If your French Bulldog puppy seems underweight, you may worry about their growth and health. Supporting appropriate weight gain in Frenchies requires understanding key considerations around diet, nutrition, activity levels, and veterinary guidance. Use these tips to safely fatten up your French Bulldog puppy.
Contents
- 1 How to Fatten Up My French Bulldog Puppy
- 2 Adjusting Your French Bulldog Puppy’s Diet
- 3 Other Ways to Fatten Up a French Bulldog Puppy
- 4 When to Worry About Underweight French Bulldog Puppies
- 5 FAQs
- 5.1 What is the best dog food to fatten up my French Bulldog puppy?
- 5.2 How can I get my French Bulldog puppy to gain weight fast?
- 5.3 What human food can I feed my French Bulldog puppy?
- 5.4 How much should I feed my Frenchie puppy?
- 5.5 Is my French Bulldog puppy underweight?
- 5.6 When to see the vet about my French Bulldog puppy’s weight?
- 6 Conclusion
How to Fatten Up My French Bulldog Puppy
The first step involves confirming if your puppy does in fact need supplemental weight gain support. Here are some ways to analyze their status:
Track Growth Rate
Weigh puppies at least weekly on a home pet scale to chart weight fluctuations. Healthy increases average 2-3 pounds per month during the crucial 4-12 month puppy growth phase.
Note Body Condition
Visually and by touch assess if ribs or spine show prominently indicating thinness versus healthy layering. Muscle tone should develop but not appear emaciated.
Compare to Breed Standards
Adult Frenchies range 18-28 pounds when physically mature. Ensure your pup stays proportionate to size norms throughout juvenille development.
Veterinary Guidance
Your veterinarian provides the best body condition score and growth benchmarking via routine well visits. Bring concerns to them if your Frenchie pup drops percentiles or differs from littermates.
| Frenchie Puppy Age | Average Weight Range |
| 8 weeks | 2-4 pounds |
| 16 weeks (~4 months) | 8-14 pounds |
| 6 months | 13-19 pounds |
| 9 months | 16-25 pounds (filling out) |
If your puppy falls under these averages consistently, boosting their weight through diet may help alignment.
Adjusting Your French Bulldog Puppy’s Diet
If your veterinarian green lights targeted weight gain support, gradually transition your Frenchie puppy to a higher calorie puppy kibble or add nutrient rich mix-ins to their existing food.
Higher Calorie Kibble
Switch dry kibble to a brand formulated specifically for puppies, which provides 30% more calories than adult dog foods. Stick to reputable company lines meeting WSAVA guidelines.
Wet Food Mix-Ins
Introduce nutritionally balanced canned wet foods. The soft texture and meaty smells gets picky pups eating more. High protein, grain free options work well.
Healthy Toppers
Boost dry kibble acceptance through irresistible yet healthy mix-ins like shredded chicken, lean ground beef or turkey, chopped hard boiled eggs, unsweetened yogurt, peas, carrots or green beans. Introduce one new additive at a time.
Feeding Schedule Changes
Instead of one large meal, break daily intake into 3-4 smaller portions which may stimulate appetite better for frequent nibblers. Always maintain consistent feeding times.
Monitor if weight and body condition show improvement after 4 weeks adjusting food format, volume, or calorie increase. Discuss medicated supplements if excess dieting requires an underlying health issue intervention.
| Method | What to Do |
|---|---|
| Higher Calorie Kibble | Transition gradually to 30% higher calorie puppy formula dry food |
| Wet Food Mix-Ins | Introduce nutritionally balanced canned wet foods into kibble |
| Healthy Toppers | Boost acceptance through irresistible yet healthy add-ins |
| More Small Meals | Break daily intake from one large into 3-4 smaller feedings |
Adjust your French Bulldog’s puppy diet format using these strategies for potentially improving weight gain.
Other Ways to Fatten Up a French Bulldog Puppy
Beyond just dietary changes alone, applying additional tactics may help tip scales towards a healthy weight increase:
Parasite Prevention/Treatment
Get fecal tests done to rule out intestinal parasites stealing nutrients. Tackle any presence immediately through veterinary prescribed medications.
Exercise Regulation
Avoid strenuous or high impact exercise that burns more calories than taking in. Focus on shorter, positive training sessions and gentle play until filled out.
Appetite Stimulants
Discuss non-habit forming supplement options with your vet if lack of food motivation concerns the root issue stalling weight gain.
Stress Reduction
Anxiety causes many health ripple effects including weight fluctuations and poor food drive. Try anti-stress supplements, pheromone diffusers, rewarding alone time in safe spaces, and maintaining consistent comforting routines.
