Cash's Diet So Far... And How Shelter Life Failed Him

When we first picked Cash up at the Lancaster SPCA, I knew he was underweight, but I did not realize how underweight. The next day, when we took him to see the vet, they weighed him at 50 lbs. If you do not know the average weights of labrador retrievers, the average female labs is between 55 lbs and 70 lbs and for, males between 60 lbs -80 lbs. You could see the entirety of his rib cage sticking out. When they adopted him to me, I was told to fill out some paperwork, that he should get some good food, and that the weird yellows scabs on his back would just come off with a good bath.

My experience with the Lancaster SPCA? Not very good. When he came home with me, I realized that he was not really eating. We tried everything until we decided to purée some chicken and heat it in the microwave. He loved it. I started to add different food with the chicken. I bought a dog food only food processor to grind up his dog food to add to the mixture and then finally Pedialyte. He would eat this meal up. After almost a week, I had finally moved him up to eating solid dog food. There were a few times he did throw up, but most of the time it was not food, just digestive enzymes.

Food Cash Would Eat The First Week*

Puréed Chicken (to a liquid) and warmed up

Ground Purina Pro Plan Focus Sensitive Skin and Stomach Formula

Pidalyte (Rite Aid Brand Equivalent) 

*It is important to note that I am not veterinarian, but I did consult with professionals and I did adapt what I was told to what Cash would eat. In addition, just like a human with an eating disorder, dogs that are/had been starving should be introduced to meals slowly. They should have small meals throughout the day so that their bodies are not trying to digest too much at once. 

Days went by and Cash would be more and more eager to eat so I decided to slowly introduce solid food into his diet and it worked. He does take longer to eat it, but it worked. He is now back on a solid diet and even though it takes him a while, he seems to be enjoying it. When he went back to the vet due to his digestion system being a little off (mostly his #2 schedule), they put him on I/D dog food for a healthy digestion system. I'm not sure if it is working since he's only been on it for a little while, but only time will tell

Now how much did he weigh at this visit? 58.7 lbs. That is a huge difference in a little more than a week. I was so excited that all the work that it was making a difference. His entire attitude had changed and you could see it in his face. When I saw him, I knew I needed him and I didn't know why, but now I know, he needed me just as I need him. 

And now for the official weigh in/weight gain photo:

Being Adopted: The a Good, The Bad, and The Scary

As many people know, the Lancaster SPCA does not have a good reputation and after adopting a dog from them, I can understand why the rumors started. Cash (his name from the microchip), refuses to eat most the time and doesn't look up at you. But, he is the sweetest, kindest dog you could meet. He knows a lot of commands and when he's not too tired, he follows me around the house. 

The first night, I was able to get him to eat a cup and a half of dry food, but he threw up some of it. Yesterday, he had some chicken broth/chicken puréed to almost a liquid, threw up a little of it, but digested most of it. 

He is slowly getting more trustworthy. I might take him to play fetch somewhere safe. He probably would like that. He only looks me in the eye when I am at eye level so I wonder if he was abused. His skin/hair is in bad condition. Dry, yellow, flaky, skin, but it's getting better with some tlc that the lcspca didn't give him. I just don't understand why they didn't mention he wasn't eating nor given information on feeding him properly. It seems a tad bit dishonest. (They had him for two weeks)

Either way, I will make sure he stays healthy. I won't let the little guy down. :) The vet said 50 lbs and the pet store said 60lbs. Either way, he needs to be around 70-75. Maybe even 80 depending on how much muscle he is building.