My Whippet is not a whippet but what is she and should she be as skinny as she is?

[D0oinMeCleanin]

Because I am getting worried about my Dad's repeated attempts to smuggle her out of my house under his jumper (yes, she fits under there and allows this to happen ) because he is 100% certain that we are not feeding her.

If we are feeding her, we are not feeding her enough or we are letting the terrier steal it from her.

It is glaringly obvious that she is not, in fact, a whippet. She is some sort of lurcher. She is far too teeny to be a whippet.

This is her next to an average sized greyhound for comparison purposes, see NOT a whippet, no?

She is a cat. An odd cat. A very skinny odd cat.

Seriously though what could she be crossed with and how can I fatten her up a bit? She eats constantly.

I've just changed her off kibble and back to Nature Diet trays because she seems to do better on those but she always looks too skinny.

She is wormed, regularly. She has 6 monthly health checks, during which we are told she is too skinny and offered Hills (what else?) prescription foods to fatten her up (she won't eat it and even if she did, I won't buy it) but they can't find out why she is so skinny. She is otherwise healthy, shiny, alert and full of energy, well as much as you can expect a whippetty-cat thing to be energetic.

If I can get her to stand upright and in one place long enough (upright is for running purposes only) I'll try and add another photo later on. She has a feathery tail, like a Saluki if that helps, but she is definately not one of those either.

Nothing useful to add, but she is absolutely adorable! Are you sure your dad doesn't just want to steal her because she's lovely?

He's asked if he can have her several times. Most of my family have, even my sister who does not like dogs (odd person) has asked if she can have her.

But no, now he needs to 'save her' from us because we are not looking after her properly. He regularly moans at me over it and frets to my mum asking her to help convince us to hand her over, so she can be looked after properly.

Wow. I have a greyhound (looks a lot like that one actually) and it still shocked me how HOOOOOOOOOOOGE it looks compared to that cat dog. She not an IG is she? Are they smaller than whippets?

She is so sweet! Has she had her thyroid checked?

She is gorgeous!

I would ask if she is crossed with an IG? Having said that, our girl dog is very small for her breed. She's 3 but everyone asks if she's still a puppy. I always say that it's like people- some are tall, some are short, some are small, some are big. She's just little. (and none of this fairy, tea-cup or butterfly nonsense!)

In terms of feeding her up a bit, our boy tends to the skinny/ribby side, so he gets olive oil/butter and digestive biscuits added to his James Wellbeloved. Not sure if this will work if she has a sensitive tummy, but it works for him.

She is so tiny and wee (and adorable) that she MUST have some Iggy in there somewhere.

When our old boy lost weight after being ill, we went down the chicken route. I bought frozen packs of chicken fillets, cooked them (poached effectively) in a little water in the slow cooker, then he had an extra piece with each of his two daily meals plus an occasional extra one as a treat when the others were having pigs ears. This is still our go-to for putting a bit of extra meat on him as like yours, he has an annoying tendancy to eat and eat and eat and is very very skinny.

Presumably vets are happy with her liver/kidney functions? And thyroid has been checked?

Also, I know we pointy owners get used to having skinny dogs, but for a lot of people they think a lean dog is underweight when in fact there are too many overweight dogs around if that makes sense. Looking at her pic it's difficult to get a good view of ribs and hip bones - how many ribs can you see clearly? Do her hip bones stick up a lot? If the hip bones aren't too prominent, her coat is shiny and muscle tone is good, then I wouldn't be too worried. Has she recently lost weight or has she always been lean?

Last thought, are you keeping her warm enough? Could she benefit from a housecoat/coat for outside? When she's not nesting inside people's jumpers

Her hip bones stick out a lot, that's the problem. You can't see many ribs though , you can feel them but you can't see them prominantly.

She's always been lean but got leaner on the kibble, which is why we are swapping her back to the wet foods.

The vet is happy with her overall health but never took any bloods. I might take her back to a different vets. We didn't go specifically for her weight, just for a standard health check as part of healthy pets scheme she used to be in.

I've started giving her chicken wings for breakfast more often but might start adding some more chicken to her evening meal.

Are Italian Greys smaller? She didn't exatly come from a reputable source, she could be anything.

She has lots of jumpers and coats and her own radiator for very cold evenings . Her crate won't fit near the big radiator.

Yes, after googling she is definately more iggy than she is whippy. DH will not be pleased. I found a site that tells me they should not be treat like babies or you will end up with an 'unstable' Iggy, perhaps this is why she thinks she is a cat?

I'm not sure how she will feel about not being babied either

I also found out that she should have her teeth brushed. She would probably let us do this to her.

Still too skinny though, even for an iggy. Back to the vets for her it is then.

Hi Dooin, I was having a look at Iggy health problems/issues and it seems they are prone to hypothyroidism as a breed, with symptoms including weight loss. So a blood test for that would probably be a good idea?

This lovely pic shows a grey, a whippy and an iggy together which gives a good idea of the relative sizes...

I'm going to book her in for the vets tomorrow. A different one this time.

That pic is about right. Although looking at her today she seems to be fatter. Odd, contrary little cat-dog thing

She is gorgeous! I want her.

We found that chicken and corned beef helped put some weight on our husky x when he was too skinny. (Also he was afraid of the food bowl but I think you'd know if that was the problem).

I hope she gets on alright at the vets.

She looks like a saluki x whippet cross - her coat is shiny and as long as she is eating/toileting well, I wouldn't worry as these breeds tend to be skinny.

Lurchers - esp with saluki in them are supposed to be skinny and you should see the last couple of ribs.

She's definitely not scared of the food bowl. She'd live in it if she could fit

She likes corned beef. I'd never thought of that .

Just read that she has prominent hip bones - that is normal for her breeding.

She is still young though isn't she Dooin? I seem to remember you got her at about the same time as I got my whippy (am under namechange), often whippetty types don't really start filling out until two, mine is 22 months and all bones yet eats for England, some pointys just never carry weight well but are perfectly healty.

Is hard to see in the pic, how big she is, 18" at the shoulder would be a small girl whippy, smaller than that and she probably something else in there or she could be from racing lines which often stand smaller or just badly bred.

Fish oil, (salmon) is good for fattening them up, raw eggs, liver, chicken.

Scuttle has an excellent recipe for 'fattening up balls'

If she looks and seems healthy though I really wouldn't worry, just feed her to appetite, rather than following guidelines on any type of food and I'm sure she will be fine.

Yeah she's still quite young. Probably about the same age as yours.

I don't think she's 18 inches at shoulder. All the pictures we have of her are laying down or being snuggled like a baby

This is her stood up, that shaggv type dog looming over her is the same size as an actual Whippet

Wow. She is titchy.

So in the photo Scuttle linked to, iggy was the smallest?

Maybe she is an iggy x then.

Ah yes, how could I forget the satin balls!!!!

She may be an iggy/whippy/cat cross... Either way, she is cute and I demand more pictures!!!

how old is she op?

No ideas but whatever she is she's very, very cute.

Iggy-whip? Whiggy?

She'll be almost two now.

She looks like an Italian Greyhound to me. My friend has one and they are lovely - but are quite skinny.

If you wanted to add something to get some weight on her then some green tripe mixed with her food may help or Chappie Chicken & Rice is good. Its what we use for Loofa when he needs some weight on (like nearly always)