So when I picked up Toby from the shelter he obviously needed to gain some weight. Well I thought I was doing good with him going up to 119 pounds and thought he was going to slowly fill out more with time. Well he went to the vets office to have his leg surgery today, so he got weighed and he has lost 3 pounds! I had been feeding him some of the donated food that we get for fosters in the beginning and he would eat almost 8 cups of that food on a good day even though I would provide him with 9 to try and get weight on him. So I had the bright idea of getting him a higher quality food, thinking that if I did that he would get more nutrition out of it and more calories per cup out of it than the old food. I have him on Chicken Soup For The Pet Lover's Soul now. Well he's doing good now to eat 6 cups of that a day. I think he just doesn't like the taste of this new dog food or something. So, any ideas on how to fatten him up? His spine and hip bones stick out. I don't want to create a picky eater. I have thought about the raw diet and I do have a freezer in the garage that never gets used I just don't think the raw diet would be cost effective with one dog??? Any ideas would be appreciated!!
Disclaimer: If I decided to do raw I would not do so until he's officially adopted. =)
Toby
We are thinking of Toby.... and wishing his fever was just a silly virul infection that humans get so it would go away soon! Please keep us posted on his progress.
Cristina
Jack & Sydney's mum
all day....
Toby has been on my mind all day. sending you both lots of hugs and prayers. Take good care of yourself too!! Toby needs a strong mommy to get him feeling better as well. Hope he improves a lot tonight, so that you can see he's turning the corner in the morning. Stay well!
Stacey
~in memory of Moose~
Thanks everyone....
Well, as Heather said I dropped him off and I have not heard anything since. =( I feel so sorry for him. I tried to get him to eat today and he wouldn't even eat a single bite of the canned food at all. He only drank a tiny bit of water early this morning, so with his fever being 105 I'm so glad he's being hospitalized so that he can get some much needed I.V. fluids. This is just so weird. He only had a very minor surgery. I don't know what's wrong with him....=( I will post tomorrow as I know more. I'm really worried about him now.
Heather called me this
Heather called me this morning and let me know that she had not heard from the actual vet yet to see how he's doing but she did hear that he had his I.V. taken out this morning and he walked outside to go potty. So that is an improvement. Yesterday his temperature had gotten up to 106!! I'm still waiting to hear what is going on with him but I will post more later when I know more.
Toby
Any more news??
Jana, Addie & Argos
Nope...
I called up there but the vet is on lunch break right now and should be back by 4 today. They said they would have her call me. Oh they did say that they got him to eat some today and that his fever is down, I don't know if it's down all the way or just down a little but I will find out when the vet calls me.
GUESS WHO I HAVE!!!!
Toby is here now!!!! I'm soooooo happy!!! =) He's feeling so much better now. He's currently standing next to me resting his head on my lap. I don't know what I would of done if he didn't make it. I LOVE this dog so much. His weight is down to 109 or 110 now so I have to make up all that I had put on him plus but it's all good as long as he's here with me, that's all that matters. =)
I'm sooooooooo excited!!!!! =) This just made my crappy day so wonderful!!!
Toby
Is he eating better? How is he feeling?
Jana, Addie & Argos
Well....
He has fever again today. A few hours ago I took it and it was 104. He did eat this morning though. If he still has fever in the morning I will call the vets office and he will probably have to go back I guess. I wish we could figure out what's wrong with him. =(
hang in there~
We're all praying for Toby right along with you. If there is anything you need, please let me know.
Sending Toby lots of love and many, many prayers. You're doing everything you can.....he knows how much you love him and that is HUGE. That alone is makeing him feel safe, while he isn't feeling well. You are comforting him......
Stacey
~in memory of Moose~
YAY!!! WONDERFUL!!!
I've been so worried about both of you!!! Now that Toby is home with you and starting to feel better, he will just grow and grow and fil out beautifully!! Take extra good care of yourself too!! Thank you for the updates on Toby McLovin!!!
Stacey
~in memory of Moose~
WOOOOHOOOOO YIPEEEE HOOOORRAAYYYY WHHHHOOOOOPPPP
I have been wondering about him... so not lets fatten him up... Mo ate an entire pound of butter I had out softening to make cookies... what is funny is she didn't tear the wrappers and actually licked them clean.... I am sure that didn't help her girlish figure...
Toby did look good!!!
He looked great! We saw hum at Creekside when we picked up Polly for HW treatment. Mary is right, very, very skinny guy-no butt! He seemed very happy to be with Mary and the kids. Good luck with everything.
Toby did look good!!!
He looked great! We saw hum at Creekside when we picked up Polly for HW treatment. Mary is right, very, very skinny guy-no butt! He seemed very happy to be with Mary and the kids. Good luck with everything.
