How To Stimulate The Appetite?

[rascalsmom]

As you may know, Buddy has LS. He's been on a roller-coaster for the past five weeks or so, since his acute attack. He'll feel better for a while, then he seems to backslide.

 

He is on tramadol and gabapentin.

 

He has lost a good bit of weight (from 75 lbs. to 66 lbs.), so he NEEDS to eat. His appetite, however, is a shadow of its former self. He was the founding member of the Clean Bowl Club here at our house, but now he's let his membership lapse. So I could use ideas on how to stimulate his appetite.

 

Here's what I've tried, with varying success:

-cooked ground beef and rice

-chicken and rice

-chicken and Cheerios

-Ensure with Cheerios

-various sample packs of different dog foods (dry)

-various canned food

-tuna

-sardines

-green tripe [just let me say, this stuff is HORRIBLE! ]

-chicken liver brownies

-raw hamburger

 

Of course we've also resorted to giving him stuff we're eating, anything from peanut butter sandwiches to pork chop bits, to get food into him.

The tripe worked for a couple of days...the first day he ate an entire can at lunchtime [while DH and I stood by, ready to toss our cookies ]....but he's not shown much interest in that since.

 

Any ideas? Pretty please?

 

[MaryJane]

These have worked for me in the past:

 

- cat food (I was told by my vet not to use for a long time)

- yogurt and cheerios

- peanut butter on crackers

- butter on challah bread

- eggs

- canned salmon

- mashed potatoes with cheese

- pinto beans

 

[packmom]

Is it possible that his medications may be upsetting his tummy? The only thing that helped when the girls were not eating last summer was variety. And you never knew what choices to offer each day! Angel did always eat beef liver though. I'd just brown it in a pan and chop it up. I'd make little piles of food in her dish-she didn't want anything mixed together. Some days it was dry cat food she wanted.

[Batmom]

Scrambled eggs, with or without Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top.

Spaghettios.

Anything with vanilla yogurt, vanilla ice cream, honey, or molasses drizzled on top.

Pepperidge Farm cinnamon swirl bread.

My meatloaf (basically, a mix of ground beef, ground turkey or chicken, spinach, eggs, eggshell, molasses baked like a meatloaf).

Almost anything warmed up a little so it is fragrant. Mmmmmm, warm Tripett!

Freshly poached chicken livers (only 1-2 at a time or pup may get diarrhea).

IIRC RobinM's Polli likes crunchy granola bars!

 

"Bite for me, bite for you," which sometimes means the person only pretends to eat a bite. I personally will not eat warm Tripett with vanilla ice cream on top, but I can sit next to the dog with a people bowl and spoon and pretend to eat my bite. Graham crackers work really well in "bite for me, bite for you."

 

Anything non-poisonous that the dog shows an interest in. Yeah, this may encourage begging. When a dog is older or simply ailing, who cares?

 

Low dose of prednisone, if he can tolerate it. This got Batman eating again. He drank and peed more for the first week or 10 days but that effect disappeared and the appetite remained.

 

Sending hugs and best wishes for your sweet boy.

[Guest BlackandBrindle]

Pasta, sweet potatoes or yams are good ways to keep weight up and are still easy on the stomach.

 

I throw them in the crock pot with some chicken thighs and water, maybe some veggies if he'll eat them, and just cook the heck out of them on low until everything is mushy.

 

Have you tried raw eggs? Or even scrambled eggs....

 

Good luck. I know how frustrating it can be. Oh, Merrick makes a grain free salmon in a can that is stinky and yummy according to Sadie and Spud.

 

 

[CaliforniaGreys]

When Misty stopped eating and lost quite a bit of weight, I didn't have the option to try different foods because of her kidneys, but what really jump started her appetite in a BIG way was the Nutritional yeast.

Buddy is always in our thoughts and prayers and I hope you find just the right thing that works for him

[rascalsmom]

Pasta, sweet potatoes or yams are good ways to keep weight up and are still easy on the stomach.

 

I throw them in the crock pot with some chicken thighs and water, maybe some veggies if he'll eat them, and just cook the heck out of them on low until everything is mushy.

 

Have you tried raw eggs? Or even scrambled eggs....

