Could something be wrong....

What do you do when you have a lack of concrete symptoms??

My Ichiro has seemed to subtly change these last few months. We switched to raw feeding (honest kitchen and natures variety) in Feb or March. Since then, especially in the last few months, he has lost a lot of weight. Went from 25 lbs to 22lbs. 22 lbs is a little too slender for him, as he is big boned. Along with the weight loss, he seems to have gotten grayer, seems more down emotionally, and certainly weaker. He's only 6 years old.

I'm just feeling like something is not right....but, I don't know what. This morning, for the first time, he threw up his food after he ate it. Maybe the nature's variety is not agreeing with him? We just introduced that about a month ago. It was strange watching him eat it in the first place, because he ate it slowly, not excited at all, and he's been that way for a few days. However, he loves the honset kitchen stuff at night, and hasn't been sick from that.

I had a dental done on him about a month ago, and they did the mini-blood profile. Everything came back normal. I'm thinking about running it again....but, I don't know if that would find anything that might be wrong.

Could it be the food? I'm thinking about putting him back on kibble part time, see if that helps with the weight issue. Could I be imagining things?

What would you do?

I always go with my gut instinct in cases like this.

I would go to the vet and see what they suggest. I imagine full bloodwork.

In the meantime I would only feed the food he likes. It could be that the Nature's Variety is not agreeing with him.

When you noticed him losing weight did you increase his food portions to compensate? Or has it only really now become noticeable? Being a bit underweight won't harm him but sudden weight loss for no obvious reason if you are giving the same calories and he is not vomiting it up would be concerning to me.

Have there been any changes in the household that could be affecting him? Change of routine?

I hope you can get to the bottom of it soon.

i agree with bella. could be the food and you can try switching him back, but i would just go and get him checked out. maybe another bloodwork profile will help.

When I saw him he looked skinnier. Maybe he needs more carbs, and you could be right, maybe Nature's Miracle isn't the right food for him. If what you are feeding is hi-protein, that doesn't agree with every dog and that could explain his throwing up.


Even the good foods can be wrong for certain dogs. Personally, I'd switch back to what worked for him before.

He's getting the same amount of calories as before when we just did kibble. He is getting a lot less grains though. His kibble before had brown rice in it, and the honest kitchen has just oats. The weight loss just doesn't make sense, because he was not overweight to begin with.

I think I'm going to switch him back to part time kibble, and keep the honest kitchen in the evening and see how that goes. My other two pugs aren't having this issue at all.

I'm just worried about him. If anything is going to go wrong, it will be with him. He's our puppy mill dog, and I worry about what kind of genes he has that could make him have more issues.

I would stick with your gut feelings-switch back to what was working for him before and see if that helps.

Every time I read these posts about something being "off" with someone's pug, it takes me back to when Tyson was sick. He started acting lethargic and "removed". We attributed it to some things that were going on in our household (my mom sometimes staying with us (he's very attached to her), my brother living with us on and off, etc..). Anyway, he started having these muscle tremors and every time we would go in and have bloodwork done-nothing would come back as abnormal. Eventually he stopped eating-very unusual, and got the shakes. One day I went home for lunch and he could barely hold himself up. I took him to the vet for monitoring that afternoon and it turned out that basically his body was shutting down-he was dehydrated, anemic, running a temp, among other things. It's only because the vet who was on duty that day thought to run an ACTH test and diagnose him with Addison's Disease, that he's still alive. It's a daily condition that we deal with, but he can live a full life as long as we stay on top of it.

Anyway, sorry for rambling on. I guess the "moral of my story", is that you know when something just isn't right, and go with your gut instincts. More often than not, you're correct.

I know my mind races when things are "off." I started BG and Lola on Honest Kitchen several months ago-I switched them to the chicken with quinoa at first and then slowly went to grain free. Baby Girl looks like a bag of bones. She weighs 11.9lbs. She has always been small, but she is tiny now. I contribute part of it to being grain free and part to her back problems and not getting very much excercise. Lola looks fabulous on the grain free-she is a lean mean fighting machine. I did order a box of the beef with oats. Baby Girl threw it up when I gave it to her, Lola loves it. I alternate their food between about 4 boxes morning and night. I also add in free foods like scrambled eggs, fruit, cheese, chicken, any my husband feeds Lola steak.

