Older cross breed with variable appetite???

Hi All
The Biffters (10 and a half year old collie cross many other things...) has always wolfed his food down. He is fed at the same time as my BC and always finishes first, or at least he used to.
They are fed Burns chicken and rice with their daily allowance split into 2 feeds, no leftovers, occassional gravy biscuits and minijacks as rewards and just cos I love 'em! :smt002

Anyway, we noticed about 4 or 5 months ago that he wasn't eating very quickly when the food was just dry, so we started to wet it for him, all was well again. (He has dodgy teeth but that's another story, he doesn't seem uncomfortable when eating at teatime though).Over the last month however he has not wanted his breakfast, he is slower to eat (his breakfast and tea). The last 2 days he's totally turned his nose up after eating about a third of his breakfast. I've picked it up and not offered it again, he has then been given the ususal amount at tea (so I can monitor it properly, no point increasing his tea, he's at an age where he needs 2 meals IMO and to be honest was thriving on it until recently).

Other than that he has slowed down a bit but is on good form for his age. He has always been a 'sicky' dog and continues to be so, he'll vomit once a week for no apparent reason but be totally fine before and after it. He has a number of 'fatty' lumps (identified as non malignant fatty tumours by the vet, through touch, no furthur investigation). He doesn't drink or urinate that much (unlike my BC) infact, it is possible that his fluid intake has also decreased, it is rare that you see him drink, but we have 2 bowls available at all times so it would be easy to miss.

Last March he was 'tubby'!! Not fat, but a 'winter covering' of fat, as the vet said, she wasn't concerned, no diet imposed. He has lost that and then some since then, he isn't too skinny, but it wouldn't take much for him to be. We haven't cut down on his food at all, but we did change to Burns about 6 months ago instead of Eukanuba senior. He loved it when we changed and his general coat, condition and energy levels have improved. He was, I think, losing weight pre food change, although I know Burns has a reputation for not keeping the weight on...

Any ideas and should we be concerned? Exercise wise....about an hour a day, if anything since the morning food funniness has started, his exercise has increased not decreased as we are currently only a 2 dog household...

My BC is fine, so there's nothing going on with the 2 of them...infact he'd happily eat the Biffters food as well as his own!!! (I hasten to add they've always been fed together and there is no problem at tea time, so that isn't the cause......)

Any ideas??? Sorry to ramble on again....
Ax

I reckon I'd get his teeth checked to make sure they aren't the cause of the problem. Dogs will go on for ages in pain before it hurts sufficiently for them to stop eating.
Becky

Thanks Mahooli.
His teeth look fine at the back, for a dog of his age, pretty clean etc. In fact, March last year the vet commented how good they look for a dog of his age. His front teeth are our concern, he has lost one and all the tips of his canines snapped off years ago. He grinds his front teeth along the pavement, trying tp pick up discarded chewing gum!!!!!!!
Thus, my comment about his teeth!!! As I say, his back ones don't look bad and he certainly seems fine when he does actually eat. he'll also happy crunch gravy bones and play tug of war with ropes etc and still catches balls and the like.....which makes us think this isn't his teeth. He genuinely looks really uninterested in the food, he doesn't eat a bit then give up...he sniffs it and thinks about it for ages, then will eat a bit, then sniff it and look unhappy, like he feels ill almost, but that could just be my interpretation?
We will get his teeth checked but as I say, his gums and teeth look fine and their condition has been commented on in the past (even with one missing and the tips of his canines gone!!!!!)

I fed my dogs Burns, I love it they don't!
They used to just eat burns dry on its own but they used to take ages to eat it. Then Kodo stopped eating it used to sniff and walk away I tried soaking it for a while he started eating it again then stopped. He went really skinny Being a lurcher not hard to do but look a bag of bones. Now they still have burns but with Forthglade natural menu mixed in with it and they eat it in no time now and lick the bowl clean for more.
I had tried onther food but anything else makes them poo like crazy. I don't mind picking up poo when we are out but I was needing a wheelbarrow.

