How to fatten up my very elderly dog with a delicate stomach?

[Kendodd]

She's a cocker spaniel and has always been a grazer not a scoffer, nearly 18, in good health, the only real sign of her age is the amount of time she spends sleeping and only likes very short walks. Food always available. She's so skinny though and losing weight. Has dry food, if we give wet food she just gets diarrhoea all over the place. Can I get weight on her? Should I even try?

I give my dog chicken and rice cooked in chicken stock when he had an upset tummy, could add some chicken fat to it?

Has she seen a vet? At that age the weight loss would be of huge concern.

Thank you for the chicken advice.
She has seen a vet recently, just for something routine. The weight loss isn't sudden, it's just a slow decline. I was hoping there might be some weight gain powder or something we could give her that wouldn't cause diarrhoea. Then of course is the problem of getting her to eat it. I might try feeding her just a bit of chicken every day, see if I can slowly build that up. She's already very old and although without any health problems, we know she can't have a huge amount of time left.

While cooked chicken and rice is great for a poorly stomach it has very little nutritional value and if your dog is loosing weight it will hinder not help cooked food is not good for dogs

Chicken stock unless homemade is very salty and not good for dogs

Chicken fat will more than likely give the dog the runs

At 18 you need the advice of a vet on nutrition

Try marrow bones from the butcher in the meantime if dog is not interested in chewing them you can dig out the marrow to add to meals

I wouldn't be trying to change her diet or fatten her up without advice from the vet. She's very elderly and you don't want put unnecessary strain on her organs and her joints.

Thanks for the correction, that's helpful

Rice can constipate them too, I have a lab with ibs.

I’d either ask a vet or just leave her, she’s 18.

You could make her bone broth to give as an extra. That helped my dog to gain weight after an illness and is very gentle on their stomachs. I used to make a big batch, freeze it in muffin trays then pop out into a big bag and give one defrosted muffin sized serving twice a day.

Has she had a blood test recently? Weight loss (from being picky with food) was the only symptom our 12 year old spaniel had with end stage kidney disease. He was otherwise as bright as anything, still behaving like a puppy. Astonishing how they can mask illness.

Dogs love sweet potatoes and they're gentle on the stomach, as are scrambled eggs and chicken. You could increase the calorific value of her foods by adding some tasty extras such as peanut butter or a little cheese. Just a small amount, though. Not much. Also i've heard that salmon oil is good for them.

Thank you all for the advice.