Old age, fading appetite (how much, shih-tzu, vet, toy)

[Niftybergin]

My family has had lots of dogs before, but this is the first time I've had a old dog that was mine exclusively. He's 10.5. His old age is accompanied by all sorts of surprises. (Noise sensitivity and weather phobias, for example.) We're dealing now with a persnickety appetite.

I think his health is fine (although we're visiting the vet Saturday for his semi-annual check-up, just to make sure). I think his teeth are fine, too. All his vital signs are good. I just think he's disinterested in his food.

I've tried all sorts of enticements -- plain yogurt, raw eggs, apple-sauce, frozen green beans, a little warm water flavored with a splash of worcestershire sauce, pulp from my fresh juices. Everything works for a meal or two, and then he's back to ignoring his food.

He doesn't ACT like he's hungry. (And if he does get hungry enough, he DOES eat.) He has no problem eating cookies -- but I'm not gonna fall for that one! But the dog has only ever been a 2-cup-a-day eater, and recently, it's not unusual for him to eat only half that.

It's a concern because if ever there was a dog who couldn't afford to lose a few pounds, Bandit would be that dog.

I'm thinking his tastebuds or sense of smell have changed in his old age, and that's maybe why food's not interesting to him. Dunno. Just theorizing. Today I bought some (super-smelly!!) canned food (Wellness 95%) to add to his kibble. He gobbled it right up, which was a gratifying sight!! I figure we'll try this, and if he gets bored with this, we'll maybe try packaged raw next.

Anyway.... I just wasn't prepared for all these old-age changes. They're keeping me on my toes!

[Katie1]

I have picky eaters too! 1 is sooo picky even when I cook for them she wont eat the same thing twice! Say I cook chicken tonite & give her some... then tomarrow feed her the same chicken she wont touch it UGH She refuses to eat Leftovers LOL Now If I cook chicken 2 days in a row she eat it Fresh!!

BTW she a 7.5 pound 11 inch tall Papillon 17 month old! So Old age has nothing to do with it LOL

[strawberrykiki]

I had an Aussie who ate only dry kibble...until my former MIL started keeping her for us while we were at work. She would buy that smelly gravy and pour it over her kibble and pretty soon she refused to eat her kibble without gravy. I thought if she got hungry enough she would lower herself to go back to eating plain dry kibble...but she could hold out forever and after a day of her not eating I'd relent and feed her the gravy. Maybe just try to find the "healthiest" wet food you can. Hope your pup is okay! People get pickier in their older age too!

[donsabi]

Give Tripett canned dog food a try. I like to feed my dog the New Zealand Green Venison Tripe. Dogs love it and it gives old dogs new life. I have a younger dog now but I still feed him this stuff on a timely basis. Warning, it is pricey and it smells pretty bad. Just remember it is not to please you but instead your dog.

[OhZone]

I'm one who is convinced that no dog will starve himself.
I think you can train them to be finiky eaters. When I was growing up we had a toy fox terrier, and it was always -"hold your breath and don't move - the dog is eating".

As long as you are providing a good high quality food the dog should eat.
If not either you trained/conditioned him to be that way OR something is wrong.
Vets do not give this matter enough attention.
I had a papillon that ate less and less and less and kept losing weight for his whole 17 years.
Vets never got concerned about it.
I really have to wonder if he had swallowed something that was filling his stomach.

Take you dog to a good vet and be Very insistent that he pull out all the stops to find the problem. The dog should eat - old age or no. Depending on the breed 10 1/2 is not that old.
You could enjoy his companionship for another 5 years.

[Niftybergin]

Took Bandit in for his semi-annual check-up/blood-work. Was talking to the vet about his food-apathy, and she had a suggestion of what MIGHT be the cause: I've taken him off his Phenobarbital. In January for his last check-up, the vet and I discussed it. He's been seizure-free for over 2 years -- knock on wood -- and as he goes into old age, I'm trying to pare back the chemicals/medicines/vaccines as much as possible. So my vet and I cut back his dosage, and then took him off the med altogether around June. The vet I saw today -- same office, but not our regular vet -- suggested that going off the Phenobarb might be depressing his diet, since Phenobarb usually STIMULATES the diet. (I never noticed too much appetite-stimulation with the Phenobarb -- not like with the Potassium Bromide, which was AWFUL. He was so hungry on that drug that it completely altered his behavior and personality.)

And he HAS lost weight -- 68 pounds, down from 70 in January. This is the lowest weight he's been as an adult dog. The vet didn't think he was too skinny, though, although she agreed that he's very lean and we need to try to keep his weight around 70.

The vet also suggested that going off the Phenobarb could be why he's developed storm-phobia, since Phenobarb calms the central nervous system.

