# Nutri-Cal alternative??



## PureMutt (Feb 6, 2009)

It would seem my dog is a little underweight. I was looking into increasing the daily calorie intake without increasing stool volume. I saw nutri-cal but noticed it was full of sweeteners. Are there any alternatives out there that are more natural?


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## Shell (Oct 19, 2009)

If you're sure your pup is underweight (since so many dogs are overweight a fit dog can look skinny in comparison), then I like to use nutritious protein and fat heavy foods as snacks for the dogs that need to gain weight. Most of my fosters have arrived on the thin side, not skin and bones but needing to gain 5-10 lbs, and they are feed a dry dog food. 

I add in -- packed in water, no salt, sardines (about 2 cans per week worth), a handful of chicken hearts and gizzards daily, a small amount of olive oil drizzled on the kibble, peanut butter in the KONG, and bits of real meat and cheese as training treats. Eggs are good too. Sometimes I'll add cooked ground beef with most of the fat drained since the cheap ground beef is more fatty than preferred. A small amount of beef liver or kidney is another well liked bonus (maybe a quarter sized piece)


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## Kathyy (Jun 15, 2008)

Shell said:


> If you're sure your pup is underweight (since so many dogs are overweight a fit dog can look skinny in comparison), then I like to use nutritious protein and fat heavy foods as snacks for the dogs that need to gain weight. Most of my fosters have arrived on the thin side, not skin and bones but needing to gain 5-10 lbs, and they are feed a dry dog food.
> 
> I add in -- packed in water, no salt, sardines (about 2 cans per week worth), a handful of chicken hearts and gizzards daily, a small amount of olive oil drizzled on the kibble, peanut butter in the KONG, and bits of real meat and cheese as training treats. Eggs are good too. Sometimes I'll add cooked ground beef with most of the fat drained since the cheap ground beef is more fatty than preferred. A small amount of beef liver or kidney is another well liked bonus (maybe a quarter sized piece)


Adding since you mentioned stool volume. Meaty and fatty foods won't increase the stool size much, the peanut butter could but you don't feed much of that anyway. Just start slow and easy so you don't overwhelm the system.

And do be sure the dog really needs to gain weight. Ginger _looks_ really skinny now but she still has pads of fat on her hips, shoulders and ribcage that need to go. Her high tuck is fine although mostly due to her low bulk raw diet so there isn't much in her gut but half of her so called waist is because of the fat pads on her ribs.


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## lexichae (Oct 23, 2013)

I've heard fish oil (salmon oil specifically) helps add calories. I would look into adding raw too. Raw shouldn't increase stool volume, most dogs on raw have very small and firm stool.


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