 

Good luck. I know how frustrating it can be. Oh, Merrick makes a grain free salmon in a can that is stinky and yummy according to Sadie and Spud.

I did make him a scrambled egg one day. He wouldn't even touch it.

 

When Misty stopped eating and lost quite a bit of weight, I didn't have the option to try different foods because of her kidneys, but what really jump started her appetite in a BIG way was the Nutritional yeast.

Buddy is always in our thoughts and prayers and I hope you find just the right thing that works for him

Can you buy nutrional yeast at stores like GNC?

[Burpdog]

Vitamin B12 shots, once a week to start. Also might try some stomach meds.

[packmom]

I had to order it.

None of mine will eat it.

[racindog]

2 things in paarticular helped one of my seniors. One was using accupressure to stimulate certain points that affect appetite. It only takes less than 5 minutes and even doing it once a day seemed to help.

The other was expensive very high quality rose oil. (I used rose Moroccan oil). I would put a few drops on a "dogdana" around her neck so she breathed in the smell. A lttle goes a long way so that is good.

I found the info on the accupressure points from a holistic health book. If you email me with an address I'll copy it and send it to you if you can't find the info and want to try it.

Love the seniors!

 

 

[CaliforniaGreys]

Can you buy nutrional yeast at stores like GNC?

 

I don't think they carry it but most health food stores do. It's helped quite a few here. If you want to try it and can't find it, pm me and I'll have it sent to you overnight

 

[packmom]

Can you buy nutrional yeast at stores like GNC?

 

I don't think they carry it but most health food stores do. It's helped quite a few here. If you want to try it and can't find it, pm me and I'll have it sent to you overnight

 

 

Boondog says you can get it at Whole Foods in bulk.

[Hubcitypam]

When Rex wouldn't eat I found that if I could just get him primed with a few bites of something he would almost always go on to eat canned and sometimes kibble. Things he ate may not be great in large quantities but a few bites got him in food mode. What he'd like was something random and different every day (or night, as I was usually trying to get his roaring loud grumbly tummy to stop at 3 a.m.

 

Things I used:

Cheese in a spray can (favorite)

braunschwager

sardines

tuna

lox

Fancy Fest canned cat food

peanut butter

cream cheese

scrambled eggs

roasted chicken

roast beef

Vienna sausage

 

You don't need to feed a ton of them, just enough to get interest up then slide that bowl of canned food in front of him....

 

[Guest TheDoggfather]

B12

[rascalsmom]

Lots of great suggestions--thanks, everyone!

 

Since I'm taking Buddy for his second acupuncture session tomorrow, I will ask the vet about a B12 shot....and will continue, today, to try and get him to eat whatever he will!

 

Last night I cooked a pork loin roast (for us), and Buddy did enjoy a bit of that!

[rascalsmom]

Can you buy nutrional yeast at stores like GNC?

 

I don't think they carry it but most health food stores do. It's helped quite a few here. If you want to try it and can't find it, pm me and I'll have it sent to you overnight

 

 

Boondog says you can get it at Whole Foods in bulk.

Unfortunately, there is no Whole Foods around here....

[grey14me]

looks like you've tried lots of meats, how about trying dairy products? cottage cheese, yogurt, etc. also try sprinkling parmesan cheese on any of the other meals, like ground beef and rice with parmesan...

[rascalsmom]

Just offered him tripe for dinner, since he's not had it in a few days. He walked away. Now the kitchen stinks for nothing.

 

I did get him to eat a couple of chicken liver brownies. They are about the only thing he'll eat with any regularity.

Edited March 4, 2009 by rascalsmom

[Guest Greensleeves]

Honestly, the only thing that *really* worked for Whistler (seriously underweight LS dog)... was prednisone.

 

Once he was on the pred, though, it was *much* easier to get him to eat. He was still picky and sensitive, and you had to play mind games with him... so here are some of his favorite tricks:

 

--Being hand-fed. Food that was repugnant in a bowl suddenly became irresistible on the end of a fork.

 

--Competition. If we fork-fed Nelly from the same cans at the same time, we could usually get a whole can of food+ into him. (This is apparently also a tried-and-true method of getting anorexic horses to eat, too: put them in a stall with a hungry horse, and they'll eat. They don't really want their own food--but they DEFINITELY don't want anyone else to get it!)

