Hi there. i have a 2 year old whippet bitch. She is very thin and finicky about eating. Also, she has only had one heat cycle. Any ideas???
thanks
Janis Sutherland

sounds like a normal whippet to me! ;)

Janis , have you taken her to the vet for a thorough check up? When you say thin ..how thin do you mean? Whippets are supposed to be lean . Lots of dogs are finnicky about eating ..its usually just a case of either finding a food that they like or adding a very small *something* to make the food she is already on more palatable.

Melody

Hi, I assume she has had a good alround wormer for roundworm and tapeworm and there is nothing wrong with her mouth/teeth. What is her height/weight? Perhaps a whippet expert on the board could then gauge if she is seriously underweight. The whippets I see at shows - you can just see their ribs but not the backbone, if thats any help.

hello, i have left a reply for you on visitors questions, i have now joined.

Hi Bodicea
How thin is thin?
The pin bones should be just covered if she has the correct amount of weight.
We have a finicky eater and have found the best thing to put weight on is breast of lamb but make sure you remove all the bones.
It may just be the dogs build. We have 3 lots of litter sisters, out of each pair there is one that gains weight easily and one that does not.
How much is she eating and what are you feeding.
How much excersize does the dog get, is she very active if so she may be burning a lot of calories up.

BTW You should not be able to see the ribs on a whippet of correct weight.

Our youngest are 2 and they have only had one heat so dont worry all bitches are different we have one that only has a heat once every 14month.

Mine is 2 years old and only had one season so far at 18 months. I've heard anything from 6 months to 2 years between seasons for whippets.

What do you mean by thin? Whippets should only be just covered - no fat at all. I saw the fattest whippet yesterday while out for a walk - so fat it had chipmunk cheeks (and yes was purebred - pedigree papers and all that). Very happy dog, but was a sad sight to see:(

My Savannah is very finely put together. She is 19 inches to the shoulder, and weighs about 23 lbs. She is probably just barely the right weight (could probably use an extra 1/2 pound or so on her). Maybe you can use this to compare your weight/height.

Wendy

I also have a very skinny whippet. He won't eat complete food, and he's now gone off a brand of tinned food that he's been eating for ages. He just throws it up. I've wormed him so i know that's not the problem...he's just always been a finnicky eater. He's was so thin with his recent sickness bout that lots of people were commenting about it on his walks. You could see his backbone and his ribs. I've now switched to breast of lamb and boiled potatoe, & chicken and rice meals. He's really put on weight again quite quickly and loves these meals. It's me who's unhappy now, as I have to keep making up these meals and he barks and barks until it's ready (drives me mad), it takes much more time and effort, and I'm not convinced he's getting all the nutrition he needs.

I do sympathise with you....not sure if my reply is helpful. The breast of lamb and rice has been recommended to me in the past for fattening my whippet up....not sure how long you should continue this type of diet though. No advice about the heat cycles I'm afraid...