Author Topic: Underweight Great Pyr  (Read 16150 times)

Offline romphill

  • Gnawer
  • *
  • Posts: 10
  • Harley
    • View Profile
Underweight Great Pyr
« on: July 30, 2008, 04:42:56 pm »
Just got Harley back from the vet today for shots, bloodwork, and the like since we adopted him 3 weeks ago and had no idea of his health status.

All the screenings came back clean, and are beginning to start him on some Advantage combined flea/heartworm med that you just pour on his back?  Any ideas/thoughts on that one?

Other than the horrible cut the groomer gave him (he looks like a giant poodle now...fluffy tail, short body, longer hair on head), the only downside was his weight.  The last owners claimed he was 135...clearly not.  The scales had him at almost 83 pounds (this was after the haircut, so that might account for 5-10 lbs).

The last owners had him on Old Roy...that's what the vet attributed his light weight to.  They recommended Eukanuba adult large breed...I was wondering if anyone had any ideas, and if anyone knew where Euk fell in the line of dog foods according to price.

All total I think the monthly budget is around 60 for dog food, give or take a bit.  Harley will be 3 November 3 if it's any help. Also how does everyone feel about purchasing food online?  Is it just as good as in store, or does stuff end up being sold online because it's older, backordered type stuff?

Thanks,

Max



Edit****

Can someone just tell me what the best food for him is going to be?  I hate going through decisions like this.  Also, I'm a fan of Eukanuba, Orijen, Innova, and EVO.  I know nothing about them but they have fun to say names.
« Last Edit: July 30, 2008, 05:41:43 pm by romphill »
Harley, Great Pyrenees, 2.5 years old

Offline People Whisperer

  • Supreme Drooler
  • ****
  • Posts: 1975
    • View Profile
Re: Underweight Great Pyr
« Reply #1 on: July 30, 2008, 05:06:31 pm »
Oh my, 83 lbs is pretty light for a male Pyr. The good news that Pyrs have very slow metabolism and don't eat much. $60 a month for food is quite a bit believe me or not. I buy one of the most expensive foods which cost $70 per bag and it lasts almost two months.
There are great foods on the market these days. Try putting him on grain free like Orijen, Natures Variety Instinct or Evo  and he will put weight pretty fast. Also, since food is very high in calories he will not eat much...only 3 or so cups a day. Good luck!
"To once own a Great Pyrenees is to love and want one always."
Mary W. Crane

I don't suffer from insanity; I enjoy every minute of it :)


Offline Binky

  • Grand Master
  • ***
  • Posts: 604
    • View Profile
Re: Underweight Great Pyr
« Reply #2 on: July 30, 2008, 05:21:15 pm »
I know what you mean about the bad haircut- we got Binky a "summer cut" once and even she was embarassed!  It grows back pretty fast though.  Anyway, Binky is a female but she only weighs 69lbs- she is not underweight according to the vet, just kind of a runt!  We feed Solid Gold which is about $40 a bag and we go through two bags a month but we have 4 dogs, so I'd think your Pyr would only need one bag a month at most.  The more expensive food is definitely worth it- Binky was underweight before but now she is a solid 69lbs and healthy.
Binky-Great Pyrenees
Sophie-Leonberger
McDougal-Papillon
Chicklet-Papillon
Sigfried-Cat  RIP Sigs
Spooky-Cat
Jasper-Nigerian Dwarf goat
Ferdinand-Nigerian Dwarf goat

Offline pyr4me

  • Grand Master
  • ***
  • Posts: 651
    • View Profile
Re: Underweight Great Pyr
« Reply #3 on: July 30, 2008, 07:10:07 pm »
I'm sorry to hear of his low weight. I would recommend Innova--it's great food and higher calorie, so it would help him put on some weight.
« Last Edit: July 30, 2008, 07:11:56 pm by pyr4me »
Jennifer

Tipper (8 1/2 yrs) Golden Retriever/Sheltie mix
Jenny (4 yrs) Great Pyrenees
Gabriel (14 yrs) Sealpoint Himalayan cat
Melanie (11 yrs) Domestic medium hair cat

"You think dogs will not be in heaven? I tell you, they will be there long before any of us."
~Robert Lewis Steven

