Stormy

[Guest jurishound]

I am ready to spin off into the universe, never to be heard from again. My precious Stormy still isn't eating. I stayed home from work this morning to be with him, and after a little bit of coaxing, he hopped into the car. We went to the pet boutique where I promptly burst into tears. The owner was very kind and gave me several samples of foods to try on him. Then we headed to the park, where he was so excited he broke into a little run! It didn't last long, but it was good to see him enjoying himself. Once home, I tried the smorgasbord and he refused everything. I did manage to get some Nutrical into him and about a half hour later he ate a slice of deli ham.

 

The hardest part of this is not knowing whether his inappetance is because of the chemo or his cancer. If it is the former, we can hang in there for a while; if the latter, we know what we have to do. I just can't bear the uncertainty, particularly after putting him through the chemo, which I now regret.

 

It helps to just get this out to folks who understand how awful this feels. Thanks for listening.

[Guest SoulsMom]

I know this may sound silly, but have you tried McDonalds hamburgers? For awhile there it was all Ember would eat after chemo

 

for you and Stormy

[CaliforniaGreys]

Any luck getting the Nutritional Yeast?

Edited November 20, 2008 by cbudshome

[patricia]

I know how hard this is having gone through it with Angel LaceyLaine. Have you asked Oncology for an appetite stimulant? These are some things that worked for us at least once.

Toast with jelly.

Can tuna.

Can Salmon.

Ice Cream.

Arby's beef and cheese.

Pizza.

Cheerios.

Yogurt.

Vanilla Ensure.

McDonalds Hamburgers and fries.

Also....I would smash up a small amount and put it between her cheek and teeth...sometimes by forcing her a bite...it spiked her taste buds. She also took prescription generic Zofran for nausea and Remeron to stimulate her appetite.

Sending my prayers...I know how hard it is. Please eat a little something sweetie.

[greyhoundlov]

Canned cat food.

[Guest trevdog]

Meat baby food, heated just a little. I had to spoon feed Jam but after a few bites he ate on his own....some of them seem to like the smelly stuff better, others prefer bland food.

 

So sorry you are having to deal with this, it's very frustrating and scary.

[carronstar]

 

scrambled eggs with stinky cheese

egg salad

egg nog (the real kind is chock full of calories and protein) (keep the brandy/rum/bourbon aside for yourself)

McDonalds hamburger or fish sandwich

Chicken McNuggets

Fries

tuna noodle casserole

 

Please don't spin off the universe. Hold on to the good things you saw today.

[crazygang]

You will probably form a picture in your minds now........

 

But if it gives you a laugh well that's good too

 

Sometimes if I pretend to eat an item of food on a human dish and make noises like mmmmm yumyum it gets some interest from both my hounds and I hand feed them.

 

It's worth a try.....what the he77

 

[Guest Greensleeves]

Oh, golly. I *so* understand how you feel. I have two months of daily food diaries detailing everything we tried to get Nelly to eat. Honestly, we wish we'd thought of syringe-feeding her sooner. Yes, we lost those rare moments of triumph whenever/if she chose to eat something on her own, but we also didn't have the daily agony of hoping she maybe-just-maybe might eat today, plus all the stress and work of trying to figure out what she might want.

 

I'm not going to give you a list of foods to try, because chances are, you've already thought of everything, and it's just so hard to be bombarded by suggestions, and then to buy new foods, only to have them go to waste.

 

Hugs to both of you.

Edited November 20, 2008 by Greensleeves

[ZoomDoggy]

I posted this for someone last year. Maybe it can help you.

 

But if nothing else works...

 

Having all-too-recently been through the not-eating thing with my Marla, I can tell you that if no foods can tempt your pup, and you don't want to shove food down her throat, syringe-feeding is not as bad as you might fear. Your pharmacist can give you an oral syringe, and you can puree the dogfood in a processor or blender with chicken broth until it's a nice smooth liquid (I found that pre-soaking the kibble in broth overnight in the fridge made it blend more smoothly). Then, one syringe-full at a time, slowly squirt the food into the side of her mouth, between her teeth. With Marla, once the liquid food hit her tongue, she started just licking and swallowing. I adjusted the speed of my syringe-plunging to accord with the speed of her swallowing. She didn't seem to mind being fed this way at all, even though there was no food left on earth that she would eat on her own.

