what to feed an elderly dog with no appetite
SUMMARY: If you're searching for answers to the question, "Why is my old canis familiaris not eating?" help is here. With a combined 30+ years of experience caring for senior dogs, veterinarians Dr. Erica Irish and Dr. Julie Buzby share helpful, actionable tips forth with underlying causes for an older dog's loss of appetite.
When a concerned pet parent asks me why her beloved erstwhile domestic dog is non eating, I await into the greying dog'south eyes and inquire myself, "What are yous trying to tell united states of america?" It'south 1 of those times when I wish my patients could speak! To empathize what might be going on when a dog's eating habits have inverse, let's run across a senior domestic dog named Boss and uncover the clues behind appetite loss in senior dogs.
When a canis familiaris refuses to swallow: Dominate' symptoms
Boss, a lovable Pit Bull/Shar-Pei senior canis familiaris, was a happy fellow member of my sister'south family. He enjoyed his meals and the occasional treat but was never a dog with a ravenous appetite. This made information technology more challenging to notice when his appetite macerated. But it wasn't until the twenty-four hours that he had a seizure—his first-ever—that he lost interest in food altogether.
My sister brought this to my attention right abroad, and I gave her a few suggestions to coerce Boss into eating his breakfast. Equally I fabricated arrangements for his vet visit, my heed raced through all the underlying conditions related to this symptom.
Your dog's appetite is a critical clue
Wouldn't it take been great if Boss could accept told me what was happening? This frustration is familiar to many dog owners.
Just our dogs do give united states of america clues.
When an older domestic dog refuses to consume, the presence of other clinical signs can help direct dog owners and veterinarians in the search for answers. Consider the following three scenarios and potential underlying conditions when yous retrieve nigh your senior dog.
ane. Your onetime dog is not eating or drinking: Is hurting the underlying crusade?
Permit's consider a dog that is vivid and warning but is reluctant to consume or drink h2o. Pain and discomfort are possible factors when additional clinical signs are not obvious.
Arthritis in dogs is a very common wellness outcome. If your senior dog is suffering from arthritis pain, and then you might see him limping or walking with stiffness. Could it be difficult for him to get up from his bed and navigate to his food and water dishes? Yous could try bringing his dishes bedside to see if this revives his involvement in nutrient.
If this seems to solve the issue, so your veterinarian can help you lot develop a pain direction plan to improve your domestic dog'south mobility and willingness to motion around your home. Furthermore, sometimes food and water bowls are located on slippery surfaces that can make it difficult for an older pet to traverse or feel stable while eating. ToeGrips® dog blast grips tin can meliorate traction and conviction on slippery surfaces in your habitation.
In addition to the hurting of arthritis, don't discount dental disease and the subsequent oral pain as the reason a canis familiaris won't eat. Your dog's appetite might be just fine but if every bite hurts, he might learn to avoid the dishes birthday considering he remembers that chewing caused hurting.
Dental disease was the underlying status for a senior dog named Sister
A new canine patient of mine named Sister is the poster child for this PSA. Sister hasn't been eating well on and off for months. However, since she was 18 years erstwhile (yeah, y'all read her age correctly), her conscientious mom was merely trying to continue Sister comfortable. She brought Sis to me for acupuncture and appetite stimulants to help improve her quality of life.
When I met them in the parking lot, I was taken aback. I knew Sis was xviii, but she pranced downward the sidewalk toward me like she was a youngster at Westminster! Her physical exam was unremarkable (very happy news for 18!), and her bloodwork looked nifty.
Sister'southward only issue was trench oral cavity—the veterinary slang term for tartar build-up, chronic infection, and inflamed gums. Her owner described the classic symptoms: Sister drooled when she ate and would sometimes not eat much for a couple of days. In light of her physical exam and lab results, I was convinced that her oral disease was the most likely reason behind her disinterest in food. Fortunately, it's a treatable 1!
