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Need Help Getting A Dog To Eat - Update, Post #38


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So the trouble with Kat continues. On Friday early in the morning she vomited a nasty stinky brown liquid. I gave her some pepcid and we went back to bed. A few hours later on our walk, liquid poo and foamy vomit. So I took her into my vet who gave her fluids, and shots of cerenia, an AB, and something else and sent me home with anti-nausea and anti-diarrheal (immodium) meds, which she's been on since then. For dinner that evening, she ate some plain chicken breast that I cooked and shredded for her, but since then she's basically subsisting on a diet of PB. Last night I tricked her into eating a few pieces of chicken, but literally other than that, she's just eating PB. This morning is actually the first day her stool hasn't been completely liquid since Friday so I was hoping maybe she'd eat a little, but she has absolutely no interest.

 

I'm going to call my vet again, but in the meantime, I wanted to start gathering suggestions for getting her to eat. I'm afraid at this point her stomach's been empty so long that I may have to syringe feed her a bit. I'm planning to pick up some baby food, but if you have other suggestions they would be appreciated. Also, if I do need to syringe feed her, what would be the best concoction to make that would be easy on her stomach? And finally, she is at least drinking so I want to pick something up that has nutrients in it that she might drink. I was thinking Pedialite. I know some people also use Ensure, but isn't that more like a milkshake? I'm afraid she'll turn her nose up at that.

Edited by NeylasMom

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Jen, CPDT-KA with Zuri, lab in a greyhound suit, Violet, formerly known as Faith, Skye, the permanent puppy, Cisco, resident cat, and my baby girl Neyla, forever in my heart

"The great thing about science is that you're free to disagree with it, but you'll be wrong."

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Eating: scrambled eggs, spaghettios, poached chicken liver mashed up with some rice ....

 

Drinking: water mixed 50-50 with low-sodium broth or apple juice. Ensure might restart the diarrhea.

Star aka Starz Ovation (Ronco x Oneco Maggie*, litter #48538), Coco aka Low Key (Kiowa Mon Manny x Party Hardy, litter # 59881), and mom in Illinois
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Tripe?

Thanks for the suggestion. I think I'm looking for bland suggestions since her stomach situation is still tenuous at best. I also think she'll turn her nose up at anything really rich smelling. Canned dog food that she was eating earlier in the week and cat food are total no go's. :(

 

Things that I don't have to spend much time cooking though get bonus points. :P

 

ETA: I really think I'm going to need to syringe feed her for a meal or two to get things going again and that's where I really don't know what to give her. Maybe just the plain meat baby food?

Edited by NeylasMom

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Jen, CPDT-KA with Zuri, lab in a greyhound suit, Violet, formerly known as Faith, Skye, the permanent puppy, Cisco, resident cat, and my baby girl Neyla, forever in my heart

"The great thing about science is that you're free to disagree with it, but you'll be wrong."

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The eggs Batmom suggested are worth a shot. Pretty bland and very easy and quick to cook :) Hope she's feeling better quickly :(


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Guest zombrie

Sounds a lot like what we went through with Ace :( With Ace, we had to syringe feed him. Sometimes when we gave him one or two hits with the syringe, he decided to eat on his own.

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Scrambled eggs or even soft boiled. Cottage cheese unless dairy is an issue.

 

Going through tummy issues with Rocket at the moment, and a mixture of scrambled eggs and overcooked white rice kept him eating. If she eats them, you can make 6 or 12 at a time and pull them from the refrigerator as needed. Rocket will eat them cold or warm - doesn't matter I use a non-stick pan so no butter, Pam etc needed that will alter the flavor or upset the stomach.

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We used A/D from the vet to syringe feed Norm. Its pretty "loose" food so it was easy to do. And once we did a couple of "meals" of syringe only he got right back on track. Fingers, toes and paws crossed here for you!

