Weight and diet advice

[iron mum]

Hi their, i'm looking for advice on my GSD puppy.
Kahless was 8 weeks old and weighed 3.35 kg, my vet said he was very under weight and emaciated, I think I was politely being acused of not feeding him, at the time he had developed very watery poo which I first put down to new home and such but instead of getting better it was getting worse hence the vet trip. The vet said he had picked up a bug proberly from the breeders and put him on Hills prescription diet which he dosn't seem to like much, he also gave me a paste stuff to give him 3 times a day.
Now he's 10 weeks and I have managed to get him to 4.1kg I wouldn't say his stools are normal but their not like water.
I'm slowly reintroducing his normal food which is Beta puppy/junior for large breeds he picks that out first then eats the hills.
Since he stooped getting the paste his stools seem to be turning back to water again.
Apart from that he is very healthy always full of energy.
What is the proper weight of a GSD that age?
Both his parents were good and solid but not overly large.
My vet says he wont give the next vaccine till he hits 5kg but the other vet at the practice gave it to him when he was just over 3kg, we have a lot of dogs in our area and although my two are kept in the garden i'm worried about Kahless picking something up from one of them.
Sorry for the ramble but getting conflicting advice from my vet practice, would be gratefull for your thoughts.

[Wooferhound]

Originally Posted by iron mum

Hi their, i'm looking for advice on my GSD puppy.
Kahless was 8 weeks old and weighed 3.35 kg, my vet said he was very under weight and emaciated, I think I was politely being acused of not feeding him, at the time he had developed very watery poo which I first put down to new home and such but instead of getting better it was getting worse hence the vet trip. The vet said he had picked up a bug proberly from the breeders and put him on Hills prescription diet which he dosn't seem to like much, he also gave me a paste stuff to give him 3 times a day.
Now he's 10 weeks and I have managed to get him to 4.1kg I wouldn't say his stools are normal but their not like water.
I'm slowly reintroducing his normal food which is Beta puppy/junior for large breeds he picks that out first then eats the hills.
Since he stooped getting the paste his stools seem to be turning back to water again.
Apart from that he is very healthy always full of energy.
What is the proper weight of a GSD that age?
Both his parents were good and solid but not overly large.
My vet says he wont give the next vaccine till he hits 5kg but the other vet at the practice gave it to him when he was just over 3kg, we have a lot of dogs in our area and although my two are kept in the garden i'm worried about Kahless picking something up from one of them.
Sorry for the ramble but getting conflicting advice from my vet practice, would be gratefull for your thoughts.

Sorry to hear you aren't experiencing fun times with your little baby, not good!

Firstly, all puppies vary in age/weight, so hard to say what Kahless 'should' be

With regards to your vets conflicting advice, if ever I were unhappy with the advice I was getting I would get a second opinion. Trouble is when pups do come down with a bug it can hit them hard, especially if they aren't fully vaccinated. Personally, I wouldn't be happy with such advice, clearly there is something amiss here, if he is eating this is good, but having such runny poo isn't good at all!

Do you know exactly what you are giving Kahless in terms of the paste? I would want to know what it is and what it is doing for him.

If you can get a recommendation from someone else who is very happy with their vet, maybe you should pop along and see if a second opinion will get to the bottom of all this. Could it be that he just needs to be starved for 24 hours, if it is a bug, feeding Kahless will feed the bacteria and the problem will remain! Dunno, all sounds a little vague to me.

Good luck, will be very interested to know how you get on.

[LOVEGSD]

I think I agree with what Wooferhound says....if it was my pup I would definitely be seeking a 2nd opinion from a trusted vet, ie a recommendation from a friend.

I wouldn't be happy that after seeking vets advice he still has watery poo...plus he's missing out on vital socialisation whilst waiting for his jabs.

