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Old dog, eating difficulties


jvw
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My old gal is coming up on 15. She has a thryroid issue and heart murmur, both controlled with meds.

 

I used to feed raw but have switched to grain free kibble. For quite a while she was loving it.

 

In the morning she wants to eat but is EXTREMELY picky. Sometimes it takes four tries to find something she will eat. Everything I try works for a day or three. But then she stops eating it. I've tried different dishes for the food. I try hand feeding. We've gone through the whole gammut of foods. Strangely in the evening she eats the kibble no problem.

 

Just went to the vet and had very thorough exam and extensive blood work. All good for a dog her age. We are stumped.

 

Anyone have any advice? Any experience?

 

So far she has only lost one lb. And vet says her muscle tone is good for a dog her age.

 

For now I keep plenty of options on hand and keep rotating through them.

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One of the old dogs I take care of is a problem eater. She fixes the most amazing meals for him and sometimes he just turns up his nose and other times he eats.

 

I usually get there about 11 to let him out. Sometimes she just leaves his dish of food on the covered in wrap. When I get there I try and see if I can get him to eat. And often he is hungry by then.

 

Sometimes old dogs just lose their sense of smell and so food isn't attractive to them. If the food is warmer it smells better. I know that I have just put warm water on some kibble and a problem eater will eat better. Warming it up makes the smell stronger.

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Older dogs seem to be picky, all mine do the same thing. I have grilled chicken breast and made rice, boiled liver or hamburger and drained, turkey, tried pastas or potatoes, cottage cheese;fed in bowls, plates, paper plates, hand fed. I try to offer several meals a day and before any meds.

When do you give her the meds? Sometimes they will make their stomach upset just like people. Sometimes an empty stomach makes them nauseous also. Might check with your vet about trying some pepcid or tagamet, sometimes that helps. I also add extra water for the older guys

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One other thing. Sometimes I just sit on the floor and hand feed. Usually he refuses the 1st and 2nd try. But sometimes he will take a bite. If I can get him to take even 1 bite he will start eating. And sometimes he won't.

 

He doesn't need a lot of calories because he mostly sleeps during the day so even if he eats every other day it seems to be enough.

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I also find that sometimes a smelly topper will stimulate appetite in my dog. Warm no sodium broth is usually a hit, just a little mixed in to add some smell. I've also used boiled liver, green tripe, and sometimes boiled Turkey burger. I often have trouble getting Lyka to eat and she is only 2.

 

It could also just be a side effect of getting older. Burning less calories means she may not be as hungry.

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I would think she would have vomitting or diarrhea or some other symtoms. Also she is fine for dinner.

 

I am not exactly sure what my vet tested for but it was an extensive blood panel.

 

She emailed me the Pepcid dose. We'll start that tomorrow.

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My old gal's appetite started dropping off at least a year before she died. At first it was like you describe, then she gradually started eating less and less. I'd feed her twice a day and offer her all kinds of things to entice her to eat. She was also raw fed, but I bought kibble, which she ate for a while. I'd have 3 or 4 different things out and in the fridge to try to entice her to eat. Like yours, vet checks were coming up fine.

 

She gradually stopped eating in the morning altogether and if she was going to eat it would be at night. Then that became more sporadic and I started hand feeding her after she'd eaten all she was going to eat.

 

Vet recommended Dyne high caloric liquid supplement (http://smile.amazon.com/dp/B00061MRZE/ref=sr_ph?ie=UTF8&qid=1438479223&sr=1&keywords=dyne) to get some calories into her. I also bought some Nutri-Cal (http://smile.amazon.com/Nutri-Cal-Calorie-Dietary-Supplement-4-25-Ounce/dp/B00542UWFW/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1438479356&sr=8-4&keywords=nutri-cal or puppy formula http://smile.amazon.com/Calorie-Nutritional-Supplement-Nutri-Cal%C2%AE-Puppies/dp/B000FO1QOU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1438479388&sr=8-1&keywords=nutri-cal -- I'm not sure what difference there is. I used puppy). It's thicker so I'd put some on a treat sometimes when she'd eat it.

 

Vet also suggested an injectable steroid to stimulate her appetite. (She wouldn't take pills anymore, would refuse any food I hid them in months after I tried and would fight me literally tooth and nail if I tried to just drop them in her mouth.) I declined because she'd already lost urine and bowel control and I didn't want to make it worse, but it might be something you could ask your vet about.

 

Over time Tilly lost a lot of weight and was eating less and less. Finally she stopped eating altogether and after 3 days when I couldn't get any food into her at all and she wasn't drinking water, we made our final trip to the vet.

 

It sounds like you're doing about all you can do for her. It just may be that she's close to the end and this is how it happens. Do what you can for her, treasure every day you have with her, and be prepared to make the best decision for her when the time comes.

 

My heart aches for you. We worry about them so much when they get this old and do what we can, but there's only so much we can do.

