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Daisy's not feeling well!

Daisy's Mom

Well-known member
Daisy (14 months old) has been through the ringer lately. She started not eating very well about 3-4 weeks ago and has been eating less and less since then. We were out of town and had a dogsitter who was very concerned about Daisy not eating. When we got home, it didn't improve at all.

I took her to the vet last Monday (almost 2 weeks ago) and he gave her some antibiotics and some stomach medicine and told us to call him if she didn't start eating soon. Long story short -- we've had her back to the vet's twice since then, she's stayed over in the hospital 3 nights, had X-rays, ultrasounds, barium series, etc. and she's still not eating. Of course we were scared she had an obstruction, but all those tests ($700 worth) pretty much ruled that out, thank Goodness!

Finally after the last visit, he said "just get her to eat anything, even if it's table food because if she doesn't start eating something, we're going to have to eventually tube feed her." He's very concerned about her. She is also very draggy and lethargic, and generally seems depressed. I am honestly wondering if that is the source of the problem. I asked the vet about that possibility and he said that 3-4 days of not eating could be explained by that, but not 3 weeks.

When we got home from the last vet visit, I boiled 2 chicken breasts and she did eat those with gusto. That seemed to be a positive sign, but the next morning she had horrible diarrhea, just as I feared would happen. Now, she is refusing everything but the chicken breast, which I dole out very sparingly.

I know the routine on not babying them regarding mealtimes, putting the food down and then picking it up 20 mins later and not putting it down again till the next mealtime, etc., but I am pretty scared. She literally ate nothing for about a week! Not treats, not anything. She's lost weight and just is not herself. It's been probably a month since she ate in any kind of normal way!

Her bloodwork came back fine. I just don't know what to do. The vet mentioned at one point giving her an appetite stimulant (valium, oddly enough), but he didn't mention it this last visit.

I just went out and bought 3 new brands of food for her today. All of which she turned her nose up at, naturally. I don't mind cooking chicken and rice, etc. for her, but she always gets the runs so bad that it really doesn't do her much good. Although she will eat the chicken, (not the rice), so hopefully she gets some nutrition out of that before it all comes out as diarrhea! I've tried cottage cheese and yogurt too -- no go.

I wonder if she really needs another dog for a friend. I have thought about bringing her to doggy daycamp, but the only time I did that, she got bullied by some Jack Russells. Plus, if she is actually sick in some contagious way, I wouldn't want her to pass anything along to another dog.

Anyway, please send us your best thoughts that she snaps out of it soon! I'll keep you updated.
 
Hope she gets to eating better soon some dogs cannot eat chicken have you tryed egg and rice instead of chicken
Hope she gets better soon
Aileen and the gang (Jazzie----Barney----Sam)
 
I'm sorry to hear about Daisy--it's so frustrating when you don't know what the problem is, especially since she's not eating well. Glad to hear she's at least eating the chicken so she's getting some protein. I wouldn't worry about the "food rule" (re: picking it up after 20 minutes) right now since she's feeling badly. Has she been spayed? Just wondered since they sometimes get moody blue when going into heat, as I understand it.

Please keep us posted--lots of hugs to you and little Daisy.
 
Yes, she's been spayed since she was 8 months. The vet asked me that, too, for the same reason you did!

I just now cooked some egg for her (scrambled), and she sniffed and walked away, as usual. :? Oh well.
 
Sorry to hear she didn't like the egg. Have you tried adding some tripe to her food? When Mia gets picky, I mix in a spoonful to her food and she gobbles it up. It's gross and stinky, but she loves it. You can usually get canned tripe at pet stores that sell the healthier types of food.
 
I haven't read all the replies but mix the chicken with rice, about 1 third chicken to 2 thirds rice. Chicken on it's own may be too rich giving diarrhea.

Last time Dylan was ill, I had him on rice and chicken and he lost weight, pound for pound it may have less calories than dry food so keep that in mind too.

keep her fluids up as well as you can, even if she will only drink from your hand, I had to do that once with my previous dog.
 
I'm so sorry Daisy isn't feeling well. I don't have any words of advice other than to throw the food rule out the window. That doesn't come into play when you have a sick dog...only use it with a healthy dog. Keep us posted on how she's doing.
 
I am sorry to hear that poor little Daisy is having a rough time. Yeah they need a little TLC & the rules bent a bit when they are unwell. I sure hope you get to the bottom of this soon. :flwr:
 
Why not try the recipe for satin balls ( you can find it hear on the site) Karlin recommends this for little ones that need to get some weight back on and it might be a tasty alternative that Daisy might take to.

