Those who have older dogs

[gummybear]

Sorry if this gets long

Our dog is almost 12. She's a golden, and frankly, most of my golden friends dogs have not lasted this long, even our vet said she's a lucky girl bc the purebreds are so prone to health issues. She's never been an active dog, so gauging her level of lethargy is futile. She's lazy. She's been off the past week or so. She won't eat her kibble. She's prone to upset stomach but it usually presents disgustingly (she's a puke and pooper). She usually hoovers up any crumbs. Last week when she ignored popcorn on the floor I started to worry.

She'll eat other things, like chicken, pork, a turkey burger, rice, wet dog food. She still won't eat snacks the kids dropped so I was thinking it was her teeth, since snacks are crunchy like kibble. I took her in today. X-ray, u/s, EKG and teeth all normal. Old lady lumps and bumps all felt OK. No swelling or fluid anywhere, gums nice and pink. Blood work all normal except for some slightly elevated kidney and liver #s (ever so slightly elevated, so small the vet said it was negligible).

She still won't eat her kibble. She seems fine. So, I guess my question is, did you dog ever just stop eating their food? We even opened a new bag, in case the old stuff was stale. It's just so out of character for her, esp. since she'll eat other things.

My other question is, when do I stop looking for an answer? She was sick a few years ago and we spent $1500 and go no answer. She just got better. We've maxed out on the bw, so it would be exploratory full u/s, then extracting and testing anything found. I'm not sure I want to put her through all that, esp. at her age, if a problem isn't presenting itself as obvious (or even remotely obv since we've done a lot of testing already). This is making me feel like a bad dog mom. How far do you go? 

[mcmel]

First I want to say that I think you're a great pet parent and no decision is the wrong one.

We just put down our 12 year old Golden last month and I am still so heartbroken.

I personally would feed whatever she wants to eat. Maybe try a new kibble or she might be into wet dog food at this point. Maybe she wants boiled chicken and rice every night. I probably wouldn't go get cheeseburgers, but anything reasonable, I would let her eat. I've also heard of dogs just getting bored with their food and a few days of change can reset them enough to go back on their normal food.

I hope that she gains her appetite back and that you don't have to make any tough decisions for a long time.



My sweet Sadie with her favorite toy.

[gummybear]

Jun 13, 2016 21:10:04 GMT -5 mcmel said:

My sweet Sadie with her favorite toy.

Sadie is so beautiful  (heart) (heart)  
I am so sorry for your loss

I forgot to add, she ate her kibble tonight when I mixed a bunch of pumpkin with it. 

Thank yo for your advice and kind words. It's just so not like her, you know? She has always been a food monster, and up until 2 weeks ago, would hop around like a bunny when she saw her food cup. She is just OFF. I mean, you know, she's been with us her whole life and I know my dog. I'm just going to keep doing what I am doing. They told me to try to catch her urine tomorrow (LOL, that'll go over well) so they can test that, but outside of that, it's just looking until they find something.  I just hope she gets better

[gottadobe]

I'd feed her what she wants to eat and not do additional testing unless something new pops up.

[eclaires]

I'd probably let her eat what she will eat and not worry about it too much. I mean, nothing totally crazy, but a different food, or plain chicken...

Our Bichon is 12, but they generally have a fairly long lifespan. She recently had regular bloodwork and it was all normal/good. She stopped eating her food but was eating our puppy's food. The puppy is transitioning to adult food so we are just going to let them share since our older dog will eat it (the adult version of the food the puppy is eating).

We've talked about it some because she is getting old (and is also super lazy - all she does is sleep), and she's had a wonderful life. I don't think we would go too far at this point.

[gottadobe]

Jun 13, 2016 21:18:24 GMT -5 gummybear said:

Jun 13, 2016 21:10:04 GMT -5 mcmel said:

My sweet Sadie with her favorite toy.

Sadie is so beautiful  (heart) (heart)  
I am so sorry for your loss

I forgot to add, she ate her kibble tonight when I mixed a bunch of pumpkin with it. 

