Honestly! Fix One Dog...

[KF_in_Georgia]

Sam's taking Panacur to deal with an outbreak of yuck. To make the Panacur more palatable, I mixed it into canned food last night.

 

But I don't dare feed Sam something interesting and feed Silver the typical kibble, so I split a can (Iams chicken and rice) between them. She got canned without the Panacur.

 

This morning, she's putting out the nastiest-looking soft, light green poop.

 

Sam's got two more doses of Panacur to go. I really can't give him soft food and give her boring kibble. She's already a bit disenchanted with the kibble, but she's snarky with him if he even glances at her bowl.

 

Maybe I'll just slip her a Pepcid before her dinner. Or just dampen kibble for Sam and mix Panacur with it, and dampen her kibble to match. Other ideas?

 

Just for fun:

 

Her Divaship, sleeping with her mouth open and showing the new gap where the vet pulled two teeth on the bottom

 

Sam, sleeping with his head off the bed

[Hubcitypam]

My suggestion would be to soak her food for about 10 minutes, then mix in about 2 tablespoons of wet and stir well.

 

 

[LuvAPuppy]

I mix about a tablespoon of canned in the Whippet's kibble and the IG gets mostly canned with a little kibble. Nobody feels left out that way. Just cut way back on her amount of treat and mix it in her kibble

[Scooby172]

Jack has been on Panacur for giardia, two rounds. I did use a little wet food with him to disguise the Panacur but later found yogurt or cottage cheese worked just as well. Good luck.

Linda, Keeva and Jack

[Feisty49]

Maybe mix it with peanut butter and offer it just to Sam? Can they be fed apart for a few days? If you have to, can you just put the smallest taste of the canned food in Silver's food?

 

I admit to being confused as to why one dog needs to have something the other dog has. I understand Silver *wants* something interesting, but she's a dog. Can't you just say, "No"? (I liken it to children: Would I let my child eat something I knew would give him diarrhea?)

 

My Annie Bella's digestive system is such that doing anything to upset it, including offering new food out of the blue, just isn't gonna happen for her, even if it makes her unhappy.

[Guest LindsaySF]

I'm a mean mom. I'd give the dog not getting meds plain kibble and call it a day.

 

If you want to mix in something extra, try some pieces of meat or a dog cookie or two, something the dog is used to getting but can still be considered 'special'.

 

 

[KF_in_Georgia]

I appreciate the comparison to kids--but how do you explain to one kid why a sibling gets a treat when she doesn't? Don't you try to find a way to treat the deprived kid to even things up? That's what I'm trying to do here.

 

Silver will sulk and not eat if she gets plain kibble while he gets a "treat." Frankly, I wouldn't mind that--except that then when Sam eats, she wants to take what he has. I don't want to have to keep her muzzled to protect Sam. We had to muzzle her 24/7 for months for health reasons when she got here (she was chewing a leg that itched).

 

My two already eat in separate rooms, with me between them. He's old and frail and sick. She's younger and is convinced she's the alpha around here. Sam pretty much agrees with that assessment and avoids pissing her off, but he'll go to war over food issues before he'll let her take what's in his dish. I don't want him harassed. Or, worse, attacked. At present, she's patient about food when she knows she's getting her fair share of the goodies. And I wouldn't know how to explain why she isn't to a dog.

 

I know of two dogs who lived together peacefully for six years, with the younger male in awe of the older female. Then, one day, mom accidentally dropped a piece of food on the kitchen floor. When the dog owner and her son pulled the dogs apart, the male launched himself at the female again. The female wound up in the ER for stitches and a drain in her face. I'm not going there. I'll risk diarrhea for her before I'll risk her harming Sam.

 

(Oh, and fair's fair around here. If one dog needs to skip a meal for a medical reason--i.e., pre-surgical fasting--the other dog doesn't eat in front of the fasting dog.)

[Feisty49]

I appreciate the comparison to kids--but how do you explain to one kid why a sibling gets a treat when she doesn't? Don't you try to find a way to treat the deprived kid to even things up? That's what I'm trying to do here.

 

Silver will sulk and not eat if she gets plain kibble while he gets a "treat." Frankly, I wouldn't mind that--except that then when Sam eats, she wants to take what he has. I don't want to have to keep her muzzled to protect Sam. We had to muzzle her 24/7 for months for health reasons when she got here (she was chewing a leg that itched).