Hope she feels better soon:xfngr:
 
So sorry to hear that you and daisy are having to go through all this, you are understandably very worried aboout your precious girl! Many years ago I had a dog who would literally starve himself (he went on to become a total dustbin!) and in the end it was fresh raw tripe that got him eating, I also would give him a product called "Sorb-VitB" which was aimed at fussy/poor eaters and also rehabbing sick dogs, another product I would give him was Enervite which has all the important vitamins etc in a treacle like paste, he would lick this off a spoon with gusto!

As the others have already said, chicken with some boiled rice is great to be going along with, also little and often right now, satin balls as suggested by Merlin's Mum is another good idea, mine often adore fresh raw minced beef, you can try mixing a little bit of kibble into it later to balance it more once she is eating. I think patience and persistance is the key here right now, might be a stab in the dark but are her teeth hurting her? She may have a back tooth that hurts when she is eating? Just a thought anyway!

:xfngr: That Daisy picks up well for you, a huge kiss and a very gentle :hug: to you both, will watch for news on daisy!
 
Thank you so much for all your kind words and thoughts! :flwr: I will try the satin balls, supplements, and some of the other things you all have suggested. Last night, I went out and bought some deli turkey and she's eating that very enthusiastically. Last night, she actually took a few bites of the Merrick's Turducken food I bought her yesterday. Not many, but maybe it's a start. This morning, I tucked pieces of the Turducken dry food inside the turkey bits and got 2 down her that way before she wised up to it and started spitting the pieces out and just eating the turkey. :rolleyes:

The vet said he checked her mouth and teeth over a bunch of times when she was staying there to make sure it wasn't something with her teeth or mouth that was keeping her from eating. She will chew crunchy beef lung treats, so I think she's OK that way. I feel better about her since she is now at least eating certain treats and the chicken and turkey.

She will not touch canned food at all. In fact, she never has! The breeder told me to mix canned food with her dry food for a while when we first got her, and even then she just walked away from it. I've tried several kinds that, frankly, look good enough for me to eat, and she just turns her nose up at all of them.

I may look for some tripe -- I saw some of it recently somewhere and commented on it to my husband, but for the life of me, I can't remember where now. (I've been in Virginia, Florida, Indiana, and Tennessee in the last month, which I think is part of the problem with Daisy. My mother was critically ill and in the hospital for 2 weeks in June, and I spent a week in Indiana with her. I hated to leave Daisy, but I thought she was just too sick to go with me.) Not to sound ignorant, but do you cook tripe or feed it to her the way it is? If you do cook it, how? It's not something we're real familiar with in the U.S. And it's certainly not something you find in your average grocery store.
 
Hi!

If you are feeding the fresh tripe then feed it raw, it is totally gross I know and I must admit that the very first time I fed it I actually threw the pack away as it stank so bad I thought it had gone off!! :lol: But it sure did get Merlin eating well and I kept a few packs in the freezer on stand by for about a year after, "just in case" :lol:

Glad to hear that Daisy is eating a little bit more for you now, it could be her way of letting you know that she wants you around a bit more, but it isn't always possible to take them everywhere with you either, shame we can't reason with them isn't it??

Come on Daisy, be a good girl and eat up nicely for your mum, she's worried about you!! :lotsaluv:
 
Well, I bought the tripe and you are very right -- it reeks!

I also made the Satin balls and she really ate that up, so that's great news! :rah:

She had been eating deli turkey and chicken breast the past few days, but this morning, she wouldn't even eat those, so I was very worried all over again. So this afternoon, I went out and bought all the ingredients for the satin balls, and she really seemed to like it. I did leave out the eggshells, though. I know you can feed them as a source of calcium, but I thought you were supposed to dry them out and grind them very fine, so I left them out for now.

Hopefully she's on the mend. And I hope she isn't irreversibly spoiled from all this attention she's been getting over her eating, and all the human food she's been exposed to.
 
Thank you, Pauline! She is acting much better this evening after eating a significant meal for once (the satin balls). I have to go to the vet tomorrow to have him sign the insurance claim form, so I'll give him the update and see if he wants to see her again. We still have no idea what threw her off of eating, but I sure hope it doesn't happen again! I had the stress of my mom being sick and then Daisy being sick at the same time -- too much for me to deal with!
 
Hi!

Glad to hear that Daisy is eating better for you now, Satin balls really are great for tempting them and also for putting condition back on them. :xfngr: That Daisy continues to eat better for you now!! :lotsaluv:
 
One of my girls is on the satin balls too - for low weight. How much are you giving her as a meal? Any idea how nutritious this is as the only source of food long term (several weeks)?
I am afraid I wont be able to go back to dry kibble after this, and she wont eat it if I mix it with her dry kibble - she just wants it plain.
 
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