Chicken soup for the greyhound soul

[EllenEveBaz]

Those of you who have had a pet who didn't want to eat will find this familiar.

Sat. evening Jeter didn't want his chicken breast morsels at first, but he did eagerly lap the broth they were sitting in.  So I thought -- soup!  Get solids and liquids in him at the same time!  Sunday I simmered the meaty carcass of a chicken I had been pulling from as well as a meaty pork rib.  Hesitated about adding rice, but thought -- rice overcooked in meat broth -- what dog could resist?   After a few hours of gentle simmering and adding more water, sieved out the solids and put ground turkey into the broth to up the meat content.  Went through the chicken meat with my fingertips to find bones.  Kept finding another teeny-tiny one each time I thought I was through.  Hands covered in grease almost up to my wrists.  Horrible flashbacks to being tortured as a child with this kitchen chore.  Skimmed the fat from the broth, added the now-shredded meat; warmed up to just over room temperature.  Presented to His Majesty, who sniffed and turned his head away.  "Meh."  

So Milo and Gelsey will be getting a dipperful of stew on their kibble each meal for the foreseeable future.  

Edited November 1, 2021 by EllenEveBaz

[macoduck]

  Been there done that! 

[Remolacha]

Sigh, oh yes, I resemble that situation  Hope you can find something he will eat for longer than a day or two 

[Time4ANap]

Been there too.  You don't know until you try though. 

"Magical Dinner Dust" from Stella and Chewy has been a big hit with some of our seniors who didn't want to eat. Just sprinle it on their regular food. I try to mix it in pretty well so that everything is covered with it. 

https://www.amazon.com/Stella-Chewys-Freeze-Dried-Magical-Cage-Free/dp/B07SM1QT2J

I also haven't had a dog turn down full fat (4%) cottage cheese stirred through their meal. Both are worth a try if you haven't already tried them.  

[ramonaghan]

Boy, can I relate. Thankfully with chemo behind us we're not facing that anymore (knock on wood), but we wasted a lot of food and washed a lot of dishes. Usually only to find Sweep would suddenly eat something she'd rejected before. So don't hesitate to try something again--it might smell yummier today than it did yesterday, and tomorrow it might be gross again. Oatmeal with plain boiled chicken is one of our go-tos. 

Please eat, Jeter.  

[Remolacha]

You want gross, my first greyhound had a variety of ills when she got old and was very picky her last few months. One thing that she usually would eat was canned tuna in vanilla Ensure 

[GreyPoopon]

Not quite BTDT--no fishing for bones that I recall--but definitely hours spent to earn a meh.

A trick that I learned from my senior diabetic kitty: pureeing food into soup. I'm not sure why, but it makes some semi-interesting foods more palatable.

[FiveRoooooers]

Dogs can be so weird. They turn down that lovingly prepared nomlicious offering, yet will raid the litter box. 

Jeter, do you need Seamie's List   Please eat, young man 

[Sniffy]

17 hours ago, Remolacha said:

 One thing that she usually would eat was canned tuna in vanilla Ensure 

Wow, that's quite a Senior Tuna Melt!

[Lexi]

My vet recommend warming up food in the microwave just a touch to bring out the odor. 

[EllenEveBaz]

Have already tried Magical Dinner Dust and cottage cheese and tuna and sardines/canned salmon and shaky cheese and scrambled eggs and yummy yummy canned dog food (although not all together) and I forget what else to no avail.  Vet didn't like the idea of cottage cheese; is worried that dairy might cause diarrhea which would probably be disastrous for Jeter.  So that's why I haven't tried Ensure or yogurt or eggnog.  He will eat meat -- homecooked chicken or raw beef, please.  None of this processed stuff or even rotisserie chicken.  When it's cooked, I do serve it room temperature or slightly warmed.  He was eating Milk-Bone brushing chews fairly reliably but has been off them for a few days.  This morning all he would eat was peanut butter, licked off small pieces of what was originally my peanut butter toast.  

I took today off work (and will be "written up" if I take another day off without a month's notice -- gotta love working in healthcare) and made a run to the grocery store.  This afternoon Jeter ate one container of "little dog" food (took him two tries, half an hour apart) and numerous peanut butter dog biscuits.  

[HeyRunDog]

10 hours ago, Lexi said:

My vet recommend warming up food in the microwave just a touch to bring out the odour. 

I do something similar for Grace. I put a couple of spoonfuls of her kibble in her bowl and add boiling water then leave it to cool before adding the rest of her food.

[cleptogrey]

i just posted what could have been my reply to this on your other posting! Nishiki short grain sushi rice is cheap, flavorful and a whopping 600 calories per cup!

[EllenEveBaz]

But I don't think Jeter will eat any rice.    

[Remolacha]

Some of mine that didn’t like rice would eat oatmeal. I cooked it in chicken stock instead of water and added a little goat milk. Mild on the stomach, tasty (for a dog ) and some calories.

[Grant]

I must have got real lucky with my 8 year old boy.  He's extremely food motivated.  Made training a sinch.  Sometimes I put a bit of warm water in his kibble to make a gravy and eats it like its his last meal.