Coconut oil

[harley]

I'm going to start giving Milla some coconut oil with her raw food at meal times as she is starting to get exceptionally boney. Well she is a very slender dog and her body really resembles a Greyhound despite being full Stafford she seems to have grown up as the runt of the litter compared to her siblings and dad who are all chuncky monkeys and has taken after her mum. Can anyone give me off any measurements of using this with her food? She weighs 18.8 (can't remember if the vet scales are kg or lbs) and theysay she is fine she is fed 250g of food per day as recommended by the vet as she doesn't have a good digestive tract (can't digest kibble/biscuits to which leaves her swollen, constipated and extremely sore and tin meat goes straight through her same as cooked meat) she also cannot eat grain/wheat products due to taking a reaction to it she gets terrible lumps on her chin and muzzle which look like blisters but are solid and they need to get drained 3 times a week then a course of anti-biotics. But thought I would say just incase anyone knows if the coconut oil would bring any of her traits along. Walking she gets a 1 - 3 short walks of 15mins a big walk of 30mins in the evening which includes some running if my partner comes with me (she likes to run between us when we set a large gap) and a big game of fetch that can last a solid 40mins to over a hour just depends when she "collapses". Oh and is round 17months old now (d.o.b June 29th 2009).

Thanks for any help

[dog]

What are you feeding her at the moment?

This is only a suggestion but I think it's possible she has a gluten intolerance. I would try her on Wainwright's Salmon and Potato from Pets at home, it's £32 per 15kilos...CSJ do something similar too.

[harley]

She is fed on raw meat I get from Darlings real dog food, I have tried her on Wainwrights, Royal Canin and Science Plan along with Eukanuba but none of them seemed to work the Eukanuba, RC and Science Plan bought on her chin and muzzle lumps obviously down to there beig wheat and grain produce in them obviously once I found out what ticked the lumps off I tried another type of food.
Oh dear hope it isn't a gluten problem never had a problem dog before obviously if she did toughs tough isn't it you get a dog problems or no problems your tied for life, do you know any good pointers for a gluten problem dog?

[dog]

How is she with the raw diet, does she still have any problems?

[harley]

No she manages fine on the raw diet eg. toileting fine, good skin and fur and no swelling she just seems to be more "boney" on it don't know if it's down to it being finely cut meat and veg (I do a half order of 14 days feed with veg and 14 days without veg) therefore leaving the stomach not much needing to digest as I know in people eating purée and semi purée food can make you loose weight or perhaps I over exercise her for her daily intake?

[dog]

If she's fine on it then I would just try and up her daily intake to 300 grams a day for a while and see how she goes. It's quite normal for Dogs to use more calories as the weather gets colder, I always up my Dog's food in the winter otherwise they get a bit ribby.

I'm not sure about using coconut oil as a replacement for a more natural types of fat. The only reason I could see myself ever using it would be as an additive for a kibble that was otherwise good but was a bit lacking in fat content.

As long as she's healthy though I wouldn't worry too much to be honest, some Dogs just take a long time to get their muscle bulk. My first Stafford didn't stop filling out until she was about two and a half.

[harley]

Ok That makes me feel alot better knowing that/speaking to someone who's dogs need more feed in the winter time I've just always known dogs (family and friends) to consume the same amount through out the year. Will up her to 300g per day hopefully her stomach can take it that's the only concern now! Just sometimes she can look as if she is totally malnourished/neglected and other days like yesterday she doesn't look as boney/extremely ribby!! I reckon she will be a "late developer" especially since she has taken after her mum in all forms Roxy was 3 and a half and had not long started filling out so most likely a late bloomer

Cheers for your help Dog

[neilsherlock]

hope this does not seem rude, when was she last wormed. Its important to keep it up with the raw food. Also the food sounds pre packaged so do You know were it actually comes from? The butchers is always best, ask for a much fat as they can give you as well, it wont harm your dog. Good luck with her. Ps Sunflower oil is superb, a tea spoon a day is brilliant for condition etc. You can read up on it on the internet. Prob alot cheaper than coconut oil

[neilsherlock]

Me again, the Tesco value mince is full of fat and is fairley cheap, the hearts and chicken are quite cheap also.

