# Skinny chihuahua?



## SSpayth (Jan 9, 2013)

This is my little Penny. She is 14 months old and super skinny! I don't know who her father is ( we rescued her mother who was tied to a shopping cart in an abandoned parking lot) we had mom for 3 days took her to the vet who believed she had just had puppies because of how thin she was, then 2 days later Penny was born on my lap!
We feed her twice a day, homemade chicken and rice in the morning and Merrick dry food in the evening. She eats well, no poo/pee problems and has been to the vet to check for worms and other issues. She gets a clean bill of health, but I'm told to try and fatten her up! 
Anyone ever had issues with this? Her mom appears to be a deer head and she resembles one, only she is very small, 7 inches tall and 1lb 9oz.


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## Huly (Mar 5, 2012)

chicken is a lean meat. Try beef, lamb, duck and fatty meats


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## jesuschick (Dec 5, 2010)

Is there a reason you are feeding her 2 different things?

She will lose some nutrients in cooked food and being thin, she needs all that she can get. 

One of my dogs appears to do fine on chicken but once (on the suggestion of her holistic vet) we swapped her chicken treats for duck, we have seen a nice improvement in her. 

Agree with Christie. Even if it is with something like Stella & Chewy's treats, I'd try fattier proteins.


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## Angel1210 (Mar 14, 2011)

She's so precious! She's very pretty. How lucky she is to have you rescue her. Do you have her Mom?

Orijen is another choice for food. Check out dogfoodadvisor.com . You might want to select one with a higher fat content, at least to get her started. 

You are both lucky. She's very pretty!


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## Smith (Jun 7, 2010)

I'd recommend raw feeding, I've had good success putting weight on chronically thin dogs by switching them to raw. You could also up the amount she's fed daily and, if you'd rather stick with kibble, Ziwipeak is a great freeze-dried raw food that you feed like a kibble.

As others have suggested, switching her from chicken to beef, lamb or another red meat may help as well, since chicken is leaner.

She's a wee cutie, hope you can get her weight up!


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## susan davis (Mar 25, 2011)

I think this tiny little one was poorly nurished in the womb, and is just really a tiny little girl. I agree with the other posters. She just may be a skinny girl---just feed her a good 5 star food and see how she does. Good luck, and thank you for rescueing her Mom and her!


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## ~LS~ (Oct 29, 2011)

Welcome to the forum! :wave:

What a precious little girl you have. She definitely needs to put on some weight, 
the spine should not be sticking out like that. I'll make this simple for you, you
have three excellent choices regarding nutrition...raw, Ziwipeak, Orijen.

If you are willing to research and learn, and are open to the idea of feeding your
dog a raw diet, then this is the ultimate choice imo, if done properly the benefits
of a raw diet are too numerous to name, everything from healthy insides to
beautiful outside.

If you like the idea of a raw diet, but do not have the time for shopping,
portioning, etc(which by the way becomes quite easy with a bit of practice),
then there is Ziwipeak, which is an air dried raw diet. It is as convenient as
kibble.

Finally, if you can not afford or find in your area Ziwipeak, then I highly
recommend Orijen, which is the best kibble on the market right now, by far. 
It is high in protein and nutrients, it isn't cheap, but because it is so high in
the good stuff instead of nasty fillers, you need to feed much less since your
dog's body will absorb most of the food, very little will come out the other
end, you'll have the tiniest most adorable poops you've ever seen. 

No matter which choice you decide upon, the key is to feed tiny amounts but
frequently. I would start with 5 tiny meals per day, then as the weeks pass
and your baby gains weight, you would eventually bring it down to 2 or 3.

Another important note, is you don't want your dog to simply gain fat, you
want muscle, and to get muscle you'll have to exercise your dog. Playing at
home is great, fetch, tug of war, etc. But frequent daily walks are a must
also, minimum three daily walks on-leash(morning, afternoon and night).

Make sure your dog has plenty of fresh water available at all times.
And for now stay away from all treats, just the food of your choice,
and nothing more.


Best of luck, and I look forward to Penny's progress!


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## MiniGrace (Oct 31, 2011)

Adorable poops?! LS, I am laid out on the sofa laughing! I agree with you 100. % but I am still laughing at the way you described it!


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## ~LS~ (Oct 29, 2011)

Haha Terri, it's true raw poops and Orijen/Acana poops are the cutest poops 
I've ever seen. :love2: Especially if you compare them to Iams or Pedigree poops!


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## pupluv168 (Mar 7, 2012)

I would also recommend Fromm. It is excellent- similar to Acana and Orijen. Toby loves it and is doing fantastically. 


