You should have any skinny GSD, Doberman Pinscher, Labrador Retriever, or other breed known to be born with EPI checked to make sure their pancreatic acid is working. EPI is exocrine pancreatic insufficiency, which means they don't manufacture enough pancreatin, hence the food is improperly broken down and doesn't digest, causing diarrhea and weight loss.
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
I rescued a German Shepherd off the streets. He weighs in at 52.1 and is 4 years old. I have trouble getting him to eat, I mix can food and dry food, and take his medicine even if it's with peanut butter.
How can I get him to eat?For a picky dog it might be best to try something like cooked pasta or rice. I know my dogs love cooked pasta or rice mixed with their dog food.
You can also make some chicken broth or even buy some in the cans. Pour some of this over his food and he might really love it. Do not add water and use the broth as it is out of the can.
As for taking medicine I wouldn't use peanut butter. I'd roll this up in a slice of cheese and give it to him. This is what I have to do with my dog.
I have a German Shepherd who loved Blue Buffalo dog food. It is a little more expensive that the other brands. I will take a piece of meat (any "people" meat will do ) warm it up in the microwave in 1/4 cup of water for about 10 to 15 seconds (all depends on you wattage) and then mix it around in the dry dog food.
My 1 year old female German Shepherd is gulping her food, but is thin. She ate a mouse weeks ago; is this the problem? She has been wormed.
By Sue
I have a 1 and a half year old male German Shepherd. He is right around 80 lbs, but seems small when compared to other male Shepherds or even the female we had before him.He doesn't seem to have that fluffy coat that makes them look fuller. Any suggestions on how to help him put on some healthy weight and muscle?
By S. DeRosia
There are two breeding lines of GSD's. The German line is stockier, wider and fluffier. The American line is taller, thinner and less fluffy. I have had both.
There are 2 breeding lines of GSD's. The German line is stockier, wider, and fluffier. The American line is taller, thinner and less fluffy. I have had both. My current GSD is of the American line. You can see in this really bad photo just how skinny he is. Your GSD is a gorgeous dog and just fine! Ask your vet.
The posted information regarding different country conformations are correct. Talk to the licensed breeder that is registered with the Canine Control in your country. Veterinarians are not Breed survey experts. In any case will it really matter what his appearance is unless you intend to show him (he must have pedigree papers).
I have a 7 year old German Shepherd mix. She is so skinny you can see her ribs and her back bone. We put food out for her, but she just won't eat. And when she does, she doesn't gain anything.
We took her to the vet for blood work; she has no worms, no cancer, and no parasites. She has diarrhea. I am afraid that I will lose her. We used to give her dry dog food. Now we switch food every day from meat to fish to pasta. She doesn't eat, she only rests. Please help me.
By dakota
It's obvious to both of us there's something very wrong with your german shepherd. I'd get a second vet's opinion elsewhere and soon.
This link is where you get expert answers but for a fee. How much? I don't know, but it's a live response to this question/answer type website if you might be interested. I hope your german shepherd gets well. Keep us posted please and good luck.
www.justanswer.com/
I agree with Lorelei I would get a second opinion. We all know there's something wrong. good luck and let us know how your german shepherd is doing.
Is your dog pooping? Check out "constipation in dogs" on Google. If they have a bowel obstruction, they won't eat. Ask your vet if they checked that.
Keep hydrated-keep hydrated-keep hydrated. Give enema with colloidal silver (health food store) 1/2 hour later another enema. If she has sickness in her intestines this will help. Right now, it sounds like she will die if nothing is done. Get another vet. He should have at least hydrated her with bag fluids. This dog could have been poisoned. Could have kink in gut, Could have pancreatitus. Could have sensitive tummy. A good vet can find it.
Personally I would go on Petenzymes.com and get the Total-zymes Plus as quickly as possible. Read some of the testimonials on that site. I have been giving it to my dog for about 4 weeks now. Its digestive enzymes and probiotics. I also give my dog plain yogurt 1 Tbsp per day. She would always throw up the "yellow foamies" and whatnot and she's had some problems with pancreatitis. She's been good for a while now. Please try it. I don't think it's that expensive for what you get.
Hello,
I have worked for a Veterinarian for over 27 years. There is something wrong with your fur baby. Please go to another Vet for a second opinion. A dog that does not eat is an emergency. You can have your current Vet fax all the medical records/lab results to your new Vet, then the new Dr. can evaluate how to treat your baby. Good luck
There is something wrong with your dog! Please, please take her to another vet or you are going to lose her. She is suffering and in need of medical attention so please do the right thing and get her help with another vet. Any good vet should be able to figure this out without sending you home with no further ideas! Good luck and I hope this can be resolved quickly so your baby doesn't continue to suffer and die.