I'm glad she ate! Be careful with the pumpkin.  Too much can either constipate her or give her the runs. 
Feed her canned, dehydrated raw or cook for her.
I hope she feels better soon.

[gummybear]

Jun 13, 2016 21:20:45 GMT -5 @gracie6414 said:

She's still eating right, just not her kibble?
It might be time to change her food, if she is eating meats you might look into adding raw food to her diet.

Either way I would add some kefir to her daily diet, and possible an additional supplement later on.

Try feeding her as clean as possible, the meats and such she will eat but no sauce, nothing pre-packaged, you can feed raw egg too but don't do more than 4 eggs a week. Is there any veg she likes? Apple (no core), carrot, zucchini? If you move away from kibble be sure to add some kelp powder to her died (adds natural nutrients and salt back into her diet without kibble).

I'm not a fan of wet dog food because of the by products, but if she is happy to eat it feed it as part of her diet.

Also, is she turning down the snacks the kids drop or does she not know they are there? Is her sight diminished? Can she smell them? Dry snacks aren't always easy to smell, especially as the dog ages and her scenting abilities decline..

It sounds like she still has an appetite which is great, she is just underwhelmed with her kibble.

Kefir in her diet will help with the transition to bed food, but she may still get loose stools anyways.

Thank you for all the advice! Yes she is still eating, just not kibble and other things she previously would eat (fallen snacks like popcorn, pretzels, cereals bits) She likes pumpkin and green beans. 

Her senses are def diminished and her eyes are starting to get ever so slightly cloudy. Often I have to point out snacks that drop whereas before she'd be on top of them like a flash.

I will get some kefir!

[LoveTrains]

I lost my beloved pug at the age of 13 this April and I miss him so much every day.

You are doing a great job with your pup. In my dogs last two months he stopped eating his normal food. I just experimented with other stuff - wet food, raw, I would sit with him and hand feed him kibble, etc. good luck. Your dog is lucky to have you.

[gummybear]

Jun 13, 2016 21:21:55 GMT -5 gottadobe said:

Jun 13, 2016 21:18:24 GMT -5 gummybear said:

Sadie is so beautiful  (heart) (heart)  
I am so sorry for your loss

I forgot to add, she ate her kibble tonight when I mixed a bunch of pumpkin with it. 

I'm glad she ate! Be careful with the pumpkin.  Too much can either constipate her or give her the runs. 
Feed her canned, dehydrated raw or cook for her.
I hope she feels better soon.

Ohh thank you, did not know, I thought pumpkin was  as much as she wants food!

[FastHands]

Keep giving hee the pumpkin with the kibble if you can afford to, and just see how she is. Other than eating, does she have favorite things? Is she still enjoying those things? My dog is much younger, but she goes through periods of "no thanks," where she's just not feelin the kibble. They eventually pass.

[gummybear]

Jun 13, 2016 21:24:30 GMT -5 LoveTrains said:

I lost my beloved pug at the age of 13 this April and I miss him so much every day.

You are doing a great job with your pup. In my dogs last two months he stopped eating his normal food. I just experimented with other stuff - wet food, raw, I would sit with him and hand feed him kibble, etc. good luck. Your dog is lucky to have you.

Thank you! I am so sorry for your loss of your sweet pug

[gummybear]

Jun 13, 2016 21:25:15 GMT -5 FastHands said:

Keep giving hee the pumpkin with the kibble if you can afford to, and just see how she is. Other than eating, does she have favorite things? Is she still enjoying those things? My dog is much younger, but she goes through periods of "no thanks," where she's just not feelin the kibble. They eventually pass.

I'm going to take her to the park this week to see how she reacts. She loves it there. If she's not herself there I'll know she is really feeling down. She is still perky (for her) in the yard, with the kids, she'll follow me around, even up and down the stairs (she's my velcro dog). 

