Dog not eating...?

We asked the vets to check her teeth, mouth and throat but they cannot find a problem. She just seems to not eat like she used to, as if it is uncomfortable but then she'll eat a dental chew and play tug games with my dog. It's so bizarre!
 
How about a second opinion..referral to a vet hospital? Btw does she prefer the cat food because it's softer on her throat? I know you've tried lots but have you tried Lilly's fishy dog food is very soft, palatable and pure (big Tescos stock it). Btw could she be in low level or occasional pain? Good luck..this is not an easy one and animals not eating is such a worry - mine takes the occasional food breaks of 12 hrs but I'm used to it now. If she doesn't eat her supper, I pop it in the fridge and give it to her in the morning -I can hear the groans of disapproval, but after a very,very long walk she just seems too tired! Good luck!
 
Well, that's what we thought was the cat food was easier to eat. However yesterday she decided she didn't want that either! She has though decided she likes malted milk biscuits so, as my parent's are away until Sunday and I'm dog-sitting my mum's bought some free-from oat and some shortbread biscuits just so there's something she will eat. She will eat cheese too!
Also just took them for a quick walk in the field behind my parent's house and she found a discarded bone - she was very keen on that and only dropped it because she became distracted rabbit hunting!!
Vets again next week I reckon!!
 
My mum will get her weighed again next week. it's hard to tell with her as she has a lot of hair, she's GSD x collie probably. You can now feel her ribs and spine and definitely see her waist but I imagine she's still just within a healthy weight to be honest. She had lost just a kilo I believe when she was weighed a couple of weeks ago so that will have made her abou 22kgs or thereabouts.
 
In that case I really wouldnt worry too much - personally I would tend to go for the route that others have suggested, which is to be a bit 'tougher' with her when trying her on food. If she doesnt eat it, take it away and try 12 or 24 hours later - she will quickly learn :)
 
Lévrier;12686677 said:
In that case I really wouldnt worry too much - personally I would tend to go for the route that others have suggested, which is to be a bit 'tougher' with her when trying her on food. If she doesnt eat it, take it away and try 12 or 24 hours later - she will quickly learn :)
Click to expand...

I think the problem is though we have done that and she doesn't change. She just loses more weight. Will see what she actually weighs I guess. We can't go on like this though for much longer
 
With my dogs. I find if they are off food for any reason. I offer them tripe, if they don't eat that, there's usually a problem.
Tripe is probably (due to the smell)the best thing for getting an appetite going. You can get the smelly black tripe from some pet shops. It comes in frozen bags in pellet form. I just take out what I need from the bag, put it in the bowl and pour some boiling water over it and serve. Mmmmmm check out that aroma.
 
I'm not saying this is the case with your dog, but I've known two dogs to stop eating like this. One turned out to have a tumor in the osophegus. The other had xrays, scans etc and nothing showed up until she had a lung wash. This suggested a malignant Timor.
I would ask for a second opinion. A healthy dog won't starve itself to death.
They may be fussy but they will eat eventually.
You may have already tried scrambled egg, sardines, chicken soup etc
I would seriously talk to your vet about a second opinion.
 
Elliesmemory1 said:
I'm not saying this is the case with your dog, but I've known two dogs to stop eating like this. One turned out to have a tumor in the osophegus. The other had xrays, scans etc and nothing showed up until she had a lung wash. This suggested a malignant Timor.
I would ask for a second opinion. A healthy dog won't starve itself to death.
They may be fussy but they will eat eventually.
You may have already tried scrambled egg, sardines, chicken soup etc
I would seriously talk to your vet about a second opinion.
Click to expand...
Hi. Thanks. She went back to the vets today. She weighs 20kgs so has lost about 3kgs in 2 months. My mum discussed options with the vet who basically agreed that, if she wad her dog she wouldn't be wanting to open her up either as, if they find a tumour we don't feel they can really do anything so it would be putting her through an op for no real difference in the outcome. She is full of beans, has a shine to her coat so the vet has basically said let her eat whatever she'll eat. She seems to go through phases of eating cheese, biscuits, some dog food and dental chews. I think it could be worthwhile getting her some proper meat/scraps or something from the butchers (we're all vegetarian so no meat just to hand).
Interesting you say about the oesophagus though as we are suspicious something is in her mouth/throat. That was where her original lump was removed from after all.
The plan is to monitor her with monthly vet visits (unless anything else happens). She is 9, is happy at the moment and, if she has cancer there is little that can be done other than keep her comfortable and manage her as best we can. I just wish they could talk!
 
