Maintaining a healthy weight is an essential part of your dog’s lifestyle and diet. During the early stages of your dog’s life, they may not experience excessive weight gain until they develop a medical condition, chronic arthritis, or slow activity levels. In this article, we review 5 best dog food for weight gain options.
Senior dogs are often at the highest risk for excessive weight gain due to decreasing exercise and play. When your pet becomes obese, this can lead to serious medical illnesses and conditions, including high blood pressure, tumors, joint pain, heart disease, and a shorter life span.
It’s relatively easy to provide your dog with a balanced diet and quality ingredients with the correct level of calories and nutrients. It’s also crucial to monitor your pet’s feeding habits, especially if you have an underweight dog, and determine which dog food options contribute to healthy weight gain. It’s essential to choose a formula that includes quality animal protein, omega fatty acids, vitamins, minerals, and other nutrient-rich ingredients in a high-calorie dog food formula.
When you choose a balanced formula to support healthy weight gain, it’s essential to select a brand that provides the following:
- Provides the correct calorie count to support your dog’s development
- The formula must contain a 30g protein, healthy fat content, and nutrients to promote growth and proper weight
- Quality ingredients, real meat, vitamins, minerals, and healthy fats to support healthy skin, coat, and weight gain
- Consider your dog’s daily calorie intake and the requirements based on your pet’s size, age, and activity.
Our selection of top dog food supports underweight dogs while providing sufficient nutrients, protein, and omega fatty acids to promote a balanced diet, good health, and weight gain.
We chose five excellent dog food formulas, including price, product size, pet satisfaction, nutrients, and quality ingredients.
5 Best Dog Food For Weight Gain
Best Dog Formula for Sensitive Digestion and Weight Gain
Miracle Vet
Editor’s Comments:
Miracle Vet – Mass Weight Gain Food is a great formula designed to promote healthy weight gain in puppies and adult dogs.
- Manufacturer: Miracle Vet
- Size:25 x 13.88 x 4.75 inches, and a weight of 20 lbs.
- Ingredients: Real chicken and all-natural ingredients without preservatives
Overall Score:
94
The Bottom Line:
Miracle Vet – Mass Weight Gain Food offers a rich diet with 31% protein from natural meat protein and calorie-dense ingredients to promote steady, healthy weight gain in dogs of all life stages.What’s Good
- The ideal formula for growing puppies especially dogs struggling to gain weight or appear underweight
- Provides all the required nutrients for a physically active puppy or adult dog
- This high-calorie formula contains only natural ingredients, with no artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives
- Recommended by veterinarians for puppies, adults, and senior dogs
- Supports your dog’s bone, muscle, and joint development
- Promotes heart, skin, and coat health
- It contains probiotics to support your dog’s digestive system
- The dry kibble is small, which make the pellets easy to pick up and chew for all dog breeds
What’s Bad
- Limited flavor options available for this product
- This product may cost more than other dry dog food formulas
Summary
Miracle Vet – Mass Weight Gain Food offers excellent nutrients to support your dog’s developmental stages while supporting a healthy weight with top-grade proteins, omega fatty acids, vitamins, and minerals. This specific formula promotes a gradual, healthy weight gain while supporting your dog’s bones, muscles, and performance.
Related article: Best Dog Food For Hypothyroidism
Best Grain-Free Dog Food for Weight Gain
Ketona Chicken Recipe
Editor’s Comments:
Ketona Chicken Recipe Adult Dry Dog food is an excellent grain-free formula that supports all dog breeds with an exceptionally high protein content of 46% and low carb ingredients.
- Manufacturer: KetoNatural Pet Foods
- Size: 24 x 15.7 x 3.3 inches, and 24.2 lbs.
- Ingredients: Chicken fat, chicken, pea protein, oat hulls, peas, calcium, flaxseed meal, potassium, sunflower oil, chicken liver, pea fiber, vitamins A, B12, D3, iron, rosemary extract, lecithin, vegetable oil, copper.
Overall Score:
95
The Bottom Line:
Ketona Chicken Recipe is an excellent formula for adult dogs, offering an exceptionally high protein content to boost weight gain and muscle growth in a short time frame. It’s the ideal dry dog food for an underweight dog.What’s Good
- It contains 46% protein from all-natural animal protein sources
- High-calorie ingredients from wholesome sources, with no artificial flavors, colors, or preservatives
- It’s an easy formula to digest, and your dog will transition easily without any digestive issues due to the low-carb ingredients
- Allows your dog to burn excess fat while promoting muscle weight and lowering blood sugar levels
- The high protein and fat content keep your dog’s weight healthy while avoiding excessive weight gain or loss
What’s Bad
- This product is more expensive than other dry food products
- Not suitable for puppies or senior dogs
Summary
Ketona Chicken Recipe offers one of the best dog food for weight gain options for all adult dog breeds and sizes. The protein content is higher than the usual 30% in other formulas, which helps accelerate your dog’s bone and muscle growth.
