I have a 2 year old Boxer that was just neutered and kept at the Vets for two+ weeks due to insufficient blood clotting. We finally got him home and they have treated him for hook and whipworms and coccydia. We have had him about 2 months prior to neutering and he has always been skinny. Now we know why. My question is how do I get him to put on weight? Will anemia cause him to be skinny? I feed my dogs twice a day, 2.5 cups of dry Dog Chow and 1/2 can Alpo canned food.(Boxers are notorious for factor VII insufficiency i.e. reason for extended hospital stay). But he is home and healthy for about 1 week but his spine and ribs are visible. What can I feed him to buff him up? He was 60# the day I picked him up. Please advise. No other problems voiced from the Vet.

The parasites would be the main reason he was so skinny so now they are treated hopefully he will just gradually put on weight.

I would be buying a better quality food though, check out this site for rating on different dog food brands:
Dog Food Analysis - Reviews of kibble (http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/)

The best way for a dog to put on weight is gradually, so he can put on muscle instead of just bulk. A boxer wants 2-3 hours of daily exercise during recuperation, then he can step up to his normal "pedal to the metal."

Thank you so much for the words of encouragement. I so much as figured it would be a gradual thing, just wanted to make sure. The better quality of food thing, I totally agree, I had researced the ingredients for months on different brands when I got my Retriever and found one of the best ones at tractor supply that had very few "fillers" like the corn meal, corn this and corn that, but it was over 40.00 for a 30# bag. I also had to switch because my goldie had allergies i.e. sore, excessive wax in her ears and chewing at her paws. I was taking her in every few months for what I thought was ear infections. She was eating beef, so I switched to lamb and rice to see if that helped. It seems to be but it's only been about a month or so, So I didn't want to spend a ton on dog food if it wasn't going to help with her allergies. If you have any suggestions for a better dog food at a reasonable price (reasonable meaning affordable, feeding two large dogs), I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks so much for the info again! Mindy

Do you have Supercoat in the US?

In my opinion it is the best low priced dog food. It's all natural and completely balanced.

My mothers Great Dane is on Supercoat as he has digestive problems and she had trouble putting weight on him... he's in good condition now thanks to that (and 1kg of chicken necks and meat a day lol)

The high priced dog foods are very good but there are also some lower priced ones that do the job just as well for most dogs.

I have a puppy on order at the moment, a Chinese Crested, he will be fed Royal Canin, that is about $40 for a 15kg bag but with a little guy like that it goes a long way ;)
He will only be getting that as Cresteds need to have their skin in pretty much top condition being a hairless dog.

My poodle I have here at the moment can't handle beef, it makes him terribly itchy so I switched to lamb as well, no more problems.
Mind you my poodles are just on Pedigree Pal Natural... (comes in lamb, chicken or turkey varieties, it does contain beef but only a small amount) it's cheap and I know everyone says Pedigree is no good but the Natural variety contains less fillers and no preservatives or colors.

Caimin, you are going to get what you pay for. Old folk wisdom has this about it - it's wisdom.

If you can find a brand called Jim Dandy, they make some cheap stuff but their premium products are fed by world-class field trial trainers and handlers.

In your research be certain that you look at which product is rated, not just which brand. They all have a low end product which usually doesn't stack up well.

Thanks guys appreciate it, will continue to research and check on the Jim Dandy. Shazamataz, I just want to FYI you on something RE: pedigree. Let me first say that my dad fed his dog this brand for YEARS and she lived a very active healthy life until the average age of 7 or 8, anyway, I had read warnings about Pedigree containing somekind of ingredient that caused cancer or something... so sorry I can't remember exactly what it was or what is caused, but it was bad, and I have just never taken a chance with one of my pets. If you want to check into it, just Google pedigree reviews. But nonetheless, I appreciate your info.

Pedigree is a brand. They have a dozen different products on the market, some good, some not so much. Just like Ken'l Ration, Ol' Roy, Dog Chow, and others.

I haven't heard of that caimin but I will certainly look it up.

If you don't trust pedigree then that is entirely up to you, it takes a while to find a brand you trust so you just have to shop around.