Not Too Interested In Eating

[Figma]

Haven't been on the Boards for a while but thought maybe some of you may have some ideas.................

A little background: Our Grey hasn't had the best of appetites lately but he has always been a picky eater. I've tried various foods and he was on Pro Plan Salmon for some time but I was also mixing in chicken and rice to get him to eat. I then was at Costco and decided to try the Kirkland again and I also mix one meal with some Blue Buffalo. He may or may not eat one or two times a day. Past few days, he is only eating about 2 cups. He recently had a dental done and all the bloodwork, which was pretty much normal with a slightly elevated Creatinine, Vet suggested I put him on a lower protein food. He will be 12 in February. He vomits bile once in a while but I'm sure it's usually because he hasn't eaten!! Vet suggested I give him Pepcid twice a day. I started giving him one a day. His urine and stools are normal.

I do add some various canned food on occasion and he may or may not eat that. I find if I've added a little bottle gravy or a bit of *table* food or broth, he will usually eat. He is losing weight and I'm at my wits end.

Any suggestions on something or some food to stimulate his appetite? I've had picky eaters but nothing like this.

Can anyone recommend a good Senior food, lower in protein and/or an additive that might work?

He doesn't seem sick but something is not right and it's hard to tell with him if he just doesn't like the food or what.

I'm hoping he will start eating better or I will have to take him back in for more blood work, I guess.

Thanks

[Batmom]

If only the creatinine was elevated, and only slightly, that's probably greyhound-normal. Wouldn't change food over it. If BUN and BUN:creatinine ratio were elevated, then I might look for a lower protein food. Check out the Solid Gold foods or IAMS Adult Lamb & Rice.

 

At his age, I'd make an effort to get some decent nutrition in him, but if it's a choice between eating and not, I wouldn't worry overmuch. Some things that appeal here are canned fish (cheap tuna, jack mackerel, etc.), poached chicken, gently cooked ground beef, gently scrambled eggs, canned green tripe (Tripett or Solid Gold Green Cow); any of those things go well with rice or noodles if you're trying to keep the protein down. Less nutritious things that most of my dogs have loved include Pepperidge Farm cinnamon bread, graham crackers, spaghetti-o's (yes, the cheap stuff in the can), anything with a drizzle of honey, molasses, or vanilla ice cream on top .....

 

Best luck with your boy.

[Guest PhillyPups]

Mine have been going nuts lately with cooked chicken livers on their kibble. And when my old gal was picky, she would always eat food with Cadillac (cheap crap but she ate) canned food mixed in. I always keep cans of cheap food as an additive around for those times. I do add a tablespoon of unflavored or vanilla yogurt (active) on their meals.

 

Another thing that could help gain is more meals (3 times a day) however as I work out of the home it is not an option for me.

 

Good luck. I have found at the age of 12 they usually drop weight I guess it is part of the aging process.

Edited November 27, 2010 by PhillyPups

[Figma]

Thanks so much for the suggestions. I've tried various and varied type and flavors of canned dog food. Sometimes that works and sometimes not. I'll try some of the other things you suggested. Are stools okay with those added? If my neighbor tells me one more time how thin Ranger is getting, I'm going to scream or cry.

 

Today, I think I'll try some left over turkey and see if he will eat that.

 

[Batmom]

Re stools: I usually start with their regular food + some add-ins. If that isn't possible, then usually overcooked rice + add-ins. I've known a few dogs who don't get along with rice so YMMV.

 

Some folks recommend potatoes instead of rice but I have not had good experiences there (ghastly watery diarrhea). Noodles seem to go down and thru pretty well here.

[Figma]

Thanks, Batmom. I have given him rice and chicken before (white and brown) and he tolerates those but seems to tire of that being added quickly too.

 

I have Kirkland Chicken and Rice (3/4 of the bag has been eaten), mixed with a little Blue, mixed with cut up turkey and a dab of gravy. He picked out all the turkey then walked away!! So, he is/can eat, he just isn't.

 

I've had at least a dozen or more Greys here over the years and I only had one picky eater and not as bad as mine!!

 

I could feed him 3 times a day. The problem is, he will hardly eat once a day!!!

 

LOL PhillyPups. I could probably easily feed him 3 times a day. The problem is getting him to even eat once a day!!!

He's getting thin and I'm getting an ulcer.

[RobinM]

How are his poops?

[Guest jbox]

I know everyone will cringe but when our old Grey was diagnosed with a heart valve problem she had to have a low sodium diet.

The lowest sodium levels I could find were in the Science diet dry and wet foods. She loved the small bites dry food and it worked

for her since she had only 2 teeth as well. Of course I also cooked for her as well. The Science diet foods although not pleasing by the

ingredients list do have lower protein and sodium levels than most foods out there.

[Sighthounds4me]

Hey, welcome back!

 

I have not had a ton of experience with older dogs (yet), especially those not eating well. But my thoughts, based on a friend's experience with an older Greyhound is the smellier, the better. My friend's thought was that her girl was losing her sense of smell, and thus her desire to eat. But if she mixed in something really smelly, Ellie ate better.

 

JMO...

[Figma]

Robin - Poop has been fine. He goes 2-3 times a day. Every time he is walked he goes for sure.

 

Well, smellier may be better. I ran to PetsMart and picked up another small bag of the Blue Buffalo Chicken food (which he has been half on) and paid the extra for some cans of the Blue food. Came home and opened one that has fish as the first ingredient. Dumped the food from this morning (as he only got the turkey out of it) remixed and encouraged him to eat. Actually, he likes me to stand there and keep stirring it for him.

Well, he at the 2 cups with some of the canned added so he has at least one meal down him today.

Keep fingers crossed he will continue to eat and not tire of this food.

 

Thanks for all the suggestions.