Best Natural Dog Food Formula for Weight Gain
Purina ONE
Editor’s Comments:
Purina One SmartBlend is a natural formula that provides all the essential protein, amino acids, and healthy carbohydrates for healthy weight gain.
- Manufacturer: Nestle Purina Pet
- Size:5 x 20 x 29.5 inches, and 31.1 lbs.
- Ingredients: Turkey, chicken, soybean meal, rice flour, corn germ meal, whole grain wheat, oatmeal, beef fat, vitamins A, E, B5, K, B2, B6, B9, B3, B1, dried carrots, dried peas, copper, manganese, zinc, iron.
Overall Score:
96
The Bottom Line:
Purina One SmartBlend offers a vital source of protein and balanced ingredients to support your dog’s growth, development, and healthy weight gain.What’s Good
- Available in various sizes, including 8, 16.5, 31.1, 40-lb. bags
- There are several flavors available, including turkey, and lamb with rice
- It contains only real meat with high-quality protein
- Supports bone, muscle, and joint health with your dog’s weight maintenance
- It contains antioxidants to support immunity, health, and healthy skin and coat
- Glucosamine is one of the main ingredients that provides support for your dog’s joints
- Kibble size is small semi-moist, which makes it easy to chew and digest
- Ranked as a best seller in the top 50 brands in the dry dog food category
What’s Bad
- Not all product sizes and flavors are consistently available for purchase
Summary
Purina One SmartBlend is an affordable product for dog owners looking to support a healthy weight without excessive weight gain. This formula offers essential nutrients to support adult and senior dogs’ health, including extra support for joints, bones, and muscles.
Best Weight Gain Supplement for Dog Food for Weight Gain
Dog Weight Gainer
Editor’s Comments:
PetCare Sciences Recovery Benefits offers a protein-rich supplement to promote healthy weight gain for adult dogs of all breeds and sizes.
- Manufacturer: Pet Care Sciences
- Size:06 x 7.17 x 3.31 inches, and 1.75 lbs.
- Ingredients: Whey protein concentrate, collagen, vegetable fat, blueberry fruit powder, beef broth, pumpkin seed extract, calcium, beef broth protein
Overall Score:
95
The Bottom Line:
PetCare Sciences Recovery Benefits is an essential supplement for underweight dogs needing healthy weight gain.What’s Good
- Supports joint and muscle growth, including dogs suffering injuries and chronic issues
- It offers a bacon flavor that most dogs love
- Promotes muscle development with high protein and amino acids
- It contains omega fatty acids and anti-inflammatory ingredients to support healthy skin and coat
- This product offers a 100% money-back guarantee and customer service
- It’s a great supplement to add to any dry or wet dog food product when serving your pet
- Available in a convenient powder, which is easy to sprinkle on your dog’s regular formula
- Ranked as a best seller in the top 150 categories for dog multivitamins
What’s Bad
- This supplement is only available in bacon
Summary
PetCare Sciences Recovery Benefits offers an excellent solution for dogs that enjoy their current formula and need a boost in protein and energy for healthy weight gain. This supplement is safe for dogs of all sizes and breeds, including puppies and senior dogs.
Best Dog Weight Gainer Supplement
Buddy & Lola Dog Weight Gainer
Editor’s Comments:
Buddy & Lola Weight Gainer for dogs is a great supplement that increases your pet’s energy, performance level, and healthy weight gain.
- Manufacturer: Buddy & Lola
- Size:1 x 7.8 x 1.2 inches, and 1.39 lbs.
- Ingredients: Whey protein concentrate, vegetable fat, coconut milk powder, flaxseeds, pumpkin protein
Overall Score:
95
The Bottom Line:
Buddy & Lola Weight Gainer for dogs is a great supplement that increases your pet’s energy, performance level, and healthy weight gain.What’s Good
- It contains 90 servings of dry and wet food toppings
- Promotes muscle building, weight gain, and joint health
- This formula provides a combination of vegetable-based and animal protein for high-quality growth and development
- Supports skincare and a healthy coat
- A great formula recommended for puppies and nursing dogs
- Maximizes energy and muscle mass for physically active dogs
- An excellent supplement for picky eaters, and enhances the flavor with lots of nutrients and proteins
- Ideal for underweight dogs and puppies
- This supplement is safe and based on clinically proven to improve weight gain in dogs
- It helps normalize blood sugar levels and promotes muscle recovery following an injury
What’s Bad
- This supplement may be more expensive than other brands
Summary
Buddy & Lola Weight Gainer is an ideal solution for puppies, nursing dogs, and adult breeds of all sizes needing healthy weight gain. It’s also an excellent muscle and joint recovery supplement while supporting aging bones and joints in senior dogs.