OOPs double clicked
YES!
Mary, I am soo happy for you and Toby McLovin!!! I know he will be on the right track now that he is back home with you! Hopefully everyday gets better!
SOOO HAPPY!!!
SOOO HAPPY Toby is better!!!! YEAH!!! I'm so glad you have him home and can give him lots of hugs and kisses. Give him some from all of us.
Jana, Addie & Argos
Good to hear
Really glad to hear he's doing better, last night it sounded kinda scary. Hopefully he'll be back at home soon.
Toby
I too have been wondering how Toby has been doing all day. I was out most of the day and just got on the board. So sorry Toby's not feeling better. Once he gets some meds and IV fluids in him he will be his self again in no time. Take care of yourself too. Prayers and thoughts still coming your way. Please keep us posted and let us know if there is anything you need. You have my cell number.
Jana, Addie & Argos
extra prayer and happy thoughts
Mary
I hope that by now everyone is feeling better.... you , toby kidds...... keep us posted
I just sent mary and Toby to
I just sent mary and Toby to the vet where he will be hospitalized. his fever was 105 and he is having a lot of discomfort. I am sure she will keep us posted. Mary is getting over the flu and taking care of two kiddos herself. I am sure she could use all the support we could give her!!
Hang in there Mary
Happy Thoughts
Mary,
I am soo sorry you are going through alot right now! I would love to take Toby off your hands :) LOL
I hope he is doing ok and so are you! I will be thinking about yall tonight.
Thinking of you guys....
How's Toby doing so far today? We're keeping you guys in our thoughts and can't wait to hear good new for Mr. McLovin.......his story and pictures have really shown what an absolute sweetie he is....keep us updated....
Sandi, Dharma, and Logan
More Prayers
Toby has been on my mind and how he is doing. I am glad that he finally ate something..many prayers and good thoughts coming your way...Hopefully Toby will respond to his meds, I know how hard this has to be...please keep us updated.
Judy, Scooby, and Daphne
Thank you for all the prayers
He seems to be the same this morning. I was able to get him to go potty last night and get a drink. I called the vet to get him something for the pain this morning but they are saying that he's not in pain and he's just being this way because of his fever. I don't know. The way he is walking and when he moved last night he cried out in pain. He walks very slowly with his head hung down low and his back kind of arched. I feel like he's in pain but I'm not a vet so I just don't know. Hopefully he will feel better tomorrow or later today. I was hoping he would feel better this morning though.
Hang in there
I HATE it when our babies are sick because we can't talk to them and tell them what's going on and they can't talk back. I worry so much when one is sick. Hang in there and I will say a prayer for sweet Toby.
Sara (Bubba Chad's and Shammy's mom)
more prayers
hope we hear something soon.....
He finally ate something
I gave him some canned food by hand and he ate some of that so that's good. Poor boy tried to move his leg (I'm assuming it was his leg as he was still covered up so I couldn't see) and cried out in pain. =( I felt so bad for him. He still hasn't gotten up yet tonight but I will try in a little while as I have to go to bed and he's got to have to potty sometime. I think he's going to be fine, he's just hurting really bad and isn't wanting to move.
Prayers on the way
Sending prayers your way. The furbabies have their paws crossed that he gets to feeling better soon. Give him hugs and kisses from all of us.
I would try and feed him as often as possible. If you can I would even try to feed them through the night. Once I had a dog that got parvo and the vet said to give him gatorade every 2 hours, it will help replinish the electrolights(sp). Might boil some rice with the chicken in it. That will give the rice some chicken flavor and if his tummy is upset, the rice will be better for it.
Jana, Addie & Argos
prayers for Toby!!
Please update as soon as you can. Mary, my prayers are with you & Toby.
Stacey
~in memory of Moose~
Well...
I took him to the vets office this morning because he would not get out of his crate at all. I couldn't even get him to wag his tail or lift his head very much. He wouldn't come out for cheese or anything yummy. This is all VERY out of character for him. At the vets office we had to lift him out of the back of the tahoe as he would not get up. The vet said that he has a fever and is in pain so they gave me some rimadyl (sp?) for the pain and said that if he doesn't get to feeling better or gets worse in the next day or two to call them.
Well we got home around 1:00 today and I fixed him up with some dog beds and some blankets to lay on and he has not moved from the same spot all day. I even left him there to go pick up my son from school and came back home and he was still there. Poor guy has been shaking (I guess he's cold from the fever or in a lot of pain) and drooling a little, which he never does unless he's drinking. I made him a chicken breast (plain) and broke it into chuncks and he wouldn't eat. I'm going to try again in a little while to see if I can get him to eat that or chicken broth or anything. He's soooooo skinny now. Hopefully the rimadyl will kick in soon. =(
Don't stop praying...have faith
I will be praying for Toby and have my kids say special prayers tonight too.