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I will wholeheartedly second mirtazapine.

My old girl (a rescue Sheltie mix) is approaching 19 (in October, best guess) and last year she started refusing many of her meals. I spoke with my vets and received lots of advice - much of which has already been listed here.

Warm food

Different food

Smelly food - canned cat food worked particularly well for my dog

Put the food on a flat plate

Canned Mini-raviolis in tomato sauce. I kid you not. It worked, and has worked for many of my vet's clients.

 

Last July, she lost quite a bit of weight because she was refusing her food at least 50% of the time despite my best efforts. By chance, I brought her to a new vet (who loves treating the senior dogs, which I did not know at the time) about a year ago. I had been watching Ritz very closely with thoughts of "when was the right time to say goodbye". This vet prescribed mirtazapine (an anti-nausea drug - and also used as an anti-anxiety drug in humans I believe) and by the next meal, Ritz has eaten fairly normally for going on a year at the current time. The few times that she has refused a meal, more often than not it is because I have forgotten her mirtazapine (which is only 1/2 of a 15 mg tablet).

 

Good Luck.

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This is a dog who literally lives to eat. Her whole life has always revolved around food. I've always said if she doesn't want to eat then I know it is time.

 

I'm encouraged because she still wants to eat. She still has a good quality of life. She does mostly sleep. And rarely greets me at the door anymore. But wants to get out for a bit in the morning.

 

I do cherish every day. Whatever we have left together

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How is her water intake? I followed many of the same suggestions above and they worked well after we solved another problem first and that was hydration. How much she is drinking? The vet said fluids are always good, so he had me try SubQs and that really boosted Choco's appetite. He still got home cooked meals, rotated for variety, but he never turned them down after supplementing with subQs (not at meal time but actually later, it just boosted him all around). Before that he was turning down meals. He did have some kidney problems at that point, so this may not apply at all to your situation. He was not necessarily dehydrated, but the extra fluid improved his appetite remarkably.

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I have to monitor her water intake closely because the heart meds can affect the kidneys. So far water intake is normal.

 

Last night she was begging for pizza crust, one of her naughty favorites. This warms my heart!

 

This morning I got up very early and offered her some rice which she happily ate. Then I went back to bed until she woke me up wanting real breakfast. I cooked ground pork, well drained. Mixed it with more rice. Then I remembered I have digestive enzymes from when I used to feed raw with veggie mush. So I mixed some digestive enzymes in. And also some healthy powder that I make. She ate it all no problem. Yay! Another breakfast down.

 

I'll be off for the pepcid today. Will give that to her at night. I think I will keep adding the digestive enzymes too now that I remembered about them.

 

As long as her kidneys hold out I can keep giving her lots of protein.

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How is her overall comfort and pain score? Chronic orthopedic pain and stiffness can impact appetite.

 

Cobalamin malabsorption can also affect appetite and the veterinary referral practice I work for has seen many dogs and a few cats affected by it. Easy to treat with Vit B-12 injections if that were the case.

 

If you are interested in pursuing other diagnostics, ultrasound and radiographs could be helpful as well. I am always amazed at how many sick patients can have totally normal CBC/Chemistry lab values.

 

Best of luck!

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Cobalamin malabsorption can also affect appetite and the veterinary referral practice I work for has seen many dogs and a few cats affected by it. Easy to treat with Vit B-12 injections if that were the case.

 

It's also something that, at least in my experience, a lot of vets don't know to check for. Folate as well, and that's treated with B-12 injections, too. It's a simple blood test.

 

Again, in my experience, this is accompanied by horrible diarrhea and vomiting, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if in early stages nausea and a resulting inappetence occurred.

 

Happy to hear she ate well for you this morning. I know how I celebrated each time Tilly would eat. :)

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Showing my age, but I am going to remember a lot of these tips as I age. ;) Drink lots of fluids, Vit B12, etc.

 

My old girl probably drinks more water now than she was younger - and part of that may be because she does have borderline high kidney values. As far as her CBC and chem profiles, they are amazingly normal for a dog - regardless of age. She is one determined lady.

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This has probably been already said, but I'm at work and don't have time to read the whole thread. I mostly solved the problem with my old girl by giving her 10 mg famotidine (Pepcid) every evening. Also, she seemed to eat better a bit later in the morning than my normal feeding time, so I tried to accommodate her need in that regard as much as I could given my work schedule.

 

She also got to the point where she preferred kibble that smelled really good, and Purina One (I used the maturity version) filled the bill. At that age, I was no longer so concerned about the best foods as just finding something she'd eat consistently. I also always add toppers (mix it in, actually) and had good luck with browned meats (in my case, lamb or mutton because that's what I had readily available).

 

She, too, had a very bad heart murmur, along with incontinence, all controlled with meds.

 

She lived just a few weeks shy of 17.

 

J.

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