My puppy isn't growing and is too thin. What could be wrong?

The goal here is to find out why Daisy is thin. Is she having constant diarrhea? Not eating? Or on poor low quality puppy food? You should start by getting her on a high quality large breed puppy food such as Hill's Science Diet Large breed puppy http://www.hillspet.com/en/us/products/sd-canine-puppy-large-breed-dry OR Royal Canin large breed puppy food. Merrick is also a decent quality dog food as well. Then you want to get Daisy's stool tested by your vet for parasites. A prophylactic deworming can also be done (i.e. Pyrantel palmoate or Fenbendazole). And finally treat for any diarrhea or loose stool with added fiber (i.e. Canned pumpkin- not the filling, 1-2 tsp daily) until the stools are normal consistency. And finally you want to protect Daisy from known viruses and pathogens by getting her started on her puppy vaccinations. Most puppies start their puppy series between 6-8 weeks of age, so Daisy is definitely old enough to start these now. I hope this helps!

I would recommend a really good deworming since he is young. However it would be best to take a fecal to the vet to determine if he has parasites and if so what kind. If he does not have any parasites I would recommend a food change. I would try a basic diet like purina, royal canine, or science diet puppy food.

I recommend you have Nugget examined by the veterinarian. Have them check his liver values, pancreatic values and check for intestinal parasites. While dogs who are abnormally small could still be healthy, issues like liver shunts, parasites and pancreatic insufficiency could also cause the same symptoms. Best to have him checked out. Please feel free to post any additional questions.

It's difficult to tell from the picture, but she doesn't look too skinny, or too small to me. It would take a physical exam to make this determination though. I would question the need for her to gain weight if she was otherwise healthy and not too small for her age. As long as Stella has received appropriate parasite treatment from your vet and is getting the right amount of food, she would be expected to grow well. This is all assuming that she doesn't have any other medical issue causing her not to grow well. Your vet can help make sure that is not the case. You definitely don't want her to grow too much and too fast, because this can cause a few different bone and joint problems that can cause life-long problems. I recommend feeding her food labeled for puppies at the amount recommended on the back of the bag. This can be changed to adult dog food around 8 months of age. Make sure she also visits a vet regularly for deworming, vaccines and other preventative health care. With these simple tips, Stella should grow well and stay healthy. I hope that helps and all is well with Stella.

If he isn't the appropriate weight then there is likely an underlying cause for this. Most healthy pets should be able to remove all the vital nutrients from their food and use it for energy; however there are certain disease processes that can interfere with this, including intestinal parasites, malabsorption/maldigestion issues, certain endocrine disorders such as Addison's disease, and pancreas disorders like Exocrine pancreatic insufficiency. So I think the first priority here is to get Peanut examined by your vet to determine if he is ind Ed underweight to begin with. We achieve this by determining his current body condition score, where 3/5 or 5/9 is considered ideal weight. Then determine if the pet needs specific testing to look for certain disease processes that would lead to the weight loss, such as decal examination, pancreas testing and so forth. And of course generally speaking you should be feeding your pet a high quality adult small breed formula, such as Royal Canin, Hill's Science Diet, Evo or Natural Balance just to name a few. I hope Peanut turns out to be ok. Best wishes!

Most puppies should be proper weight if they are getting fed puppy food, and in his case large breed puppy food. If you are concerned about his weight, then I would recommend getting him checked to ensure he isn't losing nutrition due to intestinal parasites, which is the #`1 cause for weight loss in puppies. Otherwise, he may just be naturally lean. I can see his ribs there but he is laying down, if he stands and his ribs are still readily pronounced, then he may be a tad bit underweight. Also if he has any loose stool, this can indicate other internal organ issues that should be checked by your vet. If he has an underlying issue that is not treated, then no matter what you feed him, he will continue to be undersized. I hope that things work out well for your pet Thunder and that his weight normalizes soon! Best wishes and take care.

Puppies tend to go through a lanky phase especially if they're a taller breed. Typically they will grow taller before they start to fill out and grow muscle mass. It sounds like your kid is still young and otherwise very happy, so I would give it some time if she was dewormed appropriately. If you're feeding once a day it might be best to consider twice a day feeding as well, like 2 cups twice a day instead of 3 cups once a day. It's very hard to overfeed puppies as they are actively growing. So if you feel like she is not gaining weight appropriately you can try adding an additional 1/2 cup at a time and reassessing in a week or two. Also most veterinary clinics will be fine with you bringing your pet in just to use the scale, just call ahead to ask. This would be a good way for you to know about weight gain. I hope this helps and thank you for using pet coach!