My dog refuses to eat dog food

Hi,

My first post here, and would appreciate some advice. I have a 13 year old lab who has recently been diagnosed with an enlarged heart. She has been given tablets for her heart and duiretics for the build up of fluid. She has improved a lot in herself and seems happy, but a lot slower.

I am having great difficulty in getting her to eat any form of dog food, (I've tried all of them!). She will eat cooked chicken or scrambled egg, but for long term this isn't ideal. I was wondering if you had any suggestions on how to get her back to eating dog food? Or any ideas of what else I could give her? By the way she won't eat rice with her chicken.

I have tried the eat within 20 mins thing and then remove the food, that doesn't work she still won't eat it.

Any help would be gratefully received.

Thanks

Sorry to hear of your dog being diagnosed with heart disease, one of my dogs has also, yet had no problems eating.
Wondering if the vet should check on your dog again, as the diuretics can affect them and send a few things out of wack and a blood test might be worth making sure all is well (other than the heart disease.
My boy is on kangaroo mince and potato only (for other reasons) it may not be ideal diet but you can get vitamin tablets for dogs that you could add to make up for the limitations of what they are willing or can eat.
I also wonder on the quality of their life rather than quantity, if my boy will only eat a certain food I would wonder if that is worth messing with as it is better than eating nothing.
Either that or if you try to add some dog food in with that they like to eat and see if he will eat that Or a lot have talked about Salmon and potato (don't know the brand) and how it is a good food for dogs and also love it. Just a few thoughts.
found the thread on the food, just an idea not sure if it is for you or not....
http://www.dogsey.com/showthread.php?t=117064
Good luck

Thanks for your reply.

Because my dog hates the vets with a vengeance, she gets really stressed when I take her in so even though the vet is aware of her eating issues both him and me are reluctant to put her through anymore tests, and to just let her eat what we can get her to eat.

We feel she is too old now to go through too much change, and have been told by the vet that she won't last much longer, so quality of life is important right now.

Just wanted to make sure I was feeding her everything I could that was nutritious.

it could be the meds thats stopped the appetite, why not give the vet a call and ask, rather than take the dog there.

i'm a big fan of raw feeding, which saved my dog when he couldnt eat dog food.

She has a good appetite since having the meds, only not for dog food!

Not too keen to try the raw, her teeth aren't what they used to be.

When our late English setter started to go off 'normal' dog food and also refused her raw diet, I started home cooking for her, fish and rice, chicken and pasta, minces and potato etc etc.. the vet said to spoil her and she ate everything then..

That sounds like the perfect solution to me!

I know she won't like raw, and her teeth would never manage bones, she can't even eat dog biscuits these days.

I would say let her eat what she wants to then, if the vet knows and the stress it puts her under isn't worth it, let your girl eat what she will, I know if mine went off his food, it would be a blessing if he ate anything, and would ask the vet if it is worth throwing in a vitamin tablet into his diet to make up the short fall.
As you said quality is your priority now, so whatever she eats is okay, and enjoy her golden years.

Hi Juliet I am afraid elderly dogs with heart conditions often have a problem with their kidneys too and this in turn can affect the appetite.

When I was in a similar position I told my vet I was going to give my dog anything she would eat (within the bounds of what is suitable for a dog) and he agreed. With elderly sick dogs being realistic we know they are not going to be around for ever so having a balanced diet is not really a propriety, eating is. My dog went on to live for a few more years on her diet of fresh food.

I would give your girl three small meals a day of anything she will eat , egg/chicken/cottage cheese/any kind ot meat/tripe/tinned sardines/white fish/a little pasta if she will eat it but is is important to keep her weigh down .

I guess she isn't that active and I would keep her exercise to short frequent walks if you can. Not being active means she won't require that many calories or large amounts of food.

That sounds like really good advice, thank you.