One thing I should add is we are moving in a month. It is KILLING me inside that I have this little voice in my head thinking she might not make it to the new house. That, and I worry that the stress of the move will be too hard on her. She's a total homebody and I don;t know how she'll react. I thought she might be picking up on our stress about moving, but we don't have boxes out yet. But, being out of the house for showings, inspection and appraisal was hard on her. She gets car sick so she was in and out of the car a lot for a few weeks.

[gummybear]

Jun 13, 2016 21:29:15 GMT -5 tiki said:

If you can find a dog food she will eat reliably, maybe just try switching to that while keeping an eye on her appetite? I've had older pets who just got picky (Kind of like my grandpa who ate about 50% pralines & cream ice cream for the first year after his wife of 60+ years passed away.)

I also currently have a 13 year old cat who has had something (neurological maybe?) wrong with him for almost 2 years now. He's definitely not OK, but we've stopped taking him to the vet since they never find anything, he hates it, he doesn't seem to be in pain, and he's still eating.

I'm going to experiment for sure I was wondering if she was just getting old and crotchety in her food choices!

I am more than happy to let it ride out. If we get 2 more years I'd be thrilled at this point She is not a fan of the vet either and I am not a fan of spending hundreds of dollars to hear she is "remarkably healthy for a dog her age", hahaha

[FastHands]

Jun 13, 2016 21:30:39 GMT -5 gummybear said:

Jun 13, 2016 21:25:15 GMT -5 FastHands said:

Keep giving hee the pumpkin with the kibble if you can afford to, and just see how she is. Other than eating, does she have favorite things? Is she still enjoying those things? My dog is much younger, but she goes through periods of "no thanks," where she's just not feelin the kibble. They eventually pass.

I'm going to take her to the park this week to see how she reacts. She loves it there. If she's not herself there I'll know she is really feeling down. She is still perky (for her) in the yard, with the kids, she'll follow me around, even up and down the stairs (she's my velcro dog). 

One thing I should add is we are moving in a month. It is KILLING me inside that I have this little voice in my head thinking she might not make it to the new house. That, and I worry that the stress of the move will be too hard on her. She's a total homebody and I don;t know how she'll react. I thought she might be picking up on our stress about moving, but we don't have boxes out yet. But, being out of the house for showings, inspection and appraisal was hard on her. She gets car sick so she was in and out of the car a lot for a few weeks.

Ohhhh yeah, I'd put good money on some low-level anxiety. Our girl dog's "no thanks" periods often correlate with stress from other stuff -- either us traveling, or even when ds was having super crabby days and there was just a lot of chaos. I guarantee she can pick up on that and is maybe just a bit stressed. I'm sure she will looooooove a trip to the park.

I know what you mean about the "will they make it" feeling. Having and old baby is so hard. Just know that she feels your love. And I really don't think you have reason to believe she won't make it that long. I truly believe the commotion is a likely culprit for the food blahs, especially since she got a sparkly clean bill of health.

[dexteroni]

I could have written this post about Dexter when he got old. Over the course of a few months, he went from eating reliably to not wanting his kibble. We tried everything we could - opened a new bag, tried different brands, did bloodwork, did a dental exam, we even did the exploratory u/s, and all was fine. So we stopped testing, outside of his normal twice yearly checkups, and just fed him whatever he would eat. At first, adding wet food to his kibble worked, with a little bit of warm water to make a sauce. When that stopped working, we fed a variety of commercial raw diets, some frozen/refrigerated, some dehydrated. When he stopped wanting those, I started cooking for him, and did so for probably a year or so until he died (from something unrelated).

Here are some resources I found helpful:

Dr. Pitcairn's Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs & Cats

The Nature of Animal Healing by Marty Goldstein

And this book wasn't published until after he died, but it seems like a good one.

The Healthy Homemade Pet Food Cookbook

We also ordered a multivitamin especially for dogs, and gave him one Tums per day for calcium. You can also wash, dry, and crush eggshells to get him more calcium, but giving him a Tums was obviously much easier and he was happy to eat them.