Hi Lotsforus,
Hmmmm...my oH suggested this morning it could just be that he doesn't really like the Burns. Thing is if you offe it as you would a biscuit (get him to do something) then 9 times out of 10 he'll eat it....and he eats it at tea time no probs.
I'm guessing he may be more willing to eat it for a while if we mixed something else in with it. Things is, he was never like this on the Eukanuba, ever and according ot my OH (who sampled both..mad fool that he is) the Bruns is comparable to a marmite biscuit and the Eukanuba to a rice cake!!!!! When we swapped them he loved it, to the point of spitting out the Eukanba pellets when we were slowly swapping them over!!!!
Perhaps he's just gone off it?
Hmmmmm.
Quite glad no one is suggesting there is something wrong with his insides as that is what I was starting to think!!!!!
That's massively reassuring.

Try Arden Grange then lol!
Becky

Hi Ramble Biff is getting on a bit and I think the sense of smell and taste can deteriorate in older dogs along with the other senses. Taste isn't thought to be that strong in dogs anyway, smell and texture are thought to be more important.

Maybe cut the amount of food for now if he isn't eating it anyway, and try adding a small amount of something that is strongly scented like sardines (with the oil tipped away) or a little finely grated cheese and rub it in really well to coat all the kibble so it smells strongly and is more appealing . I know many say adding things to a dogs food can make them fussy but in the case of older dogs I think getting them to eat is more important.


Although there may be no apparent damage to the teeth, I have noticed old dogs can sometimes have difficulty picking up small hard pieces of food like kibble, also kibble is very hard more so than some biscuit treats.
You can test if this is a problem by feeding something soft like cooked pasta to see if Biff can pick it up more easily.

I am also concerned about the weight loss, I would say monitor it carefully it may need further investigation if it continues. Perhaps Biff is not absorbing all the goodness from his food, if he were mine I would try with him something easily digested like porridge with a raw egg and some honey for breakfast for a couple of weeks to see if it affects the weight loss.

Hi Mini
Thanks for the advice.
We always soften his food really well with water, so it's nice and soft for him to eat. This evening he turned away from it again, so I went to the sink and added a little cold water...he then ate it!
Methinks he may be being a bit of a fussy blighter.
Having said that though, whilst he was fussy as a youngster, largely because I let him be :smt002 he hasn't been for a fair few years now so this is a real change in his behaviour.
He is able to pick the food up...if he can grind chewing gum off the pavement everyday, a piece of kibble will be no problem. He can sniff out chewy at a zillion paces and home in on it, we have regularly heard him grinding it off the pavement with his from teeth...yuk. This of course does his teeth no favours, or, my concern, his digestive system. So far most of the chewing gum seems to have come through the other end...but you just never know.
I am also concerned about the weight loss as his exercise level has largely remained the same, except for the last 3 weeks, where he has had slightly more, but not excessively (we have to watch Mo's exercise level and they are 'done' together). He had a good covering, but now his spine and ribs can be felt easily, I don't want him to lose much more weight.
My main underlying concern is these 'fatty lumps' that he has. The vet said they were non malignant but didn't ever test anything, we have been back a couple of times. Given my lack of faith in my vets right now, it's a concern. I wonder if he could have lumps internally...or worse.I am a born worrier though...
He is due his MOT soon probably with a new vet so I can list all my concerns and hopefully they will check him out really well. The biffters hates the vets though and I guess, with him at the age he's at, I'm worried about the level of any investigations he may have to have and if it's kind to put him through anything like that at all, he's such a nervous wreck in there.
Look at me...I've got him booked in for x rays and the like, all because he doesn't want his breakfast!

Ramble The lumps are probably Lipoma . Amy has lots, some quite large, one on her shoulder makes her look like a hunchback

They are benign and best left alone unless they get too large and obstruct movement.

Thanks Mini...yes that's what the vet called them...non malignant fatty lumps. He has a few. Hearing it form you is actually more reassuring than hearing it from my vet!
Thanks Mini...
So...now have to see if he is trying to be picky, or if he is genuinely not hungry, I'l try the cold water trick in the morning again! :smt002 Actually I'm now wondering if he prefers his food stone cold and not warm asits perhaps more likely to be in the mornings as we don't leave it for as long before putting it down....mmm...one to watch tomorrow...
I definitely want to mention the weight loss to the vet when he has his MOT in the next month or so.