Dog Community

HELP! My sick dog won't eat!

Posted : 11/11/2006 10:35:51 AM

I know this should be under "health" but there's more traffic here.

I took our 12 1/2 year old Dalmation to the vet on Thursday for colitis. He's had it before, but not for several years. We''ve got him on metronidizole, an anti-inflammatory, and another drug the vet said was like pepto-bismol. We also usually only fast him for 24 hours but I couldn't get him to take any food for 48 hours, and then it was just a bit of Innova Senior canned. I haven't been able to get him to eat anything else for the past 24 hours. He has been drinking, thank goodness.

His liver function looked good, but his kidney levels are starting to look high. The vet said some of that could be due to muscle wasting from fasting and the Canidae I switched him to a couple months ago. He also had low blood sugar, which the vet recommended a bit of syrup for. But I can't get him to eat! I'm going to try silk balls, can anyone recommend anything else? I know my sister (former vet tech) mentioned that they sometimes have to force-feed cats to get their appetites back after a fast. Do dogs do that too?

If I can't get him to eat by Monday, I will probably have to take him in to be put down. He's so weak now I have to help him get up. He's old, but I hate to let him go for digestive problems when his other systems seem to be OK and he had been doing so well otherwise. I just can't stand to see him this way!

jennie_c_d

Posted : 11/11/2006 10:56:27 AM

Mackeral or scrambled eggs usually tempt my dogs, even when they're thier sickest. You can add a bit of boiled white potato, or white rice, if you think it'll upset his stomach. I hope you can get something down him, poor guy!

ETA: Plain meat baby food might tempt him, too, and it'd be easy to eat. I read that lamb baby food is pretty tempting.

calliecritturs

Posted : 11/11/2006 11:04:08 AM

Jen -- yeah sometimes you have to really stimulate that appetite. I would probably try something like burger rice and egg -- 1 cup of rice, 1/4 pound of hamburger (add when the rice is mostly cooked) and then stir in an egg when you take it off the heat. Add just a bit of garlic powder (not salt). You can puree that if you must to put thru a syringe (squirt it behind the canine tooth so it just floats onto his tongue - holding the mouth loosely shut). Might work.

jenhuedepohl

Posted : 11/11/2006 12:21:43 PM

Thanks for the suggestions! I have thawed out some deer burger. Do you think that will be OK in place of the hamburger? I am trying to keep the fat low to keep the colitis from flaring up, but at this point I'd feed him Twinkies if I thought it would make him eat! This is a dog that LIVES for food and would eat anything remotely resembling food, so it's been really hard to see him eat only a tiny bit in 3 days.

I think I'll also try some of the nice stinky canned cat food I got for our 13 year old cat to get her appetite up. Maybe that will tempt him more than the Innova did.

jennie_c_d

Posted : 11/11/2006 12:27:36 PM

Thanks for the suggestions! I have thawed out some deer burger. Do you think that will be OK in place of the hamburger?

I don't see why not. It's more lean, which is probably GOOD, with the GI issues.

calliecritturs

Posted : 11/11/2006 12:40:42 PM

Except the high protein stuff is going to be tougher on the kidneys. In honesty, the absolute best thing (and this could honestly give him quite a bit of time) would be a vet that does acupuncture and oriental herbals. That's not as rare as you might think and boy does it help geriatrics. I had a sheltie mix who was heading into renal failure and we literally kept it from declining at all for 2 years plus. (and I have lost a dog to renal failure so I'm well acquainted with it and the progression)

[linkhttp://www.tcvm.com]http://www.tcvm.com[/link] -- there's a locator on the left column which would tell you if there is a TCVM vet near you (this is a particular 'modality' -- I don't mean a Chinese vet - but rather one who is certified in oriental medicine)

Generally warm food will spark their appetite, particularly if it has a bit of garlic in it. Don't give a big bowl -- make it like you're cooking for yourself. Put just a tablespoon ful in a small dish or his dish and give it to him. "Want more? Sure ... you can have more of this!" But keep putting down small amounts -- mentally it works better.

jenhuedepohl

Posted : 11/11/2006 12:45:31 PM

Wow Callie! Thanks so much for that site. I wasn't expecting to find a vet only 35 miles away! I'm going to recommend her to a friend whose 14 year old sheltie is going into renal failure. I know she'd do ANYTHING to help her best agility bud.

Edited to add: The vet didn't think his kidney's were too bad, he was pretty sure that the elevated levels were due to the colitis and possibly the high protein of the Canidae. I've already gotten him a bag of Canidae Platinum and may switch him back to the Eukanuba low residue that he was on for several years after his first bout with colitis. I will definitely have his levels checked again if he gets better. Hopefully we can get him back on his feet.

calliecritturs

Posted : 11/11/2006 12:58:30 PM

In honesty, if you can try this place FIRST before you make the decision to put him down you might be surprised. Acupuncture can greatly stimulate the appetite too.

willowchow

Posted : 11/11/2006 2:54:29 PM

Actually, I think you'd be better off just giving him something really, really simple, no combinations of rice/meat at this time. Willow has IBS and when it flares up it can take her serveral days to get back to normal. I usually just start her off with some cottage cheese or yogurt to get her eating again. Then as she starts to want more we move up to rice and meat or something like that. The satin balls that you mentioned, those are very high fat, way too much for him at this point, in my opinion.

