Economical ways to put weight on an old dog

[TillyandFlorence]

Hoping some clever people can help me out. I'm looking for economical ways to put weight on an old dog...without feeding more actual food.

My little oldie has been through some health stuff lately and has lost weight - spine is very prominent and hip bones are just starting to poke through. She's had lots of great vet care, is still a very happy wee girl etc so no one needs to worry about her quality of life!

Now her latest condition has stabilised, vet suggested trying to get some weight back on her. He suggested just feeding more. I have increased her feeds a little bit, but am worried if I increase too much it will just go straight through her. She already gets fed three times a day (breakfast, late afternoon, bedtime) and I'm not consistently around at lunchtime for an extra feed. Plus, she's on a specialist diet which is expensive!

What can I add to her diet to help get some weight back on her? I was thinking coconut oil but any other ideas gratefully received!

How about topping her food with scrambled egg? That and adding fish or other protein from your own food as and when. I tried everything when my elderly dog was poorly, including buying whole roasted chickens, however that's probably not the way to go.

Ah sorry, I should have mentioned she has a few food intolerances and egg is one (along with both beef and lamb). I could get her some oily fish though.

She'll eat literally anything so that's not a problem.

What specialist diet is she on? Does she have allegies or a health condition?
Just read you update, so amended my list.

A glug of olive oil on her food - but that's not cheap these days!
A tin of sardines in olive oil - I did one tin a day for a 12/13 kg dog.
Oats - soak in water overnight. Drain and add to food. I did 2 egg cups full of oats to 4 of water.
Raw green tripe.
Pasta.

I had one of my rescues on full fat cottage cheese (two table spoons daily) and a tin of sardines for lunch every day.

Thanks - that's really helpful. I'm not in the UK and I feel like olive oil costs more than gold here right now!

I'll definitely do the oily fish I think (she'll think all her christmasses have come at once). Oats is a good idea, I wouldn't have thought of that.

Oats. Rice. Mix it in with the sardines. Greek yoghurt.

In the UK you can get salmon oil for dogs, also look for energy supplements for working
dogs.
I’m not sure if Kronch is available outside the UK, but they make a salmon “bar” type thing that’s for high energy working dogs

Have a look at
https://www.allaboutdogfood.co.uk/

Look for high protein, low carbohydrate. If she's older, she won't need the carbohydrates for energy.

I'd be really careful about feeding her a diet too high in fat. I wouldn't feed carbs either. As pp said high protein is what you should be aiming for.
If you are worried about food going through her too quickly, you might want to try tree barks which slows the passage of food through the gut.