Increasing Appetite In Senior?

[Guest jenmm]

Joey's been losing weight lately. He's 2 months shy of 14, his blood work was fine but it's been a few months. Any suggestions to stimulate appetite again?

[XTRAWLD]

Have you looked at satin balls or liquid meal supplements like Boost?

[Guest sireltonsmom]

I started with hamburger, added Mac and cheese. Sometimes chicken breast instead. Got Ensure for my Sir Elton. Good luck. It's scary when they lose weight.

[Remolacha]

If you can, try feeding more smaller meals, and enhance them with stinky stuff like shaky cheese, sardines, green tripe. That may get him eating more of his regular food, without risking high fat stuff.

 

Congratulations on having an almost 14 yr old

[nessa]

Canned wet food has really worked around here which I never used before. Sometimes on top of the kibble, sometimes by itself. Over eggs, cottage cheese, yogurt...

Stella and Chewy's dehydrated chicken treats have been a godsend as well to stimulate eating more. Small meals more often is a great suggestion as well.

[MaryJane]

You could try toast (Challah bread) with a bit of butter on it or make french toast from the challah. My dogs love this. I would be careful of the fat though - pancreatitis could be a concern if there is too much fat or a sudden increase on fat.

[nessa]

can I have some Challah bread french toast ???

[FiveRoooooers]

If you can, try feeding more smaller meals, and enhance them with stinky stuff like shaky cheese, sardines, green tripe. That may get him eating more of his regular food, without risking high fat stuff.

 

Congratulations on having an almost 14 yr old

Yep, with those add-ins, as well as canned puppy food - this has helped my seniors add and/or maintain their weight. Really, whatever Joey likes and will eat, just more frequent meals and more of it.

 

And yes, congratulations on reaching his age

[dmswartzfager]

I have used cyproheptadine with success in one of my seniors. It's an antihistamine that seems to have appetite-stimulating properties, and should be available relatively inexpensively from your vet. (Interestingly, it was the first drug my vet reached for even though cyproheptadine is generally only used in cats.) Mirtazapine is also an inexpensive option, but it shouldn't be given to any patient with cardiac concerns (according to my current workplace's vets) and used cautiously in any patients with severe liver or kidney disease (according to Merck Veterinary Manual).

[XTRAWLD]

I have used cyproheptadine with success in one of my seniors. It's an antihistamine that seems to have appetite-stimulating properties, and should be available relatively inexpensively from your vet. (Interestingly, it was the first drug my vet reached for even though cyproheptadine is generally only used in cats.) Mirtazapine is also an inexpensive option, but it shouldn't be given to any patient with cardiac concerns (according to my current workplace's vets) and used cautiously in any patients with severe liver or kidney disease (according to Merck Veterinary Manual).

 

This is helpful. Cyproheptadine is an antihistamine is very interesting - I'm assuming this acts as an allergy reducer too? I would like to ask my vet about this.... I'm struggling with Kasey since he's back on his pred (no, the pred in his case doesn't increase hunger, quite the opposite).

[Guest jenmm]

I have used cyproheptadine with success in one of my seniors. It's an antihistamine that seems to have appetite-stimulating properties, and should be available relatively inexpensively from your vet. (Interestingly, it was the first drug my vet reached for even though cyproheptadine is generally only used in cats.) Mirtazapine is also an inexpensive option, but it shouldn't be given to any patient with cardiac concerns (according to my current workplace's vets) and used cautiously in any patients with severe liver or kidney disease (according to Merck Veterinary Manual).

This is what he's been taking, he gets small frequent meals with add ins.

[Hubcitypam]

Adding canned food and chicken broth worked for my super picky non senior.

[silverfish]

We have on old guy (coming up to 13) who has always been skinny and now is becoming skeletal. He's losing muscle because of DM, which doesn't help. I'm trying sardines/mackerel (he doesn't much like fish, unfortunately) puppy kibble, and canned puppy food (he's been on this some time and is now a bit 'meh' about it), satin balls (he won't eat them raw, but ate some dry-fried for a while then threw up and went off them), cheese sandwiches, enriched bread (a bit like challa) with butter (he'll eat a little of both but only now and then), cooked chicken/beef/organ meat (works for a few meals, then not), and now we're onto home-made pan-fried burgers made from compressed ground beef or turkey and onion-free sausages. He adores sausages, and will eat the burgers. He also gets a drink of full-cream milk last thing at night.

 

I guess what I'm saying is that when the oldies get fussy, you may need to be prepared to ring the changes and feed something only for a few days then move on to something else. Fat in itself isn't bad, providing your dog doesn't have a pancreatitis problem, but raw fat is better than cooked. Jeffie won't eat his food if there's too much oil or fat on it, so again, you have to see what they will and won't accept. Jeffie doesn't like egg or pasta or cheese sauce dishes, but all of those can work well for keeping weight on. And yes, it's a good thing if you can offer more frequent, smaller meals, rather than overloading them on one or two big ones.

 

But basically, I think that - within reason - the oldies can probably be fed whatever they like to eat and don't worry overmuch about trying to balance things out perfectly. Isn't it better to have an old dog eat a decent amount of something, rather than turn his nose up and starve himself?

 

My problem now is that Sid wants everything Jeffie gets. And since he's an aging tripod he can't afford to get fat!

[XTRAWLD]

I've decided to buy a bag of Olewo Beets to see if that helps to stimulate Kasey and hopefully that helps with his allergies too. For the Canadian customers, ordering off Amazon.ca is a helpful since the US site won't ship here! Anyone try this to help increase appetite? Claims:

 

"DOG METABOLISM & WEIGHT CONTROL

OLEWO Red Beets provide a premium source of fiber and help increase the nutrient absorption and proper digestion of the dog's food. Red beets have a gamma-amino acid which plays an important role in maintaining efficient metabolism. The betaine in red beets helps stimulate the function of liver cells and with a properly functioning liver, fats are broken down efficiently to maintain a healthy weight. "

 

I see this product working three fold for Kasey: helping his allergies, helping his metabolism and reducing his inflammation.

[silverfish]

I'm going to ask my vet about cyproheptadine. Thanks for the suggestion!

[juliemac]

for those of you in Canada: if you can find someone who is going to Abilene in early June, please PM me and we can see how to GUR the Olewo carrots or beets for you.

[galgrey]

Many moons ago, I worked as a tech for an old timey veterinarian in Texas and we always used a liquid supplement called Lixotinic to boost appetite in seniors and animals recovering from stress or illness. It worked really well. Contains B complex vitamins including B12 which helps stimulate appetite. I just looked online and it looks like the original Lixotinic is now only available in the gallon size, but the smaller bottles are called Petinic and it appears to be the same thing.