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How To Trigger An Appetite?


Guest epona1974

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Guest epona1974

My lab has stopped eating. The greys are trying to eat everything that isn't nailed down. Ginger went to the vet on Saturday and was diagnosed with an ear infection and an upper respitoray tract infection. She's not eaten well in the past week, hence the trip to the vet, but now she's not eating at all. I've switched kibble, no luck there, but the greys love it. I got her canned food. She ate an entire can of Science Diet on Friday night, but since then, nothing. She has to eat in order to take her antibiotics. If she doesn't, she throws up all over the place. She's lost about 5 lbs and she wasn't overweight to begin with. Short of trying to make puree and syringe feed her, I'm runnig out of ideas. Any thoughts?

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I face this every day with our 13 1/2 year old greyhound.

 

Since it may be she's just feeling icky from the infection and the antibiotics, I would switch her to a bland diet. Boiled hamburger and noodles. feed in small amounts until she is eating better. You can also try something for her stomach like pepcid. Don't forget to add a probiotic like acidopholus to help promote the growth of good bacteria in her gut while she is on the antibiotic and for a couple of weeks after.

 

There are a lot of things you could try to entice her to eat, but she'll only do that if her stomache isn't bothering her. Tuna, sardines, mackeral are just a few. My girl likes flakes of chicken the best.

 

I would avoid force feeding by syringe, as she could aspirate and get pneumonia. If you really can't get her to eat try spoon feeding pureed food onto the middle back of her tongue. I did that the other night to Foxy, she was p'oed, but kept swallowing.

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If you get the chance to sit it out or dance.......... I hope you dance! Missing our littlest girl.

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I'm going through it with Misty. I always put yogurt in their food and Misty was okay with that for awhile, and then stopped eating again. She's on a strict kidney diet so I don't have the option to try different foods. But what's worked for the past few days is I put a little whip cream in her food, but that too will probably be short lived.But at the moment, it's working. I hope you find something.As for the antibiotic, if it's one that can be given with dairy products, slip it in cream cheese, that usually slides right down and will help a little with the stomach

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Guest charmsmom

You can always try hand-feeding the kibble...and coat it with yummy, irresistible PEANUT BUTTER. I've only met ONE greyhound that didn't care for PB, and I don't know WHAT his deal is... :lol

 

Not to mention it packs on the weight...

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Two potential appetite stimulants are cyproheptadine (usually a cat antihistamine) and mirtazapine (Remeron). I've used both (on greys) with varying degrees of success.

Deanna with galgo Willow, greyhound Finn, and DH Brian
Remembering Marcus (11/16/93 - 11/16/05), Tyler (2/3/01 - 11/6/06), Frazzle (7/2/94 - 7/23/07), Carrie (5/8/96 - 2/24/09), Blitz (3/28/97 - 6/10/11), Symbra (12/30/02 - 7/16/13), Scarlett (10/10/02 - 08/31/13), Wren (5/25/01 - 5/19/14),  Rooster (3/7/07 - 8/28/18), Q (2008 - 8/31/19), and Momma Mia (2002 - 12/9/19).

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Guest Winterwish
If a lab is not eating then there is a concern. I would ring your vet tomorrow when they open. There are appetite stimulants that can be given but, IMHO I would want to get to the cause of her anorexia.

 

I hope Ginger will be a lot better soon. :getwell

(I'd go to the vet too,noting she is a lab.)

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Guest snakes

an old school book of mine suggested putting a small amount of beer over the food! never tried it, maybe a non-alcoholic like o'douls?

 

vet trip sounds like the best bet. GL

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If she has a respiratory infection her sense of smell is likely diminished, and when that isn't stimulated often the appetite goes too. Try adding something really smelly to her food, like canned tuna or canned salmon. It may be once she can SMELL her food again she will want to eat.

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Missing sweet Bell (EMK Bolivar Bell). I'll never forget you.

"If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you. This is the principal difference between a dog and a man."

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Guest VelvetEars

she probably feels like crap. i don't want to eat when i'm sick either.

 

i would try as others have suggested, but maybe start with some chicken, noodles, and broth --- you could even use a can of progresso low-sodium chicken soup. warm it up in the micro, just enough that it's lukewarm, not hot, and offer it to her. small amounts more frequently. it's also possible that the antibiotics are upsetting her stomach. i have good luck with braunschwager for pills (stinky stuff it is!).

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How is she in herself? Have you taken her temperature? If she's got a fever she won't feel like eating.

 

I think I'd take her to the vet if she were mine.

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Raw green tripe is great for encouraging appetite - it smells vile to humans, but irresistible to dogs! Very healthy and easy for them to digest too. In the UK I buy it frozen in small packs from my petshop, in the US I believe that you can also buy it canned.

Clare with Tiger (Snapper Gar, b. 18/05/2015), and remembering Ken (Boomtown Ken, 01/05/2011-21/02/2020) and Doc (Barefoot Doctor, 20/08/2001-15/04/2015).

"It is also to be noted of every species, that the handsomest of each move best ... and beasts of the most elegant form, always excel in speed; of this, the horse and greyhound are beautiful examples."----Wiliam Hogarth, The Analysis of Beauty, 1753.

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Guest IrskasMom

 

Every Day , I litterly have to come up with something new in his Food or my Grey will not eat. Boiled Ground beef ,Yogurt

the next Day ,Chicken the next . One Day I had nothing in the House,I crumbled up some Liverwurst and he ate everything.

A little bit of Ham ,actually anything Meaty will do . Sometimes scrambled Eggs to.

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Guest wmlcml6

B12 is a good appetite and energy booster. When we have a sick or injured dog, we almost always add it to their iv fluids. Our neigbor's 6 mth old puppy came down hard with a virus last week, and Bill brought over some of my "melt under the tongue" B12 tablets. He was eating the next day.

 

Good luck.

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Maybe the antibiotic is making her sicker. Perhaps a different one that would also do the job would make her less sick. I'd check with the vet.

 

 

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Guest KennelMom

Check with your vet. When Elvis went on his hunger strike we were trying just about everything (Pedigree canned chunks worked the best). Anyhoo...just before we tried the Pedigree I called our vet and he said he could give us a prescription to stimulate the appetite if we couldn't get him to eat. We didn't need to go that route and I don't remember what the drug was called. Pedigree was our last resort and it worked. I think it's definitely time to touch base with the vet again and discuss what's going on. Good luck :goodluck

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Guest epona1974

We went back to the vet yesterday and got an antibiotic injection. So, she's feeling better and eating small amounts of food. I'm going to guess that her stomach shrunk a little, but she's interested in people food again. And she's telling the other dogs to back off while she eats, I'm taking that as good news. Ginger also got 1/2 of a Claritin D and that seems tohave helped the sinus issue. At least she's not blowing Elmer's Glue snot out of her nose!

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