[harley]

She was last wormed on the first of this month (I do it on the first day of every third month) no the food is fresh and I get it "specially tailored" due to her not liking certain things along with some things not agreeing with her. Don't worry it wasn't rude to ask either

[samandtanya]

Hi, hope you dont mind me joining in?? but, i have a 14 month old stafford bitch, who has a bad digestive system, and has to have Gluten and wheat free food!! she gets covered in big itchy blisters, she also has a allergy to grass!!! we also, had problems with getting weight on her, she looks like a running dog lol, she is on primrose oil twice a day which i get from the vet but you can by them anyway, in the morning she has 2 handfuls of samon & potato, and evening she has 450 grams of raw, she is 39lb in weight or 171/2kg. which i was told to feed 2 to 3% there body weight. If a person was on this it would be the Atkins diet!!! so, they will be lean and muscle... ;D, if you want to try and increase her weight, maybe try feeding more raw, good luck, and its good to know im not alone!!!, cheers Tanya

[harley]

Hi Tanya your dog sounds exactly like Milla with the stomach issue along with the blister type reaction and most definitely with the running dog/Greyhound appearance!! It IS a HUGE relief to know it's not just you out there! Grass allergy that doesn't sound too great I know in the summer Milla would get redness between her toes the vet placed that down to the grass spores and lucky it didn't bother her at all! I will look into the Primrose oils I would also try the Salmon and potato but sadly Milla doesn't like fish and very few vegetables fussy girl doesn't know what's good for her!

[samandtanya]

Hi, during the summer Poppy came out in big sores betwen her toes!!! she had to go and have them lanced at the vet and have antibotics, due to the grass!!! I think we have the same dog lol, she has been on the primrose oil for over a year now and i did stop it once for about a week and her skin flared up, so def give it ago as its works.. i will sort out some pics and post them

[harley]

We must own the same dog I would be Evan more shocked if your Poppy was black with a small touch of brindle to her, that would just be super scary!! I am most likely going to be in the town at the beginning of next week as i was there today so will pop into Holland and Barrats for the Primrose there if it works on your Poppy its more than likely it will work on Milla since there virtually the same dog!!

[samandtanya]

lol, no she is blue

[harley]

Ah so close but on saying that Milla gets a blue sheen to her black coat in the sun, strange since her parents were both brindle (one light and one dark) the litter was really weird (one black - Milla, two red and White, four solid brindle and two brindle and White) how is your Poppy getting on now? Millas doing ok slowly gaining some weight and not looking too Greyhound-ish but a couple of days in the past couple of weeks she went rather skinny looking and could see the spine and hip bones when she sat down but then the following day you couldn't see them!! VERY strange dog!!

[smokemontstaffords]

Oct 22, 2010 21:07:50 GMT @neilsherlock said:

Me again, the Tesco value mince is full of fat and is fairley cheap, the hearts and chicken are quite cheap also.

Just a thought...'if' she is gluten intollerant, beef might not be the best thing as it contains gluten? (or so I am lead to believe).
Do you have any pics of her? Not all are big chunky dogs; she may just be of an athletic build naturally

[harley]

Hi Smokemount, yeah I have looked into food intolerance and stopped feeding her beef as I noticed when she would eat that her stools would be some what softer than when she would eat the chicken or lamb, so not sure if it would be related but I ruled it out completely from her diet.
Oh I have a ton of photo of her but uploading them needs to wait as the laptop is in for repair and am stuck using my iPhone and cannot upload photos she is very game built she has the same build/shape as Shakka's Osiris and there is another dog on here that has the same build also.
I have noticed that in her lower back nearing to her tail her spinal cord has started to come visible when she sits or lies down and sometimes you can see it when she stands, she isn't as muscular now as she was (but still has some) vets cannot find anything wrong with her and I evan seeked a second opinion to which nothing was found either. The coconut oil hasn't helped sadly and I am thinking about trying a good quality grain/wheat and possible gluten free dog kibble as the raw diet despite she does look amazing on it eg. skin, coat, stamina etc she just isn't gaining the weight.
I do love the game bred Stafford and I love that my girl turned out looking like her mum and not her dad but my currant aim is just to cover up the currant spine problem with a decent dog kibble as upping her raw food intake just hasn't helped!! I'm stressing and just about pulling my hair out heck I've Evan cut her walks down and stopped her training for weight pull until she is back on track but nothing!!!

[samandtanya]

Hi, sorry aint been on for a while, Poppy has gained a few pounds and is now 41lb, so shes doing well. I do once aweek give her mince, but because it is quite a fatty meat, it does cause softer stools, so i mix bone meal with it. Please post some pics when you have them, i would love to see them, take care and keep your chin up

[harley]

Hi, that's great news about Poppy!!! Milla is doing ok now has gained abit of weight (hasn't been weighted yet) have gotten her dry food from a American Bulldog breeder - bigamericanbulldogs.co.uk she does well on this and so far so good so hopefully she does well on it I have been adding meat to the biscuits also she will get either raw chicken breast or strangely Butchers dog meat she does great on Im not one for tin/sachet meats but was in Tesco and curiosity got the better of me I had a look the ingredients aren't bad and was needless to say real surprised along with the outcome on Millas weight gain with the kibble and is still in good condition like when she was on raw (apart from her being nice and built now) but that's my update hope you and Poppys keeping well will post Millas weight before the end of Friday for you!!