Her mom and I both teared up a lilliputian chip as I presented the pick of seeing a specialist at a referral hospital for dental intendance nether anesthesia, hopefully completely restoring Sister's interest in food. Yes, in that location's a risk to anesthesia for older dogs, merely there's likewise a high likelihood of life-irresolute success for Sis. Her dental procedure is scheduled later this month, and I volition blog her journeying, and so stay tuned!
2. Your former dog is not eating and is sleeping a lot: Is it normal or a sign of a more serious condition?
excessive sleepiness is a cause for concern.
Information technology's important to notation that older dogs tend to sleep a scrap more than younger dogs. Since near senior dogs volition develop arthritis, they may exist less inclined to exercise. Burning fewer calories means that they will swallow a little less than the standard developed dog. However, excessive sleeping and/or your old canis familiaris not eating is a cause for business concern and warrants a phone telephone call to your veterinarian. A consummate tip-to-tail test and lab piece of work volition usually yield answers.
Increased sleep and decreased appetite due to heart or lung affliction
Animate is a higher priority than eating. If your domestic dog has heart or lung disease, then you lot might find that he sleeps more than the typical senior canis familiaris. This is because his eye and lungs must work harder to become oxygen to other internal organs, and so the brain might tell the body to tedious down in club to play catch-up. Failure to provide the body with enough oxygen can result in respiratory distress, and your domestic dog will not be able to eat well if he is having trouble breathing. If you lot've ever tried to close your mouth and chew with a stuffed upwards nose, you get the idea.
Increased sleep and decreased appetite due to canine cognitive dysfunction
Some other possible contributing factor may be canine cognitive dysfunction (CCD), which is substantially doggie dementia. Older dogs with CCD tin can experience changes in their sleep-wake cycles, significant that they tin have shorter or longer periods of wakefulness and exist restless at dark. CCD may or may not directly affect your dog's appetite, but dogs with CCD who feel restlessness and feet may have very trivial appetite. If they are confused, so they may not call up where to notice their food bowls. For more information and helpful tips, check out our article on "Managing Canine Cognitive Dysfunction in Dogs: Signs, Symptoms, Solutions".
3. Your old domestic dog is non eating and is throwing up: Don't wait! Contact your veterinary!
Vomiting tin be a major concern regardless of a dog'southward age. Your veterinarian may advise a wait-and-run across approach over the phone if vomiting happens merely once. However, if your dog is vomiting multiple times a 24-hour interval and stops eating, contact your veterinarian immediately.
Vomiting, loss of appetite due to medications
Certain medications and supplements tin can crusade vomiting due to an adverse reaction or irritation to the lining of the stomach. Antibiotics and pain medications—commonly prescribed to older dogs—can crusade tummy upset equally the number one side effect. If y'all suspect that your dog is having a problem with his medication, alert your veterinarian right abroad for recommendations. He or she may advise you to skip a dose or stop the medication altogether, simply it is important to enquire first considering simply stopping a handling regimen may be detrimental for your dog.
Airsickness, loss of appetite due to serious illness
Unfortunately, airsickness can also exist a sign of serious illness. Pancreatitis, kidney illness, liver affliction, diabetes, and even cancer can all cause airsickness. It is important to apace identify the cause of your dog'due south disease in gild to prevent further complications and maintain an excellent quality of life for your senior dog through appropriate treatment.
What are the next steps?
Your veterinarian is the all-time person to aid you figure out why your old dog won't swallow. After a thorough concrete test, he or she may recommend baseline claret and urine testing in order to brand sure that your dog's internal organs are operation correctly. A professional dental cleaning (with or without extractions) may be necessary if there is evidence of dental disease. If your dog is having animate problems, your vet may recommend breast X-rays to evaluate the heart and lungs. If lab work is unremarkable, and so your veterinary may recommend further diagnostic testing to get to the bottom of the issue or conservative supportive care to maintain hydration, reduce nausea, and promote comfort.
What else tin can you do to help a dog who's non eating?
