Skinny Minnie

[Reagan]

My cavalier, Reagan will be one year in just under a month now, and he is so skinny! All the cavaliers I see are rather plump, and it makes me worried. He eats fine, and goes on at least one thirty minute walk a day. He is happy as a clam and shows no signs of any health problems, he is just skinny. What do you guys suggest I do to plumpen him up a bit?

[apeppersmith]

Keep him on puppy food a little longer, maybe add extra treats. Has he had a fecal test or been wormed lately? Winston loves freeze dried chicken livers.

[Reagan]

I will check out the liver treats! Although, he has some the vet gave him that he refuses to eat. I guess he just works off everything he eats. He plays out in the yard everyday with my boyfriend and will run for hours straight if we didn't make him come back inside! I'm just hoping as he gets a little older his metabolism will slow down and he will get a little huskier. I just don't want people to think I don't feed my dog, because he is the most spoiled little guy I know.

[Karlin]

The most important thing is to get him to his vet before you try to do anything as there most likely is no reason to do anything. Your vet can tell you if he is actually too thin or not. Sadly these days so many dogs are overweight -- cavaliers are one of a handful of breeds with an actual genetic predisposition to being overweight (very dangerous in a breed with endemic heart issues!) that those cavaliers you are seeing may simply be too heavy -- this sounds like the case if they are 'plump'. According to a chart at my vets, a single pound overweight for an average size cavalier would be like 20-30 lbs overweight for a human. So absolutely avoid having a plump cavalier! It will take several years off the typical cavalier's life to be overweight.

Now: if your vet believes he is seriously underweight, then the vet needs to determine why. If he has a good appetite and eats normally, then common causes of low weight would be worms, other intestinal parasites, or less likely, possibly a wide variety of potential medical issues which it would be very important to determine now. Your vet needs to work to eliminate the potential causes.

I would guess your dog is probably in fine weight -- the majority of cavaliers I see every week are overweight! And therefore the dogs you meet are probably never a good point of comparison.

Personally I don't recommend feeding puppy foods at all --including to puppies -- unless a dog is seriously underweight. But people all feel differently and there's lots of discussions on that topic on the board elsewhere!

[Karlin]

One additional point: cavaliers like all dogs really are often a bit gangly still at this age. Males take up to two years to fill out and he will still have some filling out to do. There's a big difference between a healthy and fit, mature male and a fat male! So getting a vet's opinion on whether there is actually anything wrong with him is important -- if he is just gangly and slim I'd leave him be.

[BrooklynMom]

Brooklyn is always called "thin" but I think it is better described as long and lean. Some cavs are stalky, some are longer and leaner. Plus, Brooklyn is super active so she is toned vs. sickly looking...and when she was a pup, SUPER gangly She is just now filling out...a little! He mama was just like her though.

[HowardtheSpanner]

I agree that the "norm" is to see overweight Cav's. People comment on how skinny Howard is. .....we just don't overfeed him! He has a really good coverage and isn't wasting a way, so we, and the vet, are happy with what we feed him.

He went to stay with a friend for 5 days as I was away and Tom would have been at work too long each day, and when he came back he was noticeably plumper. I have no idea how much they fed him, but it was obviously not what I wrote down. Their dogs are overweight and it drives me insane.

[AT]

Oh to have a cavalier who doesnt eat everything ,lol as I have charlies who are known for being picky you can end up with one very fat smug cavalier sat amongst 7 empty bowls.

If the vet thinks he is fine dont worry , they live longer if they are thinner. My 3 year old is very skinny but he's happy and healthy so when i'm tempted to fatten him up so he looks better i have to remind myself he wont be healthier for it, its just cosmetic.

[cavalover]

It can be surprising what is actually overweight in this breed. For Butters' 6-month check-up, the vet told us he was overweight. Butters had in fact turned into a "Butter Ball!" It was shocking to my husband and I, because he looked to us like the perfect weight. Our vet indicated that you should be able to feel the last 2 ribs in a dog of ideal weight. With careful monitoring of his food intake (he was already getting enough exercise), it was quite a bit of work getting him to that ideal weight! I agree with Karlin about getting the vet's opinion, and with the norm being overweight cavaliers, it can sometimes be surprising what the ideal really is.

[HowardtheSpanner]

It also seems to be the norm in labs. All too often you see a waddling barrel plodding down the street looking more akin to a sausage dog than a Labrador. Somehow people think this is how they should look.

Our old dog, Mia was half Rhodesian Ridgeback and half lab. She had such a beautiful shape to her, and had long legs. She looked like a black lab, for the most part. I had people yelling at me that my dog was underweight and that I was obviously starving her. I had to calmly point out that most dogs should have defined waists. Thankfully the abusive few were in a minority and most people commented on how beautiful she looked....being all muscle, rather than fat and my vet always commented on how refreshing it was to see a "lab" that wasn't grossly overweight.

Howard might be 25odd pounds lighter but I will treat him the same as Mia. I don't give "treats". When training we use his food. (he doesn't have much breakfast because I use it throughout the day when training. He sometimes gets a bit of cooked chicken or raw mince, but gets less dry food as a result!