13.5 Yr. Old Greyhound Will Not Eat

[Guest lunabelle]

I've only just joined this group but desperately need some help with our 13.5 yr. old grey who is absolutely refusing to eat. Things have gotten to the point where we fear we will have to euthanize dear Luna if we can't her to eat soon as otherwise she will starve.

 

Luna first began having problems three weeks ago. She'd become incontinent and was showing signs of distress, crying and agitated. The emergency vet diagnosed her with a urinary infection and put her on an antibiotic for a week. During this period Luna's appetite first began to decline markedly. We took her in to our regular vet (Joel Fisher, Raleigh, N.C.--very experienced with greys) about two weeks ago and he both examined and took blood from Luna. The examination and blood tests showed no signs of cancer, diabetes, or major organ failure. (I had thought her kidneys were failing but apparently not.)

 

Late this past week, we had to take Luna back to the vet as she was still eating very poorly and had intermittent diarrhea. This time, Joel Fisher diagnosed Luna with a high fever and sent us home with some Bil-Jac food and medication. Luna's temp has now dropped to almost normal but she is still refusing to eat.. For example, from Friday to Saturday night we only got 3-4 pieces of cooked stew meat and less than two pieces of pressed turkey sandwich meat in her.

 

We've also tried to get her to eat scrambled and raw egg, yogurt, her Canida Platinum kibble, the Bil-Jac and a natural canned dog food from Whole Foods. Luna is currently refusing all these foods. We've also tried to get her to eat a variety of dog biscuits over the past week. She's eaten them for a day or so and then began refusing them. She is beginning to lose weight. Since last night, the only thing we've been able to get in her is a few small spoonfuls of peanut butter, which I stuck inside her upper lip.

 

 

 

**Any help here would be much appreciated as we are desperate!!!**

 

Mary L. Cook

[Guest FijiHound]

I'm really sorry to hear that...all my dogs are on a raw food diet. Have you tried giving her a raw chicken quarter or something along those lines? All of mine go cross-eyed over chicken feet (literally).

Our German Shepherd had to go on medication for a month which made her lose her appetite and she got appallingly thin. Once her medication was over we had difficulty getting her to eat and bring her weight back up. That was when I tried doing the raw diet out of desperation. Now all 3 of my dogs are the perfect weight - with perhaps one that could be classified as tubby

I hope that helps...

[Batmom]

What medication is she taking? Could be that that is upsetting her tummy. Could try giving 1 regular-strength Pepcid (generic is 10mg famotidine), wait 30-40 minutes, offer yummy food, then give other medication.

[macoduck]

The antibiotics may have contributed to the lack of appetite.

Try some stinky food like sardines, tuna.

[TheFullHouse]

Since you didn't mention what meds she was on, if it's an antibiotic, it may be upsetting her stomach. You can give her something like Pepcid an hour before meal time or before you give her her meds. If the vet has already given you something for her stomach, then I wouldn't give the Pepcid.

[celbee]

Our boy Faster did this about 6 months ago (he was 13 at the time). It sounds like you are working on any medical issues to make sure they are not the cause. Faster just stopped eating one day. Like you, we really didn't know what to do. But we did know that when they have diarrhea, that chicken and rice is considered a good diet. So we decided to try that. Chicken legs (buy in large quantities we cook 8 at a time) - put in a pot of water and boil until they are mushy (hours!). Take out the bones, gristle, and skin. Cut up chicken into smaller pieces with kitchen shears or knife.

Cook rice. Mix 50/50 rice and chicken.

 

As she starts to eat, you can gradually mix a little kibble into it. But, at first, the goal is to keep her eating.

 

At one point we decided to transition him off of rice/chicken and back to kibble. As soon as this was complete, he stopped eating (again). The next meal, we offered chicken and rice again. And he resumed eating. Ok. Lesson learned. We do feed him some kibble with each meal, just to keep some dietary balance. At the moment, the "recipe" is chicken, chicken broth, american cheese, and kibble, cooked in a rice cooker..(in the summer, we would add fresh veggies in the mix). if you have a rice maker and want to try it, email me at carol at greyhoundfleecejackets. com (remove spaces, add @)-- too long for this post! We package this up into pint plastic contatiners and refrigerate. Then, we heat it in the microwave for 30-60 seconds. Break it up with a fork, add 1/2 cup of dry kibble, warm/hot water and let it soak up. Then you can add other things to make it interesting... parmesan or romano cheese-- adds flavor. One "load" makes about 7 meals. We don't really count on him eating a full container each time..... he eats what he eats and then we put the rest in the refrigerator, to pull out every few hours and take it to him where he is laying.... When one is mostly done, we go to the next one. It sounds more complicated than it is.

