Säkè, A yearling Boxer female, came for boarding underweight. Owner had sent her with me prefacing to watch her weight as is been a big struggle to put weight on her. She’d also offered that since a last smaller trip Säkè has gained 5#. She was still quite “ribhy” and must have looked downright sickly 5# lighter. However, when I saw the “scoop” to dispense kibble from for each meal & then add a 6z can of wet food additionally to each of those two feedings, I was aghast at its size. It was a 1quart plastic container you’d get from an extra large soup etc from Chinese take out or a deli. I instantly forewarned about Bloat issues as she’s a deep-chested/ narrow-flanked build predisposed to Bloat issues. She didn’t Bloat on my watch w precautions taken. But what would reveal itself was f deeper concern.

it’s quite normal for new boarding dogs to not eat well during the initial 1-3 day acclimation period. While I certainly didn’t want Säkè to lose weight on my watch, But I was quite scared giving her a quart of kibble plus a 6oz (large) can of dog food twice daily.

I put her on probiotics immediately to enhance digestive functions. I added the vegetable- of-the-day that all of the dogs eating raw or on whole-food diets get in their daily meals as a tempter to jump-start eating. I broke her 2 giant meals into 4 meals daily. And lastly like w all kibble feedings, pre-soaked the kibble in the dish vs allowing its full expansion in the gut…. This amount of kibble dry is scary enough.

Below is a verbatim text that I copied n pasted into the article. I couldn’t resist sharing ths personal text ( my words only) w others as there is such high- risk involved with over-feeding kibble. Feeding a normal amount of kibble is so rely alone. This article won’t rehash those hazards associated with feeding kibble as that information is already posters n other articles. Tgs will focud primarily on the over-feeding of kibble, This is such important information for those of you struggling to put weight on dog.

After a big poop clean-out from the addition of probiotics and veggies , she first lost 3 pounds (likely all in fecal weight) and is now putting weight on. She’d lost 3# prior w the first 3 days not eating well during acclimation. That was “legit weight loss.”

The fecal weight shouldn’t be considered as overall weight loss though, nor account for her total weight gain prior. Having excess poop in the gut (which can seem like she’s gained up to ~7# in a dog her size and is called constipation ) isn’t the kind of weight gain desired. That “weight” of her fecal-matter will never amount to overall body condition improvement and can ultimately backfire as she’s never working on other important bodily-processes outside of digestion. Too much of her resources are taken away from overall wellness. . There is just too much food in her gut all the time. She’d always just trying to digest it…,, even overnight when digestion should properly cease and her resources go to cellular repair efforts… fighting cancers and regenerating damaged cells/ etc.

The first and most obvious problem will be leaky-gut issues which is a precursor to memory, ovarian, colon and lung cancer. It could also lead to lymphatic cancer. There are numerous more mild health risks as well including Bloat. Constipation in itself is very uncomfortable as well. She likely always has a tummy ache. Her anus could be sore as well. Thankfully the wet food yields still a normal soft stool. It’s the best thing going for her in this over-feeding scenario. Constipation plus hardened stool from fecal-impaction is very uncomfortable for the anus. It can tear the anus as well making passing stool excruciating to pass.

Her physiology can only process food at a specific rate so gorging everyday w no fasting between as is normal for a dog let’s say feeding naturally like a wild-counterpart can be counterproductive and again lead to more serious complications.

She’d pooped indoors and outdoors for 2 days every 2hrs-4hrs. This happened after 3 days on probiotics and veggies. Her system worked better in both digestion and “ GI-sweeping .” The probiotics that were restored (probiotics are killed off by the preservatives in kibble) amped up digestion / utilizing nutrients The veggies were given to tempt her to eat but have additionally have a GI tract cleaning aspect. Bonus.

She was not fasted and certainly no laxatives and had this type of clean out …. that’s a big “tell” re the profound fecal back-ip she’s experiencing. It took such little outside effort to start the direly important and not necessarily predicted (but certainly reasonable) clean out. In the wild, fasting between kills and after gorging for 3-4 days on a large carcass in s the wild dog’s good clean out of intestines plus serves as a sort of detox. So this says about a dogs physiology (which is the same as it’s wild counterparts ) that while gorging is both normal and tolerable for a dog, it must be followed by fasting. If we don’t feed “gorging-style,” fasting isn’t required. If we do feed gorging-style fasting is a must to must to maintain optimal health,

So since fasting won’t occur every few days, less food must go in.

The probiotics and veggies given was only an attempt to make up for the 3day weight loss over the first 3 days of not eating well. Probiotics was for digestive efficiency and veggies to jump start eating. But the resulting clean out was both highly beneficial plus informative. We stood use this info to her benefit

Let’s discuss a more sustainable diet that poses less risks and is better for weight gain than tone of kibble impacting her gut. That’s also an excessive amount of these health-risk-preservatives and other harmful ingredients. When the food arrives I’ll have the ingredients lable. I’ll do a dietary analysis once I have that n-hand.

She’s much bouncier and “light on her feet now that she is not carrying excess fecal weight.
👍