeal, hamburger, and egg together. What's important right now is that he get the calories in without losing them to diarrhea.

Although heart murmurs can turn out to be significant issues, minor ones in puppies often resolve on their own as the puppy grows up. In and of itself, a minor heart murmur might have no effect on the pup's quality of life.

 

[brondevenish]

Thanks for the reply. The vet did not do a fecal exam, but he has normal stools (as far as I can see). I will try what you have reccomended. Good to hear the murmur may not be serious.

 

[BowWowMeow]

I would cook for him. Can you get Pitcairn's book? That has a recipe in it for puppies and also for dogs who need to gain extra weight. I used it for a foster puppy who had had open heart surgery and he did very well on it.

 

[bunchoberrys]

Even though your puppy has normal stools it still may have intestinal parasites. Your vet should have had a fecal culture done. Even on a healthy looking puppy, that is protocol. But since your puppy is already emaciated, that should have been done immediatly. The heart murmur should be followed up at each of your pups future visits. We had a few cases with puppies that came in to our clinic with your pups same issues. Emaciated, heart murmur, intestinal parasites. The heart murmur was due to the fact that there was so much stress going on inside the body, and with all organs. Proper meds, high cal food, supplements (Nutri-cal), made these puppies turn around and with follow-ups and monitoring most mild heart murmurs resolved on there own. Good luck.

 

[wyominggrandma]

Had a pup years ago with a heart murmer, she outgrew it and went on to become a very active search/rescue dog. Like someone above said, it could be just the strain on his heart right now and will probably clear up.

If he was in a rescue situation, maybe he was the low man on the food chain and only got what was left over after all the pushing and shoving by other litter mates. he probably has not got a pushy appetite from being last and just has no real reason to eat

I have found boiled chicken and rice usually seems to help stimulate appetite. You can also go to a pet store or feed store and buy some Science Diet AD canned food. I don't usually like Science Diet at all, but we use AD alot at the clinic to stimulate appetites. You can warm it up a bit in the microwave and it is very palatable to most dogs and cats.
I am surprised your vet did not do a fecal or at least worm him with Pyrantel Paomate. That is a very easy wormer and I will bet he is got a belly of roundworms, most babies do, and have to be wormed a couple of times to get the active worms and then the next hatching of worms in the belly.
Don't worry about what you have to do to feed him, scrambled eggs, chicken and rice, hamburger(boiled)and rice. Yogurt is so good for his belly also. At this stage, eating is important and as long as its easy on the tummy, it won't hurt to spoil him a bit.

 

[GSDElsa]

Doing a RAW diet in the UK migh tbe cheaper than trying to find good availability of Orijen.

 

[Jax08]

The vet really needed a stool sample to look at under a microscope. I would drop a sample off at the vet and have them look at it. You shouldn't need to make another appt for that.

 

[Stosh]

I agree, just get some decent food in him, scrambled eggs, canned, brown rice and cooked chicken or ground beef, and I would also bring in a stool sample-- I'm surprised the vet didn't do one automatically. Stosh also had a heart murmur and was regularly checked and like the others said he outgrew it by 6-7 months. No sign of it all now. I haven't needed to try this but many people say for fast weight gain feed satin balls. There's a recipe for them in the feeding forum or you can find one online. Poor little guy! I'm sure with your care he'll make it.

 

[BluePaws]

I've had two dogs outgrow a puppy heart murmur (well, Logan's is 'barely audible' now ... ) so I wouldn't worry about that first and foremost at this point. I spent some time over in London but I was petless at the time, so I don't recall what GOOD commercial products were available for feeding - sorry I can't offer any advice there! Keep us posted, tho!!