Has he recently had a new food that could of set this off??

jenhuedepohl

Posted : 11/11/2006 9:27:13 PM

Has he recently had a new food that could of set this off??

I started him on Canidae a couple months ago. I think it was just too rich for him. I already picked up a bag of Canidae Platinum which has quite a bit lower in fat and protein and had some extra psyllium fiber. That should tide him over until I can find some Eukanuba Low Residue. He was on that for a couple years after his first bout of colitis and did extremely well on it. If my sister hadn't quit the vet clinic where she got it for me in kennel packs at cost, I'd still have him on it today! The biggest problem is that it's only available through vets and all the vets around here have Science Diet or Purina.

I also think the satin balls will be too rich. I did get a bit of deer burger and white rice in him, but I'm going to try some cottage cheese before bed tonight. In the AM, I'm going to pick up some plain yogurt and maybe some babyfood meat. I think he is finally starting to feel better, though. He's upstairs now, lying on his chest with his head up instead of flat on his side. He went outside a little while ago and peed good then went in and drank a lot more. Things are looking up! Thank you SO MUCH for all of the encouragement and advice! It really means a lot.

flip195

Posted : 11/11/2006 10:29:37 PM

This recipe helps stimulate appetite in sick animals.
Ingredients:
Pedialyte, chamomile tea, spearmint tea, peppermint tea, echinacea capsules, garlic, honey

Cooking:

1) Heat (but don't boil) up 1 cup of Pedialyte (unflavored).

2) Put in 2 teabags of Chamomile tea, 1 teabag of Spearmint tea, and one teabag of Peppermint tea.

3) Pull the teabags out after 5 minutes and add 2 teaspoons of finely
chopped or minced garlic. Stir.

4) Empty 2 capsules of Echinacea. Stir.

5) Let cool for another 5-10 minutes.

Administering:

1) Give each pup 2 tablespoons. Then wait 15 minutes.

2) Give another 2 tablespoons.

3) Repeat every hour until pup starts eating on its own.

If after the 4th dose the pup still isn't eating, rub some honey on
their gums to stimulate their appetite. If they are vomiting, give
pepto 10 minutes before dosing.

Also try some organic goats milk and organic honey with some cooked brown rice, you could also rub some honey on the gums to induce appetite.

jenhuedepohl

Posted : 11/12/2006 8:48:08 AM

Excellent News!

Blackhawk has gotten up on the couch!

If you knew this dog, you'd know why I'm so excited. This is a dog that has always thought sleeping on a dog bed is equivalent to sleeping on a bed of nails. He only sleeps on his dog bed when we're camping and there is no couch available. We had always joked that it we would know it's Blackhawk's "time" when he would be unable to get on the couch because then his quality of life would be gone. Since he got sick, he has been too weak to get himself up on his precious couch, but I found him up there when I got up this morning! [

]

I have been able to get him to eat a bit of ground deer and white rice with a couple cloves of garlic thrown in. He'll only eat a few tablespoons, and only while he's lying down, but it's definitely a start!

Thanks so much again, for all your suggestions!

spiritdogs

Posted : 11/12/2006 9:43:29 AM

Something else no one has yet mentioned, but which does work sometimes, is green tripe. It's low in phosphorus, so ok for old dogs who may have kidney issues, and it really does stink, which can stimulate them to eat. Solid Gold sells it canned.

willowchow

Posted : 11/12/2006 11:40:30 AM

I'm glad he's up on the couch! I just wanted to mention again it might take him several days to start eating more and acting better. I know with Willow (and IBS isn't as severe as colitis) it can take her sometimes a week or so. Willow eats canned Hill's i/d once or twice a day and it's worked tremendously well for her. And, the ingredients are not horrible like other formulas they have. So, maybe you could give that a try if you can't get the Eukanuba.

You can also give him broth like chicken or beef broth if you can't find Pedialyte. I wouldn't worry about finding the low sodium at this point. They need salt when they get like this so it wouldn't hurt right now. And, even if he just takes a spoonful of food that's fine. Sometimes Willow will take a spoonful here or there and then slowly start increasing as a few days pass. Ugh, just typing this I'm feeling your pain.

I know of another dog that eats that formula you were using and he also does really well on it.

Interesting about the Canidae, Willow also had a flare up after trying it. But, we later found out that chicken causes a problem in her. A kibble I recently tried that she is doing well on is Natural Balance Sweet Potato and Fish (it's salmon).

HKdog

Posted : 11/13/2006 8:15:26 AM

I would go with Spiritdogs and Willow on this one, the green tripe, (stinky!!) will probably help him get his appetite back. And Pedialyte to get some fluids back in him, this stuff is great!! When I was in the military we would put that stuff in our camelbacks instead of water. It hydrates you pretty fast. (and is a great hangover cure I might add.)
My mother gave our old girl Jaycee that when she was sick, she mixed it with baby formula though. I dont know if that would help but it might. Don't give up yet! He's on the couch like you said, some dogs it just takes a few days.