 

My two already eat in separate rooms, with me between them. He's old and frail and sick. She's younger and is convinced she's the alpha around here. Sam pretty much agrees with that assessment and avoids pissing her off, but he'll go to war over food issues before he'll let her take what's in his dish. I don't want him harassed. Or, worse, attacked. At present, she's patient about food when she knows she's getting her fair share of the goodies. And I wouldn't know how to explain why she isn't to a dog.

 

I know of two dogs who lived together peacefully for six years, with the younger male in awe of the older female. Then, one day, mom accidentally dropped a piece of food on the kitchen floor. When the dog owner and her son pulled the dogs apart, the male launched himself at the female again. The female wound up in the ER for stitches and a drain in her face. I'm not going there. I'll risk diarrhea for her before I'll risk her harming Sam.

 

(Oh, and fair's fair around here. If one dog needs to skip a meal for a medical reason--i.e., pre-surgical fasting--the other dog doesn't eat in front of the fasting dog.)

 

I'm still confused. If they eat in separate rooms, how does one know what the other is getting? Am I missing something? Of course I agree about fasting and not eating in front of another dog, which seems to me to be the answer. If you can do that, why can't you give them each something different?

 

As far as kids and giving medicine: Sorry, but life isn't fair and sometimes one kid gets a treat to get the medicine down that the other doesn't get, especially if it's going to give kid #2 diarrhea, which is what I said in my original post.

 

I don't have 2 dogs, but if I did and had this "issue" I'd feed them totally separately, behind closed doors, and unless they can read labels on cans, how will they know what the other is getting? Besides, no matter how much we love them, they are dogs and don't need to have the foodies end of their life be even and fair.

Edited April 25, 2012 by Feisty49

[KF_in_Georgia]

There are no doors. Food is fixed in the kitchen. One dish is set down for her. The second dish is carried four feet into the dining room. They can see each other while eating, but one can't stick his nose into the other's dish without enough movement and warning for me to intervene. There are two doors in the entire downstairs of my condo: one leads to a postage-stamp sized bathroom that hasn't got enough room for a dog to turn around in; the other is a coat closet that isn't big enough for a dog to go into in the first place.

 

For pre-surgical fasting, I delivered the girl to the vet for her spay. Then I went home and fed the boy. Nineteen miles between the two of them might be a bit of overkill, but it worked.

 

I've tried feeding her in her crate. She decides she doesn't need to eat everything. I let her out, and the boy goes to the crate over and over to see if there's food left there. She dashes back there to head him off. This idiocy continues even when there is no food in her crate!

 

I could crate her for meals and ex-pen him, but each would still be able to see the other's food. (I used to ex-pen Sam for feeding; the dog I had then, Oreo, would finish her dinner, then come to sniff at Sam's dish. One time, she showed up too soon to suit him, cornered him as he was coming out of the pen, and he struck out in a panic. Four stitches later, Oreo still was convinced she'd won the battle. I started collecting food dishes as soon as each dog was finished, but they still each knew what the other was eating.)

 

When I had a single dog, feeding was never an issue. But two dogs that highly value food are a whole different ballgame. And Sam is the most single-minded, food-driven dog I've ever seen--even at nearly 12 years of age. It's funny: I can put his food down, tell him to leave it, and he will wait until I tell him he can eat. But once I've told him, he figures all brakes are off and he can eat anything that doesn't eat him first. And both dogs are good about not harassing me while I eat. Sam might look reproachful and lick his lips, but he doesn't try to help himself to my plate.

 

Ah, well. One more dose of Panacur tonight.

[Guest WhiteWave]

We feed 9 dogs. They all eat in the kitchen side by side. They all get different stuff. If one feels deprived, oh well, they'll get over it! If they don't want to eat their food b/c they aren't getting what another dog got, then they will go hungry. I have no patience for dogs who want to play games.

[gracegirl]

I'm a mean mom. I'd give the dog not getting meds plain kibble and call it a day.

 

Me too. They are animals, not children.

[Remolacha]

Can you give Silver the Princess something "special" that won't give her nasty poops that is different from Sam's canned food? Like yogurt or cottage cheese? Or, can you mix Sam's medicine in something Silver can eat? I am sure you've thought of these things, but sometimes, for me anyway, I overthink the situation and miss the obvious

 

I try to be even handed with the dogs treats/medicine-hidden-in-treats, just because it makes ME feel better

[Batmom]

Whether to make you feel better or to appease the dog-not-getting-special-food ... When Batman was ill and got special meals (and several meals/day), each time he was fed I would give Zema a spoonful of Batman's food. I cut her regular food back a little to compensate. She would inhale anything; in this case it was to make me feel better . But, it also made her food smell like his so she wasn't sniffing around for something other than what was in her dish.