Good luck and please keep us posted....poor little man, I feel for you both

Lynn
x

[iron mum]

The paste was to help firm up his poo I have used it before on my other dog Ben (not a GSD) on a unrelated problem.
I wouldn't say the paste worked as well with Kahless but it helped since he finished it his poo is getting softer again.
The vet practice I use has 3 vets 2 of them are very good but the third I dislike it dosn't take much for him to open a dog up he loves to do surgery, dosn't listen to what you say and as he is a qualified vet he knows better.
To be honest I wasn't all that bothered about his weight as he was fit, healthy and full of bounce so he was fine even with the watery poo he was full of bounce but because of that I took him to the vet unfortunatly I got the wrong man and now i'm worried about his weight.
Moveing to another practice is not possible as their are only two in my town and the other only works with farm animals.
My other dog is a labrador and he was the same as a pup but now he's a bruiser at 34kg big for a lab and taller but he was bred to work so how's to say that Kahless won't be the same.

[Wooferhound]

Originally Posted by iron mum

The paste was to help firm up his poo I have used it before on my other dog Ben (not a GSD) on a unrelated problem.
I wouldn't say the paste worked as well with Kahless but it helped since he finished it his poo is getting softer again.
The vet practice I use has 3 vets 2 of them are very good but the third I dislike it dosn't take much for him to open a dog up he loves to do surgery, dosn't listen to what you say and as he is a qualified vet he knows better.
To be honest I wasn't all that bothered about his weight as he was fit, healthy and full of bounce so he was fine even with the watery poo he was full of bounce but because of that I took him to the vet unfortunatly I got the wrong man and now i'm worried about his weight.
Moveing to another practice is not possible as their are only two in my town and the other only works with farm animals.
My other dog is a labrador and he was the same as a pup but now he's a bruiser at 34kg big for a lab and taller but he was bred to work so how's to say that Kahless won't be the same.

It's not necessarily the weight that is the concern, but more the fact that his stools just aren't firming up on their own, this would be enough of a concern for me to get it sorted for once and for all. GSD's have notoriously delicate digestive systems as it is, but if something is upsetting the natural balance of how Kahless is working, it needs to be addressed!

Hope it works out for Kahless

[iron mum]

Thank you wooferhound, I was beggining to think he had trouble with his digestive system but needed someone else to confirm it.
At the moment his poo is like thick paint so i'm takeing him to the vets, i'll make sure I don't get the last vet I had.
At the moment Kahless is resting after having a ferocious fight with a wild beast which he won, I wont tell him the beast is a teddy bear

[iron mum]

I took Kahless to the vets again and was able to see the other fella, he sugested adding rice to his meals to see if that helps so started to add this as of last night.
Fingers crossed this will work but just in case he gave me a sample bottle, he also gave him his vactination i'm pleased about that as their is alot of dogs in our street and a few seem to roam.

[Wooferhound]

Originally Posted by iron mum

I took Kahless to the vets again and was able to see the other fella, he sugested adding rice to his meals to see if that helps so started to add this as of last night.
Fingers crossed this will work but just in case he gave me a sample bottle, he also gave him his vactination i'm pleased about that as their is alot of dogs in our street and a few seem to roam.

Having experienced gastroenteritis with Bo on many occasions, I too have been down the rice route. After chats with a very good friend of mine and a veterinary nurse, she advised me that rice isn't the best option, it is better to feed small amounts of cooked pasta as this helps to bind, rice can go straight through our dogs, which sort of defeats the object!

I have also added a small amount of natural live yogurt to aid good bacteria and a little honey.

It will be very interesting to know how Kahless gets on, poor little chap!

xx

[iron mum]

I think you may be right wooferhound as his first two poo's today were pretty solid but he has just gone again and it's back to way it was by the looks of it it's now worse.
The vet said give two to three days and if no better then to send a sample up so I guess I know what i'll be doing next week.
I'm getting fustrated now, this has been going on for two weeks now and still not any better, i'm going to give the breeder a call tomorrow just to see if any other buyer has had a similar problem or if she has come across the problem herself I doubt i'll get an honest answer but..... The most enoying thing is that he is a healthy energetic pup very thin but you wouldn't notice due to his mass of fur.
I'm also worried how this is affecting his development?
I'm glad I found this site, thank you for your support

[Poly]

Hi

Just for a reference....my girl was 4kg at 7weeks...5.8kg at 8weeks and now she is 10 weeks she is around 9-10kgs.
Im not sure whether that is big or not really - all I know is that both her mom and dad are larger then standard dogs heightwise etc.