Breakfast today was 1/2 cup kibble, about 2/3 cup raw chicken breast, some frozen green beans, and a (Darford brand) Omega Booster. He ate MOST of it. I'm pleased.

[Niftybergin]

Well, here we are two months later. Bandit's inappetence has continued off and on. I took him to the vet again this past Tuesday. They did another full blood panel, urinalysis, fecal, etc. Turns out that his blood-calcium is high and one of his proteins is out-of-whack. We're going back Tuesday of next week for an ultrasound and a needle biopsy of the lymph nodes. The doctor has mentioned "lymphoma" but has not made a diagnosis. I think he wants more evidence before he commits to a diagnosis, which is fine. The good news, he has hastened to assure me, is that if it IS lymphoma, we are catching it pretty early. I had blood work done on August 6, and that was all normal. The blood work I had done this week, on October 9, shows some irregularities. So this is something that has only manifested -- to detectable levels, at any rate -- within the last two months.

The vet also ordered me to stick with a food and feed only it and nothing else, no matter what, because he suspected there might be a behavioral component to the anorexia. I've been dealing with the inappetence for months -- it started in the spring, when Bandit's long-time kibble (Taste of the Wild) was recalled and I switched him to something else. To get him to eat, I've tried a variety of foods. So my vet is suggesting that all that variety has turned him into a picky eater. I can see that. It's logical.

However.... Today is Friday morning. Haven't fed breakfast yet, but Bandit has eaten nothing since Sunday night. (And honestly, his last full meal was probably some time last week. He ate very little Sunday.) I put the food down morning, mid-day, and evening. He sniffs it, then turns away. He doesn't ACT hungry. Interested, yes. He always wants to see what I'm cooking or putting in his bowl. But he sniffs it once and then that's it. It's not like he goes back to the bowl over and over.

As of Tuesday, he'd lost another pound, down to 67. The vet said Bandit could go as low as 60 pounds before the vet became concerned for his physical condition. (I wonder how much more he's lost this week, since he has not eaten anything.)

He IS drinking water just fine. His mood is a little deflated, but honestly, he seems pretty normal. Tail up and wagging, especially when it's time to walk.

So... Been a rough few days. We'll know more on Tuesday. Can't get here soon enough for me!!

[subject2change]

It must seem like an eternity until Tuesday! Here's hoping for good test results. That would put you back to square one though. It's so frustrating when a dog is refusing to eat for no apparent reason, and you have no way of knowing if it's a health issue or not. I think this extreme of not eating has to be more than being finicky though. At this point I would say, forget the kibble and just feed him whatever he'll eat. When I had very ill dogs (hoping that's not the case here) I would cook pots of rice, and mix in meat eggs or cottage cheese. You could mix in vegetables too. I knew I wouldn't be feeding this long term so I didn't worry about every nutritional need too much but I did give a doggie vitamin. Since your dog may be around for a long time yet, you might want to find info about a raw or cooked homemade diet online. But I think at this point it's more important that he eats than exactly what he eats. You'll both be in my thoughts. Please keep us updated.

[barndog]

Oh, Niftybergen, I have so much empathy for you. I had that happen with Barnaby, my 15-year old shih-tzu (now deceased), several times over the years. With him, he was always ill when he began to not eat like that -- once with Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, once with bleeding ulcers, and once when he was in heart failure. It is so troubling to watch.

With him, I tried EV-ER-Y-THING. Boiled hamburger. Boiled chicken. Boiled rice. Apples. Oranges. Baby food. Soft dog food. Eggs. Cheese. Eggs and cheese on a biscuit. Fried rice. Small bits of bacon (watching out with that because I didn't want him to develop pancreatitus). His favorite foods -- McDonald's chicken nuggets and chicken sandwichs -- and his very favorite food ever -- Chick-Fil-A chicken nuggets. Seriously, anything that would keep him alive another couple of days until we could figure out the problem.

He was so thin, and I knew it. But I'd give him baths, and I'd really see his bone structure, and he would look emaciated.

But here's the thing. He was always happy. Always a fighter. Never gave up. Always wanted to walk and visit his friends. And, in the end, we always found the problem and fixed it, and he always returned to eating his normal food and treats.

So, while I don't have a solution for you, I do have lots of empathy. I hope you get the answers you need -- and also the answers you WANT -- on Tuesday.

Best of luck...

[cleosmom]

The TOTW recall was minimal to the Southern part of the country and and a voluntary recall as actually Diamond grained foods tested positive for Salmonella, I suggest going back on TOTW since he did like and ate it readily. Just my suggestion though Of course this is barring the results you'll get on Tuesday.