Depression? Really Worried About Sterling

[Guest ZBippy]

I have had a few different threads about Sterling this year. He was diagnosed with glomerularnephritis (kidney disease) in Jan or Feb and started on KD dog food and meds and got a lot better. Since then, he has gone through several bouts of not eating and lethargy. Two times we put him on antibiotics because the only thing that our vet and us could come up with was that his teeth/gums did appear to be irritated so possibly he wasn't eating because his mouth was sore. The last time (about a month ago) we did blood work again and his T4 was .3 so we put him on soloxine. In all 3 of these times, he seemed to get better after a few weeks.

 

Now, however, he isn't eating again and I just don't know what to do. I've put chicken broth on his food and warmed it up. I've fed him regular dog food instead of the KD. We've mixed spaghetti into his food. I even fed him some tubed food I found at the grocery store called NaturePet which smells like bologna and grossed me out. He ate some of that yesterday but not at all today.

 

One of my friends has suggested that Sterling might be depressed. Does anybody here have any experience with depression in dogs?

[Burpdog]

Which KD is he on? If it's SD, could be why he doesn't want to eat. Most follow the protein doesn't matter thinking now. Try some Solid Gold Holistique Blendz and see if he perks up.

[TheFullHouse]

Get some Nutritional Yeast (found at a health food store) and put it on or in his food. It's nothing but B vitamins and will stimulate his appetite.

[Guest ZBippy]

Can I get that (the Holistique) at the regular pet store? Or do I need to have it ordered? I haven't given him the SD KD since Friday so I'm not sure if it is the food that is the problem or not but I will try almost anything at this point.

 

I will check out the nutritional yeast too!

Edited August 24, 2009 by ZBippy

[Guest greytbookert]

When our Mama was put on a kidney diet, she did much better with the Purina N/F v. the KD. From what I've heard from other folks, the NF seems to be a little more appetizing.

 

Maybe you could try some scrambled or even raw egg whites (low in phosorous but a good protien) to entice Sterling?

 

 

[Guest Energy11]

Goldie will NOT eat KD! She eats Purina NF, and loves it. Also, Royal Canin Renal MP is good ... both come in kibble and canned. Hope Sterling's appetite picks up! Good Luck.

[Guest greyscot]

Get some Nutritional Yeast (found at a health food store) and put it on or in his food. It's nothing but B vitamins and will stimulate his appetite.

I agree. It got my kidney disease dog eating again and gave her a spring in her step. Vit. B stimulates the appetite so perhaps your vet could give an injection of it if this fails. Kidney disease is so hard to deal with.

[Guest Tenderhearts]

My dogs really love the nutritional yeast. Toby is in renal failure, so once he was diagnosed, we realized he was nauseated, and that's why he wasn't eating.

 

He's on anti-nausea meds right now, and of course he's getting whatever he wants to eat. He's doing well with shredded turkey from the deli and some canned food mixed in.

 

I hope you find a solution for Sterling! :hope

[Guest kydie]

When was the last time his thyroid panel was checked?, could be he needs an incease in meds?

[MP_the4pack]

What are his teeth like? GN can be caused by bad teeth.

 

Also, if he has GN, check his BP. Pearl's hypertension was caused by GN which was caused by bad teeth.

 

 

[Xan]

Happy was on Hills for awhile, and did alright, but started refusing to eat it, no matter what I did, including adding nutritional yeast. I changed her to a venison kibble (she has IBD, though, so that might not work for you - ?? ), which has been working for months now. When she feels a dip in her appetite, the nutritional yeast will get her to lick her bowl clean.

 

Wabi gets NY, and it makes a HUGE difference in her general bounce. I think it may also be keeping her corn at bay! NY is great stuff.

 

Good luck finding Sterling's magic combo for joy.

[Guest MyBoys]

You could try the canned food Blue Wellness turkey/chicken grill that Robin suggested. My old guy just flat out refused to eat anything I put in front of him, I tried this and presto he emptied his bowl and has been eating it ever since with gusto.

[Guest ZBippy]

Sorry it took so long to get back. Our modem is on the fritz. I'll try to respond to the suggestions below:

 

1) Different food - we are going to try the Solid Gold Holistique Blendz since it appears to be available at a nearby pet store. If he likes it, it would be a big plus beyond just getting him to eat because right now I have to make a 50 mile round trip for the SD KD.

