Another good idea would be to look at the Blue Buffalo you were originally feeding him and figure out how many calories of that he was taking in per day and then use those numbers to gauge how much you are feeding him now.  Meat and rice are a good option short term to get food in him but that won't sustain him long term from a nutritional standpoint - you might talk to your vet about starting him on a multivitamin until you can get his diet sorted out just to make sure he doesn't develop any deficiencies.  Also keep in mind that dogs and cats don't need carbs at all, so you might consider upping his meat intake.  The rice won't hurt and if he is having tummy upset, it can certainly help with those issues, but in terms of calories, weight gain, and energy use dogs and cats use protein and fats far more efficiently than carbs.  I don't recall why Leland lost his leg in the first place, but if there is the potential for cancer involvement, decreasing carbs as much as possible can help.

Boomer went from 67 lbs pre-op to 50 lbs now.  He was very, very muscular before his infection started inhibiting his activity but he probably only put on 3-4 lbs during that period (January-September).  I switched him to an entirely raw diet once we had a diagnosis for him to cut out as many carbs as possible.  His weight is really good right now, he is certainly on the skinnier side but that is best for his current and future mobility.  He is probably about a 4 on a 9-point body condition score and was probably a 6 pre-op.  Talk to your vet about an ideal weight for Leland and ask him about what Leland's current BCS is (if you Google "body condition score", you can see a chart to get an idea of where Leland currently is).  While this not eating thing isn't good long term, his current weight might be more ideal for him as a tripawd, you just have to find good food for him to maintain it.  Everyone who knew Boomer pre-op comments on how skinny he is but all of his vets - primary care, orthopedic surgeon, and physical therapist - say that he is a perfect weight and body condition for a tripawd.

Hi - I'd also get a recheck on his WBC.  He's had a lot of complications with infections.  I wonder if something in lingering.  What other foods have you tried?  If you've confirmed that your guy is really underweight how about: sweet potatoes, McDonald's, cottage cheese, sardines, making ground chicken patties stuffed with all sorts of yummy things he didn't know about (puree peas, sweet potatoes, omega3 oil and add to ground chicken, then cook)???

Keep us posted!

We too went in for TPLO, but found cancer instead.  We didn't have to decide between life or death, but between 4-legged rehab and amputation/cancer rehab.  Oye!

~ Katy & Jackson

I don't know if your vet uses an in-house lab for their blood work or if they send it out, but you might want look into having Leland's next round of blood work sent to Hemopet in California (hemopet.org and click on the Hemolife Diagnostics tab).  They have done a LOT of research on endocrine disorders and provide a much more detailed analysis than any other lab I have ever found.  I live in Ohio and most vets here use the Michigan State University lab for thyroid panels as there are only a few labs in the country that do full thyroid panels.  MSU looks at basically the same stuff as Hemopet but they just have one standard set of "normal" ranges for each species.  However, there is a lot of variability in what a normal thyroid panel looks like in a dog - age, sex, spaying/neutering, breed, and other health conditions can all impact what an individual dog's normal should look like.  If your vet is using in-house testing, they are probably only looking at T4 which can give misleading results.  When you send samples in for testing at Hemopet, they have a questionnaire about your pet so when your results come back, they are customized to your specific animal based on much more than just species.  I have been using them for about a year now for Amy's thyroid tests and I have been very happy with them (plus, if you have questions, you can call them directly and they are very happy to help).  Dr Dodds has some really fascinating research and blog posts too.  (Yes, I am a bit of a nerd when it comes to this kind of stuff! )  Their costs are pretty comparable to any other outside lab testing, too.

-Allison

Keeping paws crossed for a good lab result next week!  Hang in there Leland!!