Recently, some people we know had the same thing happening to their dog. Like with your dog, at first the vet found nothing. But at their second visit he took x-rays which showed that the dog had ingested a partially eaten ball and it had caused a a blockage in his intestines. It took emergency surgery to save him. He is now well and thriving.
I remember reading an article somewhere that specifically talked about germen shepherds with this problem. It resonated with me because we have a german shapherd that we took in that was really skinny. The article stated that these dogs are often allergic to the grain based foods they are often fed, and will loose weight rather than gain it--almost like a human with severe lactose intolerance (stomach pain, diarrhea, etc). Try switching to a meat-based food, giving all meat and veggies, etc, to see if it helps. Luckily, our dog did gain weight, but it took a long while, and he is still trim. I'd still call around, do internet research, and get a second opinion too.
How is your dog doing, and did you find out what the problem is/was?
Just another voice here repeating what others have already said: please take your dog to another vet; the current one MUST release your pup's records to you when you request them. (At this point, I wouldn't be concerned about hurting anyone's feelings by doing this--even if you've been going there for a while. A good vet will understand your concern for your animal is the bottom line).
Also--we've had a few GSD's over the course of our lifetimes here and a way too thin, non-eating Shepherd is not common with a healthy specimen of that breed--just the opposite. They should eat you out of house and home and be full of muscle and energy.
Sending best wishes for a better diagnosis of your dog.
Raw beef liver minced, I also give 2 ml of olive oil. I hope this helps.
I just want to give my own personal experience. And for the record, I am a vet, but not currently practicing. In any case, I ended up with a rescue German Shepherd with a severe megaesophagus (Sami) that he did really well with for about 6 months and suddenly began to lose weight. All other vets I talked to said his megaesophagus was incompatible with life and that was the reason, but I didn't think so since he had done well with it for so long. He'd always had a loose stool, but the weight loss was sudden and scarily severe. I tried supplementing him with pancreatic enzymes to trial treat and see if exocrine pancreate insufficiency (EPI) could be playing a role, but it didn't help at all. I was at a loss, and he was looking positively skeletal.
Then a friend of mine who is also a vet made a suggestion. She is from Germany, and she said she saw lots of GSDs with a similar problem in Germany, and the problem was responsive to doxycycline. Well, I was worried about the doxycycline because I was afraid that with the megaesophagus that Sami would have a hard time with nausea and esophagitis, but I finally tried it. This poor boy was skeletal, and had even become anemic.
Only other abnormality on blood work was white blood cells. Well, I tried the doxycycline at a dose of 50 mg twice daily... within a month he gained 15 pounds (he had gotten down to a mere 40 pounds, and he was a year old).
Now he is playing again, and acting like a happy boy, despite that megaesophagus that is "incompatible with life" according to every vet that ever saw his radiographs. My German vet friend said that she had seen many German Shepherds whose weight loss responded to doxycycline. She told me that after they gain weight, you can gradually try to wean them down until you find the lowest dose that allows them to maintain their weight. She said she had one dog that did great as long as he got doxycycline twice a week, but that he would lose weight if it was given any less frequently.
I haven't yet started weaning Sami down yet. It was only two months ago that I tried this, and the results have been so amazing that I am almost afraid to wean him down, but I also hate the idea of giving antibiotics all the time. Regardless, I have no doubt he would have died by now if I had not decided to take my friend's advice. Oh, and I even asked other vets, before I tried it, what they thought, and they all acted like it was a crazy idea because they had never heard of it and it didn't make sense to them.
Well, the whole reason I don't practice is because I have many special needs rescues, and many of them should have died years ago based on what the textbooks say. I have learned that given a chance and persistence, animal's do heal from things that supposedly shouldn't heal, and they do manage to live with conditions that are "incompatible with life." And I don't mean that they barely get by and it's almost cruel to keep them alive. I am referring to a cat paralyzed from the neck down that supposedly would never walk again (no deep pain in any limbs) and did, a cat with a heart problem that usually causes death within 3 months of diagnosis that is still alive and thriving 8 years later. That is just a sample.
Anyway, enough rambling, but the doxycycline is worth a try if you have tried everything and nothing seems to work. Of course, you have to find a vet that is willing to prescribe it, and that may be difficult if they have never seen such a condition, but they never will see such a condition respond if they never actually try it! I tried it, and it worked. If I saw the same condition again, and eliminated EPI as an option, I wouldn't hesitate to try this again. Oh, and I tried metronidazole, and even Clavamox, and neither of these medications did anything to remedy the weight loss!