As a careful pet parent, I know you worry when your dog is not eating. I joke with my clients near the daily tracking of pee, poop, and nutrient intake that we all subconsciously track in our pets. If our dogs are failing to eat, we feel like we are failing them equally their caretakers. As veterinarians, we recommend "tricks" to tempt a dog who isn't eating to take a few bites. However, the emphasis must be on discovering the underlying cause of the loss of appetite, as discussed above.
If your greyness-muzzled companion is having trouble eating dry canis familiaris food or simply isn't interested, then offer moisture food or soaking the dry kibble in some warm water tin assist encourage him to eat. Adding chicken breast or lean footing beefiness (tuckered) might besides make food more enticing. In some cases, your vet might tell y'all to offer your dog some baby nutrient products because they are easy to assimilate and have lots of different flavors to attempt. (Only be sure to avoid products that contain onion pulverisation which is toxic to dogs).
In certain circumstances, your veterinarian may advise you to utilise a syringe to feed your dog. Also, your vet may recommend a feeding tube for at-domicile use if your dog is recovering from a serious affliction that required hospitalization. It can seem daunting, simply your veterinarian volition walk you through the steps and answer all your questions.
For a senior canis familiaris who needs a little help regaining an involvement in food after an illness or due to declining health, your vet might prescribe an appetite stimulant like mirtazepine. Too known every bit Remeron, mirtazepine is an cheap, prophylactic, one time-a-day pill that has been very helpful for my patients. Although it is prescribed every bit an antidepressant in humans, information technology functions as an ambition stimulant in dogs. A new veterinary prescription drug called Entyce is now available as an FDA-canonical appetite stimulant for dogs.
Dorsum to Boss' story
As much as I wish that Boss' story had a happy ending, life's twists and turns don't always get that way. After we brought my sister'southward dog to the hospital, nosotros noticed that some of his lymph nodes beneath his cervix were enlarged. Even though most of his blood and urine testing was normal, we performed 10-rays and found that his liver and spleen appeared enlarged. Boss' lymph nodes were aspirated and this confirmed that he had lymphoma, a type of cancer. Sadly, information technology was already at an advanced stage, affecting his internal organs.
My sis was worried near the issue that chemotherapy might have on Boss' heart, and so we elected to give him prednisone, a steroid, to keep him comfy. Steroids like prednisone are powerful anti-inflammatories and tin have the side furnishings of an increased appetite. On the day that we started the medication, Boss started eating again! We focused on his quality of life, making certain he was happy and loved in his final weeks.
What can we learn from our dearest Boss-human being's story? Boss had a very serious affliction. By bringing him to be evaluated and tested as opposed to taking a "await and encounter" approach, nosotros were able to rapidly figure out the crusade and become Boss the care that he needed. He went back to acting similar a puppy again the post-obit mean solar day. Not only was he back to tossing his favorite stuffed toy in the air, but he was also back to eating all of his meals! Saying goodbye to Boss was very difficult, but we have fond memories and enjoyed spoiling him to the end.
If you're facing difficult end-of-life or critical care decisions for your beloved senior dog, here are some boosted resources for y'all:
- Dr. Buzby's podcast: Cancer in Dogs With Dr. Sue, Cancer Vet
- Dr. Buzby's blog mail: Saying Goodbye to Our Domestic dog
Trust your intuition and team with your vet
most changes in your senior domestic dog's eating habits.
Finally, you lot know your dog'southward routine best. You know what is normal and not normal. Y'all know when there is a change in his appetite. If you sense that something is amiss, delight contact your veterinarian correct abroad. Your veterinary will let y'all know if the signs you lot describe warrant an emergency visit or an engagement.
Even if y'all are non able to bring your dog to the vet on the aforementioned mean solar day, your vet may offer some words of wisdom to aid ameliorate your dog's appetite and overall happiness. Working closely with your veterinarian will bring you lot priceless peace of mind, and ensure the best plan to maintain your senior dog's health and wellbeing.
Has your dear old dog's ambition diminished?
Delight comment below. We tin all learn from each other.
Source: https://toegrips.com/old-dog-not-eating-causes-tips/
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