Soooo back on point-I would get another blood work up to be safe. Also, I would go slow switching his food so that you don't further upset his stomach. If he likes the raw at night, maybe keep him on that but change to kibble in the AM. Has the hot weather been a factor there? Maybe he is not as hungry because of the heat? I would just pretty much give him what food that he likes and that agrees with his system. Like MJ said, every dog is different and what works for one might not work for another. I have also found that as my pugs age, I have adjusted their food (brand, type, amount) through the years.

Pug hugs!

Okay, just reread your post. My pugs freak out over HK and love the fruits, veggies, eggs, etc that I give them. If he is not excited about the food then I would reconsider and change him to something that he likes. I think that animals have instincts about food and what does and does not agree with them.

Thanks everyone. I just know something is not right!

Since he was at the vet a week ago to talk about his weight loss, I have been feeding him more. Upped his HK from 1/3 cup to 1/2 cup. I am going to quit feeding him the nature's variety medallions, and get him some kibble for in the morning. Maybe the high protein, like MJ said, is what isn't working for him. We are going back in another week for a weight check, and I will have them do a blood workup again. He likes the HK a lot, just not the natures variety.

I guess, as you all can understand, I'm just worried. A pug that isn't excited about food is a cause for worry.

Renee wrote:Since he was at the vet a week ago to talk about his weight loss, I have been feeding him more. Upped his HK from 1/3 cup to 1/2 cup.

I'm assuming this is once it's rehydrated? Buster initially lost weight on HK too but that's because I misunderstood the feeding guidelines on the box & wasn't giving him enough. He's a pretty big boned pug so he get's a little over 1/2 cup at each feeding and sometimes I add in fresh food like cooked ground beef/turkey or eggs, too. I would go with your gut & have the vet do a full blood workup just to be on the safe side. I hope that it's nothing serious.

Brenda - that is dry. I measure out 1/3 dry, then rehydrate it. Since last week, I have been measuring out 1/2 cup dry and rehydrating. Should it be more? I try and add in additional food at least every other night to the HK.

Nope, you're right. For just one meal, 1/2 cup dry should be about right (going by the "less active" guideline): http://www.thehonestkitchen.com/knowledge/how-to-feed/

My Lola did not like HK. The Oats did nothing good for her at all. She was always scratching her face. At one point she was refusing to eat the HK. Now that I go more by the recipe Pugpillow posted she goes nuts for food. Although that new Zeal HK looks promising.

Dboardman wrote:My Lola did not like HK. The Oats did nothing good for her at all. She was always scratching her face. At one point she was refusing to eat the HK. Now that I go more by the recipe Pugpillow posted she goes nuts for food. Although that new Zeal HK looks promising.

He loves the HK - I think it might be the Nature's Variety that is the problem. I'm going to stop feeding that, and see if there is an improvement.

I have 2 things I wanna say:

1) I hope that you find out what is wrong with Ichiro. I totally get the "something wrong" feeling! I had it with my kids and now I have it with the pugs.

2) After reading about all the weight loss with certain foods and changes....ummm....I'm wondering if I changed MY diet to Honest Kitchen, if I could shed this extra weight!

Hopefully, things will improve with the change in diet. If not, I'd get his thyroid checked.

Personally, I would trust your instincts and get a full blood panel. If something is going on, you should get an idea from there.

Gut feelings and instinct, as always. Hoping you will soon be able to get it sorted.

Okay, so I picked up a bag of Wellness kibble last night, the duck and rice simple ingredients. He doesn't have allergies....but, no need to get him on stuff full of fillers.

I'm going to do the kibble in the morning, and stick with the Honest Kitchen stuff at night. I don't know what I'm going to do with the two bags of Nature's Variety medallions. Those aren't exactly cheap, but I don't know anyone in Alaska that uses them.

Next week is his weight check, and I'm going to do the blood work at that appointment, just to see. Especially if he has lost weight.

Thanks for the good thoughts everyone.

Hope it's all okay Renee!

Renee wrote:...I don't know what I'm going to do with the two bags of Nature's Variety medallions. Those aren't exactly cheap, but I don't know anyone in Alaska that uses them..

I suggest you donate them to Vickie. Polar Pug Rescue can always use food donations, and that might be the perfect food for some other pug who comes in with different health problems or allergies.

Renee wrote:I don't know what I'm going to do with the two bags of Nature's Variety medallions. Those aren't exactly cheap, but I don't know anyone in Alaska that uses them.

Will your other pugs eat it? We had quite a bit left over after Pugsy passed away last year, but our other pugs were more than happy to help finish it off. Or like Mary Jo said, PPR could probably use it for fosters. Good luck with the new food!