Need some advise on getting my Irish Setter to gain weight

[Denise Lee Turonek]

 I have a 1.5 yr. old male Irish Setter that at 9 mo. old was up to 65 lbs.  He dropped a large amount of weight very quickly..He has been to the vets on regular basis since last August & has had several tests done to try to solve this issue. The vet says his pancreas is not metabolizing the calories from the food properly?

He has been on Prozyme & Fortiflora and now on Purina Pro Plan High Performance. He eats 8 cups a day of that along with a shredded (boiled) chicken breast with each 2 cups of food. He has been on this diet for months & has not gained any weight and also has several bouts of gas/diarrhea.   He remains anywhere from 58-60 lbs.

 I am now debating the question of a Gluten intolerance.  Has anyone out there had a similar problem with their Irish Setter or do you have any advise on what I should do for him?

I do have my hands full with my 3 wonderful Irish Setters.  We also have one that has seizures and that we have to medicate and one that has a thyroid issue and is also on meds... What would I do without them! They bring me so much joy (along with all the worry)

[Denise Lee Turonek]

Thank you to all for the advise...I'm am happy to report that over the last month we have weaned Hudson to his Gluten Free Diet & he is responding wonderfully! He has gained the correct amount of weight & now has no issues with the loose bloddy stools & vomiting or losing weight!!!!! He even sleeps through the night for me now :) Now I can rest easy knowing my lil guy is on the road to good health!

[Susan Stone]

Excellent news! I hope Hudson continues to thrive and all past worries can be forgotten.

[Henriette van der Zwan]

Dear Denise,

I'm so glad I came across your post! This sounds EXACTLY like my story!! My boy was diagnosed with gluten sensitivity only this week and he is slowly getting better after I've put him on a gluten free diet. I'm so glad there are other owners who went through the same as we did. Let's hope in a couple of weeks he will be fat and healthy!

Kind regards,

Henriette

[Denise Lee Turonek]

Dear Henriette,

Thank goodness for the info that I received from this site...Hudson is back up to a healthy weight of 70lbs.  The gluten free diet is working wonders.  Good luck with your boy as well.  He will be fat & healthy before you know it!!

 

Kind regards,

Denise

[Denise Lee Turonek]

Dear Henriette

Just looking over some of the older posts I have here & was wondering how your boy is doing on his gluten free diet?  My Hudson is doing well, we really have to be careful that he has NOTHING with gluten in it...any treats that friends, mail delivery people give him without knowing he has this problem sends him into a terrible bout of stomach issues.

[Henriette van der Zwan]

Hi Denise,

He is doing really well! Thanks for thinking of us! Yes, we have the same problem. All our dogs are on a gluten-free diet so there is no problem in our pack. But recently we went on vacation with my sister and her 3 Weimeraners who are not on a gluten-free food and who eat much slower so he would chase them from their bowls and eat their food. This caused him terrible pain and upsets, but after about a week he was back to his old self again. Luckily we now know what to do and what not to feed him. When this happens I give him a buscopan or scopex and this helps to ease the pain at least until the gluten is out of his system. He still struggle to gain weight but is now at more or less a normal weight and his bones nicely covered with fat! He is also very active and run with my husband daily so that is also not helping to keep the weight on. If only we can get him to stress less, but we are working with a behaviourist on this! 

[Torie Lancaster]

I have fed all my dogs over many years on Acana or Orijen and can honestly say I have never had a problem with fussy eaters, dogs which were under or over weight or anything else healthwise.  They also have all sorts of leftovers from our meals but no artificial gravy (gravy granules and the like).

Mine have 3 large mugs of dry food divided into two meals per day.  They only have dog treats (Denta Sticks) twice a week and I don't feed them any sort of animal hide chews.

I must be one of the lucky ones :)

[Astrid Landsaat]

I have been feeding Orijen and Acana since my first girl started seizing. She improved on this diet. Never had weight problems with any of my pets on these brands.