We have an eight year-old Shar Pei (Spanky) who won’t eat. Three vet trips over the past month, which have included a blood panel and chest x-rays have led our vet to conclude one of three things - Spanky has heart disease, cancer or a bacterial infection. The chest x-rays show he has an awful lot of liquid in his lungs, which explains the frequent hacking and coughing.
So, we’re hoping its a bacterial infection and that the meds will help (Lasix (sp?), imoxicillin, etc.) But, he won’t eat hardly at all, beyond a few pieces of hot dog with his pills or licking a little peanut butter off my fingers. Chicken broth on his dry food didn’t help, and warmed up wet Alpo drew little response, either.
Knowing that many Dopers are dog owners, I’m hoping someone out there has a sure-fire recipe that all dogs just love. Spanky has dropped six pounds in the past two weeks, from 57 to 51. The 57 lbs, for his size, had him a little stocky but not fat at all.
When we first got our rhodesion ridgeback from the
pound he was very sickly looking and wouldnt eat for few days. We got some regular puppy chow and crumbed up bites of cooked hamburger meat. Did the trick, after he was eating normally we quit adding the meat and problem was solved… If hamburger meat doesnt work try roast beef or bologne or even shredded cheese… my dog loves the stuff listed… hope it works…
Generally when a dog won’t eat it’s sickness or depression,
or both. Has he recently been moved to a new home? Lost
a canine or human companion? New baby or puppy in the house?
It sounds like your vet ruled depression out, but just checking. If he really wont eat, recipes probably wont make a difference. Its so rare for dogs to not eat that if
they do go hungry, its because their physical discomfort
is of a greater concern to them than hunger. I would keep
on with bits of peanut butter, ground beef, bits of bacon, anything he’ll nibble on throughout the day or night, just to keep some calories in him. Hopefully he will drink. If not, ask the vet about injecting fluids under his skin to keep him hydrated-very important. Also, I’m sure you’ve done so,but do some web research on canine ailments?
Good luck! Let me know how he does-
Have you tried pouring a little gravy over his food? They make a “gravy” that has vitamins and stuff in it, designed for dogs. Maybe this won’t work since the chicken broth didn’t, but gravy is generally richer-smelling and doesn’t immediately drain off to the bottom. It’s worth a try.
Does he always have food in his bowl? Or do you only feed him at certain times. Which ever it is try the other way for a little while. The other thing you can try is fixing some cooked white rice and cottage cheese, just make sure the rice isn’t really hot. If he is sick the rice/cottage cheese will not further upset his stomach.
Try giving him mashed potatoes and macaroni and cheese. Vets use these to fatten dogs up.
Is he still drinking?
If he won’t eat, you may have to take him in to be put on an IV. Sometimes one of my cats gets sick and stops eating. If it’s bad enough, we have to leave the cat at the vet for days, hooked up to an IV. When the cat starts to recover, he starts eating again.
If your vet doesn’t know what’s wrong with your dog, get a referral to a specialist ASAP. The best thing you can do for him is get the problem fixed, if it’s fixable.
Here’s a list of stuff we use to get an ill dog to eat until he’s feeling better:
Cat food
Baby food (the kind with meat in it)
Canned “frou-frou” dog food like Pedigree Little Champions or Mighty Dog.
Hamburger patties from a fast-food hamburger
You can also try diluted chicken or beef broth to get liquid in him. If he won’t drink, try getting some Pedialyte and use a turkey baster to get it into him. Just pooch out the side of his mouth until you have a pocket and squirt a small amount in at a time.
If the dog has a chronic illness in which it won’t ever get better and eating will be a problem for whatever its remaining life is, I also have a recipe for Fat Balls, which you have to make up yourself. Has all kinds of stuff in it that even sick dogs like. If you’d like it, email me at the addy on my website and I’ll send it to you.
When our springer spaniel Miss Emily was having gastrointestinal problems, the vet told us to give her cooked white rice mixed with boiled hamburger. It’s gentle on the tummy, and she ate it right up. (I see that this is similar to someone else’s suggestion of rice/cottage cheese. It must work!)
Garlic powder sprinkled over her food worked on Phyllis when she was little and didn’t seem to like her puppy chow.
Good luck! I know how worrisome it is when your furry friend won’t eat — been there.
He’s been drinking a lot of water, which he’s supposed to do, and he’ll eat pieces of lunch meat and things like that, just not a bowl of food, even with gravy or broth on it. Also, he’ll only eat a few pieces of lunch meat or whatever before realizing “Hey, I’m sick. I don’t wanna eat” and then he stops. An ultrasound and consultation with another vet is coming later this week.