 

He has some health issues, but, really, we just think he got bored with eating kibble....

 

Good luck with getting your girl to eat! Try some straight chicken and rice... the real thing.

 

Carol

[Riverhound]

Can you force-feed her? Soft food she won't choke on and just stuff it it? (Like you would with a pill.)

[rschultz]

when our 18 year old dog wouldn't eat we tried chicken livers. I just sauteed them with a lil oil. dogs love the smell. ((((prayers and hugs))))

[Hubcitypam]

When my Rex had his tummy problems I found that I just had to "prime his pump" so to speak. If I could get him to eat a bite or two of something he'd go on to canned, then kibble.

 

Of course that something varied daily according to his whims. Like Ducky said tuna and sardines are a good starting point -- I literally have to lock myself in the bedroom to eat a tuna sandwich in peace. Other things he liked were cheese (especially spray cheese in a can), hot dogs, braunswager (sp?) and freeze dried liver. I'd offer them and each day he'd choose one. Canned cat food can work too (smellier than dog food) as can chicken nuggets (my sisters 15 year old dog prefers Burger Kings) and McDonalds cheeseburgers plain and dry. I know fast food isn't an ideal dog diet, but sometimes you just need to get them started and get food -- any food -- in them.

 

Good luck with your girl.

[MaryJane]

Try cheese stix, yogurt mixed with cheerios, fried hamburger, french fries, and ice cream.

[krissn333]

When my buddy Sutra was recovering from a battle with pancreatitis, I had to feed him mashed potatoes, cottage cheese, turkey baby food, boiled macaroni, plain oatmeal, boiled ground beef and turkey, and Ensure. Every day I made him some different kind of mixture of several of the above foods. He ate them and finally got his system back up and running again to the point where he would then eat canned food and kibble.

 

Small, frequent meals will be your best friend Good luck

[Xan]

All these ideas could work. Depends on Luna, of course! My offering is nutritional yeast. I can find it in bulk, but most seem only to find it packaged, say at Whole Foods. It's full of B vitamins, protein and other goodies, smells sort of like toasted cheddar cheese, and can spark an appetite, if she likes it. Sprinkle it generously on something small and smelly, to "prime her pump" as was suggested. The B vitamins can really give a huge health boost, and appetite boost.

 

What you'd look for would have some or all of these kinds of words: "vegetarian support", "nutritional yeast", Red Star (a brand). You're not looking for Brewer's yeast. That's a bit different, and doesn't have the same flavor either. The "vegetarian support" is grown and fortified to be a source of B12, which is the most important thing for these purposes.

 

Good luck with Luna! I hope you can find something that will spark her love for life again.

[greyhead]

I know when a couple of us have had this trouble, we've primed the pump with half a bottle of Ensure. That has been enough to get the dogs eating 15 minutes afterward. Good luck, I know this is scary.

[tbhounds]

Ask your vet before giving Pepcid, prilosec etc... Not sure what medication(s) you are already giving - don't want to see any drug interactions.

You also might want to ask about starting Cerenia.

[3greytjoys]

Gerber baby food, Meat only, Stage 2 (blue label) is good option to try for dogs (or cats) who won't eat other foods.

 

I confirmed with Gerber manufacturer that they do not add any extra spices to Gerber, Stage 2 meat only foods. This food is often vet recommended.

 

Side note: Be careful with any other baby foods: No toxic spices, especially no onions or garlic for dogs.

 

(Personally, I would steer clear of feeding raw, especially not chicken feet. That could create the reverse effect on a hound's system who doesn't normally eat raw meat, creating more stomach upset and diarrhea.)

[Guest JarBear]

I second the Vanilla Ensure. I've been using it for years with my own and numerous fosters. So far only one has turned it down. Dual benefit...nutrition and fluids.

[JJNg]

In your thread under Food and dietary, you mentioned that Luna had vomited once, and you've been syringing baby food. Has she thrown up at any other times? Is she keeping down the baby food?

 

I think the suggestion of stomach protectant and anti-nausea meds are a good idea. Is she still on antibiotics? If so, the antibiotics could be a large factor in her lack of appetite and stomach upset.