[tbhounds]

I must be either a sucker or a fool- if one dog gets a yummy so does the other- I see no harm in that. Sometimes you have to choose your battles in life- I try not to sweat the small stuff- if feeding "even Steven" makes life easier why not? (of course dietary restrictions must apply)

[KF_in_Georgia]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I took HubCityPam's advice: mushy kibble for Silver, with a couple of tablespoons of the canned. We've finished the panacur rounds, and all's well.

 

Both my dogs have fought over food. Sam got into it a couple of times with my first grey, Oreo: once when she cornered him and scared him, a second time when she confronted him (over a package of saltine crackers he'd stolen from the kitchen) and he didn't give in to her. (I pulled both dogs apart, and they dove back after the crackers.) In the pound, Silver was housed with a pitbull. All I can figure is that it must have been a pitbull with the temperament of a saint because when she and Silver got into it over dinner, she inflicted very little damage on Silver (stitches on both sides of Silver's neck); I have to wonder how much damage Silver inflicted on the pit. At any rate, I'm not likely to stand my food houndies next to each other and feed them different things--unless we're in the waiting room of the ER, so I can save myself that harrowing drive with bleeding critters. (Made that drive before, too.) A bit of diarrhea is a less serious risk, and has much cheaper medical bills.

[GreyhoundGirl]

I've had to give Panacur and I use baby food (it's amazing what you can get the dogs to eat when you mix it in baby food ). The vet recommended it because it's easy on their stomach and tasty. My 2 have glass stomachs like you wouldn't believe and it doesn't bother them. I get stage 2 chicken or turkey and split the jar between them.

[greyhead]

Sam's taking Panacur to deal with an outbreak of yuck. To make the Panacur more palatable, I mixed it into canned food last night.

 

How come Sam's taking Panacur, Kathy? It's not for the Clostridium you mentioned in another thread, is it? Cuz I don't think it's used for that. But dear God, I hope he doesn't have worms too! (We have a bit of experience with both in our house.)

[KF_in_Georgia]

Sam's taking Panacur to deal with an outbreak of yuck. To make the Panacur more palatable, I mixed it into canned food last night.

 

How come Sam's taking Panacur, Kathy? It's not for the Clostridium you mentioned in another thread, is it? Cuz I don't think it's used for that. But dear God, I hope he doesn't have worms too! (We have a bit of experience with both in our house.)

 

Yeah. The first round of diarrhea was accompanied by lots of mucus, and there'd been a prior incident with mucus. The vet suspects the possibility of whipworms. Whips have a three-month life cycle, I think, but since there's at least a chance he's got something else with the whips, we wormed him when he first got sick (2 April), then three weeks after that. Then we'll consider something about three months down the line.

 

In early April, we did six days of metronidazole. A few days after that round ended, the diarrhea started up again, even worse. We've now done 12 more days and are hoping this has finally got it. So far, so good, although his last relapse was about 3 or 4 days after the first set of pills ran out, and we're now about 3 days post pills on the 12-day dose. Fingers crossed.

[KF_in_Georgia]

Well, h311.

 

It's paper-plate time around here again. The diarrhea is back this morning.

 

I'll be calling the vet this morning to get Sam in later today.

[greyhead]

Hope the vet is helpful. (I'm wondering if it's the clostridium. It took *multiple* rounds of Simplicef, cephalexin, and metronidazole to cure Spencer's, and so long to diagnose and control that he wound up with IBD. Hope they did a sensitivity along with the culture.)

[KF_in_Georgia]

The clostridium has cleared. Sam's now got yeast(?) in his gut...or at least in his poop.

 

We're going to put Sam on what we hope will be a maintenance dose of metronidazole, bearing in mind that we're risking metronidazole toxicity, so I'll be watching for problems. We'll do a regular 6-day run of 2x daily, 6-day run of 1x daily, then try 1/2 pill a day and hope that he can hold steady on that. This time I was watching for trouble--and Sam managed to start the diarrhea on a day the vet was open--so we appear to have caught this before he's gone to full-blown liquid poop. (Sam has dropped a couple of pounds--he's down to 63.5.)

 

Sam's other problems seem to be holding steady: breathing noisy but not too harsh, heartbeat "weird" (the vet's own words), back problems no worse and his mobility a little better (I think it's the warmer weather).

 

It's ten days to Sam's birthday. He'll be 12.