 

The advantage I found to doing this rather than continuing to scour the earth for more novel foods for her to reject (after four weeks, you run out of ideas), was that this way I could return her to the consistent diet that worked well for her, and it cleared up the diarrhea she got from eating so much weird stuff all the time. The downside is that it is time consuming, and it takes a lot of syringe-fulls to equal the amount of food a dog must eat daily in order to maintain weight. Many small meals daily, is what I did.

 

Good luck.

[Guest jurishound]

How big are the syringes? I have a 10 mL syringe but it seems kind of small.

[RobinM]

I know you and i had some pms but did you try it late at night?

 

Everyone suggested all the above to me for polli and I went out and BOUGHT everything only to throw it all out. My Polli on a greyt day will only eat one of 3 things. Trying the new stuff wasn't going to do the trick.

 

6 days is a long time, no doubt - is he still drinking? can yo uput some chicken broth into the water to entice him to eat chicken? Just a thought.

 

Very scary.

Edited November 20, 2008 by RobinM

[ZoomDoggy]

How big are the syringes? I have a 10 mL syringe but it seems kind of small.

 

Ask your pharmacist for the largest oral syringe they have. It won't be very big (can't recall the size I had), but it's big enough for a couple of mouthfuls of liquid food. I also found that cutting the very tip of the syringe off and filing the resulting edge smooth made the opening larger which makes sucking up the luquid food easier (less prone to clogging).

 

I used a food processor and pre-made a large-ish tupperware of the gruel and stored it in the fridge. At mealtimes (every two hours for a while there) I'd put a small amount in a bowl and warm/thin it with a little water and microwave it for a few seconds. Not too hot, of course.

[ZoomDoggy]

I should add too, you definitely want to start with small amounts, allowing a couple hours between meals, especially if he's been fasting for days. His poor tummy may reject whatever you put in him at first. Baby steps...

[tbhounds]

Ask your vet about trying Mirtazipine.

[Anne]

The syringes I have are 60cc syringes, no needles, just the syringe, I keep a couple here just in case. I get them at the feed store, probably any store that has horse/livestock stuff will have them. Good luck.

[Guest GreytMuse]

Sending good thoughts your way.

[Remolacha]

I have been there, it is so frustrating! I hope you can find something to get him started

[Guest KRKWMU]

Sending good thoughts for you and Stormy. Hang in there.

[CaliforniaGreys]

Ask your vet about trying Mirtazipine.

This is the generic for Remeron. I know that a few have had success with this drug, but research shows that is has been more successful with increasing appetite in humans than in dogs. But I sure would see what the vet thinks about it. Several people have had faster results with the NY than with Remeron. I also have to admit that I don't trust the mfg of this drug. Keeping Stormy in my prayers

Edited November 21, 2008 by cbudshome

[Guest ss556]

Sending prayers. This is very upsetting.

[Guest Carla]

Joslin,

 

Hope Stormy decides to eat soon. He may be picking up on your emotions, so as hard as it is, try to relax and he may relax enough to start eating.

 

Sending both you and Stormy tons of white light and many hugs.

 

Carla

[RobinM]

Ask your vet about trying Mirtazipine.

This is the generic for Remeron. I know that a few have had success with this drug, but research shows that is has been more successful with increasing appetite in humans than in dogs. But I sure would see what the vet thinks about it. Several people have had faster results with the NY than with Remeron. I also have to admit that I don't trust the mfg of this drug. Keeping Stormy in my prayers

 

Out of desperation, I mentioned it to my vet as well and she said she didn't know enough about it to feel comfortable prescribing it. She was more comfortable with the cerenis but said after 3 - 5 days, the nausea should have passed. Could Stromy have a gastrointestinal on top of this?

[Guest Pipi5]

This is exactly what Dear went through with his hermangio sarcoma. He did not do chemo, his was too advanced. I tried everything & he would not eat anything after a few days.

My vet offered to give him a steroid shot to stimulate his appetite, but by then the cancer had moved into his lungs.

Edited November 21, 2008 by Pipi5

[Batmom]

Thinking of you and your Stormy this afternoon.