I’m gonna stop at McDonald’s on the way home for a burger or two and see if he’ll eat any of that. Also, we’re gonna try rice and/or cottage cheese.
SCREDLE, we don’t think depression is the problem, as we haven’t moved, had a baby or anything else close lately. Sure, I’ve been screaming at the tv a lot b/c the damn Titans can’t win a game, but thats about it. The fluid in his lungs is the culprit, its just a question of why is it in there.
This sucks. Spanky’s the first dog who was “mine,” if you know what I mean - he was a college graduation present from my aunt six years ago. It has been extremely difficult watching him deal with this adversity, and knowing that sometime soon I will probably have to make a decision regarding euthanizing him has made it even more painful.
But, he’s been acting like he’s feeling a bit better the past day or two, and while I am a realist, I’m also hopeful. Thanks again, everyone, and keep those suggestions coming. I’ll update on his progress later.
I love dogs & hope Spanky recovers soon. My dog had bouts of illness where he wouldn’t eat much. Friends had similar situations & sometimes the Mac hamburger stimulated their appetites. One dog I heard about had to get a blood transfusion. Best of luck.
Again, thanks to everyone for their kind words and suggestions. It means a lot.
I went to the store last night and bought some hamburger, some rice and several cans of cat food and higher-end “gourmet” wet dog food. On the way home, I went by a McDonalds and grabbed two cheeseburgers.
Get home, he’s a bit lethargic (Scuba, our three-year old Shar Pei/German Shepard mix, is her usual hyper self) but as soon as the McDonald’s bag comes out, boom. He’s on me like a cheap suit. So, minus the onions and half the bun, he got most of one burger and part of another. Wolfed them down, depriving me of a pre-meal snack, but oh well. He’s eating!
My wife gets home and we have baked chicken and rice for dinner. Afterwards, we give a few pieces to Scuba mixed in her food dish, while he gets the chopped up left-over chicken mixed with rice on its own. This is where its strange - he wouldn’t touch the stuff when I left the kitchen, but when I sat next to him, he chowed down. Go figure.
I concur with the others who have advised you to see a specialist. I went through a similar incident in June, only our dog was also vomiting up everything he managed to eat. After 3 weeks of trying to tempt him with every possible food imaginable and watching him waste away to nothing, I finally took him to an oncologist. It turned out Copper had cancer and the tumors were pressing on his intestine and nothing could pass through. And though the prognosis was very painful (we had to put him to sleep, may God rest his gentle soul), I will tell you that KNOWING what we were dealing with was easier than not knowing and constantly worrying about him.
And, of course, it MAY be nothing serious at all. But do yourself a favor and find out so you can quit worrying about the little guy.
Good to hear you found something he likes! When our dog had surgery for cancer last year, the vet sent him home even though he wasn’t really ready medically because he wouldn’t eat at the clinic. Fast food hamburgers and baby food turned out to do the trick until he recovered enough to feel like eating his regular food again.
I’ll also wager that Spanky ate the chicken because he sensed that you wanted him to, and your presence and concern make him feel better. Dogs are amazing.
I’m more familiar with cats not eating than dogs (picky creatures, them kitties…) but I know for a fact that hand-feeding them often works. Back when Teddy was diagnosed with chronic kidney failure, he wasn’t eating at all. He wouldn’t eat his food if I just put it down in his bowl, but if I got a small bowl of food, sat him on my lap, and put the food in front of him he’d chow down.
As WashU77 mentions, valium works for cats. Teddy gets Valium every night, the lucky bastard. Yes, I have valium in the house at all times. Sometimes I find myself gazing at the valium tablets, wondering if I should steal some from my poor, sick kitty. Sick, aren’t I?
My poodle went through some periods of severe disinterest in food when he first came to us, and then again when the weather started changing. Now he gets something we call “puppy casserole” which is two parts dry food (Iams Mini Chunks) one part Mighty Dog, enough water to make it kinda runny and loose, then nuked for about a minute. As it heats, the Iams absorbs the water, the Mighty Dog becomes thick and gravy-ish and it takes on a casserole appearance. We take it out, stir it up to disburse the heat and let it sit for about ten minutes while he gets his pre-dinner stroll around the block, and then when we come home, it’s pupper supper time. It smells like hell, but he gobbles it up.