Hang in there, as I know how worried you must be. You have all of us here sending you good thoughts, many prayers and lots of hugs and love that Toby McLovin gets better really fast!! Please keep updating when you can....
Stacey
~in memory of Moose~
TOby update
Mary called me this am and Toby has gone into some sort of emergency distress. She can not get him in the car so her husband is on the way to get him loaded and the vets are awaiting his arrival. I am sure Mary will keep us updated, but till then, I thought you guys should know
hh
Weight gain
I'm not trying to force the raw diet on you, because it's not for everyone. That said, I LOVE the raw diet for us. We had Romy for over a year and were constantly trying to put weight on her- with very little success, until we started raw a couple of months ago. We can't believe how quickly she has filled out, and how much she actually enjoys eating now. I can honestly say that feeding raw has not cost us any more than the higher quality kibble we were buying. We buy two 10 lb. bags of chicken leg quarters from Walmart for about $5 a bag and a couple of pounds of ground beef. That usually lasts us over a week. Good luck with Toby, I'm sure you'll do what's best for both of you, and with some TLC he'll be healthy soon.
This is definitely something
This is definitely something I have been considering. I have known about and researched the raw diet for quite some time now, so I know about a lot of the benefits from it. I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do yet, but later on I might have some questions for you if you don't mind. =)
Spoiling is more like it
Yes, I spoil my babies cooking for them. But actually, they really don't get alot of "cooked" food. I just put enough in their kibble to entice them to eat it. One boneless, skinless chicken breast is enough for about 4 meals. Rarely do they get "just kibble", they almost always have something extra to entice them. I use yogurt(plain), scrambled eggs, chicken including organ meat(the organ meat is real good), green beans(no salt), sweet pot, rice, roast(just buy a cheap roast when on sale). The meats can be frozen. They didn't like carrots and banana. I can boil a whole chicken and it will last a week or so. Then take the water you boiled the chicken in and cook the rice so the rice has chicken flavor. NO salt, pepper or any other seasoning on anything. I usually feed the skinny ones 3-4 meals a day. When I was working they would get one meal early in the morning, then one 1 hr before I left for work, one as soon as I got home and another closer to bedtime that way I could monitor them after they ate. There is also "mealbones" that you can get.
Jana, Addie & Argos
magic meatloaf
search the board for magic meatloaf.... also I don't know how often you are feeding but you might try feeding him 3 or more times a day.. 3 or 4 cups at a time he might eat more during the day if you offer it more... also you can try stuffing a kong with PB and putting some food in it... a fatty treat
Jana...to the rescue!!
Hopefully Jana will see this today and give you her special recipe for "fattening up her fosters"!! She works magic on these skinny furbabies when she takes them into her home. Remember the AMAZING difference with Sally while Jana was her foster mommy? WOW...she was absolutely a beaufitul, stunning girl when she found her forever home a few months ago. I remember one post from Jana or Susan saying that Jana cooks for her furkids more then her human kids;) Or maybe it was Aaron who posted that on the old message board. Anyway...Jana is your expert for getting Toby to gain weight for you!!
Sending prayers for Toby during his leg surgery today!! Please keep us posted.
Stacey
~in memory of Moose~
Thanks Stacie
Thank you for the prayers for Toby. I'm so worried about him even though I know he's in good hands. I can't wait until 5:00 so that we can pick him up!
How's Toby???
I see you're on the board Mary....I'm hoping Toby is home safe and sound resting peacefully next to you. Please give him a hug for me!!
Stacey
~in memory of Moose~
Yes =)
He is home and all went well. Thank you for asking. =)
So Glad
Toby is home and the surgery went well. How is he feeling?
Jana, Addie & Argos
A little woozy still...
I think he's feeling a little nauseated and woozy. Poor boy kept wanting to do his normal activity of following me around the house. So I stayed at the computer and pulled his dog bed over next to me and he still kept standing there. So I got up to put him in his crate so he could get some much needed rest without worrying about what I'm doing and he turned and hit his head on the chair. =( He's fine though, he just looked at the chair like, hey why did you do that?? He's going to be okay though, he's just having the normal after surgery stuff going on. He's now sound asleep in his crate. When he's feeling better he'll get some special, yummy treats. =)
wonderful news!!
Big sigh....that is wonderful news...I'm so glad he is home and going to be pampered and spoiled all the days of his life!!! You're awesome!!!
Stacey
~in memory of Moose~