Tempting Food After Surgery And Antibiotics?

[jetcitywoman]

My Ajax has been through the wringer this weekend and we almost lost him. He's home and doing fine with one issue: were having a hard time getting him to eat. He's got fresh surgery wounds on his lower back and tummy - so sore on both sides. The tummy issue was a perforated bladder which they fixed but because his insides got bathed in urine, we have to give him antibiotics. I'm sure it's mostly the antibiotics at this point that are putting him off food.

 

Were also supposed to give him tramadol, which is bitter and he hates, which is also upsetting him.

 

We're supposed to feed him meat and rice bland diet, which we are. We tried both chicken and hamburger. We've also tempted him with yogurt, his normal kibble, and tricky trainers dog treat which are smelly and he loves. We can't get more than one swallow or licking a spoon. He likes peanut butter, but we've used that to get pills down him before so he's leery of it now. Any other ideas to get some nutrition down him? He really must have food in his tummy for the antibiotics, so we seem to be at a standstill.

[tbhounds]

Baby food :-). Sometimes warming food will help too.

[jetcitywoman]

Oh meat baby food? Also maybe cat food? We've been warming up whatever we offer him. We have to be careful with the rich foods because he needs the bland diet to reintroduce food gently into his system.

[a_daerr]

I use Barkworthies Bully Flakes sprinkled on top of the kibble. This has been a miracle product for my post-chemo boy.

[Batmom]

Is he on an acid reducer to help his tummy feel better? Check with your vet first, but here we do:

 

1. Give one regular-strength Pepcid (10mg famotidine).

2. Wait 30-40 minutes.

3. Give meal or substantial snack (substantial = slice of bread or a hardboiled egg or a small hamburger patty or a handful of dog treats)

4. Give medications.

 

There are tummy meds that reduce acid more than famotidine but sometimes more is not better, and famotidine doesn't interfere with most meds. You can give 20-40mg famotidine per day for a greyhound-sized dog but again, check with your vet to be sure.

 

Food wise, some of our go-to items are:

 

- scrambled eggs, with or without a little parmesan cheese

- Cheerios

- spaghettios (easy on these -- high in salt)

- Tripett or Solid Gold Green Cow canned tripe

- graham crackers

- poached chicken livers (not too many, maybe 3/day max)

- anything with a drizzle of honey, molasses, vanilla yogurt, or vanilla ice cream on top

 

Hugs and hopes your boy makes a great recovery.

[PatricksMom]

Buy some gel caps from a compounding pharmacy or see if someone in your adoption group has leftover cosequine capsules and put the Tramadol in that so he doesn't taste it.

[tbhounds]

Oh meat baby food? Also maybe cat food? We've been warming up whatever we offer him. We have to be careful with the rich foods because he needs the bland diet to reintroduce food gently into his system.

This....

https://www.gerber.com/products/baby-food-products/product/gerber-2nd-foods-chicken-chicken-gravy/21

It's very bland so it shouldn't upset the tummy :-)

[jetcitywoman]

Thanks everyone! Once again the power of greytalk works! I'm going to run to the store now. He hasn't had a full meal in almost five days now, so I need to get crackin!

[JohnF]

Try half a dozen cans of Royal Canin Gastro-intestinal. Most dogs simply cannot resist it. Maybe your vet sells it?

[jetcitywoman]

Success! He just ate a whole small jar of gerber! I'll keep all of these suggestion close just in case he decides he doesn't like the baby food. With this boy, we may have to rotate through a series of things. Thanks again everyone!

[BatterseaBrindl]

Canned tripe is very stinky and apparently delicious. It comes in a variety of 'Flavours' and could probably be heated.

[Guest sireltonsmom]

Wishing him a speedy, complete recovery. Glad he ate the Gerbers. It should get better every day as he feels better I hope!

[Guest june]

I don't mess with trying to hide meds. My girls get the pill pushed to the back of their throat quickly followed with a small piece of bread with a dab of peanut butter. They know they will get the treat and don't protest about the pills. Also I use ground turkey instead of beef or chicken. They really love it.

Good luck.

[Burpdog]

Get him some carafate (sulcrafate is the generic) to give inbetween the atbs

 

Wrap the tramadol in a little ball of bread to shove down -- that way, he won't taste it.

 

What I consider junk food but if it gets them eating.... IAMS beef cuts in gravy, Science Diet canned

 

Tuna, rostisierre (sp) chicken, jack mackerel -- anything that stinks

[jetcitywoman]

We're jamming the pills down the hatch, closing his mouth and rub his throat trick. It works fine for anything except for those nasty tramadol pills. They're apparently so bitter he can even taste it hidden in a little ball of peanut butter. He can taste it in his throat. We're getting them down him, but he's really unhappy about it. He literally gags and makes me think were choking him. Ugh.

 

Fortunately he's a really good boy, and super patient with all of this. His tummy incision is oozing and I have been alternately applying quik stop and gently cleaning it, and laying cold packs wrapped in towel on it. No muzzle, he just lays there. He gets up to go potty and comes back to bed and lays quietly. We do have a e-collar on him and he's patient with that too.

[Guest FordRacingRon]

Oh meat baby food? Also maybe cat food? We've been warming up whatever we offer him. We have to be careful with the rich foods because he needs the bland diet to reintroduce food gently into his system.

I have a thread started here about I thought it was the end for my girl and after we got her over the hump of being sick we had to get her to eat. One of the first thing she took a liking too (and still is eating) is meat baby food. She prefers the Gerbers chicken with gravy and/or turkey with gravy. Room temp is fine. Also she was eating nothing else but chicken thighs (stripped off the bones of course) and until yesterday that was it for her. But he baby food really got her goign again (and a b-12 shot).

[RedHead]

Poor pup, it must be nasty stuff I just had to give my guy tramadol and it MUST be bitter, because I emptied one tiny little capsule into a bowl of sardines and canned dog food and he gagged and refused to eat after the first lick. Luckily mine came in capsule form, so I decided to not empty out the powder but just hide the whole capsule in something. I found that putting it in goat's cheese worked well because the texture allowed me to stick together little balls which kept all of the medicine and bitter taste in the middle. I always gave a few "warm up" balls of the cheese so that he wasn't suspicious. As soon he started to mindlessly gulp them down I gave him the pill one which he basically just swallowed whole. The goat's cheese holds together better than peanut butter, so if you get the pill in the middle and squeeze it into a tight ball, it generally won't come apart in the dog's mouth.

 

In the past I have made up a simple "doggy meatloaf" with very minimal and simple ingredients (meat, and pureed veggies/potato). It is much more economical than buying canned/jarred food if you are going to be doing it for a longer amount of time.

Edited August 25, 2014 by RedHead

[tbhounds]

Personally, I wouldn't apply kwikstop to the incision. Gentle cleaning with warm water gauze should keep it clean.

[EllenEveBaz]

Sending gentle hugs to your sweet boy.