Offline GoldenPyrs

  • Supreme Drooler
  • ****
  • Posts: 1681
    • View Profile
Re: Underweight Great Pyr
« Reply #4 on: July 30, 2008, 11:08:26 pm »
I second (or is it third?  ;)  ;D) the Innova suggestion.  It is very calorie dense as well as very nutritious, so he should gain weight easily.  You may have found this already, but if you need to find a local distributer, here's a link to the manuf's web site store locator.

www.naturapet. com/where-to-buy/

I smiled when I read your description of Harley's poodle cut.   ;D  Sammy looked just like that when we got him, too.  He'd been clipped down to the skin everywhere except for his tail & head, so we called him our "Poodle Pyr" for awhile.  ;)  :D  Well, an emaciated  :( "Poodle Pyr" anyway since he was 68#.  :o  :(  One good thing though about the clip is that it saved both us & Sam from having to brush out tons of mats & all during the time that we were trying to establish a bond & trust with the poor guy.  As much as I hated how short Sammy's cut was (they'd even cut Sam with the clippers...it was THAT short!  :(), I was glad that we didn't have to put him through the dematting chore.  If it helps any, Sam has a beautiful, lush Pyr coat now & I'm sure that your boy will too soon.  And now you can start brushing Harley easily as his coat grows back to slowly get him used to it if he's not a fan at first (Sam sure wasn't!).

One other thing is that many people overestimate their pyrs weight, but 83# is really light.  Did your vet estimate what he/she thinks Harley *should* weigh based on his height & build?  Generally speaking 110-130 is common with some bloodlines weighing more and maybe some a little less.  Not to worry though, a good food & lots of your love & caring will have him in great shape in no time.   :)  :-*
Marie

And my pups:
Daisy a 9 y/o Golden/Lab mix
Sammy a 6-7(?) y/o Great Pyrenees adopted 3/07
Cassie a 3 y/o Pyr/Mystery Snuggle Bunny mix adopted 2/07

My angel girls waiting at the Bridge:
Cara 1989-2001 Great Pyrenees
Sally ? - 1993 Dobie(rescued '92)
Halley 2002-2006 Great Pyrenees

Offline romphill

  • Gnawer
  • *
  • Posts: 10
  • Harley
    • View Profile
Re: Underweight Great Pyr
« Reply #5 on: July 31, 2008, 03:22:09 am »
On the Innova suggestion, which version should I get.  I saw the large breed and red meat versions.  Also how many cups a day should he be getting of this good food?
Harley, Great Pyrenees, 2.5 years old

Offline People Whisperer

  • Supreme Drooler
  • ****
  • Posts: 1975
    • View Profile
Re: Underweight Great Pyr
« Reply #6 on: July 31, 2008, 07:15:37 am »
On the Innova suggestion, which version should I get.  I saw the large breed and red meat versions.  Also how many cups a day should he be getting of this good food?
You can try buying a couple of small bags first to see which one he will like the most. My dog is going crazy about fish formulas and would eat twice as much comparing to any meat based foods. 

Since he needs to put weight one 3-4 cups a day will do it. You can adjust the amount as you observe how hungy/full he is.
"To once own a Great Pyrenees is to love and want one always."
Mary W. Crane

I don't suffer from insanity; I enjoy every minute of it :)


Offline pyr4me

  • Grand Master
  • ***
  • Posts: 651
    • View Profile
Re: Underweight Great Pyr
« Reply #7 on: July 31, 2008, 07:20:57 am »
The large breed Innova and the Innova adult formula are both chicken/turkey based--the red meat is Innova EVO, which is a grain free formula. You can't go wrong with whatever Innova formula you choose. I started Jenny on the Innova Large Breed formula and liked it a lot.  It has large pieces for big paws to eat.  

When I switched Jenny over from whatever she was eating in rescue to Innova, she didn't eat much at first--didn't even finish what was in her bowl. I remember being worried about this, but Holly, BPO's resident food guru explained to me that Jenny was used to eating "iceberg lettuce" and was now getting a much richer, nutrient dense food, and it was like now eating "cheese", so she needed time to get used to the higher quality food. So I wouldn't expect Harley to eat it all up right away, he will need some time to adjust. I would think that a good goal would be about 3 cups a day, spread into 2 meals. Then as he gets used to the food and you learn about his individual food needs then you can make adjustments. But I certainly wouldn't expect him to start eating 3 cups a day at first.
« Last Edit: July 31, 2008, 07:23:02 am by pyr4me »
Jennifer

