Guest greyers Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 Hello Everyone I use to be on this board many years ago and always found it a helpful place when needing expertise from greyhound owners whose dogs suffered from allergies. I am back now to ask for more assistance if some of you have any advice to give me. I am not new to greyhound ownership, but I must admit that right now I feel like a greyhound newbie and am running out of ideas! About 9 days ago we had to put my male greyhound "Jimmy James" to sleep after we found out that what we believed was just worsening arthritis was likely bone cancer. We were completely blindsided by this news and had no time to digest this information as I believe he injured himself at the ER vet and sustained a fracture of that brittle bone. He was in such agonizing pain he could hardly even knew my husband, our other grey and I were there. So we did the most humane thing we could for him but it has our household in a rough emotional state, with no time to prepare our minds or our other greyhound for this change. The problem is our other greyhound, Prudence, relied so much on him. In fact after owning them both for about 4 years she had made such a remarkable change from her terrified former self, that we really thought she was "cured" AND we gave ourselves as her owners too much credit for that change. Apparently she must have STILL gotten all her cues from Jimmy. Now she seems very lost and has reverted back to her scardy cat self in many public situations and at home rarely plays even when we play with her. We have done everything we can to increase the bond with her as our solo dog right now. Extra hikes, lost of extra loves and twice as many car rides each day. While she loves that, its not enough to help her be "happy". She does really love us and even mostly trusts us, but we can't seem to fill her pack need completely. Our plan is to get a new companion for her in the very near future, but my husband and I have international travel in 4 days and cannot bring an additional dog into our lives and home with cats until our return in a few weeks. She adores our Aunt who is watching her and will be coddled and loved 24/7 in our absence, but our biggest concern is her picky eating habits that are worsening. She was ALWAYS a game player and a prankster during meal time with our other dog. She also was very picky and still would decide about 1/6 of the time to not eat a meal at all. But currently she is eating only about 25% of her meals and we worry that will not only continue but also get worse in our absence. She WILL eat treats without any problem, but we don't want to encourage that habit of filling up on treats and not eating her balanced meal, we would rather help fix the problem. Here is what we have been doing and any additional suggestions or tips would be GREATLY appreciated. I know they say that a dog won't starve itself, but we have always felt Prudence would prove that saying wrong! ** We have cut back on the number of treats she is given each day. We realized that we were giving her a very increased amount as compensation for losing her companion. So now only a couple a day. ** We now get rid of her food if she doesn't eat it within 20 minutes. **If she DOES finish a whole meal, then we make a BIG deal out of it and give her lots of praise and then her favorite treat that we now call her "dessert". she only gets that treat when she eats a meal. Any other advice would be greatly appreciated! OH, and its not an issue of "what" she is eating and that she doesn't like her food. I'm embarrassed to say what amazingly flavorful meals I have always fed her. Few people I know go to the extent we do including homemade crockpotted lamb and apples. This issue for her really is all about not having a companion to play head games with during meal time. So it is my hope to break her of those habits by doing the above things. Thank you in advance! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeorgeofNE Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 Nine days is really no time at all (I'm so sorry for your loss). Maybe you need to back off a little and just let her mourn? Obviously she needs to eat, but I would not worry much about her not wanting to play or perhaps being a little more withdrawn. She's suffered a loss, and she needs time to adjust. MAYBE being with your aunt will be just what she needs? A change of scenery and all? Quote Susan, Hamish, Mister Bigglesworth and Nikita Stanislav. Missing Ming, George, and Buck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheFullHouse Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 Really bonded pairs are really difficult when one leaves. I had a brother and sister pair that were bonded like that My male went into a deep depression after we lost his sister. You are doing everything right. Are there any other greyhounds in the area she could spend time with? That may help her a bit. As far as food goes, i don't think she will starve before you return. She may lose a little weight but her basic survival instincts should kick in and she'll eat what she thinks she needs. Quote Judy, mom to Darth Vader, Bandita, And Angel Forever in our hearts, DeeYoGee, Dani, Emmy, Andy, Heart, Saint, Valentino, Arrow, Gee, Bebe, Jilly Bean, Bullitt, Pistol, Junior, Sammie, Joey, Gizmo, Do Bee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4My2Greys Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 I don't have advice to give, just wanted to say I'm sorry for your loss. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest greyers Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 Thank you all for the support and kind words. Very much appreciated. All greys are incredible dogs and all the ones I have owned have a special place in my heart, but Jimmy James was really remarkable and he hand picked our home after multiple failed homes. That dog was truly something else! As for the other greys to walk with, tonight we took her up to our local rescue to walk in the neighborhood with a couple of current adoptees. Not because there are any there currently that I believe are a good fit for our home with old cats, but because we thought it would be good for her and it is certainly good for the other dogs to be walked and see how greyhounds are supposed to walk on a leash! She did very well and when we came home she did eat almost half of her dinner. I do hope you all are right in that she won't starve herself. She has gone several days in the past few years without eating a bite, and this week she went 2 1/2 days straight without eating any meals, then last night she finally ate, this morning didn't eat at all and tonight ate maybe 1/3 of her dinner. Guess we will see how things go! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MP_the4pack Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 She still needs to mourn, but see if she'll drink Ensure Plus. My old lady loved it and it kept her weight on (she was 15.5). if nothing else it may keep her weight up. I'm so sorry for the loss of Jimmy James. I lost one last year to OS. One to fibrosarcom and one to the ice of our harsh winter. It's never easy. And it took the one remaining dog almost 6 months to start to bond to her two new sisters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joejoesmom Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 I just wanted to say that after I lost my Twistmas on July 21, my greyhound Joe refused to eat for 3 days. Joe is a very outgoing, happy boy. Not nervous or spooky at all. It didn't seem like he was especially bonded to Twister. But he still refused to eat for 3 days. It was very surprising to me. So just 9 days after losing her beloved companion, it is not surprising to me that your spooky little girl is still mourning. You might try feeding her a high calorie supplement. If she doesn't like ensure, you could try a prescription high calorie supplement from your vet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JarBear Posted October 5, 2011 Share Posted October 5, 2011 I second the Ensure. We use the regular formula, vanilla flavor. I dilute it with water and pour it over the food. I foster all the time and have never had a dog turn it down. Sometimes they will just drink it and not eat the food but most of the time it seems to stimulate them to eat. Even if they decide not to eat their food they are getting hydration and some nutrition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest greyers Posted October 6, 2011 Share Posted October 6, 2011 What wonderful suggestions! Thank you so much. I would never have thought of ensure, but considering how much she loves milk products I think it would go over well if she needs it and it is easy for us to pick up a pack to have on hand for her "auntie" if she stops eating in our absence. I do have an interesting update on her eating. Thought I should post it in case it helps someone else. We went into the holistic pet store down the street the other day and the employee tried to give my spooked girl a piece of a dehydrated raw patty by Stella and Chewy. I was surprised to find that she took it and took many more pieces from the woman. She said that when her dog was ill and not eating, this was the only thing she could get him to eat. So she sent me home with a couple sample patties to try. This morning I just used a single small patty and rehydrate it in water, added her kibble and nothing else and shockingly she ate every bite. Tonight I did it again and she was even more exuberant about her food. She went right to it and ate it in record time. So I may have found something that makes her so excited about eating that she forgets she doesn't have an envious companion watching her eat! Thank you again for all the wonderful suggestions and support! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.