Weight Problem After Intestinel Surgery

by Michele Conell

I live in Australia and I need some advice on feeding our HamiltonStovare who is 3 1/2 years old. When he was younger, he had to have some of his intestine removed due to a blockage. Since then we have not been able to put and keep any weight on him. We need to be relatively careful on what we feed him. If we feed him too much, it goes straight through him. He can not eat too much fat. He can't eat the main things that are used in Australia to put weight on dogs as they contain too much weight. He loves raw meat and doesn't really like dry food. He will eat dry but not enough to help his weight. Do you have any suggestions on what we can feed him that would help to keep weight on him? I was just watching him run around with a couple of our Elkies and I could see all of his ribs. He is healthy and has been checked out by Vets who carried out tests and couldn't find anything else wrong.



Hi Michele

Had he any problems keeping his weight before the operation?

I am quite convinced it has to do with the operation.

Do you know how much intestine was removed? Sometimes it can be quite a bit after a blockage.

If a lot has been removed, less intestine is active and therefore the body can find it difficult to absorb all
nutrients compared to a normal dog.

If all tests (also vitamin B12) has been done and that's normal, I doubt that much can be done other than what you are doing in the moment.

Try different foods and make sure that his weight is stable. It may be to low, but if it is stable that is positive.

What are your vet saying about his weight?

Just a thought - might try to give him food containing more carbohydrates. Fat is not good for him and his intestines, but starch
contain lot of carbohydrates and this can trigger insulin to build extra fat.

This is often dog food containing lot of grain and is easy to find. Try that very carefully.

Basically it is "normal dry dog food" as they often contain lot of grains. Royal Canin have some new intestinal diets both canned and dry.

If you haven't tried one of them it would be worth a try.

All the best

DVM Per Schonbeck