Feeding a LOT!

[GavTheMighty]

Ok well I have posted before on another thread saying Marley is eating 8 cups a day and is still very lean I now have him on 10 cups a day and yep he is still very lean he was wormed 3 months ago and then again a few weeks ago so that shouldnt be an issue. (Pancur which is supposed to be good worming medicine)

When I say lean he currently weighs about 75 lbs and is 26" in height almost 6 and a half months old. But if you look at him he looks very lean as in you can make out all his ribs at times. Don't get me wrong firstly I want him to stay on the lean side while he is growing and secondly he is showing no signs of ill health etc, I just don't get how he can be eating this much food and staying so lean......I mean based on weight etc he should be eating roughly 540 to 600 grams of the food he is on and yet he is on over 1000 a day lol.

Just wondering if anyone else has come accross this?

 

[mmyrto]

what kind of food do you feed him?

 

[GavTheMighty]

Dry food, Fish4Dogs it's called. But I have tried other brands also. Such as Giant Breed Royal Canin, And Harringtons, James Welbeloved, Burns.

 

[Smart_Family]

I haven't heard of any of those except for the Fish4Dogs and royal canin which is kind of a not so good food. It may be time to change again. Is he gaining weight? Can you actually see his ribs or can you feel them? You should be able to feel his last two ribs regardless. How active is he? Obviously the more active he is the more calories he's going to burn. 8 cups of food, let alone 10 is a whole lot of food. That's over two days worth of what my almost 6 month old mastiff gets.

 

[GavTheMighty]

Well Fish4Dogs is very highly regarded here and if you was to read contents has almost the perfect balance of calcium, phosperus etc. It's a very expensive food here. Royal Canin I agree isnt very good. He gets walked either once or twice a day and I Wouldnt say excessively at most a few miles or over an hour but most times 20 mins and a mile in distance. You can see his ribs when standing if he twists even slightly and he is on the lean side, I also feed him carrots and some apple inbetween meals. And lastly yes he is gaining weight I'd say an average of 3 pounds per week since the day I got him. But yes he still looks slim.

 

[Smart_Family]

It might just not be the best food for him if he's not absorbing all the calories and nutrients. Does you have access to other foods? I think you were the person that I heard of Fish4Dogs for but none of the guaranteed analysis is on the website but I'm sure you know what to look for as far as the ratios go. If it's expensive and you're feeding that much of it, you're probably better off trying another food because I'm assuming ten cups is over the feeding guidelines so you're probably having to buy food quite often.

 

[GavTheMighty]

Well I am trying him on another food right now and will see how it goes but yes I know what to look for seems to be making no difference though lol. His poop was firm and good to look at erm if you know what I mean on fish4dogs where had it been going though him and coming out like a cow pat I would think he wasnt absorbing it etc. So I dont know as for over the feeding guidlines lol.......he should be having about 480-560 grams a day he is on over 1000 grams...........or over 1kg a day.

I was tempted to switch to Orijen Adult Dog Food and see how that went but I dunno. The issue here is not so much with the food in the sense that he is.............Healthy runs around is happy, his poop has been fine, and his appetite has been fine I am wondering if I should take him to the vet to run some tests?

 

[mmyrto]

i dont know those dry foods either only royal canin. I have a 7 month old CC and i feed her 5 1/2 cups of orijen a day she abt 80 lbs . 10 cups of food is a lot.

 

[Duetsche_Doggen]

Wow 10 cups that's what my dane eats a day, lol.

 

[Smart_Family]

Did you transition from fish4dogs to the other food slowly? If you didn't that would be the reason for the looser stools. Orijen is a great food but it can be too rich for some dogs. I had a foster on it and it was the fish formula and it came out smelling just like what went in in very loose stools. It was too rich for him. Acana is an awesome food and you can do the Prairie or Pacifica formulas of that for a mastiff pup.

 

[Kelly]

Hey Gav, would you mind posting pictures?

 

[chuckorlando]

Kona gets 6 cups a day of taste of the wild. And she looks pretty good to me. If she's healthy I would think it has to be the food.

 

[NeoBull]

Sounds like a lot. Branka is about 98lbs at 25" and gets 6 cups a day but her food isn't very high in calories. I'm looking at switching to Canine Caviar or TOTW which would reduce the amount she needs even more.

 

[chuckorlando]

Our totow recomends 5 cups at 90lb thats why I give 6 cups. But she has a little more weight than I like right now so we are trying a bit more run time

 

[GavTheMighty]

Well I seem to have found a decent food and have managed to drop back to 8 cups a day without any weight loss, as I said there seems nothing wrong with Marley health wise I just find it curious that he can eat so much and stay so lean. But a few people have said to me he is starting to bulk out a little recently so hopefully he wont be too skinny.

I'm also off to the vets today to get him weighed and figure out how he is doing.