Underweight German Shepherd Puppy - Page 1

Need help here. I have a 4 month old German Shepherd puppy. When we purchased her she was small but wasn't skinny but not very active and had a runny left eye. Two days after she seemed to not have an appetite at all. Within a few days she was very small for a 8 1/2 week old pup. Would only drink water. We tried everything. Took her to our vet and she only weighed 5 lbs. Called the breeder and he offered to replace her. Didn't want to do that because the family had gotten attached to her. The vet sent us to the pet ER. They told us she had Parvo and being so small and young she might not make it. I didn't care. Was willing to try anything. So the ER said we can try self medicating her if we wanted. They gave us the antibiotics and a couple other medications to give her through shots and told us to boil chicken and shred it to see if she would eat it. The first day was horrible hearing her scream as we gave her the shots. Two days later she began to eat. The ER told us that the first couple days are critical. If she survived them she had a good chance. Then she really got an appetite. within the week we took her back and she had already gained 3 pounds and was up to 8 which was still small for a 10 week old. A wek laker we took her back and we got a clean bill of health and she was up to 12 lbs. Now at 15 weeks she's up to 24 lbs. and an absolute ball of fire. Thinks she owns the place. All the charts I see say she should be at a minimum 31 lbs. at this age. Nees some suggestions.

Parvo damages the gut, so the puppy can't absorb nutrients. Give her time, be patient. Her gut still may be healing. Or it's possible she's just going to be a small GSD due to her genetics. Never mind the damn charts...every dog is an individual! If she's eating and drinking well and having good solid poops, STOP WORRYING, and enjoy your dog!

 

sounds like she is on the mend.

your situation is not typical and you can't judge by typical charts.

just keep up the good works and she will eventually be the best she can be.
jmo,
Rik

Sounds like you need to get puppy vitamins for her. Muscle Bully Puppy Naturals vitamin supplement would be a good one for her. "Helps Improve Size, Growth, Energy, Immune System."

Whatever you do, don't be tempted to give her a lot of calcium.

What hundmutter said....and listen to your VETERINARIAN, not random forum people.

Don't give supplements your vet has not recommended. You're lucky this puppy survived, now do it by the book from now on.

We had a Siberian Husky-German Shepherd cross that survived parvovirus. She ended up stunted growth and hoarse voice, but she was the absolute best dog we ever had :-)

Thanks guys. Especially Sunsilver and Rik. You guys were so right. At now 17 1/2 weeks she is 19 inches at the withers and well over 30 lbs. Really appreciate the advice. Trying to figure out how to post pictures to this site so you guys can see her

Very glad to hear that!  

Just a heads-up - young dogs go through phases. When one of my dogs was between 5 and 7 months, she was growing SO fast that I was giving her much more food than the makers of the kibble recommended, and she STILL looked skinny. Her metabolism slowed down when she hit a year old, and had her first heat, and I was then able to cut her food back.

This didn't happen with my other puppies. As I said in my previous post, every dog is different, and don't worry about the weight unless they are having digestive problems (vomiting, diarrhea).

I am also assuming you are checking your dog for worms on a regular basis. Intestinal parasites can really damage your dog's health, especially when the dog is young and growing rapidly. I'd be especially careful about parasites since your dog is a parvo survivor, and already had damage to her gut from the virus.