Please help any way you can..... I have a 4 year old Japanese Akita bitch that is painfully underweight. She eats, but not near enough which makes her so slim. She is very active and is from two extremely well built parents and linage. She currently weighs only 29 to 32 kgs!!! She should be weighing in the midst of 40 to 45kgs! She is wormed regularly and like i say she does eat just small amounts. She only eats on avaerage 18 fl oz per day. She just won't eat anymore! She is currently fed on Vitalins bitch diet as i had been told previosly by her breeders that she found this helpful for bringing in condition etc. I have tried feeding her four times a day but she just won't eat. Should i take her to the vets? She has always been this way and never has been such a big eater as her litter brothers and sisters.

thank you

As she is also very active is she othrwise wll. What is the condition of her coat, breath etc.

I have had an anorexic Elkhound (normally the reve3srse is the problem with this breed).  she would only eat 4 days out of 7 and around ehr seasons she would not eat for a couple of days at a time.  In the end I fed her on Arden Grange Prestige which is very energy and nutrient dense, and also has one of the highest manimal protein contens of the commercially available foods.  this kept her very fit and muscular, albeit lean.  It took until she was around 4 years old when I started feding ehr normal adult food, as hshe then ate most days, though still regularly leaves a few bitc in her bowl.

Funnily enough when she has ben in whelp and rearing her litters she has earten like a horse, even getting plump, but by her next season has rreturned to her normal wiry self and eating habits.

Raw Green Tripe is also something most canines find very attractive and can be used to good effect to put on weight.

Are you abso;utely sure your bitch is actually seriously underweight and not just slim.  My slim girl would look fat if she weighed the average 20kg for a bitch of this breed, so just right at about 18kg and too slim at 17kg.

My 10 month old pup weighs about 18kg, and is just right for her developement, even though she is full height.  she will gradually gain a few more pounds with maturity.

Hiya

She is VERY thin. She is her usual self jumping about etc lol, she's out of coat at the moment but has gone VERY out of coat so she's taking royal jelly for that, her breath for a dog i must say is pleasant lol.

Bitches should weigh 40 to 45kgs, and she hovers between 29 to 32kgs. She's healthy and i love her bits just wish she'd eat! lol

I do think some dogs can be naturally slim, but there are some medical conditions that can cause weight loss .....it may be worth a tripto the vet just to ensure she is healthy, then you can concentrate on the nutritional side of things...

Lindsay
X

I was thinking along the lines of a metabolic disorder like Throid, as she is also hyper and has poor coat, could be over active thryoid etc.

I think you should perhaps have the thyroid tested. You say her coat is out of condition, has this been for a long time, and is she close to a season?

I have a 5 year old male lab, and he does not eat a lot and is very active, he is totally unmotivated by food. He is slim and has a lot of muscle. Sometimes he will eat complete ( I feed James wellbeloved), but he likes raw veg and fish which will never put weight on, but he has a coat that is so shiny you could see your face in. He also likes tripe and cheese so I can get some stuff into him, but he never eats to excess unlike some others. His brother is exactly the same. However, if he knows there  is a girl coming into season, he just won't eat and gets very thin.

She's due in season soon, i'm not too worried about her coat she's only just finished shedding (akita's do this twice a year) she's not hyper just her normal self jumping around playing with me etc. She's not a nutter lol.
xx

Think owners know when something is not right, you need to visit the vet and ask them to test for anything that could be causing the problems you have noticed. If you think she is not right then I would be sure she is not. If you have not changed the way you are feeding her I would be looking to some sort of metabolic change and the vet should listen to your worries. If you have changed the way you are feeding then I would go back to the original food and regime.

Hi Jackie

I'm not overly worried about her, like i said she's her normal natural self i just really struggle to keep weight on her, when we last took her to the vets with this worry we were told not to panic she's just not a big built dog. Don't get me wrong you can't see her ribs etc she looks well toned just very lean. She's just started on tripe this morning.... Maybe this will body her up (by bodying her up i mean bulking as in adding weight lol).

Other breeders have seen her and said i've nothing to worry about and she's just a lean girl, which is fine. but a trip to the vets is definately on the cards if the tripe doesn't work. The royal jelly though i must say is working an absolute treat!!

Thanks Guys x

Guess this is the bitch you are hoping to mate soon, if so, and you really aren't worried about her and she is fighting fit I would not worry. A bitch in lean hard condition is what most people would want in a bitch about to be mated, she does not need body bulk or weight in order to carry and give birth to a strong healthy litter.

Hiya Jackie,

No this isn't the bitch i plan to mate. I won't be mating this girlie ever lol. There are few ppl that know i own this bitch. But thanks for the help mate x