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MerseyGrey

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    Buddy’s not eating

    in Health and Medical discussion

    Posted

    40 minutes ago, EllenEveBaz said:

    Most of us have been there, unfortunately.  We all know what lengths we'll go to to try to get a dog to eat.  Sometimes, heating up food a little seems to help -- maybe because it enhances the smell.   But that doesn't address the cause.  

    At the vet visit, my suggestion is to have Buddy get what we call here a Complete Blood Count (?), anyway, it's referred to as a CBC.  You'll have to wait a bit for the results, but it will probably provide clues that the regular, quicker, and cheaper blood test just doesn't cover.   I agree with you -- it doesn't sound like teeth are the main problem, even if the vet finds they need cleaning or more.  

    Hugs to the Budster and his worried family.  :grouphug 

     

    15 minutes ago, greysmom said:

    Pretty common with senior dogs to lose their appetite for one reason or another.  Most of my seniors have opted out of a meal - usually breakfast - as they've gotten older.

    Some things to consider:

    >  Consider feeding only once per day.  Or one meal and one smaller snack - like a tea - about 12 hours apart.  Unless he needs food to take medications.

    >  kidney issues can cause nausea which causes loss of appetite.  It's a vicious spiral that leads only downwards unless you can find something he can tolerate.  Being interested in food prep but then not interested in eating is a classic sign of nausea.

    >  Probably not the acupuncture.  Though I would mention it and see if they can do their magic and help with the nausea.

    >  That's a LOT of fur to be putting into a system theat's not working properly.  It could definitely be causing issues.  And things like Greenies and other teeth chews probably don't have any nutrition to speak of that's helping him.

    >  There's no law that says they have to eat kibble.  Especially when it's more important to just get some calories in him for the day.   If he'll eat canned food, or store-bought roasted chicken, or McDonalds cheeseburgers plain you can use those things to make sure he gets *something* in his stomach.  Also try feeding him on his bed, or in the living room, eating off a plate instead of his metal (or usual) bowl, using a spoon to feed him like a baby, making the food warmer or colder (sometimes it's the smell that makes them nauseaus), frozen plain yogurt, cottage cheese, peanut butter or cheese sandwiches, scrambled eggs and bacon.  I've even resorted to pretending to eat something like human food (unless it is human food! ;) ) since that usually gets them interested.  I take a bite, they get a bite - but using separate utensils!!

    >  Your vet can also prescribe an appetite stimulate like mirtazipine.  And as a last (last last last) resort you can try prednizone, since steroids often will stimulate the appetite.  But for seniors it can also cause terrible alternate side effects (lack of energy, extreme muscle wasting, incontinence), so I've learned that this is the last thing to try.

    Good luck for you and Buddy!!  {{{hugs}}} 

     

    6 minutes ago, FiveRoooooers said:

    Such good dog peeps, Buddy is lucky to be with you!

    Chris posted as I was typing much of what she suggested. I'm glad that Buddy is being seen tomorrow, hopefully a CBC and a good going-over can shed light on what may be going on. FWIW, we have had excellent results with the prescribed appetite stim "Entyce." To encourage weight gain, canned puppy food can do wonders. A good canned food, warmed, can often spark an interest. You can pulverize his kibble and add anything and everything to it.

    That you are seeing Buddy tired is an important observation and I really, really hope that Buddy is just having a spell and you have many more good times together. :grouphug

    Buddy :kiss2 :dogcookie

    Thank you all so much! I’ll ask the vet about a blood test tomorrow, I think we might call it a full blood count but I’m sure he will know. Your posts have cheered me up - I have spent much time this week making ‘mmmmm tasty!’ noises and sharing the odd handful of shreddies with him. 
    I’m pleased to report that he has had half a can of wet food for tea, and is currently munching happily on some broccoli stalks. We’ll get ourselves down to the pet food place nearby and pick up some more wet food tomorrow, and pop some soft cheese on the shopping list. I’m sure a Buddy would want me to thank you from him too - my greyhound epicure!

    Buddy’s not eating

    in Health and Medical discussion

    Posted

    Well hello again, I’m here asking for some more advice. For almost two weeks, Buddy has been quite picky over his food. At first we thought he was holding out for tasty treats, as he would half eat his tea / breakfast in order to get the goodies at the end (chew stick or toothbrush), but usually he would return to his food and finish it off after the treat. Then he started to turn his nose up at things he would normally eat- we put kefir and yogurt on his food because he loves it, and mix a small amount of wet food into his breakfast for a bit of variety. 
    So at first, he pretty much stopped eating his tea. After his evening wee, he gets a hairy rabbit ear (his all-time favourite treat) and he will still eat that - even to the point of asking to go out for a wee to get the treat. But no tea, and no supper. Then breakfast has started to tail off and basically now, he is not eating his kibble at all. I’ve tried being inventive and adding small amounts of extras that he normally loves (please don’t judge me, but I’ve tried most things from honey to salad cream!), and something that works one day won’t work the next.