 

Wow, don't realize he is getting to be an *old* dog until I read it. Where does the time go? He was about 3 1/2 when we adopted him. Hope he sticks around for a good while longer.

 

I'm gonna pick up a can of those Spaghetios too!!!

[Guest Vers]

My Stella is a picky eater, and I can fully share your concern. I'm glad you're finding that the "smellier the better" is working. A couple of other things that have helped my girl are linked above, but here are a few things that have defintely helped. Sardines in water, drained and rinsed (definitely smelly). Merrick canned foods -- her current favorites is the Wing-a-Ling, but we need to keep changing it up. Nutritional yeast is tasty and the B vitamins boost the appetite. I also make a batch of homemade to mix with kibble every week or two: boiled ground beef or turkey (fat drained off), kale or spinach, oatmeal or rice and sweet potatoes. Switching the flavors around was suggested by a wonderful member here, and it has helped. The days she still hesitates, adding a few dried beef liver bites or slices of turkey hotdog gets her started.

 

I hope you find the things that work for your boy. I know it's frustrating.

[Guest Vers]

Oh, one more smelly food. Tripe. Canned Trippett or raw green (not supermarket bleached) tripe. Thought of it because my hounds are enjoying their after-dinner dried tripe snack now.

[Guest avadogner]

Hi Figma,

I hope you have things under control by now but I thought I may be able to offer some help. My almost 11yr female Ava has had issues with poor appetite over the last couple months. I've posted several threads about our misadventures getting her to eat. She was diagnosed by a Veternary Ortho Dr as a having a hip defect (most likely why she washed out of race training). Her hips have become unstable and arthrytic. We couldn't explain her sudden refusal to eat. She would push any bowl away so hard, she had open sores on her nose. We had labs checked and her renal labs were slightly high but not enough to cause such anorexia and weight loss. I am awaiting a kidney transplant myself so I know how unappealing food can be. We tried changing her kibble, tried several wet foods, tried beef hearts, tripe, turkey necks, pumpkin, rice, venison and me cooking all her meals. She still refused to eat most days. In the end, I changed her to Blue Buffalo Grain Free Salmon. Her appetitie isn't what it used to be but with a lot of coaching (me petting and talking her through it) she will eat about 1 to 1 1/2 c kibble over two meals. It isn't very much but the BB GF Salmon has 415 kcalories per cup (that's why we picked it), I add digestive enzymes (Prozyme), 2 Tablespoons of Brewer's Yeast (high nutritional content from health food stores), and half a bottle of lactofree Ensure Plus (the plus has 100 more calories per serv). She gets glucosamine, MSM and chondroidtin in addition to a fish oil capsule and her pain medicine. She has stopped losing weight and has even gained a couple ounces back. Our vet said to do more indepth testing, we would need more invasive testing. Her bloodwook looked Ok so we are going to hold off before putting her under more stress. I hope you can find out what's ailing your houndie and get that baby eating well again.

-ava and augie's mum

[Figma]

Well, he at two cups again tonight of the same I gave him this morning with a few pieces of white meat turkey. Of course, I stood there, told him what a good boy he was and kept stirring the food for him. Told my husband he ate his dinner but let's see how long this lasts!!!

I've done the adding of chicken and rice. I had a jar of that ready mix gravy in the fridge and would mix a tablespoon or two of that with his food, which worked for a few days. Yep, have done the sardines in the past. Haven't really given him too much in the way of eggs. Tried to give him a little scrambled egg once and he spit it out. Some of my Sheltie (I was in that breed for years) have been feeding tripe. Maybe I'll try that.

Doesn't sound good to me. No way would I ever eat menudo~~ LOL

 

Thanks to all for the great suggestions. I'm assuming you have all had pretty good luck with these additives in the way of no vomiting, stool issues, etc.

 

I feel much better today that he at least ate twice. Makes one worry when they won't eat, for whatever reason, and sometimes the problem is trying to figure out that reason.

[Guest Vers]

I'm assuming you have all had pretty good luck with these additives in the way of no vomiting, stool issues, etc.

 

For the things I've tried, nothing has had a negative impact. Stella only vomits if she skips a meal. She'll eat snacks and treats even if she won't eat her food, so that helps keep that at bay. Tripe, if anything, makes for better stools as well as a completed dinner.

[Guest FijiHound]

I'm not sure how much this will help but my german shepherd x Cassie got very sick - she is almost 9 now but she had lost so much weight that all her bones were more or less sticking out and her skin and coat were terrible and upsetting to see.

Almost three weeks ago I changed her diet to a complete raw food one. Drastic change. You can already see the amount of weight she's gained - she's eating her food with gusto (although she sulks if she doesn't get at least one chicken foot ) Her skin is almost back to normal and the patches of fur she had lost are growing back in nicely.

So perhaps a completely new diet will help...I got a lot of info about raw food diet on some of the other threads but if you want to ask any questions I'd be happy to help as much as I can

[Figma]

Thanks for all the suggestions! Luckily, he ate twice today and, the same with him, he can get down treats or turkey but not eat his food.

I go over him regularly. He did have a small lump at the base of his sternum the Vet said was probably fat or a cyst but I had him do at least a needle biopsy when he had his dental done. All he saw was fat and oil and it hasn't gotten any bigger and doesn't bother him. No other lumps, no limping, blood work was okay, coat and skin are okay so nothing obvious is rearing it's head, at this point.

Yes, I'd like to know what raw food you are preparing. I may just try the tripe. I found this web site, http://www.greentripe.com/ , that I want to take the time to read. Is this what you guys are using?

Well,the stinky, canned food that went in is now coming out the other end just as stinky!! Whew, haven't had Greyhound gas for a while. I think I'll be bringing the can of Fabreeze into the bedroom tonight.

Again, thanks for the suggestions and stories, appreciate it.