Dog Gone Off Food

[moorx]

Sam (9 year old whippet) had a dental three weeks ago, and had 17 teeth removed He still has a couple of stitches, which are dissolvable, but apparently these don't go for between 2 and 4 weeks.

Initially, he seemed to recover well and was happy to eat his normal food, but soaked to make it soft, with a bit of boiled egg. Gradually, we changed the egg to a little bit of wet dog food which he used to have. At the end of last week, he started to be reluctant to eat, and was just picking out the wet food, ignoring the soaked kibble. We thought we had identified the issue - that he didn't like the kibble soaked, because we tried it unsoaked and he initially ate it, but struggled to chew it. So I went out and got a bag of food which he had been on previously, which is smaller in size, hoping this would help. Not very keen. We tried soaking that food. Still not keen. Did eat the boiled egg and wet dog food, if I hand fed it to him!

Problem is, he can't really just eat the wet dog food/egg. One, it's not really enough for him - and being a whippet, he doesn't have any fat reserves. And two, he has a delicate stomach, so it's too rich long-term.

Another complication(!) he has an immune disorder (IMHA). We were concerned he might be having an episode of this, so we took him to the vet yesterday. They did blood tests, which are predominantly normal, except for one which shows slightly raised reticulocytes. According to the vet, this might indicate the start of an IMHA episode, or a bleed somewhere, but they can't be sure yet. They want to see him again at the end of the week to re-check his bloods. They checked his mouth and can't see any issues there (we were concerned the stitches might be bothering him).

We are going to try him on boiled chicken and rice, to add a bit of 'bulk/stodge'. Other thoughts were boiled potato, pasta or brown bread, but just wondered whether anyone had any other suggestions please?

Sorry this is such a long post. Grateful for any advice.

Here's the boy himself:

[garythesign]

Sam is lovely.

It is so worrying when they go off their food, especially a dog like a whippet.

Boiled chicken and rice seems to the the standard option in these situations.

Hope he gets better soon.

[moorx]

Thanks Gary.

Unfortunately, no real improvement with the chicken and rice

First couple of mouthfuls he seemed to be liking it, then it's as if something just puts him off and he stops. Think we may be revisiting the vets before Friday

[Smurfsarepeopletoo]

When my dog goes a bit funny, i tend to fry some chicken in a bit of coconut oil, and then trow some of his dry food in at the end so they are coated in the oil as well, Coconut oil is good for them as well.

[BoggoStump]

Raw dog food? worth a try. I think you will have good results.

[Challo]

BoggoStump said:

Raw dog food? worth a try. I think you will have good results.

Agree on raw. You can get complete meals which have additional veg and nutrients they need. Plenty of brands around and you can check online for reviews.

[Rowe]

Your local butcher/meat packer will likely sell raw pet type foods. No need to splash out the 'all in one' meals you can buy on the web.
Try him on some mince, tripe, or both.

You could even try him on a raw egg (maybe keep the shell out for now with him just having his op)

[moorx]

Thanks for all the suggestions.

We think there's something else going on, so he's going back to the vets this afternoon.

[garythesign]

Good luck at the vets

[Mexican cuties]

everything crossed for you, knowing what we know now when our normally hungry little devil stopped eating, the vets is deffo the best and first point of call, we lost some valuable hours which could have made a big difference.

keep us posted how they are getting on

[craigjm]

could you blend it down and make it almost a soup? see if its chewing that the issue

[garythesign]

Any update on Sam?

[Jules Sunley]

Hope all ok. Another option we have used with our dog is scrambled egg to encourage eating kibble etc. She's all good now and just has boiled chicken and kibble, with a bit of roast dinner with us every fortnight (her favourite).

[moorx]

Thanks everyone for the replies and concern.

Sam has been at the vets since yesterday morning. They took additional blood for testing when he went in on Wednesday and sent him home with antibiotics. Based on the results of these blood tests, they believe he's got a kidney infection. They don't know at the moment whether it's an acute situation resulting from some sort of 'injury' or issue, or something more chronic. He did have blood tests covering kidney function before his dental, which showed no problems so......? Anyway, he has had to be admitted to have fluids to flush his kidneys, and may be in until tomorrow, when they are planning to run more blood tests. They still hadn't managed to get him to eat by yesterday evening when they phoned to update us, but we're hoping that he will when he starts feeling better. OH did pick up that he seemed to be drinking a little more than usual (and had told the vets) but it's difficult to be sure with Sam, because his previous treatment for IMHA with steroids seems to have left him with a psychological 'thing' about drinking and 'resource guarding' when it comes to the water bowl. Or maybe that was the start of this kidney issue - who knows?

Will update when we know more.

[garythesign]

moorx said:

Thanks everyone for the replies and concern.

Sam has been at the vets since yesterday morning. They took additional blood for testing when he went in on Wednesday and sent him home with antibiotics. Based on the results of these blood tests, they believe he's got a kidney infection. They don't know at the moment whether it's an acute situation resulting from some sort of 'injury' or issue, or something more chronic. He did have blood tests covering kidney function before his dental, which showed no problems so......? Anyway, he has had to be admitted to have fluids to flush his kidneys, and may be in until tomorrow, when they are planning to run more blood tests. They still hadn't managed to get him to eat by yesterday evening when they phoned to update us, but we're hoping that he will when he starts feeling better. OH did pick up that he seemed to be drinking a little more than usual (and had told the vets) but it's difficult to be sure with Sam, because his previous treatment for IMHA with steroids seems to have left him with a psychological 'thing' about drinking and 'resource guarding' when it comes to the water bowl. Or maybe that was the start of this kidney issue - who knows?

Will update when we know more.

Thanks for the update.

Such a worrying time for you.

Fingers crossed

[bungz]

Handsome little chap hope he recovers soon.

[moorx]

Well, Sam is still at the vets They are continuing the fluid therapy to try to get him feeling better and levels of various things in his blood down. They have done three sets of bloods now and the levels are reducing but not enough yet. He is eating small amounts but not much.

We took some food in on Saturday, and they brought him out to see us. He seemed reasonably bright but not his usual self.

They want to keep him in until Wednesday, continue the fluids and redo the tests then.

Long-term, the prognosis is not good, as it appears to be kidney disease rather than an infection, but we'll just have to see how he goes.

Apparently he is making himself very popular in the vets as he's so well behaved and calm. He's getting lots of cuddles from the vet nurses and vets. The vet looking after him is very conscientious - she cancelled her weekend away to stay here with him and has been keeping us up to date with phone calls and texts.

We are missing him lots.

[garythesign]

Poor Sam and poor you.

It’s wonderful to have such a compassionate vet.

Ours have their paws crossed for Sam

[moorx]

Sam is home!

We didn't hear from the vet until about 3pm and I was getting very worried that it might be bad news, but the blood tests showed further improvement, particularly in his phosphorous levels, which was the main concern.

Abbie, our vet, felt that he had reached the point when being at home would be more beneficial than the vets (he was much brighter and had started chewing his drip!). He was also showing more interest in food.

He has lost a lot of weight in the 7 days he's been in (down from 20kg to 16kg) but when we went to collect him, he came out quite happily and with a waggy tail, looking much brighter than when we last saw him on Saturday.

Since he got back, he's had some water and a doggy treat, which he was very keen on. At this stage, I'm just happy to see him interested in any food! We'll try him on something more substantial later.

We don't know how long this improvement will last, but he seems happy to be home, and we're very happy to have him home

Thanks to everyone for their good wishes.

[garythesign]

So glad to read this.

Hope the prognosis for sam is good.

I am sure he will,have extra hugs this evening