    He hasn’t really eaten anything much for the past 48 hours - he had a couple of ears yesterday, a few treats (which he is still taking) and he has had a couple of weetabix soaked in watered-down kefir. He is tired - tired like I have never seen him before, but it’s hard to know if this is the effect of the acupuncture, the fact that he is barely eating, or if age has finally caught up with him :(.


    I don’t think that the acupuncture is causing the eating problem - in fact, at his Tuesday appointment he scoffed a puffed pig snout. I’ve considered that his teeth might be playing up but he turns down soft food but will happy have his usual chews. I made a kind of chicken soup which he ate one day but wouldn’t eat the next. He hasn’t had diarrhoea but we‘ve had one episode of vomiting - more like regurgitation but it was about 8 hours after his previous meal at breakfast. That was Tuesday (before the pig snout and acupuncture appointment), and I wondered if so much hair from the rabbit ears is bunging him up a bit, although he is still only having 2-3 a day, and it has never been a problem before. He can be a bit of a scavenger but neither of us think he’s eaten anything he shouldn’t have. His walks have been very short, mostly by his choice for the last week. 

    We have another appointment at the vet tomorrow so we can see what he says. At the minute I’m thinking about getting some wet food too see if that interests him at all, and see if he perks up a bit. Buddy is very food oriented and even if he’s been sick before, he’s never gone for this long without eating properly, and he’s still interested in the prospect of food, as he will have a sniff of it, but he just doesn’t seem to want to eat it.

    Unless it’s chorizo :rolleyes:

    Has anyone been here with their senior dogs?

    Help with coat sizing

    in Everything else Greyhound

    Posted

    I’d also recommend legless clothes. Even before Buddy was old and arthritic, I could never get those long sticks to bend into something with legs, and if you decide to leave the clothes on for turn outs and you happen to have a boy, he will pee all over them! Something you can drape over your dog’s head and wrap under their belly is ideal.

    Buddy’s first acupuncture session

    in Health and Medical discussion

    Posted

    Thank you all! We have skipped the fries as a treat but he did get some sausage instead so he hasn’t missed out. 
     

    We also had a moment last night where the crinkling wrappers almost - almost - interrupted the chewing of the pig snout. The needles were bright at the end so no chance of any getting lost in places where they shouldn’t be. 
     

    Our vet was also a skeptic initially which made me even happier to have gone down the acupuncture route before trying conventional medicines. I’ve also got a few aches and pains mostly from my posture at work and am considering trying it myself. The vet said that he practiced on human to learn how to do it so I might ask him to stick a few needles in me when we’re there next time!

    Its great to hear all your success stories. Hopefully I’ll have one of my own to tell too!

    Buddy’s first acupuncture session

    in Health and Medical discussion

    Posted

    …was a success! Well, it was only a couple of hours ago so it’s too early to tell if it’s worked, but we are currently at home with a very chilled gentleman who has just woken up and looks a bit spaced out. We took a bed with us, and a couple of treats (puffed pig snout and peanut butter stick) and he munched away and paid zero attention when he was made into a purple-spined porcupine. 
    We had the acupuncture at a different vet surgery from our usual one, and the new vet was lovely with him, and patient with our questions and stories about Buddy. We have two more sessions in the next two weeks, and the vet has been honest and said that if we don’t see an improvement by the third session, this might not work for Buds. He also told us what to expect this evening and Buddy is behaving to form as if he has read the ‘Acupuncture for Dogs’ manual.

    Interestingly, the vet thinks that Buddy’s problems are probably related to arthritis further up his spine - in fact, just below his shoulder joints as this produced the biggest response when he massaged alongside his spine, and he said that this was fairly common to see problems with trapping of the nerves from the brachial plexus causing back leg issues. He was impressed by Buddy’s muscle tone around his butt and said that he wasn’t showing signs of using his muscles to take his weight, rather than his bones (he said that this would manifest as a kind of kink in his back legs and wobbly limbs).

    As an extra bonus, because there is only one vet at the surgery who offers this service, it means we will always see the same vet which hasn’t been the case at our regular vet. So if this does work for Buddy, we will definitely consider changing vet. Here are a couple of photos from the session and a post-session shot of him…KO’d!

    https://www.instagram.com/p/CxYq5POI8x1/?igshid=NzZhOTFlYzFmZQ==

    It’s Our Gotcha Day

    in Cute and Funny things Greyhounds do

    Posted

    Happy gotcha day ladies! Sorry I’m late with the greeting, but it looks like you are so busy enjoying the good life that you didn’t notice.

    The only response to the remark ‘they look funny’ is ‘YOU look funny!’ before walking away, pretending to cry.  She would have been mortified and you might have got some cake delivered to your door as an apology 

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