Tipper (8 1/2 yrs) Golden Retriever/Sheltie mix
Jenny (4 yrs) Great Pyrenees
Gabriel (14 yrs) Sealpoint Himalayan cat
Melanie (11 yrs) Domestic medium hair cat

"You think dogs will not be in heaven? I tell you, they will be there long before any of us."
~Robert Lewis Steven

Offline GoldenPyrs

  • Supreme Drooler
  • ****
  • Posts: 1681
    • View Profile
Re: Underweight Great Pyr
« Reply #8 on: July 31, 2008, 12:33:02 pm »
When we feed straight Innova, we feed Cassie 2 1/2 cups of Innova Adult (green bag) per day (split into 2 meals).  So I'd probably offer Harley 4 cups per day (2 cups twice a day) to start and see how that goes.  Once he reaches his ideal weight I'm guessing that around 3 to 3 1/2 cups per day will do it just fine.  Don't be surprised though if it takes at least a few months for him to reach his ideal weight.  I was told with Sammy that it's best not to have them gain it back too fast either.   ;) 

BTW, I'm so glad that I looked up Naturapet's web site again last night.  Our nearest Naturapet distributer was an hour & a half away, so it's been a chore for us to get Innova (we live in the country).  But when I looked it up, I found a brand new distributer only about 45 minutes from us and in an area that we travel to much more often.  YAY!   So thanks, your question ended up helping me out big time.   ;)  :D
Marie

And my pups:
Daisy a 9 y/o Golden/Lab mix
Sammy a 6-7(?) y/o Great Pyrenees adopted 3/07
Cassie a 3 y/o Pyr/Mystery Snuggle Bunny mix adopted 2/07

My angel girls waiting at the Bridge:
Cara 1989-2001 Great Pyrenees
Sally ? - 1993 Dobie(rescued '92)
Halley 2002-2006 Great Pyrenees

Offline romphill

  • Gnawer
  • *
  • Posts: 10
  • Harley
    • View Profile
Re: Underweight Great Pyr
« Reply #9 on: July 31, 2008, 05:17:52 pm »
YAY!   So thanks, your question ended up helping me out big time.   ;)  :D


You're welcome...I do what I can to help whenever possible.

Anyways I'm sorta in the same situation (living far away from distributors) so can anyone offer advice or information on purchasing online?  I wasn't sure if it was lower quality or food that had been returned (sub par).

Thanks again

Max
Harley, Great Pyrenees, 2.5 years old

Offline pyr4me

  • Grand Master
  • ***
  • Posts: 651
    • View Profile
Re: Underweight Great Pyr
« Reply #10 on: July 31, 2008, 05:26:30 pm »
www.onlynatura lpet.com gives a 10% shipping discount if you order automatic shipments. I have ordered products from them in the past and have been happy with them.
Jennifer

Tipper (8 1/2 yrs) Golden Retriever/Sheltie mix
Jenny (4 yrs) Great Pyrenees
Gabriel (14 yrs) Sealpoint Himalayan cat
Melanie (11 yrs) Domestic medium hair cat

"You think dogs will not be in heaven? I tell you, they will be there long before any of us."
~Robert Lewis Steven

Offline romphill

  • Gnawer
  • *
  • Posts: 10
  • Harley
    • View Profile
Re: Underweight Great Pyr
« Reply #11 on: July 31, 2008, 06:50:23 pm »
New budget...Last time I talked to my girlfriend we decided we're going to try and shoot for $40 a month for food and preferably something like Eukanuba/Iams or in that general quality range.  Hopefully this ought to free up some other money for the occasional canned food topper.

Sorry to ask again, but do you all have any thoughts on a food in that price range?  We heard about some stuff with Iams and Peta and so I would be really shocked if she wanted to go the Iams route, but we're not really sure of anything else to go for around that price.
« Last Edit: July 31, 2008, 07:33:19 pm by romphill »
Harley, Great Pyrenees, 2.5 years old

Offline People Whisperer

  • Supreme Drooler
  • ****
  • Posts: 1975
    • View Profile
Re: Underweight Great Pyr
« Reply #12 on: July 31, 2008, 07:43:52 pm »
This website has nice food reviews. You can buy 4-5 stars food for $40 a month
http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/showcat.php/cat/4/page/2
« Last Edit: July 31, 2008, 07:49:45 pm by People Whisperer »
"To once own a Great Pyrenees is to love and want one always."
Mary W. Crane

I don't suffer from insanity; I enjoy every minute of it :)