 

--Multiple small meals throughout the day.

 

--Variety. Everyone will say, "Oh, you're just training him to be finnicky." Ignore them. What he wanted this morning will be unacceptable tonight.

 

--Eggs. You've said he doesn't like scrambled; have you tried hard-boiled? Whistler loved scrambled and hard-boiled eggs, but was horrified by fried and raw.

 

--A little salt on the food. Seriously. Especially in seniors, when their senses are starting to fade just a bit, some salt can go a LONG way toward making food more appetizing.

 

--Cookies. Find what he likes, and shovel them into him. Ask Polli. Some nights, DH would just sit with Whis and a box of Alpo Bits, popping them one after another. For Nelly, near the end, it was freeze-dried sweet potato (?).

 

--Sun Chips, the cheddar ones. I have no idea why, but this was something both Whistler and Nelly would eat, when they wouldn't eat anything else.

 

--Exercise. Nelly always seemed a little more willing to eat after a brisk walk.

 

The last year of Whistler's life, prednisone + Mind-Game Feeding brought his weight up from 62lbs to 76lbs. I know he felt stronger and healthier than he had in a long time. I'm not sure the pred actually helped the LS (he was actually prescribed it for another condition), but it did WONDERS for his overall well-being.

 

Good luck! So many of us have been right where you are, and we KNOW the frustration. (and "frustration" doesn't even really begin to describe it, does it?)

 

 

[RobinM]

Unfortunately we have had a lot of experience with this.

 

This is what my picky Polli will eat when she won't eat Mostly during her chemo

 

 

GRILLED chicken breast, no skin small bites and evo or no kibble

peanut butter on ritz

peanut butter granola bars

blue chicken (blue is the brand)

TRIPE

Beef Tripe by merrick

[Fudge]

Jack Mackeral (canned)

PB (put on roof of mouth with finger, see if he'll lick it).

Cheese (mine prefer sharp cheese cut in small bite size pieces).

turkey

 

Tramadol can cause nausea. Could your vet reccomend something for the nausea.

 

Just a thought -

If it were me, I might want to check with the vet to make sure that the medications are actually helping Buddy.

Not wanting to eat may be a sign the meds are not adequately taking care of his pain.

[rascalsmom]

UPDATE: We just got back from Buddy's second acupuncture treatment.

 

I asked the vet about his appetite (Buddy's, not the vet's ) and he said that to him, Buddy didn't seem to be in a lot of pain. I asked about the meds, could they be causing upset stomach, and he said yes, the tramadol could do that. He suggested that I discontinue the tramadol and perhaps ask our regular vet about a cortisone injection. So perhaps we will try that; discontinue that medication and see what happens.

 

[Guest MorganKonaAlex]

With Morgan, we had to get him started and then he would usually eat (some at least). Others covered most of the tricks but the ones that worked for us:

- one for me, one for you cookies/graham crackers/Sun chips etc.

- deli roast beef

- hand feeding

- guarding food from another dog

Morgan went on and off pred. several times. It would seem to kickstart his appetite for a while then no longer work. I think it upset his stomach even with carafate and prilosec. So then we'd go off of it and he's do better for a while. Repeat cycle. Nutritional Yeast did not work for us. I still have it. It's been opened, but you are welcome it. If you'd like it, PM me your mailing address.

[rascalsmom]

With Morgan, we had to get him started and then he would usually eat (some at least). Others covered most of the tricks but the ones that worked for us:

- one for me, one for you cookies/graham crackers/Sun chips etc.

- deli roast beef

- hand feeding

- guarding food from another dog

Morgan went on and off pred. several times. It would seem to kickstart his appetite for a while then no longer work. I think it upset his stomach even with carafate and prilosec. So then we'd go off of it and he's do better for a while. Repeat cycle. Nutritional Yeast did not work for us. I still have it. It's been opened, but you are welcome it. If you'd like it, PM me your mailing address.

Prednisone can upset the stomach? I didn't know that...

 

I'm awaiting a call from the neurologist about stopping the tramadol, to see if that's causing problems. Don't know whether to just stop it or if I should taper it down...

[Batmom]

Is he still getting the pepcid?