What kind of food helps German Shepherds gain weight? I rescued a German Shepherd in December and he started eating on a schedule. He is much happier now, however, despite him eating more he hasn't gain much weight. I took him to the vet and they took blood samples and it came back with no problems.
A German Shepard dog is usually a big eater as you must know as it looks like you have two to feed.
I have a German Shepherd female dog. She is 5 months and she is 22 kgs. She is properly vaccinated and de wormed. I want her to put on weight, she eats properly, is very energetic, and very playful.
She does not look skinny or thin, but I want her to look a bit more fat. Is it possible? If yes then how?
My German Shepherd looks too thin. He is 6 and a half months old and I feed him three times a day. Can anyone recommend a correct diet chart for him along with what to give him in his diet?
We have a 1.5 year old female German Shepherd. She eats, but she looks like she is not gaining any weight. She has a high metabolism.
When you pet her on her right side feels like you could feel a little bit of rib. What can be done? Should we be concerned?My male German Shepherd is about 15 months old. He gets fed 3 cups of food twice a day and still looks very skinny. What can I do to make him gain weight?
I have a beautiful German Shepherd named Bullett, he is 2, but to look at him, he looks like I do not feed him. He goes to the vet for his check ups and does not have worms, parasites, etc. He eats like a pig but will not put any weight on.
My german shepherd is the exact same way!! I have spent over $1000 at two different vets and they cannot find anything wrong with him, but they both told me to feed him puppy food because it is higher in calories and there is a vitamin paste that you can buy from Petsmart or Petco, etc. and hopefully this will help my dog and yours!
We just 'rescued' a 2 year old GS. He is only 68 lbs - we found out from his records that he was 80 lbs when he was 9 mos old. He eats a raw diet (Majestic), eats like crazy. He's very active. No diarrhea. He is very thin and has lost muscle mass on his back and chest area. We are very concerned. The vet did some blood and stool tests and we're waiting for the results. I don't think it's his pancreas because he has no bulky stools or diarrhea.
No vaccines. His immune system may have been compromised. A homeopath would be a good start. No doubt he was vaccinated numerous times while at the shelter or the jail he was in. Good homeo for that is THUJA. Worms? easy to rid of intestinal worms by adding to his food, non harmful diatomacious earth. MUST be food grade. The other has poisons in it. D E - Small amounts, often. Helps with many things. Google it.
Roxy turned nine back in September, but she has been awfully skinny for the past few years. Lately it seems worse than usually. She has long fur, so it's hard to tell unless you pet her. She's probably around 45 pounds. She hardly eats her food without us putting something in it to make her want to. And even since she was probably around three or four, she goes out to poop a lot.
Is it actually normal for a dog of her weight to have to go poop four or five times a day, if not more? Yesterday she had diarrhea. She's going to the vet today at 11, so we're hoping for at least some result (although the there hasn't been in years). Do you guys have some weight gain tips for her or have anything I should have the vet check for?
I rescued a adult German Shepherd named Big Guy, from the pound. When I got him he would not eat and was afraid of everyone and everything. I have had him for about 8 months he seems to have built a trust relationship with me. He eats all of his food now and weighs about 80 lbs, but I can still see his ribs and his hip bones. What can I do to get him to gain fat and muscle. The vet told me he is perfectly healthy and is at a healthy weight, but probably he just needs to gain some muscle.
By Sharon
My Shepherd just turned a year. He was the runt and has always been kind of small, even though everyone who sees him says "wow he is going to be a big boy". He is long and has always been on the slender side, but still looked healthy. He has had food allergies since he was a pup and it took me a long time to find a food he would not throw up. I recently changed from puppy to adult food and found something that seems OK, but over the last couple of months he looks too skinny. You can even see his ribs a little.
He eats but not a lot. He is still very active and energetic, but it worries me. I tried adding some wet food to the dry and he threw up really badly, even acid, after he lost everything he ate that day. I am back to straight dry food, lamb and rice seems to sit well with him, but is there something else I can do or anything I should be concerned about? Please help. He is my baby and I don't want anything to happen to him. He is up to date on shots.I have female German Shepherd, she is 7 months old and looks very weak and skinny. She's having milk, eggs, and dog food, but still not putting on weight and she is under weight. What should I give her to eat or supplement ?
By Varun
ThriftyFun is one of the longest running frugal living communities on the Internet. These are archives of older discussions.
I have a beautiful German Shepherd named Bullett, he is 2, but to look at him, he looks like I do not feed him. He goes to the vet for his check ups and does not have worms, parasites, etc. He eats like a pig but will not put any weight on.