I hope this helps. It's so hard to know if you're doing the right thing when they get old. Good luck, and hugs to your sweet pup.

[gummybear]

Jun 13, 2016 21:55:46 GMT -5 dexteroni said:

I could have written this post about Dexter when he got old. Over the course of a few months, he went from eating reliably to not wanting his kibble. We tried everything we could - opened a new bag, tried different brands, did bloodwork, did a dental exam, we even did the exploratory u/s, and all was fine. So we stopped testing, outside of his normal twice yearly checkups, and just fed him whatever he would eat. At first, adding wet food to his kibble worked, with a little bit of warm water to make a sauce. When that stopped working, we fed a variety of commercial raw diets, some frozen/refrigerated, some dehydrated. When he stopped wanting those, I started cooking for him, and did so for probably a year or so until he died (from something unrelated).

Here are some resources I found helpful:

Dr. Pitcairn's Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs & Cats

The Nature of Animal Healing by Marty Goldstein

And this book wasn't published until after he died, but it seems like a good one.

The Healthy Homemade Pet Food Cookbook

We also ordered a multivitamin especially for dogs, and gave him one Tums per day for calcium. You can also wash, dry, and crush eggshells to get him more calcium, but giving him a Tums was obviously much easier and he was happy to eat them.

I hope this helps. It's so hard to know if you're doing the right thing when they get old. Good luck, and hugs to your sweet pup.

Thank you for all these links!! Dexter sounds like he was a lucky boy.  (heart)  I love to cook so I am all for making her meals. Also I bet she would love Tums

[gummybear]

Oh also what post would be complete without a pic. Here she is earlier this spring on one of the first warm days, enjoying basking in the sun, one of her favorite things to do

[jmc325]

So many sweet pictures of senior dogs. I have a mutt my husband and I adopted about 12 years ago. Over the last several months it seems like he's just aged a ton and we've been in and out of the vet. He's had ongoing stomach issues (vomiting and diarrhea) and didn't have much of an appetite. I didn't read through all the comments, so I'm not sure if this has been mentioned, but maybe look into a sensitive stomach canned food. We did this for our dog and not only does his stool look better, but he's eating normally again. At first we were buying prescription food from our vet, but lately I've been purchasing a different brand from Petco and it's been fine.

Just something else to possibly consider. Hope your pup gets back to her normal, hungry self soon.

[speckledfrog]

My guy goes on hunger strikes every so often. I find that splashing in a little water making it more enticing or throwing in a few bits of table food that he likes will spark him to eat something.

[killercupcake]

When Simba hit 14, he got really picky with his food. I think it was hurting his tummy because he also started getting sick more often (Still didn't stop him from trying to drag my Big Mac box off of my table right in front of me, though).

My mom made him rice with chicken and veggies or rice with ground beef and veggies. Huge batches of it. She froze it and we reheated it for him every night.

His appetite picked up and his stomach settled. Sometimes he would still refuse the meat and rice, so he would get scrambled eggs instead. But I think that was just him being a picky old man who knew we would do anything for him.

So I say feed your pup whatever she will eat and keep an eye on her.

Around 15, Sim started to lose control of his bladder so he wore diapers. We noticed there was some blood in his urine so we took him to the vet. The vet felt a mass in his belly, but said it didn't appear to be hurting him and his bloodwork came back okay. We had the option of doing the biopsy, but he was almost 16 and it was too risky. We, along with the vet, monitored him. He was okay, so we made the decision to not continue to seek out answers as long as he didn't get worse. He made it to just after his 16th birthday when we made the decision to put him down. His quality of life had diminished sharply. All that to say you'll know. I know it's said on here a lot, but it's true. Dogs are really great about letting you know what they need.

