I have three females that no matter what I do they will not gain weight. I have ask other people about this issue and they all have different answers for me. I could feed them 10 cups a day and they would not gain weight and I have wormed the hell out of them. Tape worms might be the issue but I have not had any flea issues in 5 years or so. My question is who has the best tape worm medication on the market or a good substitute for the medication. I know that Drontel is good but very dangerous as to the side effects it can cause. Everything on the yard is fat except the three females and it makes me crazy that these are looking like crap!

One of you Vet Tech's help me out here!!! SW

[Michele]

Slick: where I work, there was this one bomb dog, a labrador. This dog looked starved. I talked to the dog's handler and he said that this dog eats like crazy and never gains weight.

Just thought I'd share....

I've had ones that would gain after they were 2 years old and the motab slowed down.

Originally Posted by Michele Slick: where I work, there was this one bomb dog, a labrador. This dog looked starved. I talked to the dog's handler and he said that this dog eats like crazy and never gains weight. Just thought I'd share....

[fearlessknight]

well to be quite honest, I have used a couple of different kinds....I am no vet tech, but the first one I ever used was from wal mart, and it did the trick, just have to follow directions....then years later we ordered from Jeffers (dont rememebr that name either, but I feel safe in saying that MOST (not all) are decsent!
http://www.petrx.com/index.asp?PageA...ROD&ProdID=157

I used these.they worked!
I had a bad problem with them a while back because my dog would kill everything in sight and eat it....resulting in this crap! But these worked well!

May I ask what kind of food of you feed? Maybe it is the food....seriously, we had a problem with TW not putting weight on ours, but it was doing fine for another......no worms, we just switced feed and all is good!

[maryellen]

its very possible their metabolisms are so high there is not much you can do.. you could try giving them satin balls to see if that works, or give them food which has a higher fat content.. but they might just be the type to never gain weight...

how are their poops? do they poop ALOT when they go? or more normal?

if they are pooping a ton, then i would have them seen by a vet for EPI/SIBO, as both symptoms mimic each other... http://www.pitbull-chat.com/showthread.php?t=2008

or have them checked for coccidia and have them dewormed with something stronger..

[Michele]

Just in case you want to do Satin Balls, here's a recipe:

http://www.njboxers.com/satin-balls-recipe.htm

Not much Poop and I figure they are running it off but I don't want to rule out the Tape worm issue. I feed Exceed Chicken and Rice which is 30/20 so I don't much think it's the food. These dogs were fat puppies and never had any problems growing up! Had Albon for 10 days as pups just for good measure. Wormed good as pups and eat good puppy food and got replacement milk along with the diet of good puppy food. May just be high strung dogs that don't gain weight like you said. My Vet comes over this weekend so I'll ask him what I should do I guess. Thanks, Slick

Originally Posted by maryellen its very possible their metabolisms are so high there is not much you can do.. you could try giving them satin balls to see if that works, or give them food which has a higher fat content.. but they might just be the type to never gain weight... how are their poops? do they poop ALOT when they go? or more normal? if they are pooping a ton, then i would have them seen by a vet for EPI/SIBO, as both symptoms mimic each other... http://www.pitbull-chat.com/showthread.php?t=2008 or have them checked for coccidia and have them dewormed with something stronger..

[maryellen]

if they are just high strung then its their metabolism... try some satin balls that should work.

[Miakoda]

Droncit is what I use.

Also, my former dog, Rex, had the same issue. I got him at around 10 mo. of age and he weighed in at approx. 64 lbs (was carrying some extra weight). When I started working him and training him, his weight went to a healthy 54 lbs. But then he lost about 2 more lbs and started to look a little guant despite having great muscle tone. I spent a year feeding that dog out the wazoo (approx. 6-8 cups a day of high protein/high fat food). I dewormed him, ran fecals, and even did numerous rounds of bloodwork. Everything came back normal and he was indeed a hyper-active dog who excelled in catchwork. But he quickly earned the nicname "Skeletor" from my clinic pals. I swear, I did everything I could to put weight on that dog, but nothing did the trick. It finally came down to it with my boss telling me that everything was normal, he was an active healthy dog, and just to stop with the weight obsession. As long as he continued to remain active and healthy, then just keep feeding him that amount (I broke it up twice a day) and let him be.

Also, the satin balls recipe is a good one for putting some weight on. I always use it on dogs coming back from hunts as they rarely eat when out and are burning loads of calories.

[screamin'eagle]

Originally Posted by Miakoda Droncit is what I use.

Exactly what I was going to recommend.

Droncit for tapes...you mentioned that you haven't had flea issues, and I was wondering if they have a chance to get ahold of rabiits or vermin? Even if the flea and tick regimen is working they could still ingest the fleas off of the vermin...

No rabbits maybe mice or some small animal but nothing big getting past the fence into the dog lot.

Originally Posted by screamin'eagle Exactly what I was going to recommend. Droncit for tapes...you mentioned that you haven't had flea issues, and I was wondering if they have a chance to get ahold of rabiits or vermin? Even if the flea and tick regimen is working they could still ingest the fleas off of the vermin...

[Miakoda]

I meant to ask, are these 3 related?

[Sassy Girl]

How old are these dogs?

Had this issue w/my BC. I could not pack any weight on him and he was eating so much. My vet who agrees w/me on body type thought he looked anorexic, as did I. He is very high strung...even for a BC. Turned out at 5 years he finally started putting some meat on his bones, it was his Metabolism that changed. Now I have to be careful about over feeding, he'll pack on the pounds in a matter of days.

Two of them are second cuz's and the other one is another bloodline all together!

Originally Posted by Miakoda I meant to ask, are these 3 related?

18 mo, 2 and 2 1/2 yrs! Just very high strung little girls! Each only weighing in at around 30, 32 and 37 "Fly weights" as you can see.

Originally Posted by Sassy Girl How old are these dogs? Had this issue w/my BC. I could not pack any weight on him and he was eating so much. My vet who agrees w/me on body type thought he looked anorexic, as did I. He is very high strung...even for a BC. Turned out at 5 years he finally started putting some meat on his bones, it was his Metabolism that changed. Now I have to be careful about over feeding, he'll pack on the pounds in a matter of days.

Well I doubt seriously I'm telling you anything you don't know already but if you're worried about tapes you must use a wormer containing Praziquantel. It is sold under a few different names.

http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_praziquantel.html

Billy I'm somewhat confused. I know you know how to care for your dogs better than the average owner. LOL are you testing the clan here for knowledge?

[Wyldmoonwoman]

I had really good luck beefing uip skinny jud with satin balls

[Wyldmoonwoman]

I found a fat picture of him

[Zoe]

You can try feeding them three times a day as well. I often get those dogs that either won't eat and are skinny just because they are picky, or like Butters, who just has wicked high metabolism. I find upping it to three times a day, often helps.

No! not testing anyone. Sometimes a man or woman can over look things because they think they have covered every possible avenue! How many times has a person looked for the TV remote and that SOB was right there all along! Feel me...

[quote=Boogieman;46138]Well I doubt seriously I'm telling you anything you don't know already but if you're worried about tapes you must use a wormer containing Praziquantel. It is sold under a few different names.

http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_praziquantel.html

Billy I'm somewhat confused. I know you know how to care for your dogs better than the average owner. LOL are you testing the clan here for knowledge?[/quote]