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Hi-
My almost 15 year old cocker has started using her nose to "bury" her wet food with her dry food. Usually, when I give her the wet food at dinner, she gobbles it up. Now she is refusing to eat it right away (or at all) and is using the dry food next to it to cover the wet food. It is a terrible mess, and I am confused by this behavior.
Any insight??? Many thanks in advance.
Kim
Your baby is getting old.
The first sign of an animal getting ready to leave us is a food issue. Now she could just be getting bored with the wet food, so you will start giving her something else and then something else. Hopefully that works. I would take her to the vet to have a checkup to eliminate any health issue.
You have to understand than in people years she is over 100 years old. What do you feed a 100 year old person that after such a long lifetime is going to please them?
I am old myself and have raised 8 dogs and 7 cats to very senior ages. The food issue is always the first sign of their declining time. You will love your baby and do whatever you can to encourage her to eat, but in the end, you will have to face the fact that it is time. It's OK. You will do the right thing.
When they stop eating, THEY are telling you it is time.
I am currently facing that with a 23 year old cat. We probably have a few more days to a week to be together, but not much beyond that. However, he has had a great life, been a great friend, and I have thoroughly enjoyed him for the 8 years we have been together. I rescued him from being put down because his owners could not take him and his companion cat to a new apartment. His companion cat also lived to be 23 and died last year. I was happy to have them as part of my family and happy that they had that extra time to enjoy their lives.
Thank you for the kind replies.
She doesn't seem to be in any pain at this time, and is drinking and going to the bathroom as usual. I may try fixing her something different to eat this eveing and see if she eats it. Once in awhile I scramble eggs and mix them with rice for her. I noticed that she went on and finished last night's dinner this morning...
I posted earlier this year about her on and off aggressive behavior towards my young children, but with careful supervision and her own quiet sleeping corners in the house, I think that matter is resolved. I just want my old girl to be comfortable. It IS time for another trip to the vet. Not time to let her go yet.
YUKIKO11 - I am sorry about your cat. Your cat is blesssed to have you.
-Kim
One thing you might also want to do is cut way back on the size of the portions.
From your description, it sounds as if you dog is not hungry when the food it put down and is "saving it for later" by disguising the bit she likes best so no one else comes along and eats it.
Given your dog's advanced age and overall condition, you might want to revert back to more of a puppy routine - i.e. little and often, although in her case, I'd just make it little and only as often as she wants. If she's not eating it, remove it and offer it later. Again, given her age and health, you might simply try feeding her a few tiny meals during the day at regular intervals - her system is going to find it very hard to cope with a big meal. If she doesn't want it, simply remove it and cover it for later.
kimmie -- i don't know if this behavior is related to what your dog is doing or not, but this is something my mother's 10-year old shih tzu sometimes does (for reasons unknown to me)...
he will use his nose to flip a rug over my dog's food bowl (which is dry food that has been wettened) and then eat his own dry food...but he will not eat his dry food until he has that other bowl completely covered.
i have no idea why he does this but assume he doesn't like the smell of the wet food...and is taking the matter into his own doggy paws.
maybe your girl just doesn't like the wet food anymore and is doing the equivalent of our dog?
My guess is the dog is hiding the food, as previous suggested. My chis all do that with their food. They'll hide some and then eat the rest. Then later in the day they do back and eat what they've hidden.
Unfortunately for them, with 26 dogs in the house, they seldom go back and find the food they hid. We just have to feed them again.
I'd try greatly reducing the amount of food you feed at one time and moving your feedings to several a day. As dogs get older they tend to eat several small meals a day, just like puppies. Maybe that's got something to do with it too? Or maybe she just doesn't like the wet food anymore? If she's having days where she doesn't even go back to eat it, maybe she no longer likes the taste. Perhaps go a few days with only a single spoonful of the wet food in a seperate dish or plate and see if she bothers with it.
Thank you all again for all the good insight!
I am starting to think she needs smaller more frequent meals. Since she always has access to her dry food, I won't worry about missing a cue if she is hungry.
Perhaps I'll try half a can at a time and see how it goes.
Try one more thing.
Dogs eat with their nose first. Maybe she is tired of the wet food. Try giving her dry food available for nibbling all the time and a small amout of wet food a couple of times a day. If she avoids the wet food, you need to find something that has a stronger smell. Mixing in a little of the same flavor cat food may work, but cat food is way too rich for dogs so you don't want to do too much. I used to mix in 3 tlbsp with 5 cups of dry food for my last St Bernard. There are always packaged gravey supplements that you can buy that e designed to be mixed with dry food but have a tempting smell to increase appetites. Your vet can also give you medication to increase her appetite if she is loosing weight. You can buy high calorie supplements to add to her food. The more weight she looses, the harder it will be to bring her back to health. I have raised 8 dogs to very senior years, you can only do everything you can. love her every day and let nature take it's course. Good luck to your and your baby. I will be thinking of you and watching your blogs.
For what it's worth, my dogs' first sign of old age was generally cognitive decline- getting "stuck" in corners, looking confused. Or having hindquarter problems. The only time I had a dog stop eating, he was very ill with a failing liver at age 11.
Oh, and one oldster, at 15, with his spinal nerves failing him, began taking longer and longer to eat.
One of my original dogs was a picky eater, and often would push his dish around, or push it under a blanket or towel or something. I do think he was saving it for later. He would often skip a day or so of eating and seemed in fine health.
If a dog stops drinking, that's a quick route to the end.
It's so hard watching them age and trying to decide what the right time is and so on. We've all been through it. Thoughts are with you.
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