# How much/often to feed underweight 3.5 mix pup?



## RobertsKitty (Aug 3, 2014)

I adopted a 3.5 month husky/pit bull pup this weekend. Based on this:







he was a thin 3 almost a two. So far I've just been feeding till he stops eating (between 1 cup and 3.5 cups in one meal) but I'm wondering what I should be feeding at his age and how frequently? Should I continue to give as much as he will eat until he gets till a 4 on the chart or go ahead and cut down?

Also, two times a day or three? We are doing two right now but I start a new job Wednesday that will allow me to feed three times.

I am currently feeding him in an elevated muffin tin because he tends to inhale food. The tin slows him down!


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## ames (Jun 6, 2010)

I don't know I spend Time researching how to take weight off I dog know about adding it on! Thanks for saving the pup though and good luck getting her back to healthy.

Sent from Petguide.com App so please excuses the typos


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## Conner (Jul 12, 2014)

When I got my 2nd puppy he was severely under weight. I was told by a vet to feed him normally but give him a little extra. But not to overfeed him because it will also cause more harm than good. She told me that if he ate too much that he could bloat. She said the stomach will twist or something causing them to not eat anymore and not be able to poop. Leading to death or surgery. I would follow the amount that's on the dog food and maybe give him alittle extra. Or a checkup at a vet. I'm sure someone on here will be able to help though. Congrats on the new puppy and good luck.


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## BCdogs (May 30, 2014)

When we got our second puppy she was very underweight, she only weighed about 4lbs and should have been 7-8, which is significant when they're so small. We put her on a high-fat puppy chow for the first couple weeks and free fed, as soon as we couldn't see her hips anymore we started to integrate her current food which is a grain free, soy free, corn free, pretty much all allergen free higher quality food. It only took about a week and a half for her to put a couple of pounds on. We did put a big rock in her bowl too to prevent her from eating too fast. 

I would start with a little more than what's recommended on the bag, which it's worth noting is usually more than what they need anyway. Cut down if he's gaining too fast or leaving food in the bowl and add more if you're not seeing enough improvement over the next few weeks. It'll probably take a bit of adjusting to find the right amount but it's pretty easy to put weight on a pup.


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## RobertsKitty (Aug 3, 2014)

We feed the good diamond food. It says he gets double the adult amount for his weight so 5 cups of food over three feedings. That seems so high! Is that the about to go with?


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## BCdogs (May 30, 2014)

That does sound like WAY too much but I've always free-fed so I don't measure out meals.


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## Jen A (Jul 13, 2014)

5 cups does sound like an awful lot. For comparison, my 11 month old - 65# - gets 3 3/4 cups a day. The other two - both 60# - get 3 cups a day. All of them get 2 feedings a day. Maggie gets a bit more than the others because she's still actively growing.

Still, watching the dog's ribs is a really good way to tell if the dog's weight is right or not according to my vet. You should be able to see the back 2 ribs. There should still be some decent muscle and flesh on the dog in general, but if you can't see those back ribs it's time to cut back on the food a bit.


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## RobertsKitty (Aug 3, 2014)

You can clearly see all of Odin's ribs and his spine at certain angles so he is definitely too thin.


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## surfer (Feb 20, 2013)

i'm with bc on this one,

for the first 6months, i free feed,
with fresh water all the time,

then like aames said,
when they start getting separated, 

have feeding schedule, dont want over weight dogs either,

especially in the summer.


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