Loss of appetite in senior dog...

[sprite]

Our 14 y/o shorthair, an eating machine for his entire life, has in the last couple of weeks shown little to no interest in his regular food. (Dry Eukanuba Senior)

Sidebar: his blood work is all good, recent UA came up negative. Has a decent amount of energy for his age and enjoys his daily walks.

he will happily eat people food and hard crunchy treats so I don’t think his teeth are an issue. I bought some new stuff (beneful lamb&rice) to mix in and that helped for a few days but now he’s turning his nose up at that as well.

so he has an appetite, just not for his usual diet. Any suggestions for something tasty to try? I don’t want to go the canned food route unless totally necessary.

[Foxtrot_s]

My suggestion is to please him - give him what he will eat, spoil him, because he is an older gentleman and deserves it.

[Kachina]

You might consider an abdominal ultrasound? Just to be on the safe side. But maybe UA is ultrasound?

[Nezzy]

MY JRT ended up with Inflammatory Bowel Disease. Very uncomfortable, and had to change a lot of things. please discuss the possibility with your vet.

[Parrotnutz]

Smartpak has for dogs “chicken stew” in packets. My 14 year old dog loves it!! She still has an appetite but was loosing weight so the extra protein has helped maintain her. Its real chicken, with peas, etc.
I would try it and if your oldie won’t eat that a vet visit is in order.

[SquishTheBunny]

Well, when dogs go off their food usually something is up. I would consider an abdominal ultrasound and thoracic radiographs as a next step to see if there is anything sinister hanging out. It is not normal, even with mouth pain, for a hoover dog to turn up food.

I would also consider a vet visit before trying a more “tasty” food - if hes eaten well his whole life he hasnt suddenly become picky just because he wants something that tastes better.

[sprite]

Hmmm. well, I guess I worded that poorly. He is still gung ho for treats and whatever human food he thinks he might get. Just his regular food hes being picky about.

Gave him plain Beneful tonight and it was gone in a flash. im kind of wondering now if theres something wrong with his original food, bad bag or stale or something.

[pezk]

Throw out the bag. Better to be safe than sorry. At his age Id give him anything he wants.

[Horsegal984]

Anything but Beneful. That stuff is pure garbage. But I agree, when an older dog goes off his food there’s an issue. How recent was the bloodwork?

[sprite]

Lol yeah I know its crappy food. Not to happy about it but didn’t have a lot of options.

Bloodwork was 6-8 weeks ago.

[stellaroo]

Give him canned food. Let him enjoy his meals.

[luvmyhackney]

I mix a bit of homemade salt free chicken stock and rice in my oldie but Goldie labs food. She is on special food from vet and hates it.

[sprite]

[QUOTE=stellaroo;8934177]
Give him canned food. Let him enjoy his meals.[/QUOTE]

That’s my goal :). I’d prefer something that would be somewhat good for him, but in the long run, as long as he’s eating, it’s a plus. He can’t have waffles and scrambled eggs every morning though lol.

Our recycling has been cut to a 1x month pickup so 2+ cans a day would add up really fast!

Seriously, he is in really good shape for an oldie. We got him out of rescue so age is really an estimate. He’s happy and alert and interactive and so far can manage all the stairs (fingers crossed). So if I can keep him interested in food and eating, all is good.

i am not ruling out an abdominal U/S though, just to be sure.

[jetsmom]

Raise his food and water bowl. Old dogs often get neck arthritis and it hurts to bend over, but they will for REALLY GOOD food, or something they don’t normally get.
You can place his bowl on a box, stack of books, pillow, etc. Try it and see.
I had an old dog and vet suggested it after I told him that he would take food from my hand. If that’s what it is, don’t forget to raise water bowl too.

[Sswor]

[QUOTE=SquishTheBunny;8933986]
Well, when dogs go off their food usually something is up. I would consider an abdominal ultrasound and thoracic radiographs as a next step to see if there is anything sinister hanging out. It is not normal, even with mouth pain, for a hoover dog to turn up food.

I would also consider a vet visit before trying a more “tasty” food - if hes eaten well his whole life he hasnt suddenly become picky just because he wants something that tastes better.[/QUOTE]

THIS ^^

The longer you go before getting it checked out, at his age, the more likely it will be untreatable when you do find it. Ultrasound and look at liver, spleen. My old dog had normal blood work and died 3 months later. Liver cancer, bleeding mass on spleen. Found it on accident with a routine heart checkup. I too thought he just didn’t want the plain old kibble anymore. But it just keeps getting worse. Best wishes for your dog.

[sprite]

Well, going to call vet tomorrow. Hasnt eaten his breakfast though did eat a carrot chopped up and a piece of bread.

The new food isnt Beneful after all but Pro Plan Lamb& Rice so maybe not quite so bad.

He does already eat and drink out of an elevated feeder

[Sswor]

Best wishes, let us know.

[vacation1]

You could try mixing some water in the kibble and microwaving it briefly, to increase the smell. And add some people food toppings like cheese or bacon. Can you tell I’ve gone this route? My old dog really lost her appetite for regular food (kibble) and then people food last year. It returned immediately after we had a very small, apparently minor ‘lump’ removed from her shoulder - it turned out to be malignant, but hadn’t spread, so removal cured it. And despite the small size and lack of spreading, it had clearly caused that severe a loss of appetite. In her case, she was getting to the point, by the time we had to tumor removed, that I had to coax her even to eat chicken. I had switched her over to a split meal of dry and wet kibble during that time, and after her appetite came back, I kept that going. While she wouldn’t eat the dry food during the day sometimes, if I carried it upstairs to our bedroom at night, she’d eat then, as if she’d resigned herself to no further chances of something better. So maybe a change of scenery would help?

[pezk]

One of my vets, in order to perk up appetite in an old dog or sick dog, recommended Vanilla Ensure, French Vanilla whole milk yogurt, scrambled eggs, human food esp partially cooked hamberger or sauteed chicken. Also take the whole milk vanilla yougurt and freeze it in small cups.

[Nezzy]

[QUOTE=sprite;8935590]
Well, going to call vet tomorrow. Hasnt eaten his breakfast though did eat a carrot chopped up and a piece of bread.

The new food isnt Beneful after all but Pro Plan Lamb& Rice so maybe not quite so bad.

He does already eat and drink out of an elevated feeder :)[/QUOTE]

my JRT with the IBD would eat treats, but not her meals. She would sometimes vomit up her meals if she did eat. Please see the vet.