Ok, so thought I would update this thread just in case anyone goes through something similar
Parents took Boots (dog) to another (holistic) vet who checked her over, commented how well she looked so doesn't tie in with certain illnesses.
They took blood and urine samples and sent them to the US for analysis.
They also did their own tests and they came back showing low red blood cell count and they advised she was not absorbing protein. So, told to try get high protein foods down her if possible.
Other tests came back today. The diagnosis is she has no/ extremely low thyroxin levels! So, she will be given thyroxin tablets and, with any luck these will help bring back her apetite.
Shame our vets didn't test her thyroxin levels again though as they last took them back in the summer.
Just hoping the medication will help her want to eat again :-)
 
A bit frustrating the other vets didn't re-test as this is where she had a growth removed.
They are very much more doom and gloom and assumed it was probably cancer.
It could well be there is some underlying cause like that but no other tests are pointing to cancer so we're hoping this can now be resolved :-)
 
Thought I'd give a quick update on this thread in case anyone experienced anything similar.
Boots has been monitored by the 2nd opinion vet. The thyroxin tablets don't seem to be doing much to improve her appetite but some days she wants food, sometimes she doesn't.
She had further blood tests and the vets rang to say they wanted to scan her after they received the results.
She was scanned today and sadly it showed she has a tumour on her liver and spleen so was what we had initially feared :-(
She seems happy in herself and full of beans but the vets have said no over exertion so as to prevent any bleeding of the spleen.
She doesn't have that long left ultimately but they can't say how long. It's so sad as, even though you expect the worst you still hope it won't be that.
It's now about maintaining a quality of life and hence, despite what the vet has said, just pootling around for her remaining time isn't going to be a quality of life. We will go to the beach (her favourite place) at least one more time so she can do her most loved thing of playing in the sea.
It never gets easier with an I animals does it but at least we know she had a great 9 years with us and we'll make whatever time she has left as enjoyable as it can be.
 
So, so sorry for you....very sad news. It doesn't get any easier because we love them so much and they give so much, but please try and comfort yourself in the knowledge that you are doing everything you can to make her happy and comfortable. Big, big hugs....
 
Thanks. It's so hard but at least we know what we're dealing with now. Going to miss her and my dog will be very lost without her. She came from Dogs Trust aged about 7 mths and was so terrified but she turned into such a lovely dog. Even the vets have commented how jolly she's been even though she's been poked and prodded so much over the last year
 
So sorry to hear the news. Only just saw the thread, our BC stopped eating properly, lost weight then went wobbly and was diagnosed with large tumour covering organs all within a week, he had bright eyes glossy coat and was out with the horse on the Monday and gone on the Saturday. Up until that last week we didnt know anything was seriously wrong (he was 13) and he never seemed in pain, the vets were convinced it was pancreatitis right up until the day we lost him.

Fingers crossed you have some time with her, hopefully she isn't in too much discomfort, we were recommended wainwrights dog portions as kind on stomach. X
 
meesha said:
So sorry to hear the news. Only just saw the thread, our BC stopped eating properly, lost weight then went wobbly and was diagnosed with large tumour covering organs all within a week, he had bright eyes glossy coat and was out with the horse on the Monday and gone on the Saturday. Up until that last week we didnt know anything was seriously wrong (he was 13) and he never seemed in pain, the vets were convinced it was pancreatitis right up until the day we lost him.

Fingers crossed you have some time with her, hopefully she isn't in too much discomfort, we were recommended wainwrights dog portions as kind on stomach. X
Click to expand...

It's awful isn't it. Sorry about your dog but, like yours ours is bright in herself. We just have to watch her as the vets said it's likely she will go downhill suddenly. Unfortunately she won't eat the same thing daily no matter how good it is (we have tried so many things the last few months). She is very keen though on hunting for mice and caught and ate a vole the other day!!
The vet has said now to just feed her whatever she will eat so that is what we will do to try and stop her getting any thinner :-(
 
ladyt25 said:
Thanks. It's so hard but at least we know what we're dealing with now. Going to miss her and my dog will be very lost without her. She came from Dogs Trust aged about 7 mths and was so terrified but she turned into such a lovely dog. Even the vets have commented how jolly she's been even though she's been poked and prodded so much over the last year
Click to expand...
Ahh..she sounds absolutely lovely, and all down to you and the lovely way you looked after her...you will have lots and lots of happy memories. We are all thinking of you.
 
Thinking of you, in his last couple days he managed a bit of sausage which he wolfed down then I think as it hit his stomach the reality hit and he wouldn't eat any more, same with everything we tried. The wobbleness was only in last four days and he let out a whimper couple of days before we lost him when he went for a poo. That was the point I took him back in and insisted it wasn't pancreatitis, he stayed in overnight and was scanned next day which showed it up. It was heartbreaking but it gets easier and its nice to know that like yours he seemed well in himself right up until a few days before. Xxx
 
Yeah. At least this is something we can do for them so they don't suffer. Just a shame that some dogs are taken far too soon :-(
 
Well, sadly my parents have made the decision to have Boots PTS this afternoon. Although she was quite perky this morning and ate some food, she's obviously not getting better and her limbs are swollen so she's starting to struggle to walk any distance. They took her to the river yesterday afternoon so she had a paddle and played with her ball.
I think it's harder as she seems bright in herself but it is clear she's had enough.
So RIP Boot, you fought it for so long but now you can sleep and no longer have to battle :-(
 
Sorry to read this, rest in peace Boot. You obviously had loving owners who did all they could for you, and ultimately made the right choice for you when they felt you shouldn't struggle xx
 
(just entering this thread) am SO sorry to hear this sad news.

A fortnight ago we had to have our Jessie PTS so unfortunately its all too fresh. She stopped eating too......... previously she'd always enjoyed her food immensely so we knew something very wrong was up.

Sometimes bloods and everything else can come back as Clear, but there is something else going on. All animals know when their time is right, and this sounds very much like this was the case.

Am so so sorry, but at least she's out of any distress now.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top