[gummybear]

killercupcake wow, 16!
Thank you for saying she'll let us know. That's comforting

[killercupcake]

Jun 13, 2016 23:13:54 GMT -5 gummybear said:

killercupcake wow, 16!
Thank you for saying she'll let us know. That's comforting

Yeah, Shih Tzus are known for living long lives. He was with me for most of mine. Best puppy in the world.

And you're welcome. 

[Deleted]

I would add canned food, plain yogurt, mix her food with beef or chicken broth - anything to make the kibble less boring. My dog once somehow convinced a dog sitter to mix her food with warm water to make a broth/stew type meal. I got her back and said "no. You can eat your food" but I think now that's she's 13 I'd be more open to the idea

It may be the food is just too hard too. Nothing looks wrong but maybe her mouth is a bit sore?

At her age id give her what she likes though. She'll probably live another 5 years if you do

[liverandonions]

Without delving into all the dirty details of my recent multiple expensive trips to the vet I'll tell you that they think our 10y/o Australian shepherd has colitis/ulcers. We have him on anti nausea, anti ulcer and Pepcid. He had stopped eating kibble, then prescription wet food, then fresh pet refrigerated food. He's finally eating boiled chicken and cottage cheese over kibble. Your girl might have something like that too. You could try 10mg of Pepcid and see if just that helps, and I would try chicken and cottage cheese.

[nahoku]

I'm following this post because we are going through the same thing right now. My shih tzu is 13 and has had a bunch of issues already this year but the not eating and lethargy just started within the past week. I took her to the vet yesterday and they didn't find anything that was obviously wrong but I will get blood test results back today so we'll see. I gave her her medicine with chicken last night and this morning and she ate it up so that made me feel better.

It's hard to see them age Hope your pup is feeling better soon.

[sweetptater]

I only skimmed the comments, but wanted to add that my Golden just turned 11 and he has done the same thing in the past. It lasts a couple of days, then he's back to eating. I chalk it up to an upset stomach, though I truly have no idea why he goes from eating everything in sight to not wanting anything.

[megstoo]

i'm going through this right now with our 12 year old cocker spaniel. She flat out refuses to eat her kibble. I've changed flavor and nothing has helped.

We're at the stage of just giving her what she wants and hopes she will eat. I made a huge thing of chicken breast for her so she gets her kibble, cut up chicken breast, cut up apples and sometimes cut up hotdogs. My vet has said we're at the end of life stage so at this point it's a matter of what makes her comfortable (she's on pain meds), and what she'll eat. It sucks as they age but we have a very bad feeling it's just a short matter of time.

[RoxMonster]

First of all, you are a great pet parent. Making any sorts of medical decisions for our pets is so difficult because they can't talk and tell us what's wrong (or if nothing is) so all we have to go on is our gut and our intuition, being the people who know and love them best. Whatever you think is the right decision will be the best decision for your pup.

As far as the food, I don't have a senior dog, but Rox has always been picky about her food and tires of the same flavors quickly (she is 5). What has worked for us is buying small bags of food and changing up the flavor every other time. So she eats Taste of the Wild Salmon one time and then the next time we have to buy a bag, we buy the lamb. Additionally, we add a bit of actual meat to her kibble during each meal time. We alternate plain ground beef and plain ground chicken (we do cook them up rather than serve raw). The variety in her meals has helped a ton and she usually always cleans her bowl.

[gummybear]

I wanted to thank you all for you advice and your empathy. Still no kibble today but gobbled up her wet food. I did manage to catch her urine this morning so I dropped that off for testing too. These old dogs sure do like to give us a run for our money (literally, lol) <3

[dexteroni]

Jun 14, 2016 4:22:11 GMT -5 tillie said:

On top of all of the great suggestions in PPs, we have luck with adding either plain Greek yogurt, egg, or a bit of chicken broth to thier kibble. Works like a charm.

All great suggestions. We also had luck with cottage cheese, like another PP suggested.

I feel like I remember that time period so vividly, but it's crazy how many details I've forgotten until I read them here in a comment. I should make a note of all of this info for when we anyone else asks, or for someday when we have old dogs again.