Expert: Jana Connell RVT, CVT - 9/21/2011

Question
hello Jana
i hope this email finds you well
we have a two year old alaskan / Siberian husky cross he measures 23 inches to the withers and his weight is 48kg

he is in good health and is very active

the questions i need help with is food and weight he looks thin and underweight and does not eat a great deal, be it dry food or wet food, he is happy to eat treats all day long but obviously that is not the ideal solution

any help you can offer will be gratefully received

kind regards

Paul & Dawn

Answer
This question is going to have a long answer so I will update it tomorrow. Just wanted you to know that I am working on it.:-)
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OK, I am in the USA so I had to convert this kg weight and I came up with 23 lbs. That is insanely thin for a dog of these mixed breeds.

My concern for this dog is that he might not be absorbing his food properly. It seems to me that most of the dogs that we have come in with a mal-absorption issue is of this type- huskies, Siberians, even Malamutes.
German Shepherds often get this as well.

Your best course of action is to get him tested first off for an enzyme problem. Dogs that don't absorb their food properly are lacking in most of the enzymes needed to digest their food. They still appear to be active and healthy but are grossly underweight.

Once you have determined if he has this problem, he will need to be kept on powered enzymes the rest of his life. This condition is usually congenital, in other words they are born with it.

Now if he isn't having any issues in that regard, and his liver is functioning correctly, he is on heartworm prevention, etc, then it could be the food that he is eating.
You didn't say what you are feeding him but whatever it is, barring the above problems, he isn't digesting it well or it has very little nutrition.

Treats are the worst thing you can give him at all let alone all day long. Dump the treats and get him a bag of food with nutrition in it. We recommend Science Diet and for this dog I would put him on the active adult. It has more fat in it for energy so it will give him what he needs that way and still provide optimal nutrition for him. The Adult formula is also very good for the same results.

This food is HIGHLY digestible and you will know this by seeing that his stool is a lot smaller after he has been on it for a few weeks. Dogs love the taste and you will feed much less than you are used to due to the nutritional density of the food.

But first you need to find out if he is enzyme-deficient. Once you do, then you will know which direction to go.

Please let me know how he does in a few weeks.