My sweet angel Tanner-"Showoffs Magic" 79D-82695. DOB 7/22/99. Gotcha Day 6/20/05. Bridge Day 3/11/10. Big Beautiful Brave Angel Norm-"Showoffs Storm" 89B-83263. DOB 8/16/99. Gotcha Day 3/24/06. Bridge Day 4/20/13. Angel Girl Bree-"Breezy Betty" 201A-93631. DOB 2/05/01. Gotcha Day 5/11/10. Bridge Day 10/07/11. She reached the beach.... Maci-"CF's Owhatanite" 44H-29320. DOB 10/05/04. Gotcha Day 10/11/11. Greta-"Greta's Milam" 90B-54582. DOB 9/17/10. Gotcha Day 11/30/12. Bridge Day 03/30/17. Ben-"P Kay Key Train" 63A-61271. DOB 6/2/13. Gotcha Day 12/26/15.

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Jen you might try a little oatmeal for Kat. The kind you cook not the instant. My dogs love it. I make it daily for them in their PM meal. If they are going to skip a meal it is breakfast. They never pass up their oatmeal. Good luck with Kat!

I offered her some of mine this morning, no dice. :(

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Jen, CPDT-KA with Zuri, lab in a greyhound suit, Violet, formerly known as Faith, Skye, the permanent puppy, Cisco, resident cat, and my baby girl Neyla, forever in my heart

"The great thing about science is that you're free to disagree with it, but you'll be wrong."

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Jen you might try a little oatmeal for Kat. The kind you cook not the instant. My dogs love it. I make it daily for them in their PM meal. If they are going to skip a meal it is breakfast. They never pass up their oatmeal. Good luck with Kat!

I offered her some of mine this morning, no dice. :(

 

Bummer. That's all I got. :(

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We cooked egg noodles and then put those with some kibble and hamburger meat in a skillet together. At first Ivy only ate a bite or two and that would mostly be me taking a glob and smearing it in and on her mouth. Eventually she would eat more and more.

The spaghettios are a good idea, and then you can both snack together :D.

 

We also mixed in wet canned food, the cheapest and smelliest we could find. The food bowl looked disgusting but she would eat a bite or two and then I called it a success.

 

Another thing I remembered is that the vet gave her a steroid shot and also had me giving steroids at home. A secondary benefit is that it increases hunger. I do believe it helped Ivy a lot.

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~Beth, with a crazy mixed crew of misfits.
~ Forever and Always missing and loving Steak, Carmen, Ivy, Isis, and Madi.
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Before you judge me, try to keep an open mind, not everyone likes your taste.

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Jen, when Spencer had critical eating trouble three years ago, he did go for the eggs, so I like that suggestion. Just don't undercook them like I did (once) or there may be vomiting. Scrambled is fine. And if Kat is eating PB, I wouldn't hesitate to coat the scrambling pan with vegetable oil or whatever.

 

I haven't syringed dogs myself, only cats. But AD sounds like a good suggestion for that, and I'd probably be running this past the vet anyway if it came down to syringing. Poor Kat and poor you, you've kind of been through it lately. Keep us posted.

Mary with Jumper Jack (2/17/11) and angels Shane (PA's Busta Rime, 12/10/02 - 10/14/16) and Spencer (Dutch Laser, 11/25/00 - 3/29/13).

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When I was syringe-feeding Marla, I used her regular kibble. I'd soak a few cups of food in water or chicken broth over night in the fridge, and then liquify it in a food processor with a little more broth until it was smooth and liquidy enough for the syringe. This way I was able to stick to the kibble diet which I knew wouldn't upset her tummy.

 

The oral syringe I got from my pharmacist had a very tiny opening, so I cut the tip off and filed the edges so they weren't sharp, increasing the opening size a bit because even pureed, the food would still occasionally clog the syringe.

 

I made this in batches so I wasn't constantly preparing food, and could re-warm a serving in the microwave, again adding water or broth as necessary to get the right consistency.

