13 year old dog not eating properly - any advice?

hi, I am looking for some general advice for my female 13yo sheltie/shepherd who really is not eating regular kibble she has been on for years. she will eat treats, some meat like hamburger or a bite or two of chicken. I tried some chicken broth in food, ate a little the first time I tried it but not again. tried chicken/rice-1st time ate it 2nd time no. gave raw hot dog in pieces ate that, but not really again the 2nd time. she first time lost interest in food was 1 week ago today. did vomit food up, mopey no interest so took to vet, didn't find anything put on antibiotic. has perked up a great deal since starting antibiotic last Monday but still refuses to eat. will eat treats. any suggestions? Thank you. Robin

Did your vet do blood tests?

yes but then said at this point does not think blood work is necessary, he did mention possibility of pancreatitis. not to be gross but I did notice and did point out to him her vaginal area on the fur was a reddish brown color and her vulva was enflamed. so I was thinking she might have a urinary infection and he also thought that was a possibility. so every time she went potty I was cleaning her with antibacterial soap and rinsing her off. this morning my fiancée told me she did eat some of her different food we bought, with moist food and broth, then went over and ate some of anothers food. when she did not eat last night, I felt bad, but I also did not give her any treats for once to at least get something in her belly. so we shall see what happens at dinner. thank you for your response. guess I am dumbfounded have never had anyone refuse food for this long just the occasional not hungry so we don't eat. I have 9 dogs now and usually everyone eats okay. parker is just stumping me because other than refusing to eat she is fine. she has today and tomorrow on her antibiotic baytril. after that I will continue to monitor her physical actions. she does limp on her right back leg and I have contributed that to possible arthritis? again vet cant find anything wrong with her on that note, due to no pain, no inflammation but suggested x-rays if it does continue to get worse. vet said both these issues are not related. I put her on arthramine. had improved a little then stopped taking it and today she is limping again. so will force the pill down her, thought my fiancée was giving it to her in morning but found out today he was not.

If your vet said that he "at this point does not think blood work is necessary, he did mention possibility of pancreatitis" then I would change your vet pronto. Pancreatitis needs full blood work, as does Thyroid and all other basic blood tests, in order to know what medications, if any, need to be given.

I do hope your girl will be OK and would like to welcome you to Dogsey.

Hello there, and what a worry it is when dogs will not eat up as they should.

I may be way off track here, but from what you say she is eating treats, and eating bits and pieces here and there. If she was a young dog, then it would be tempting to say stop giving all extras and keep plonking the food down for her. If she refuses it, take it away after fifteen minutes or so. However, she is no baby is she and coupled with the sickness and general lethargy then it would indicate that there is indeed something else going on.

Have you tried really smelly food, such as a tin of sardines? If she likes that, then you could mix some in with her regular kibble to see what happens.

I really hope that you and your vet can get to the bottom of this, and wish you all the luck in the world. Do keep us informed.

Are her teeth ok? Any bad ones causing her pain may stop her from eating.

We have just changed Mollie's food because she was not eating much of it and was a bit down, we have replaced it with smellier food (tripe and sardines have been added) and she seems to have picked up greatly. I have a feeling her sense of smell isn't want it used to be and her eye sight is pretty bad so she didn't know what she was eating. Might be worth a change because she too ate treats mainly I think because they were hand fed to her so she didn't have to guess where and what it was.

I think at 13 blood tests would be the way to go, could be many different things and I would want to rule out anything sinister
Hope shes feeling better soon

thank you all for your help. this is the first chance I have had to check on here. good news...parker is doing much better. she is back to eating. if she didn't start to eat I was going to ask for the blood work. my vet would have done the blood work had I requested it at that time, he just wanted to wait it out a bit. and I thought about her teeth being an issue due to when she was a puppy she liked to pick up rocks and chew them so some of her teeth are broke. the vet had checked her mouth and her breath but stated no issues there. she has been off the antibiotic for a few days now. I will continue to monitor her eating and watch for any physical signs declining again. if so I will have the vet do the blood work. I have 8 other dogs in my home, 2 were just added a couple of weeks ago as my mother passed so I took them in. I am also thinking the new additions were a bit stressful to her. so thank you all again for your support. I am glad I found this site. I hope you all had a wonderful thanksgiving.

That is wonderful news indeed I am so pleased for you.

Now you have found us, keep coming back