Can anyone recommend a kibble for putting weight on? 

My elderly Chow has lost about 3 kilos over the last year and a lot of that is muscle loss, he's lost that chubby bit off his butt and I can clearly feel his hip bones, a year ago he was 32kg but he has dropped to 29kg. His weight has always been hard to keep on as he just doesn't like eating and suffers anxiety with the associated pacing up and down. He doesn't really go for much of a walk anymore as his arthritis doesn't do well on the hard pavements but he is still quite active in the house and garden and even has the odd mad dash down the large garden after some real or imagined cat.

At the moment he is on Markus Muhle, 25% protein and 10.5 % fat, about a cup and a half a day between 2 meals (I use the cups for baking). He should really eat a bigger quantity but if I put more in his bowl he just gives up and ends up eating less.  He has had no appetite all his life and I have tried different kibbles and even raw, food is just not his thing, so I'm looking for a higher quality food to get more nutrients into him.

Would a high protein food help his muscle loss? I don't want him to just gain fat due to his joint problems but if I could improve his muscle tone surely that would help his joints?

I'm not very knowledgeable on this subject so would appreciate some recommendations.  I'm certain this year will be his last Christmas but I don't want him to just fade away feeling weak and dizzy from being malnourished, I want him to feel good in himself until the end.

Arden Grange Prestige.

Royal Canin. When I tried it it turned my dogs far too fat even on smaller portions than normal.

Prestige does work and also adding in tripe too

I've always found that Royal Canin "Sensible" is very good for getting weight on.

Thanks all, I'll look into those.

Unfortunately/thankfully he's not that keen on tripe ;)

Would he eat satin balls? There's a thread for them on champdogs somewhere..

Have you tried him on Nature Diet ?

I'm assuming he's had a health check because as with any oldie that starts losing weight especially, this would be what I'd be starting with.  There is medication to help arthritic conditions which should be considered I think, even if there may be side effects.   If he's old, the time he's likely to be on medication may be limited in any case - and the pros may well outweigh the cons.   If he's in pain, that may affect his wanting to eat.

I think at this point, he needs food that's easily digested, and smells appealing - tinned Chappie is often good for reluctant eaters because for a dog, it smells good!!   I'd not pile in high protein food - not a good idea if his kidneys are old now, for instance.    I have mine on Arden Grange Sensitive (because an early Giardia situation left one of mine with a digestive system that plays up!!).   I wouldn't use a raw diet with an old dog who hasn't been on this kind of diet before.

If he's not enjoying his walks, I'd consider a hydrotherapy pool which should help to keep up muscle tone.   Arthritic patents should be doing a bit of exercise, within how much they feel like doing, on specific days - cold wet weather will cause his arthritis to flare - warm dry days not so much.   You might also consider acupuncture which can help with arthritic conditions too.

Baloo sees the vet at least every 6 months as he is already on Metacam and Tramadol for his arthritis and had his last check last month.

At this point I don't think there is any more to his weight loss other than the fact he does not like eating, his weight and appetite have fluctuated constantly since he was a pup and he has often gone on hunger strikes lasting 4-5 days at a time. This is not the lowest weight he has been.

He's a bit of a smarty pants and I think at least part of it is that he likes the attention, he always queues in his spot with the other dogs at meal times, walks to his bowl when they are called in but then starts staring at me with a bit of a grin on his face. I have to pretend I haven't noticed and then he will look a bit disappointed and start to eat.  He also likes to hoard his food until everyone else has finished so he can grumble at them when they notice he still has food. He's a bit of a complicated character.

Thanks for the information regarding kidneys and protein, I had forgotten about that. He is not incredibly old (10 and a half), his arthritis is due to severe elbow dysplasia, hip dysplasia and cruciate repairs. I was told when he was 5 months old that he would likely not reach 8 years, so to me he does seem quite elderly, he's done really well.

Current thinking regarding protein levels in senior dogs' diets is that unless they already suffer from kidney disease you are not going to harm the dogs kidney function by feeding high quality, easily digested protein.  A dogs need for protein actually increases again somewhat in old age.  I used to feed my old golden additional tins of royal canin puppy starter mousse which she ate with relish even when she would not eat anything else I offered her.

I had a crossbreed who, as he got older, ate even less than previously which was only ever about ½ the 'reccommended' amount.
Instead of putting him onto 'senior' at 9-10 yrs I swapped him onto puppy/junior. After long discussions with various feed reps at Crufts the majority thought was that at least he would get a lot more food value from the small amount of food he did eat. we lost him at 15yrs 8 mths due to sheer old age.

Another thought re eating - have you checked his teeth/gums?   If he has a problem going on, that won't help re wanting/being able to eat?

Just a quick update and thanks for the suggestions.

I have put him on the Arden Grange Prestige and he likes it, not a wolf it down like it, but he is now eating a full 2 cups a day which is the amount he should eat. I haven't had him weighed yet but he does feel like he is not quite as skinny as before and physically he does seem a bit stronger. I always get such great advice here and I really appreciate it.
Mel x

Just a quick update and thanks for the suggestions.

I always get such great advice here and I really appreciate it.
Mel x

Hear hear -priceless ! (It's great to hear he is doing better)

(I always find the different topics / opinions really interesting too)

>I have put him on the Arden Grange Prestige

It did the trick years ago with my then anorexic Elkhound bitch Kizi (1997 - 2011), who was at her worst during and after seasons, often only eating three or four days a week.

I used to feed a kibble called "Fat Boy". It was designed specifically for gaining weight. If you type it in Google it should bring the company up. They are also very helpful if you drop them an email.