Do not attempt any extreme “shortcuts” claiming rapid results like high fat diets, forced overfeeding, or use of medications without direct veterinary supervision. Patience and balance proves vital.
When to Worry About Underweight French Bulldog Puppies
While supporting your French Bulldog’s weight gain journey, also remain alert regarding these situations signaling potential serious underlying conditions requiring urgent veterinary diagnoses beyond basic dietary tweaks alone:
Failure to Gain After Month+ Efforts
If an underconditioned puppy continues losing weight or shows no improvement even after 30 days adjusting food format, volume, calories and environment, seek medical exams.
Significant Loss in Short Period
Rapid weight decrease risks malnutrition or disease. Schedule urgent veterinary bloodwork and treatment if your Frenchie pup sheds 2+ pounds quickly without diet change.
Poor Food Motivation
While finicky appetites happen, complete disinterest in all foods plus weight loss points to chronic health issues necessitating interventions like appetite stimulant medication.
Additional Symptoms
Watch for lethargy, vomiting, diarrhea, enlarged abdomen or breathing issues coupled with skinniness pointing to infections, blockages, parasites or organ impairment needing diagnosis.
Stay vigilant regarding weight fluctuations in young French Bulldogs up to one year old. Always contact your trusted veterinarian promptly if conservative efforts fail improvement after 4 or more weeks.
FAQs
What is the best dog food to fatten up my French Bulldog puppy?
High calorie, meat-rich puppy kibble formulas with 30% higher fat and protein content than adult blends excell at fueling the rapid growth window under one year old. Mix with some wet food or healthy topper extras. Brands like Royal Canin or Hill’s Science Diet offer breeds specific puppy growth options.
How can I get my French Bulldog puppy to gain weight fast?
Gradually transition them to a higher calorie puppy kibble formula. Introduce nutritious mix-ins like shredded chicken, turkey or eggs tossed with their dry food. Break meals into 3-4 smaller servings through the day. Avoid too much exercise burning excess calories. Have patience targeting 1-3 pounds gained steadily per month.
What human food can I feed my French Bulldog puppy?
Lean shredded chicken, turkey, beef, mild shredded cheese, hard boiled eggs, plain yogurt, oatmeal, peas, carrots, green beans, apples, bananas, and peanut butter get accepted by many puppies in small quantities. Introduce new additions slowly watching for allergies or digestive upset.
How much should I feed my Frenchie puppy?
At 8-12 weeks old, feed them 3-4 times daily providing 1/3 to 1/2 cup total volume per day. From 3 to 6 months old, feed twice a day with 3/4 to 1 cup total daily volume. After 6 months feed 1 to 1.5 cups maximum over two meals, following guidelines for expected adult weight on puppy formula packages.
Is my French Bulldog puppy underweight?
Signs like visible ribs or spinal bumps, severely tucked waist from above, disproportionately prominent shoulders/hips bones, and weighing 15-25% less than same age littermates may indicate your Frenchie ranks underweight on the body condition scale necessitating boosting their diet and nutrition. Compare to breed standards.
When to see the vet about my French Bulldog puppy’s weight?
Make an appointment urgently if they rapidly shed 2+ pounds in one week without diet changes or failure to gain persists one month after implementing high caloric feeding adjustments. Also see the vet for possible underlying conditions if no food interest exists alongside extreme lower weight percentiles or odd bodily symptom manifestations emerge like abdominal swelling. Early intervention aids best chance for overcoming deficits using temporary appetite stimulant medications in extreme cases. Ongoing preventatives like deworming also promote proper nutritional absorption and weight gain in puppyhood.
Conclusion
Supporting healthy weight gain and growth fueling your French Bulldog puppy provides them the best start to life when done gradually using balanced nutrition adjustments as needed paired with veterinary monitoring. While worrying if they become underweight emerges as a common puppyhood hurdle, have patience implementing an elevated calorie feeding regimen before assuming interventions beyond diet alone prove necessary.
Stay alert to drastic fluctuations or worsening symptoms that may indicate medical treatment becomes warranted alongside your diligent efforts helping them pack on beneficial pounds to align within expected size norms as adulthood approaches. Don’t hesitate contacting your trusted veterinary support network for personalized recommendations if ever unclear on what constitutes safe ranges for your pup.
With an ounce of steady preventative focus on their progressive weight tracking from the earliest weeks onward, your beloved Frenchie will thrive reaching their ideal physical condition over their first year. Maintaining open dialogue with your veterinarian aids keeping momentum positive as they finish filling out.