Appetite Issues

[LBass]

For the last couple of months Piper has been occasionally not finishing a meal, usually breakfast. He's lost about 4 pounds. I'm concerned because he has always been an enthusiastic and very non-picky eater. He is 10 and takes 2.5 grains of Phenobarbital twice a day and 320 mg of Potassium Bromide twice a day for idiopathic epilepsy and .6 mg of Soloxin twice a day for hypothyroid. His last thorough labs, in November, looked great. I'm going to have those repeated in the next couple of weeks (Pb & KBr levels, full thyroid panel, serum bile acids, CBC, etc.)

 

He saw the vet on 5/7 because I wondered if the appetite issues were due to issues with his teeth. He does have a couple of teeth with some infection but his teeth, per the vet, are really not in terrible shape--she said, "I've seen greys with far worse teeth eating just fine.". He was given 2 weeks of antibiotics to take to see if that helped with the teeth and thus his eating. So far, a little over a week into the antibiotics, there has been no improvement in his appetite.

 

I am worried about him, though I can't see anything other than the intermittent loss of appetite and resulting weight loss that I can put my finger on as a symptom.

 

My question for the collective wisdom of GT is this: when I take Piper back to the vet what are the things I should be sure to have checked? What are the possible/likely causes for his loss of appetite?

 

TIA, Lucy

[kudzu]

In addition to what you have already mentioned I would make sure that a thorough blood chemistry was included in your etc. you may want to consider having urinalysis and fecal check done as well.

 

It could still be his teeth causing the problem. It's possible that the antibiotic is now contributing to inappetance. Whatever the problem is I hope it is something minor and easily remedied.

[Guest d0ggiem0mma]

I disagree with your vet on the teeth issue. If he has infected teeth, that is EXTREMELY painful and can absolutely contribute to appetite loss. The antibiotics could make him nauseous too. When was his last dental? It may be time...

 

Of course have a CBC & Profile done. Make sure the thyroid panel is sent out to the right lab. Just a normal T4 & T3 sent to Idexx is not accurate for houndies. (I'm not trying to start a thyroid issue argument.) Urinalysis is a good idea too.

[greysmom]

Have you considered it may be a food issue? He might just be not wanting whatever it is anymore. You might try him on a different food to see if he perks up.

 

Also, you may need to give him a pepcid before meals. His seizure meds could be throwing his stomach off.

 

If his poops are pretty normal still I would probably not think it's a digestive system issue. It could still be worms or some other parasite. Has he had a heartworm test recently? Or some other insect/disease that's peculiar to the south?

 

Does he seem to be swallowing OK? Any unusual coughing or gagging? Is he drinking enough water? Have your vet check his throat and thyroid glands to see if there's any swelling that could be making it difficult to swallow.

 

Hope hope hope this is nothing. He's Piper the Perfect after all!

[TheFullHouse]

Lucy, I was having problems with Gee eating. I couldn't figure out what the problem was so took her to the vet and she had some bad teeth. She underwent a dental and had the bad teeth pulled and now she's eating like a horse so bad teeth can effect the appetite I think.

[LBass]

The vet who saw him and put him on antibiotics is a "locum" (I think that's the term--she doesn't work full time in the practice but she and a couple of other vets cover weekends for my regular vet while he is the only vet in the practice). I talked with our "real" vet this afternoon about Piper while I was there getting MoMo's amputated toe checked one week post amp. He thinks it may be teeth issues too. I am certainly hoping that teeth are the problem since that is easily fixable.

 

Anyway, Piper is due for the big round of tests we do every 6 months. I'm going to take him in next Monday--he'll have just finished the 2 week course of antibiotics then--and he'll get a thorough check up with the vet who know him best and we'll send out his labs. Will get urinalysis, and fecal to r/o any parasites. I always get a full 6 panel thyroid and blood chemistry so that will be covered. I'll get the vet to check for any mechanical issues with swallowing though I've not seen any evidence of difficulty swallowing.

 

Chris, I had not really thought of food preference as being an issue because he's just never been at all picky before. Still, that's worth a shot. They are on their 3rd bag of lamb and rice after years on chicken and rice so I'll get Piper back on chicken and rice and see if that makes a difference. I'm also adding a rotating array of enticements.

 

Pepcid...how much and how often. please?

 

Neither the vet's nor I are dismissing the possibility of painful teeth being the issue. His teeth have always been in pretty good shape. He had a dental (not a good one, unfortunately) when I adopted him 8 years ago and has not needed one until perhaps now.

 

Thank you all so much for the thoughtful input. I don't know why this has me in such a panic. I don't usually borrow trouble, as they say. But this is Piper The Perfect and he is incredibly important to me.

 

--Lucy