Gun Dog Forum

My V is 12 years old and has always been a little neurotic....finicky eater, little high maintenance. Lately, she has dramatically cut back her eating. We hunted Saturday and since then she has barely touched her food. Normally I would be distressed but like I said she has always been difficult to feed. Any suggestions? What should I be looking for??? Thanks for your help and hopefully this doesn't go off into a typical dog food thread!

Two things have worked pretty well for me when a dog's appetite seems a little off:

Withold a regular meal. Fussy appetites perk up when the dog is a little deprived. Pan goes down, and comes right back up if there is no interest within about 5 minutes. Sometimes if an upset stomch is involved, witholding gives things a chance to settle down and the dog will feel like eating the next regular meal. After a refused meal, I feed a little less each meal after they start eating again; keeping them just slightly hungry helps with pickiness.

Add a little canned cat food to the kibble. The strong aroma, different taste, novelty or whatever works wonders.

When an old dog goes off his feed, It's worrisome to me, but mine have always been chowhounds. Regardless, I wouldn't let it go for more than a couple days past your dog's 'normal' fussiness before getting in to the vet. Too many things go awry with oldies to take chances.

I don
t like to add much of anything is a situation like that since quite often the dog is not feeling well and they do not need anything in their stomach for a while. Too often we try to make a dog eat when they are not feeling well. At 12 years she can have things going on so I wouldn't wait too long but at the same time do not add something to her diet till you find what the problem might be.

Ezzy

I also find it worrisome when an old dog goes off its feed. You know your dog best, but I wouldn't wait too long before seeing a vet if the appetite doesn't rebound.

Best wishes,

Bill

ezzy333 wrote:I don
t like to add much of anything is a situation like that since quite often the dog is not feeling well and they do not need anything in their stomach for a while. Too often we try to make a dog eat when they are not feeling well. At 12 years she can have things going on so I wouldn't wait too long but at the same time do not add something to her diet till you find what the problem might be.

Ezzy

+1

OP, I just reread your post and I think you need to get your old girl to the vet. On my first read, the part about that she has lately cut back on her meals dramatically is something I missed or didn't register. Sorry.
Some old dog health problems can be fixed, some can be helped, and some just lead to a sad end. Have her checked out before things go too far.

As they age dogs often miss a few meals, mostly from being too sore and tired to eat, particularly after hunting.

You take her to a vet and he will have to do $500 to $1,000 in tests to tell you she is old. You could pick up some Rhymadil or other pain relievers. Also try to keep her in shape and don't over do it.

Enjoy the sunset years, an old dog gives a special love.

My lab has always been a voracious eater until this year. She is now 11 years old and started skipping meals and not finishing other meals. I started wetting down her food with hot water about a month ago and so far she has finished every meal. My setter on the other hand had always been a finicky eater and I could have easily free fed her if I wanted until I had to get her spayed at 6 years old due to Pyometra. Now the setter is always hungry I have to make sure she doesn't over eat. It was odd to see the dogs eating behaviors completely switch.

In the spring my old dog got less interested in his food, and it got worse and worse to the point that he would not eat anything at all. Blood tests etc were normal, and he acted just fine except for the not eating. He lost a lot of weight, from 49# to 39# and looked horrible. Nothing could get him to eat, he would just sniff and walk away. We wound up putting him down even though he seemed to feel OK, because he was literally starving. The vet thinks an MRI might have shown a tumor on the part of the brain that controls appetite, although we passed on that option. It was very expensive and if it showed anything, what could we have done anyway? He was 13 years old.

shags wrote:In the spring my old dog got less interested in his food, and it got worse and worse to the point that he would not eat anything at all. Blood tests etc were normal, and he acted just fine except for the not eating. He lost a lot of weight, from 49# to 39# and looked horrible. Nothing could get him to eat, he would just sniff and walk away. We wound up putting him down even though he seemed to feel OK, because he was literally starving. The vet thinks an MRI might have shown a tumor on the part of the brain that controls appetite, although we passed on that option. It was very expensive and if it showed anything, what could we have done anyway? He was 13 years old.

Sad but there comes a time..........................

When my setter was a small pup he ate so voraciously that we spread his food out over a dinner plate so he couldn't inhale it.

By about and since he was 6 months, he's become a terribly picky eater.

....sad stuff shags, so sorry.

and then there's my 13 year old - eats like a horse but can hardly walk. Waits for you to deliver the dog biscuits. Still can get outside to do her business , but when that becomes impossible I will be putting her down.

For the OP I ' d still see the vet for some discussion.

ddoyle wrote:My V is 12 years old and has always been a little neurotic....finicky eater, little high maintenance. Lately, she has dramatically cut back her eating. We hunted Saturday and since then she has barely touched her food. Normally I would be distressed but like I said she has always been difficult to feed. Any suggestions? What should I be looking for??? Thanks for your help and hopefully this doesn't go off into a typical dog food thread!

Vet

Thank you all! She is doing much better......I know we are on the downhill side but glad it wasn't now!

ddoyle wrote:Thank you all! She is doing much better......I know we are on the downhill side but glad it wasn't now!

Good news.

Bill