# 4-month old puppy with anemia



## vmw331 (Oct 23, 2012)

Hi, we just took our puppy to the vet, and they did some bloodwork and found out he's slightly anemic. Does anyone have any experience with this? Is it normal for a little puppy? We're going to put him on a multivitamin, but this is our first pup (and our first Vizsla), so I wanted to make sure there's not anything else we should be doing differently or talking with our vet about. He eats like 2 cups of food a day and still acts hungry, so we're concerned maybe we're just not feeding him enough.


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## threefsh (Apr 25, 2011)

Welcome to the forum! ;D

It's not the quantity of food that matters, it's the quality. What are you feeding him? A multivitamin shouldn't be necessary with a high-quality dog food. Also, as a general rule, Vizslas have to consume more food than the guidelines on the bag indicate. They are a very high-energy breed and tend to burn off their calories very quickly.


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## vmw331 (Oct 23, 2012)

We're feeding him Purina ProPlan Performance (per the breeder's recommendation). That's good to know that Vizsla's usually eat more than the bag's recommendation.. we have always been feeding him more than suggested because he just seems so hungry, poor little guy


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## Kay92 (Oct 19, 2012)

I completely agree that quality is the most important thing. After talking to our doggie dermatologist we have for our V, Riley, he said that everyone looks at the ingredients. when you really need to look at how the product is tested. It should say something like "AAFCO tested" or some variation of this. If it says this then you really have a great quality food.


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## threefsh (Apr 25, 2011)

vmw331 said:


> We're feeding him Purina ProPlan Performance (per the breeder's recommendation). That's good to know that Vizsla's usually eat more than the bag's recommendation.. we have always been feeding him more than suggested because he just seems so hungry, poor little guy


Here's the rating for Purina ProPlan on DogFoodAdvisor.com:

http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-reviews/purina-pro-plan-dog-food-dry/

2.5 stars doesn't look very good to me. I think our breeder also had our pup started on Purina and we quickly switched her to another brand. She (and our other V) Cooper are currently on Taste of The Wild Sierra Mountain Formula. It has 4 stars on DogFoodAdvisor.com. They have several other formulas and two of them are rated 5-stars (High Prairie and Wetlands). I've heard good things about Blue Buffalo and we actually feed our cat their grain-free formulas, so you might want to check that out as well.


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## vmw331 (Oct 23, 2012)

Hmm.. so maybe the food is what caused the anemia? I suppose that's something I should talk about with my vet. Now I'm wondering, too, why my vet gave us the multivitamin without asking what kind of food we're giving him.


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## threefsh (Apr 25, 2011)

vmw331 said:


> Hmm.. so maybe the food is what caused the anemia? I suppose that's something I should talk about with my vet. Now I'm wondering, too, why my vet gave us the multivitamin without asking what kind of food we're giving him.


Is the vitamin "NuVet" brand, by any chance? Vets and breeders who sell it get a kickback from the manufacturer. When our pup had dry skin, the very first thing our vet asked was about the brand of food we were giving her.


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## SteelCityDozer (Aug 25, 2011)

vmw331 said:


> Hmm.. so maybe the food is what caused the anemia? I suppose that's something I should talk about with my vet. Now I'm wondering, too, why my vet gave us the multivitamin without asking what kind of food we're giving him.


What?! They didn't even ask? My vet asks everytime what food, how much, how often, what treats, in case anything has changed. 

As a side, is the pup on any meds? Some meds will cause anemia. Liver and greens (spinach and collards, etc.) are good iron "supplements" but I'd research your food choice for a lasting solution.


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

Does the pup have a lot of energy and shiny coat? Are his gums a healthy color? The food he is on is 30/20. Unless he has worms he should not be anemic. You didn't say why the blood work was done. There are plenty of dogs on Purina dog food that compete and don't use a multivitamin. I would think something else has to be going on with the pup or the vet just pushes multivitamins.


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## mswhipple (Mar 7, 2011)

Get your puppy on a good, high quality food, and make sure you are feeding him enough. The suggestions on the bag are kind of useless, really. A little puppy shouldn't be acting hungry all the time. As puppy grows, keep a close eye on him to see if he's getting too skinny or too fat, and adjust accordingly. You just have to start with high quality food, and then use your own powers of observation. Good luck!!


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