 

2) Blood pressure - he is on Enalapril for his BP as it relates to his GN so I don't think this is the problem but if the new food doesn't work, I will take him in for a check. I do need to call today for a refill because he is on his last pills in the bottle.

 

3) Thyroid panel - he just had the thyroid panel done in early July and that is when we started him on the meds. If we take him in for #2, I will have them do this again.

 

4) Teeth - he had a dental done in Jan or Feb and that is when he was finally diagnosed with the GN. His teeth aren't great but aren't terrible as far as greyhound teeth go. He's never had any extractions but his gums tend to get irritated every once in a while. By that I mean that the edges near the teeth get very pink but ONLY while he's eating. Since he's gone through this not eating thing a couple of times, we have had him on antibiotics those times in order to make his gums get better and they did but I don't know if constantly going on and off antibiotics is the best course or if we need to look into something else. Preventative tooth extractions? I'm not sure.

 

5) Nutritional yeast - please tell me that this is the same as brewer's yeast. I went to GNC last night and asked the clerk for nutritional yeast and his response was "Hunh?" He showed me where all two of their bottles of yeast were on the shelves and both were brewer's yeast. One was in tablet form and one was a powder. They both said that they were rich in B vitamins so I bought the powdered version. I put it on Sterling's food with water last night and this morning. Last night he lapped up the juice but didn't eat too much of the kibble (instead of the KD I gave him ProPlan Life Stages, which is what the other dogs eat.) This morning he slurped up the juice, ate a few bites of kibble, and then lay down on the couch. I sat next to him and he let me hand feed him a few bites and then ate the rest out of the bowl which was on my lap. So at least he ate something but at the same time I have to admit that I am suspicious of his refusing to eat standing up but happily eating off my lap. He is a dog who spoils very easily and while I want him to eat, I don't want him to think that he is going to get the lap treatment from here to eternity.

[Batmom]

Did he have a full thyroid panel with fT4 and TSH before starting meds? (T4 by itself isn't a good diagnostic, and getting supplementation when it isn't needed could contribute to not wanting to eat.)

 

Hugs for your boy.

[Patsy]

Brewer's yeast and nutritional yeast are two different things. NY is sorta greenish; I get what I send to Miss Raven at our local health foods co-op.

[Guest ZBippy]

I really do not know if it was a full panel. My aunt is our vet and she just said that she was going to have bloodwork done because she couldn't find anything wrong with him that she could test for in the office. Other than the GN, he has been a bit of a mystery for all of us this year and that is one of the reasons why I thought "well that could be it" when my friend mentioned depression. Not to anthropomorphise but we've always described Sterling as our grumpy old man who spoils very easily so in our minds, at least, it is possible that he might have figured out how to get extra attention and uses it every 6 weeks or so to his advantage.

[SAVED2]

What are his teeth like? GN can be caused by bad teeth.

 

Also, if he has GN, check his BP. Pearl's hypertension was caused by GN which was caused by bad teeth.

 

Our Maggie got kidney desease from gingivitis , we had all her teeth pulled and treated her gums with hydrogen peroxide they healed she now eats KD soaked in water and acts like she is 5 now.

 

[Guest SusanP]

You can find nutritional yeast in a natural foods store. It is bright yellow and tastes cheesy. Brewer's yeast tastes icky.

[Meandmy]

We got our Nutritional Yeast from Whole Foods and it made so much difference in Shadow's eating. Now, if he doesn't finish his meals (which is happening more often now) I liberally sprinkle his food with the yeast and he'll keep eating.

[Guest ZBippy]

Well, even if it's the wrong thing, Sterling really likes the brewers yeast. In fact I've noticed that Smokey really likes it too. I've been chasing him away from Sterling's bowl though because he is our gas master and all I need is him 'ing a Heineken.

[Guest Greensleeves]

I'm not sure how GN differs from the kidney disease that Nelly had, but basically, kidney disease makes you feel like crap (because the toxins that are supposed to be filtered out of your blood accumulate in your body, instead). We were actually told this by one of Nelly's vets, who had a good human friend with kidney failure, too, and he described it as like walking around with the flu, all the time. Also, my vets always tell me that there's not a one-to-one correlation between what the tests show, and how the dog feels. So basically he might feel a lot worse (or better) than his bloodwork would indicate. And if he has any underlying pain issues, that could just compound the lethargy and depression (Nelly had arthritis).