Shocking news at the vet today!

[Sue E]

Hi
Took my 6 month old, Ozzy, to the vet today because of his constant diahorreah and found that he should be almost three times his weight for his age!  I knew he was small but not that small.  AT 6 months old he's just 5kgs, but apparently he should be 12-15 kgs - I was really shocked!   The vet said she could feel his guts when they should be smooth (not sure what that means, but it doesn't sound good!).  His poos have never been great, never hard and although we changed his food some months ago, that doesn't seem to have made a difference.   
I'm really worried and scared that something serious is wrong - anyone got any similar stories that can shed some light or know other small cocker spaniels ?
Sue

[Helen]

I think Jarv was around 7 - 8 kgs at that age, I remember at a year old he hit 10 kgs....so he wasn't that much smaller.  Jarv at nearly 4 is just under 13 kgs, if he had been that weight at 6 months he would have been a barrel 

What else did your vet say?  are they doing any tests?

Does she think he's a Springer as some are much bigger than cockers and I would say on the generic weight charts that some vets seem to live by Springers that the weight quoted (12 ish kilo's) could be right.

[Karma]

Ok, 5kgs at 6 months is small, but Honey was certainly still well under 10kgs at 6 months, and she's not a small cocker by any stretch of the imagination...

Did the vet mean she could feel his ribs?? How does Ozzy actually look?? Can you see his ribs? Do his hip joints seem to stick out at all??

One thing I have learned being a member here is that Cockers really do seem to come in many shapes and sizes... there are a few very small ones on here and I'm sure people will be along soon to reassure you about their weight!  

Out of interest, what are you feeding him?

Agree with what Livercake says about mistaking him for a Springer - it does make some sense.... 

[elaine.e]

The size and weight of Cockers varies a lot. Do you have a photo of Ozzy that you can post on here?

My William is 5 years old, about 16.5 inches at the shoulder and weighs 14.8 kgs. I think that he's about the right weight for his size and build, but I know he's a lot heavier than many adult Cockers. Your vet's estimate of 12-15 kgs. for a 6 month puppy sounds on the heavy side to me, even if Ozzy is tall.

I'm sure you'll get lots of replies to this because there's been a few similar threads before that have shown the different sizes and weights of Cockers.

Did your vet suggest anything like a change of diet?

[sarah25]

Donald is just 6 months and about 13KG,If your puppy is only 5KG that is very small what are you feeding him is your vet doing any tests it sounds like his having problems digesting his food.

[Sue E]

Hi
You're making me feel better already!  

She did know that he was a cocker spaniel, but you're right, she could have got the weights mixed up with a springer.  I'll certainly check it next time I'm there.

They're going to run some tests on his poo - so that should be fun to collect on our walks!  If that doesn't show anything then he'll have some blood tests, and the worse case scenario is a biopsy.  

We've just measured him to his shoulder and he's 13inches.  You can feel his ribs, always have been able to, but you couldn't see them until this week really.  The problem we've had is that he's such a lively dog (aren't they all!?!) and is just lovely to live with.  So we never really worried.  If we tried to give him extra food then his poo just got worse, so we were obviously over feeding him (got that from this forum!).

He's on James Wellbeloved puppy food now. He was on IAMs when he came home to us and we obviously thought that the soft poo was because of that so we changed him to JWB but it didn't make a great deal of difference.  

Sue

[Han]

It does sound like there are issues with his digerstive system but I think your vets weights are way off. Darcey is just over 10kg at 10 months now. She was tiny when she came home at 8 weeks, barely 1.5kg, and I can't remember what she weighed at 6 months. But if it had been 13kg she would be one overweight little chunker!!

[GinnyB]

Blimey. Mali was weighed yesterday, she came in at 10.8k and is still a bit on the chunky side.

I hope they get your little chap sorted out soon.

[bracken]

My Rosie is a small cocker but fairly well built she is 9.5" tall and about 9kg. Mine are on JWB how long has Ozzy been on it?

Have you tried worming with Panacur ? as his tummy not to good.

I would take him off kibble and put him on white fish and brown rice for a few days to see how u go  

Did the vet give you any Pro-Kolin to help with his tummy?

[Sue E]

He's been on boiled chicken and rice for a couple of days to see if that helps so we're avoid the JWB for the time being.  He's been on that since he was about 12 weeks old now, once we'd changed from the IAMs.

The vet hasn't given us anything to give him yet as she wants a 'clean' sample of poo! 

He's been having his monthly worming tablets for a few months too.

The really hard thing to grasp is that whilst I'm sat here at the computer, he's running round like an idiot chasing an empty bottle - making a real racket.  That's why its hard to imagine that he could be so poorly, cos he doesn't look it!

I've tried to add some pictures but don't have the attachments facility (not sure why), so I've changed my profile picture to a photo from today.   Doesn't really show much to my untrained eye, but you never know what everyone else might think......

Thanks
Sue

[Helen]

Donald is just 6 months and about 13KG,If your puppy is only 5KG that is very small what are you feeding him is your vet doing any tests it sounds like his having problems digesting his food.

13kgs  that's massive for 6 months, he must be a big boy 

[Karma]

In your Avatar pic, Ozzy looks like he is a Working Cocker??

If you have been able to feel but not see his ribs up until now, I would say he is fine...   As far as looking a bit thinner now, a lot of Workers seem to go through a much thinner phase around their adolesence, so I really wouldn't worry!!

It does sound like the JWB isn't suiting Ozzy, though... it is a good food, but not all foods suit all dogs.  I'd be tempted to try a different food (maybe Burns, or Orijen) and see how he gets on with that?? If he's on chicken and rice at the minute you may well be able to introduce a new food after that??

[PennyB]

Donald is just 6 months and about 13KG,If your puppy is only 5KG that is very small what are you feeding him is your vet doing any tests it sounds like his having problems digesting his food.

13kgs  that's massive for 6 months, he must be a big boy 

Neither of mine weigh that much as adults (they're about 10-11kg each) and I have a feeling that Wilf was about 5kg at 6 months old as well - he was a skinny boy and still can be at times. My vet obsessed for a while about Wilf's weight until he realised he was a busy boy as well and he's far too used to seeing chunky dogs in his surgery he'd clean forgotten what a thin one looked like

[Helen]

In your Avatar pic, Ozzy looks like he is a Working Cocker??

If you have been able to feel but not see his ribs up until now, I would say he is fine...   As far as looking a bit thinner now, a lot of Workers seem to go through a much thinner phase around their adolesence, so I really wouldn't worry!!

It does sound like the JWB isn't suiting Ozzy, though... it is a good food, but not all foods suit all dogs.  I'd be tempted to try a different food (maybe Burns, or Orijen) and see how he gets on with that?? If he's on chicken and rice at the minute you may well be able to introduce a new food after that??

I really wouldn't go for Burns for a thin puppy - Burns is much better for dogs trying to lose weight - try Arden Grange, and maybe raw green tripe to help him bulk up

[Karma]

True - had forgotten that about Burns...