Loss of appetite in senior greyhound

[cjholgate]

Our 12 year old boy has suddenly become a picky eater. We have him on senior food which he used to happily gobble up, but lately he picks at it. He seems to have lost a few pounds too. 

He's otherwise his usual cheerful self. Slowed down a bit, but..he's 12!

Any suggestions on how to entice him to eat?

[sarabz]

@FiveRoooooers has an amazing list of ways to get senior greys to eat

Of course,  ymmv and check with your vet. Keep us posted.

 

Noms I might enjoy today. But KNOT tomorrow.

 

But perhaps again another time (pick a day …)

 

Compiled by: A senior hound ♥

 

Kibble:  pulverized; wet with chicken broth or water

 

Chicken:  ground; breast or thigh nuked and cut into pieces; rotisserie

 

Turkey:  ditto

 

Beef:  ground; cheezberger plane

 

Sardine Saturday

 

Peanut butter:  plane or on anything!

 

Scrambled eggs;  plane or add cheese (cottage; cheddar, American, spray, shakey)

 

Scrambled eggs with ground turkey or chicken (add cheese?)

 

Pasta, any shape

 

Egg noodles, plane or with:  butter, peanut butter, ground chicken, turkey, or beef

 

Waffles, with butter; peanut butter; syrup (small amount)

 

Pancakes:  ditto

 

Oatmeal:  ditto

 

TEXAS Toast, with butter or peanut butter

 

Ensure (vanilla or strawberry)

 

Vanilla ice cream or yogurt

 

Applesauce

 

Liverwurst, sparingly

 

Hot dogs, chicken, turkey, beef; boiled; sliced small & nuked til crisp; use as meal/topper.

 

Shakey cheese

 

Any cheese!

 

Assorted canned noms:  Merrick’s Grandma’s ChickenPotPie, 95% Tripe, any flavor!;

 

          Purina One chicken; whatever flavors they’ll eat: Alpo or Pedigree

 

Natural Balance (or other) rolls

 

Canned puppy food to keep weight on old bones

 

Crockpot Stew: 

 

water, broccoli, canned (real) pumpkin, white rice, chicken breast, water

 

Lemon Loaf

 

Peanut Better Biscuits

 

Cereal:  Chex Mix, Cheerios, Kellogg’s Corn Pops, Apple Jacks

 

Bananas, Apples

 

Green Beans

 

Zucchini

 

Sweet potato:  nuked or baked; plane or with butter

 

Instant potatoes

 

Vanilla Oreos

 

White bread, with seedless strawberry jam (PB&J!)

 

Quinoa, with or without butter and/or shredded or shaky cheese

 

Your LEFTOVERS!

 

 

[cleptogrey]

it's any and everything- as you see posted above. do consult w/ your vet. felix was a total mess w/ kidney disease and lyme/anaplasmosis at the end. my vet had him on pecid ac/zofran/predisone. the combo of the 3 did help w/ his appetite but the kidney disease did him in. he just couldn't process any food and his weight dropped like mad and toxins built up. zofran is an anti-nausea med. it works really well- 4mg/2xs daily. 

home cooked meals, left overs, costco chickens- felix ate 3 or 4 a week at one point. and lots of starches....don't worry about nutrition at this point. 

[FiveRoooooers]

Seamie's List

Please do check your boy's teeth. One bad tooth point can turn an enthusiastic eater into a reluctant one. If your schedule allows, offering frequent meals throughout the day can be helpful. Warming the food vs straight out of the fridge can also help to revive an appetite.  Twelve is swell! Good luck, and please keep us posted.

[BatterseaBrindl]

Ruby is also 12+ and enjoys several things from from Seamies list.

She was quite fond of the 'Cesar' pates for a while, but this week she just wants plain soaked kibbles.

She thinks that Cinnamon is a tasty topper!

Her teeth are knot the best, but her blood work is OK,  but you should check with your vet to see if there are any restrictions for your boy.

 

[MerseyGrey]

We recently changed our older boy’s food in an attempt to combat his smelly bottom, but he doesn’t seem to like the new stuff (unless we put it in one of his treat toys, then he might eat it). So we started making a gravy from a bit of wet food and mixed it in with his kibble. I have just watched him suck the gravy off most of the kibble and then spit the pieces back into his bowl. We’ve also tried mixing his kibble with yogurt, which he really likes. And I frequently see my husband with kibble in his hand, sniffing at it and making it look like the tastiest food ever before feeding Individual pieces to the boy. I think the dog knows exactly what he’s doing...

[lukasmom]

Have you tried Honest Kitchen's  food? You add water to rehydrate it. Easy on the mouth if having dental issues. Also, look into bone broth. Honest Kitchen has that as well if you do not want to make it yourself.

[greysmom]

Smaller tastier meals throughout the day.  Check with your vet first to make sure he's as healthy as he can be - mouth, kidneys, liver (bloodwork), parasites (fecal).  If he's OK from a physical standpoint I will point out two things:

1) - there's no law that says dogs *must* eat kibble.  If he turns into a canned-food-only kind of dog, make sure it says it's a "complete" food source and consider adding oat bran or another whole grain fiber source so his poop stays firmer.

2) - Most of our senior dogs have opted out of a daily meal as they age.  Usually it's breakfast, but your dog may vary!  As long as they are eating one good meal a day and holding their weight adequately we let them choose when that will be.  They're seniors and they earned that!   If they need to take meds we keep some tasty canned food or meats on hand (a small can or tuna or canned chicken) so they have something on their stomach to take their pills (especially nsaids).