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Jen, when Spencer had critical eating trouble three years ago, he did go for the eggs, so I like that suggestion. Just don't undercook them like I did (once) or there may be vomiting. Scrambled is fine. And if Kat is eating PB, I wouldn't hesitate to coat the scrambling pan with vegetable oil or whatever.

 

I haven't syringed dogs myself, only cats. But AD sounds like a good suggestion for that, and I'd probably be running this past the vet anyway if it came down to syringing. Poor Kat and poor you, you've kind of been through it lately. Keep us posted.

Thanks Mary, it definitely has been a bit of a challenge this time around. I do have a call in to the vet. They said he probably won't be able to call me back until at least 3 so I'm just gathering suggestions in the meantime.

 

Thanks for the suggestions thus far.

Edited by NeylasMom

gallery_12662_3351_862.jpg

Jen, CPDT-KA with Zuri, lab in a greyhound suit, Violet, formerly known as Faith, Skye, the permanent puppy, Cisco, resident cat, and my baby girl Neyla, forever in my heart

"The great thing about science is that you're free to disagree with it, but you'll be wrong."

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I have never syringe fed a dog, only a rabbit (yeah, that was fun!) but kibble mixed with water or chicken broth until mushy is good, or plain baby food. A/D seems to work for a lot of people, although I have never used it. For non-syringe feeding, baby food straight, or thinned with goat's milk (goat's milk is much easier to digest than cow), scrambled eggs. I might try some Ensure, just to see if she'll take it.

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Guest budsmom

We used A/D from the vet to syringe feed Norm. Its pretty "loose" food so it was easy to do. And once we did a couple of "meals" of syringe only he got right back on track. Fingers, toes and paws crossed here for you!

 

 

This would be my suggestion, it's made to stimulate the appetite and can be easily thinned to syringe feed. You need to watch baby food, a lot of it is high in salt and has garlic, which isn't great.

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Well the vet wasn't particularly helpful. He wants me to bring her in tomorrow if she's not any better. I had to ask about A/D. He does have it and set aside a couple of cans for me to pick up. I also picked up some baby food of various flavors and spaghettio's at lunch. I didn't think about applesauce, that's a good suggestion and I have a big jar of it since I was eating it myself when I was sick last week. :rolleyes: I can also cook up some scrambled eggs.

 

I hope between all of that she will eat something. If not, I will try syringe feeding either the baby food or the A/D (or both) I guess. I hate to do that to her but I really think she needs something to kickstart her appetite. :( Please keep your fingers crossed that she eats for me. :goodluck:hope

 

ETA: Oh, and I ended up with plain coconut water. Thought offering her that diluted might be the best way to get electrolytes in her if she'll drink it. Has anyone ever tried that?

Edited by NeylasMom

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Jen, CPDT-KA with Zuri, lab in a greyhound suit, Violet, formerly known as Faith, Skye, the permanent puppy, Cisco, resident cat, and my baby girl Neyla, forever in my heart

"The great thing about science is that you're free to disagree with it, but you'll be wrong."

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When Rex was sick I'd sit on the futon at 3 in the morning playing "what will you eat tonight?" It was different every day and I usually would try 4 or 5 things before he'd eat one. If I could just get him to eat a couple of bites it would prime his grumbly tummy and he'd go on and eat canned then often kibble.

 

Things I used:

canned cat food

scrambled eggs

American cheese

hot dog slices

braunswager (sp) - he liked that a lot

freeze dried liver

hamburger

peanut butter

cream cheese

sardines

mac and cheese

soup (beef and barley and chicken and rice)

graham crackers

collard greens (I know it's crazy but he loved greens)

 

I didn't quit when he turned up his nose at one thing, I just kept the buffet coming until he took a bite and it was clear sailing from there.

 

Must also mention that in 13 years and a lot of greys and other dogs I always have to lock myself in the bedroom to eat a tuna sandwich.

Best of luck.

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