achelow Posted March 21, 2011 Report Share Posted March 21, 2011 Nadia's been blowing her coat for about 2-3 weeks now and she looks like she's lost a lot of weight. I realize she *looks* a lot thinner because of the sudden lack of her lovely fluffy undercoat, but I can also feel all her ribs very easily now whereas she used to have a slight layer of fat there too.. Is it normal for huskies to lose weight during their coat blow and if so, at what point should I be worried?? She seems to go from slightly chunky to size 0 after just a day of being off her food. We got soaked during our walk today and it shocked me to see and be able to feel her ribs so easily all of a sudden.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arooroomom Posted March 21, 2011 Report Share Posted March 21, 2011 Wet coat combined with blowing coat can really make a difference in how they look. How old is she? If she's young their weight can flux very easily even just after a day. They are burning a lot of calories when they're puppies. Try upping her food slightly, if she doesn't really have an interest in eating there's not much you can do other than ruling out something medical. Huskies are notorious for not eating, being picky, and skipping meals. As well it could just be the loss of undercoat. Mishka always looks like a weird rat when she blows. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sabresmum Posted March 21, 2011 Report Share Posted March 21, 2011 Our Marley is the same, he is just about finished blowing his coat and now looks so skinny, is eating really well though and is still full of energy so not really worried about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ocspirit Posted March 22, 2011 Report Share Posted March 22, 2011 I really doubt she lost weight, its amazing how much "padding" a good undercoat can feel like. I've made this mistake with OC in the past. He has soooooo much winter coat I would think he was overweight. I'd work hard to get his weight "under control" and then he'd blow coat only for me to find that I had made him a bit underweight and he really had been at an ideal weight. Now I know to check other signs rather than just feeling over his ribs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
achelow Posted March 22, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 22, 2011 I really doubt she lost weight, its amazing how much "padding" a good undercoat can feel like. I've made this mistake with OC in the past. He has soooooo much winter coat I would think he was overweight. I'd work hard to get his weight "under control" and then he'd blow coat only for me to find that I had made him a bit underweight and he really had been at an ideal weight. Now I know to check other signs rather than just feeling over his ribs. I just hate seeing her ribs like that So what are the signs I have to check for? She's only 17 months so I guess that's why she loses/gains weight so quickly, but how do I make sure she stays at a decent weight all the time when she regulates how much she eats? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ocspirit Posted March 22, 2011 Report Share Posted March 22, 2011 Find what you feel her ideal weight is while she has her summer coat and get her on a scale to weigh her. Then you can just use that at anytime of the year no matter what her coat is like. I also feels his hip bones. Those are easier to judge with his winter coat than his ribs are. I also feel the muscling on his back legs although now that he is having hip problems and concentrating more of his weight over his shoulders I've been feeling those more than his back legs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
husky princess Posted March 22, 2011 Report Share Posted March 22, 2011 when storm blew his coat a few months ago he was defo more hungry...now my boy likes his food anyway but there was a definate change in him - he would do all what he could to steal food etc when normally he wouldnt. i upp'd his food by 10% (so he didnt get an upset tummy) and that seemed to help. I do wonder whether they burn extra calories during this process. When he stopped blowing his coat he reverted back to his normal behaviour and our food was safe again!! LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sutsibe Posted March 22, 2011 Report Share Posted March 22, 2011 I had one dog some years ago that would do that to me every spring! Cara carried a very dense coat each winter like Ren's OC. I'd think she was suddenly getting heavy and cut back on her food, then feel so guilty when she'd lose all that coat, and would look skinny! I think that as the coat starts to loosen up, it poofs up enough that it adds some extra padding, mimicking fat. It's possible that as their bodies start to make new fur as the old coat is being evicted, they do burn more calories. I hadn't thought about it before, but it makes sense that it would require energy to manufacture the new coat... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
achelow Posted March 22, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 22, 2011 Thanks, I'll try upping her food again but I doubt she'll eat the extra, she's never had the greatest appetite. Time to get the cat involved at dinner times again I think, only thing that can get her to eat is jealousy.. I never realised how dense her coat really was until it all fell out and I hadn't really paid that much attention to her weight because she looked great. I don't know whether it's normal to see her ribs so I have no idea what her ideal weight is I shall try to get her weight up enough so that there's just a slight layer over the ribs so they aren't visible and then I'll check her weight and aim to maintain that weight.. Thanks everyone.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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