Best Dog Food for Weight Gain: Buyer’s Guide
A balanced diet for your underweight dog is an excellent foundation for promoting a healthy weight and lifestyle while preventing weight loss and supporting growth and development. If a medical condition contributes to your dog’s inability to gain weight, your veterinarian can provide treatment and recommendations for quality commercial dog food and supplements.
Your Dog
It’s essential to determine the cause of your dog’s low weight before you choose a quality formula dry dog food. A medical diagnosis and medication used to treat a condition may impact your pet’s ability to gain weight, or there may be dietary or digestive issues that impact your pet’s feeding schedule.
When you choose a quality formula to help your dog gain weight, it’s essential to select a product based on the following:
- High protein quality is vital to support your dog’s overall health and weight maintenance.
- Select brands with whole grains only, instead of processed fillers and by-products
- Your dog’s age (puppy, adult, or older dog), size, breed, activity level
- Review ingredient labels to avoid artificial flavors, colors, and preservatives
- Choose a product specially designed for weight management
- Formulas with prebiotic fibers and probiotics to aid in healthy digestion and immunity can improve your dog’s feeding habits.
Vet Recommended
Your veterinarian is an excellent resource for recommendations on your dog’s diet, activity, and supplement options. Your dog’s diet should include essential nutrients to support lean muscle development and healthy weight gain.
A vet nutritionist specializes in the best food and dietary options to support your puppy, adult, or senior dog with a healthy body weight. Many great options contribute to your dog’s weight, including commercial food brands, human-grade food, and supplements.
Best Dog Food For Weight Gain Frequently Asked Questions
Is an older dog at higher risk for weight loss?
Yes, in some cases, weight loss can occur when a senior dog becomes less active or experiences a decrease in appetite. In some older dogs, weight gain is more of a risk, leading to obesity and other conditions and illnesses.
Which foods are ideal for improving my dog’s weight?
A diet high in protein and healthy fats promotes slow, balanced weight gain. Choosing a formula with quality chicken fat, fish oil, animal protein, and nutrients from meat and vegetable-based ingredients is essential.
You can offer human-grade food in between commercial dry or wet dog food, including carrots, green beans, sweet potato, pears, apples, spinach, blueberries, peanut butter, raspberries, strawberries, peas, and cooked rice with meat. Small amounts of cooked beef or chicken broth are ideal on occasion at room temperature or cooler.
Which dog breeds are at risk for low weight gain?
While any dog may be at risk of low weight, specific dog breeds are more likely to become underweight. These breeds include the German Shepherd, Whippet, Greyhound, and the Saluki.
Specific breeds may appear underweight due to their long, lean structure, while other dogs are typically larger and more prone to gain weight. To ensure an overall balanced diet and a healthy weight, some commercial brands offer formulas designed for a specific breed or size.
How do I know if my dog is underweight?
If you notice that your dog doesn’t have much body fat content or your pet’s ribs are visible, this may signify a deficiency or significant weight loss. At this stage, it’s essential to visit a veterinarian to determine if this is a sign of illness or another condition that requires treatment.
Can digestive issues cause weight loss?
Yes. If your dog cannot consume much food or experiences digestive issues due to a sensitive stomach or allergy, it’s best to choose a formula that includes the required probiotics, prebiotic fibers, and nutrients to support and improve your dog’s digestive system. A proper diet of natural protein, vitamins, omega fatty acids, and minerals will help your dog gain weight.
Should I use a supplement if my dog doesn’t respond to a weight-gain formula?
If a weight gain formula doesn’t provide significant results, a supplement may help boost your dog’s weight in a shorter time. If you continue to see no change in your dog’s weight, it’s best to consult with a vet to determine if there are other issues with your pet’s health. An underweight dog may indicate signs of a severe medical condition or illness that requires medication or treatments.
Is there a risk of my dog gaining too much weight with a unique formula or supplement?
In most cases, unique weight gain formulas and supplements will provide the weight gain your dog needs for optimal health without any risk of obesity. These products include well-balanced nutrients that promote a healthy weight without the ill effects of low-quality ingredients and fillers that cause many dogs to gain excessive weight over time. It’s also essential to avoid too many treats and foods without sugar and high sodium.
Final Thoughts – Best Dog Food For Weight Gain
Choosing the best dog food for weight gain is an important consideration and we hope that this article provided you with some awesome choices!
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