Link for calorie content in a lot of canned foods:
http://www.petobesityprevention.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/Dog_Canned_Pouch_Foods.pdf

Calorie counter link:
http://mycockerspaniel.com/mer.htm

Any additions or changes to your dogs diet must be:
1. Discussed with your veterinarian first
2. Added very carefully in small amounts
3. Done knowing it takes time to gain weight so don’t expect added pounds in short period of time

What some  ME dog owners have tried for their specific dog: (WARNING: Always discuss any additions or changes with your veterinarian prior to giving to your ME dog.)

Adding protein from the health food store, meant for weight builders, has also been used by some.

I have purchased Boost Plus Calories – 360 calories for a mere 237ml! Though, honey at 60 calories/tablespoon is an easy way to add a couple of hundred calories a day.

Using coconut milk, instead of water, added to food, can also add calories.1 cup canned coconut milk contains 445 calories

Most megaesophagus dogs seem to have a hard time with high fat diets (fat stays in the stomach for a long time, increasing the possibility of regurgitation) , so, increasing calories w/ high fat diets (like A/D or Maximum Calorie) may actually increase frequency of regurgitation..

Raw oatbran is often added to food in the blender for adding calories. It is nutritionally better than the oatmeal. Raw oat bran is one of the healthiest foods for weight gain. It works well either in your silken balls or in the electric blender for liquefied food.

You can make bread crumbs out of dry dog food and use that too. I used regular bread crumbs for my renal girl to make meatballs out of the Hill’s k/d…..added a mashed sweet potato and an egg and a piece of white bread and microved them for a minute to cook the egg and she loved them….only thing she would eat. We called it the k/d meatloaf.

Our vet at the University of FL told us to include more carbs in the meal: pasta or mashed potato flakes. Some on the list have had problems with potato flakes, so you will have to give them a trial. I actually cooked up pasta at every meal for about a month. Also included scrambled eggs (which I guess you could put in the blender). We add Nutrical [note from Dr. Kathy – too large of a volume is needed, for this to be touted as very helpful for weight gain], canned pumpkin and honey to xxxxxxxxx’s canned food also. For the past month, I also added about 1/3 canned puppy food which has more fat than adult food. (Some mega-e dogs
cannot tolerate fat so that, too, would have to be a test). Other suggestions include baby food or baby cereal.

xxxxxxxx xxxx has been steadily gaining weight on Wellness venison moist food which is what I used to make the meatballs. It is not cheap but xxxx is a Newfi so we have to feed her more. She has gained over 20 pounds since March when she was in the battle for her life with MG. I used the sweet potato and fish as well but her breath was so fishy and the house smelled fishy. When she was really really sick and regurging all the time I added oat bran as well and canned pumpkin if her stool got too soft from the mestinon or whatever meds she was on at the time. The food makes great meatballs easily.

We switched xxxxxxx to California Natural chicken & rice canned food when his original food became unavailable. To our delight, he gained weight! You may want to look at the nutrition information on the Natura website, and compare the info. for the California Natural chicken & rice with Banner’s current food. As an aside, the California Natural also blends easily, better than xxxxxxx previous food did, which means I can prepare his meals faster–a nice bonus!

STAT is a high calorie nutritional supplement that is available online. It is not balanced, by itself, but can be used as part of the feeding regimen.

http://prnpharmacal.com/stat/canine.php

http://prnpharmacal.com/pdfs/Stat-PS.pdf

My bout with ME came before this group (in 2000), and I’m jealous that you all have this support! I wanted to throw in one thing we fed that I haven’t seen mentioned. For the better part of our journey, meatballs (of various concoctions) worked. But the thought of getting the equivalent of (4) 13 oz cans of dog food in a chocolate lab everyday was tough for working folk. We found a dry food by the Abady company that is granulated.. ..right out of the box it looks like potting soil. We chose a fairly high quality, wetter than most, canned food (Evolve) and mixed each can with a half cup or so of the Abady maintenance and stress. We were able to add enough calories that we only had to feed 2-2 1/2 cans per day. It worked very well for us for quite a while.

Can anyone help me and tell me what they feed their dogs that have ME and MG? If you have a bigger dog like my golden especially.  She used to eat Innova canned Sr. Then our vet put her on EN which she likes, and then on ID. Both the EN and the ID I have to blend with water because of the rice. I need to get more calories in her. I can usually get her to eat 2 cans a day, and then I come home from the office during the day and give her more food (and sit up with her) or I give her an Ensure or Pediasure. She likes those. I also have been adding pumpkin to her food for her stools. Thank goodness for this board. The pumpkin idea is amazing. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. I don’t think she likes the ID very much and I am no fan of Science Diet. I think if something is a pate and there are no rice particles in it, I may not have to liquify it.

Instant potato flakes to his food mix and/or some dogsure (like ensure for people).

Coconut milk delivers around 800 calories per can, and that had to be better than water! Within a couple of months xxxx had regained all the lost weight and continues to thrive. Since then, a number of our members have used coconut milk and, while some dogs seem unable to tolerate it, generally speaking the results have been good. If you Google ‘Coconut Milk Nutrition Information’ you’ll find a lot of interesting facts including it’s use as a healing agent.

The canned California Natural Lamb and rice has 580 calories. I know some members of the group have dogs that do very well with this.

My puppy xxxx can does very well on soaked dry kibble, so I mix the California Natural’s (Dry) Puppy Lamb and rice dry and his original dry food (Purina One) then soak it in water…and he is the same size as his NON ME litter mates. Surprisingly enough, xxxx took to the California Naturals very well and never has some of issues encountered when switching a German Shepherd’s diet.