Need food ideas, please

[Codes]

12 year old Maia hasn't been doing well lately. First she lost her rear about a month ago but thankfully Tramadol has brought her back on her feet. Now she's not eating well at all and is dropping weight rather quickly. I made lots of fat balls for her and she ate them for a good week or so but she's now had her fill and turns her nose up at them. Kibble is out of the question. She won't touch it. What she'll like at one meal (Salmon, yogurt, oatmeal, ground beef, Fresh Pet dog food..etc) she won't touch at another meal. The fat balls did the trick and she did start putting on weight but I thought for certain she would always like them but how wrong I was.


What other tasty offerings can I tempt her with?

 

[Angela]

Oh this so reminds me of Evan who passed away at 12 1/2 a year ago yesterday.
We tried everything also, Cesar wet food, cat crunchies, yoghurt, mostly it was soft food he liked but like you said with Maia he would have something one time and not the next meal. I found I had to keep experimenting and wasted a lot of food actually. Waffles and butter were a hit for a couple of meals.
Give her a hug from me.

 

[Codes]

Thanks so much Angela. Never thought of waffles but I'll give that a try. Sometimes she'll like peanut butter sandwiches or peanut butter on graham crackers. Tonight she had steak that I found on sale. We don't have too much wasted food thankfully because whatever she won't eat gets divided between the other dogs. They think they hit the jackpot.



Hugs to you and Maia thanks you for your hugs.

 

[Angela]

I must add that in the last couple of weeks we hand fed him because he wouldn't eat out of his bowl,himself!.

 

[wrknnwf]

Raw or slightly cooked liver, braunschweiger, beef kidneys and other organ meats, whole eggs (shell and all).

 

[shellyk]

The tramadol could be making her stomach upset. We try to only give our Lab tramadol at night. During the day he gets gabapentin and Galliprant (nsaid). The three types of pain meds seem to give him relief and work well together. Our anxious Newf is on fluxitone (Prozac) and it affects his appetite sometimes. We sprinkle a little grated cheese on top of his food and he seems more interested.

 

[Codes]

Angela, I can so relate to hand feeding. I've been hand feeding her for a few weeks now. Although last night she ate cubed up steak out of her bowl. Today she had another steak and then I bought some Red Barn beef roll which she happily ate. I have a bunch left so I hope she continues eating it. I Also bought some cottage cheese and yesterday she had yogurt. Sometimes she likes liver and raw eggs other times she doesn't.


As for the Tramadol, she's on 2 pills 2 x a day. Tried cutting back the dosage but she started failing right away. I guess all this is a balancing act and doing what's best for Maia. Hopefully she'll start to rally soon!!


Thanks for all the info and support!

 

[Tricia2]

This may be hard to read but she may be telling you she's 'ready.' When Lu became 'ready' she gradually stopped eating. She would eat almost any new food I tried, but not with gusto, more like she was trying so hard to please me. I had her to the vet three times in a week, trying appetite stimulants and nausea suppression drugs. I was even syringing human baby food pureed meats into her. All to no avail, her organs were shutting down and that was causing her anorexia. But I wasn't able to see the forest for the trees. I wasn't ready, she was. It was the worst week of my life and I'm still wracked with guilt that I wasn't able to see her signs.

I'd try stopping the tramadol for 2 doses, to see if Maia's appetite improves, maybe ask the vet to prescribe anti-nausea medication (Cerenia) or mirtazapine for appetite stimulation. I'm sorry that you are going through this, I so wish they could talk to us some times.

 

[Angela]

Tricia you could be right. When I went through this with Evan last year looking back on it I am sure he was trying to say "no more, I have had enough," It is so incredibly hard and I feel for Codes and Maia.

 

[Jeannie]

I agree that Tricia could be right. When Sara stopped eating I'd take soft food and roll it into small balls and stuff it down her throat like I'd give a pill. Looking back at photos we should have put her down at least 2 months earlier. There was no life in her eyes. I made a promise to all the other newfs that I would not do that to them. Samantha was eating and getting around but one morning I went to feed her and she gave me that look. I new immediately it was time. So hard for us to make those decisions but it can be a blessing to our dogs.

 

[Newfs Forever]

Mary K,

Sending you good thoughts and prayers.

 

[Codes]

Thanks so much everyone. Aside from having to hand feed her and her needing Tramadol, I just don't see that "look". I know this decision will have to come down to me, not her. She's been on antibiotics for a skin infection and yesterday morning was her last one. Last night she ate more than she has in quite a while, hand fed of course. She ate pretty decent this morning. I will take this day by day and ultimately do what's best for our sweet Maia.



Sometimes it's so hard knowing when to set them free while other times the signs come through loud and clear.

 

[Tricia2]

Happy to hear her appetite is better. Antibiotics can be hard on the stomach.

 

[Jeannie]

Sometimes it's so hard knowing when to set them free while other times the signs come through loud and clear.

You got that right!

 

[R Taft]

I had issues with katy when she was paralysed in her rear.... I did not use anything but low does , 5mg, Prednisolone as it was the only thing that did not effect her appetite... she is still on 5 mg every second day. One vet did not want to give her a script, but I basically said if she cannot walk and no pee and poop herself I will have her PTS... It worked, script given and together with the Devils claw, Rosehip, Tumeric, glucosamine, seaweed meal, magnesium, fish oil, Mussel extract, she is walking and happy and loves her food. I found some of the other anti inflams made her miserable and not eat.... It has been eighteen month now since her episode and she is even back to going for walks and swimming....

 

[Codes]

That is so wonderful about Katy! So happy the pred is working for her.


Maia had a super day on Sat. Ate kibble for breakfast and dinner (out of a bowl!) with a few extra snacks here and there throughout the day. Sunday she ate pretty good too. Yesterday morning not so much and then again this morning she ate well. I'm hoping we've turned the corner but will keep a close eye on her. I try to have a big salad every day and she has always waited patiently to get the leftovers. She hasn't done that in quite a while but darned if she didn't try to stuff her big face in my bowl last night to snag a few bites. I saved a generous portion for her and threw in some kibble for extra measure. She ate every bit. Wheww!!

 

[Angela]

Wonderful Mary K, so happy to hear.

 

[Newfs Forever]

Keep on keepin' on, Maia!!!!

 

[Angela]

How is she doing now?

 

[Codes]

She ate pretty well last night and this morning. She's starting to put on weight thankfully. She is always on my mind and i'm really struggling with what to do. I don't want to send her to the Bridge too early or too late. She has this new thing she does that started a couple months ago. She's always been a messy drinker but now she wants her mouth and chest dried after she drinks. She's very persistant about that and you better darn well do it. Sometimes we'll playfully ignore her and she follows around the house until we do it. So, she's still continuing to do that so perhaps it's not quite time to send her along her way..

Thanks so much for asking