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## SSpayth (Jan 9, 2013)

Thank you everyone! I really appreciate all the feed back! Im gonna try to answer all the questions,.. at least the ones I can remember! 
She eats the two different types of food because she is VERY picky. If she had it her way, she'd eat the cats dry food everyday, but that wouldnt cut it! I've tried about every diet I could find and the vet could recommend. Chicken is the only protein she will eat, and I've tried the "she'll eat when she's hungry" approach, that doesnt work, and she doesnt have an ounce to spare! 
Her breakfast mix is as fatty as I can get it! I use dark meat chicken, omega-6 fatty acid supplement, and the "broth" is made from beef. The Merrick dog food is the highest quality kibble I can get her to eat. 
I think her "desire" to eat dry kibble is because at night we feed the other dogs, and they get dry kibble with the homemade mix poured over. ( I have 3 others, her mom, a lhasa apso and a kelpie)
I do have her mom! What else would I do with her! 
She was also VERY skinny until I had her fixed, then she plumped right up. The mom, Bambi, was very malnurished when I rescued her, there were two pups in the little, one was very sickly at birth and even with being tubed didnt make it through the night. Penny was actually a plump little puppy, but at about 6 months she just turned into a twig! She isnt sluggish at all, she plays hard with the kelpie, not to mention the 6 kids in my house.  
I think maybe trying to feed her smaller meals more frequently will be my next approach. And for poops, she has these cute little "tic-tacs", thats what we call them! 
Im puttin' a few more pics up, two of baby Penny and one of Penny with her mom Bambi. I love sharing my little babies!
Thank you again everyone!


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## Angel1210 (Mar 14, 2011)

They are both very beautiful!


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## Huly (Mar 5, 2012)

Both are awesome! Have you tried duck? Very similar to chicken but higher in fat


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## Evelyn (Oct 14, 2012)

They are both beautiful!! The poultry Fromm has duck in it, both my dogs love it, and I give Ziwipeak with their treats and add a few pieces to their kibble, in the am I also add a tablespoon of Fromm can food. Since of have changed to Fromm both my dogs have such shinny fur and the vet is impressed. I have too order Ike's on line as the store I go to doesn't carry the puppy because Fromm dog food is for all ages, I just like keeping Ike half puppy and half regular Fromm, till he is older.


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## Tink (Oct 14, 2009)

Curious how big the mom is? 

I agree with more frequent feedings. Develop the mindset (if you don't have it already) that whatever your dog ingests needs to be the highest quality food possible, with the highest calorie content. Bear in mind though that high calorie doesn't automatically = good food, nor is good food necessarily high in calories. In your dog's case, you need to be vigilant to both things. She is definitely underweight and needs fattening up as nutritiously as possible.


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## SSpayth (Jan 9, 2013)

Tink-
Momma is 13in at the withers and 8lbs. When I found her she was 3lbs and before surgery she was 6. 
Penny was just over 2 1/2 oz at birth, so small but on the "chart". 

Made "turducken" for breakfast this morning, while my Lhasa is in heaven, Penny is not thrilled about it and tried to raid the cat food! 


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## Smith (Jun 7, 2010)

The one thing I would advise, is if you're using a dry food or raw/cooked feeding commercially-raised meat, I'd stop adding omega-6 supplements. Unless the meat you give your dogs has been pasture-raised/grass fed, it will have an excess of omega-6 from the high-corn diet it was fed. I'd supplement with omega-3 instead, since most farmed meats are low in omega-3 for the same reason.


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## SSpayth (Jan 9, 2013)

I use my own livestock for the dogs food. I keep them free range and use homemade feed for the poultry. It's wheats, barley, some corn and others. I don't raise cattle, so that's store bought (wish I could but that much land is hard to come by in Las Vegas!) Would you still advise changing the omega?

I did forget to mention, Penny was born without reproductive organs (I'd guess that's from the neglect of the mother, and I also believe it was a backyard breeder trying to breed "teacup" Chis, I found a Craigslist post that had a pic that looked a lot like Bambi and they were advertising "the smallest chi puppies". And yes, I did report it! 
Anyway, my vet has said that her small mid could be in part of the missing organs and well as hormones. 
I'm just hoping to plump her up a bit, I know she is "healthy", I pride myself in taking care of my animals, I won't deny there might be a "better" way, but I know that my babies all receive awesome care and love. 


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## Smith (Jun 7, 2010)

SSpayth said:


> I use my own livestock for the dogs food. I keep them free range and use homemade feed for the poultry. It's wheats, barley, some corn and others. I don't raise cattle, so that's store bought (wish I could but that much land is hard to come by in Las Vegas!) Would you still advise changing the omega?
> 
> I did forget to mention, Penny was born without reproductive organs (I'd guess that's from the neglect of the mother, and I also believe it was a backyard breeder trying to breed "teacup" Chis, I found a Craigslist post that had a pic that looked a lot like Bambi and they were advertising "the smallest chi puppies". And yes, I did report it!
> Anyway, my vet has said that her small mid could be in part of the missing organs and well as hormones.
> ...


Wow, that's awesome that you raise your own livestock!!

I would still probably swap the omegas, as I've just not heard of any sort of livestock being low in Omega 6.


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## Tracilea (Jul 27, 2009)

I love this post. Going to try a few things myself as Willy is a very skinny boy and I can see his spine. I like the idea of feeding more meals a day instead of just increasing the amount. Willy actually gets full if I try to force him to eat more. He tries to eat cuz i am asking him to but once he was trying and then gagged like he was just too full, so I try not to push it. He eats what he eats and will not eat more. Little monkey lol
Also I will give the duck a try as I have gotten duck treats before and he did like them. 
Good luck with sweet little Penny. She looks like a wee doll and reminds me alot of Willy with her size, though Willy is older and he is 4 pounds now at almost 4 years old.