 

However, a complete lack of interest in food also makes be concerned that there may be an underlying medical problem that just hasn't been diagnosed yet. Has your vet mentioned abdominal x-rays or ultrasound? Those tests may not change the treatment options you'd want to consider given her age, but they may help provide an answer to help you decide how far you want to go. Sorry you're having to deal with this, and I really do hope it's nothing serious and she just needs to have her appetite jump started.

[Guest Swifthounds]

What medication is she taking? Could be that that is upsetting her tummy. Could try giving 1 regular-strength Pepcid (generic is 10mg famotidine), wait 30-40 minutes, offer yummy food, then give other medication.

 

 

Even if you don't see any improvement the first time, give it a few doses to show improvement.

 

Also, try some Ensure, either alone or in some water (if you get generic, just steer clear of artificial sweeteners). Tinned fish are usually well liked.

 

I would also consider syringe/force feeding a mix if Ensure and wet dog food or ground beef. The longer the hound goes without food, the tougher it is to get them back to eating.

[Guest Snazzy_Chloe]

Chicken broth (low sodium) and also 1/2 bottle of Ensure Plus (added fiber to help so the stools don't get loose) with each meal.

Edited November 14, 2011 by Snazzy_Chloe

[kikibean]

I've had good luck getting dogs to eat again with Merrick canned Grammies Pot Pie. I've had several foster girls who didn't want to eat after their spays and every one has started again w/ the Grammies Pot Pie. It used to always get Mimi to eat as well.

[Guest greytbookert]

Many antibiotics and other meds will cause appetite to decrease, in my experience. When I've had reluctant eaters, I've tried many of the suggestions listed by previous posters. The ones that I had the most success with are green tripe, canned sardines or mackerel, vanilla ensure, parmesan cheese (or any stinky cheese). One particular time, I was desperate enough to offer canned cat food and low and behold that worked.

 

I hope Luna is feeling better!

[Guest bluefiggie]

Try adding a chicken or beef broth to the kibble. If that doesn't work try putting shredded cheese on top of the kibble. My Starling lost her appetite about a month ago and cheese is the only thing that will get her eating. Turns out she likes mozzarella the best. Have they done Xrays on Luna for a mild obstruction? Hopefully Luna starts eating soon!!!

[Guest lunabelle]

I want to express my sincerest thanks to everyone who responded to my post regarding the eating problems we were having with out beloved grey Luna.

 

Since I posted this query, we have been unable to get Luna to eat anything, including many of the items suggested in this thread. The only food we've been able to get down her (I've been squirting the mix in her mouth with a syringe) was baby food (sometimes mixed with egg) and a small amount of Glucerna).

 

Our vet reexamined Luna late yesterday, at which time he gave her a cortisone injection to pique her appetite. This didn't work. He told my husband (I was in physical therapy at the time, which I've been in three times weekly since August, following a July stroke). Joel told Paul if this didn't work, he would have to conclude Luna had cancer, particularly since she's lost so much weight in a short length of time. Luna is too old for us to want to put this dear girl through the rigors of cancer treatment. Therefore, we have made an appointment with a vet who will come to our home at 6 p.m. tomorrow to euthanize this sweet, beautiful, much beloved grey. We will miss her so very much. I've been crying off and since last night as my heart and my husband's are broken in two.

 

Mary L. Cook

[Guest greyers]

Mary

I am so very sorry to hear about Luna and about you. Seems your family has gone through some tough times recently. Take comfort in knowing you gave Luna an amazing home and she knew she was loved. She felt it. May you and your husband find peace in your decision. And continue that therapy!! I work in physical rehab as a therapist with stroke patients and I know the determination and strength it takes to be where you are. May that strength continue to lead you through your recovery and through the difficult times you are facing.

[Guest lunabelle]

Mary

I am so very sorry to hear about Luna and about you. Seems your family has gone through some tough times recently. Take comfort in knowing you gave Luna an amazing home and she knew she was loved. She felt it. May you and your husband find peace in your decision. And continue that therapy!! I work in physical rehab as a therapist with stroke patients and I know the determination and strength it takes to be where you are. May that strength continue to lead you through your recovery and through the difficult times you are facing.

Our Luna early last fall I so appreciate your kind words. Like so many other greys, Luna gave us far more over the almost 11 years we had her than we gave her. Particularly unquestioning love and trust.