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## SunshineTaradise (Jun 9, 2012)

Cuervo is also pretty skinny. I ask my vet every time I'm there if his weight is ok (he's 3 1/2 close to 4 lbs and the vet is happy with his weight. He's always been skinny and he's not a big eater. He usually eats 1 big meal a day and a smaller one in the morning. I've always had to encourage him to eat. I give him treats throughout the day to stimulate his appetite before his meals and to try and keep his weight up.


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## SSpayth (Jan 9, 2013)

Penny update: So I tried a bunch of different foods,... Raw, rabbit, omega 3, duck,.. I spent more time researching and cooking for her than anything else. And what happened? She lost 3 oz! She was refusing to eat most everything, waiting for the slightest chance to grab a drop or two of cat kibble! 
So, I went another way, I posted a request on my Facebook for anyone I knew with a dog to give me a small sample of their dog food. I got everything from Alpo to Eukanuba. So I let Penny choose! She was very fond of the Kibbles and Bits homestyle (ugh!!) but we settled on Newmans own organic. It's a 5 star, not the greatest, but she eats it VERY well, her poops are still "cute", however a tad bigger than the normal tictac, haha!, BUT she has gained back 2 oz! She eats 3 times a day and seems very happy to eat. 

Ill keep you posted, but for now it seems that her eating this well and showing weight gain is the best! 


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## Kelliope (Mar 11, 2011)

I can tell you one thing that gets my dogs to gobble their food if they are feeling a bit 'off' - goat cheese. It worked wonders on my dog who has some liver issues in getting her re-interested in food. All the dogs LOVE it and it is not too bad for them. You can probably even get some from a local producer? Anyway, mixing it with her food might encourage her to eat more. 

Wishing you continued luck with her and bless you for taking them in!!!!!


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## mistymornings18 (Jan 3, 2013)

Kiddles and bits happens to be the only food my one chi will eat. He is also skinny but healthy at five pounds. The vet said that even though it isn't the best food it is better then letting him starve.


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## SSpayth (Jan 9, 2013)

@Misty- I meant no offense, and I'm not judging. I'm under the opinion that if you feed your animal daily, and give it the proper care and love that the name of the food isn't important. My issue is that my little Penny is VERY underweight and a lot of dog food is nothing more than filler, so I want to make sure she is getting the most nutrition possible in the small amount she is physically capable of eating. 
I have two cats who are amazingly healthy and happy who were born and raised on Cat Chow, and my dog that we had put down last year was 19, she ate Ol' Roy for most of her life. 
Anyway, no knocks on what you feed your baby, I'm here looking for ideas and to share my babies story. 


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## mistymornings18 (Jan 3, 2013)

Oh hun you didnt offend lol. I just wanted to let you know that even if you aren't feeding the best it is okay if It's all she can eat because as the vet said better that then starvation ya know? Our chis are alike in a lot of ways and chi chi looks really skinny but because be is stubborn we have to stick to less then best with him so he doesn't get worse.


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## Marlimoo (Jan 24, 2013)

I've struggled with the same problem on my Shakespeare. He was the biggest in his litter, but after taking him home, 6 months later he turned out to be the smallest one at 2 lbs! 
Since he got out of his growing stage, Shakespeare has always had trouble putting on weight too. 
He eats more than any dog in the house but is still skinny. He also is the most active. The vet says he's ok but that I need to put weight on him (no duh!).
So this is what I've observed. 
He eats a lot. But he's always playing. Even when he is sleeping, he tenses all of his muscles. So in a way, he's still burning calories in his sleep. 
My solution to this problem was feeding him what he enjoys eating. I know it's not the best, but maybe try a scambled egg once a week. It sure has helped my boy.
Also, praise her when and after she eats. This has given My Shakespeare the drive to eat anything I put in front of him. He's still not the fattest dog, and after 5 years of this problem still looks a little skinny, but he used to look like your dogs did! (oh he's intact as well, that could be a problem too.
I've added a picture to show you what he looks like in terms of body. It's not the best and I'm sorry. But you can see that he's still pretty skinny but a lot better than he used to be.


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## AussieLass (Mar 1, 2012)

Cooking food destroys all of the enzymes and other goodies. The only time mine would ever get chicken/rice cooked is if they were sick, but no-one ever is.

Did you get a sample of ziwipeak sent to you per chance? It's the best food money can buy imo and at $40 for 1kg or 2lbs, it would want to be, albeit it lasts over a month. I know they send out fairly generous samples in USA & UK, unlike none available to their next door neighbours, pfft, how rude 

I also feed raw which I believe is best for any dog or cat. I also dehydrate all my own liver (fattening), kidney, steak etc. for them and they go nuts for it - all nutrients remain intact during dehydration. I'm forever monitoring in an attempt to keep weights down.

When feeding Omegas, most scientists I read say that it needs to be 3 & 6 in the appropriate mix as they are necessary to each other, and there's many brands out there with the correct mix in the bottle.


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