My 14 year old dog has been loosing her appetite more and more over the last 3 months, and I can barely get her to eat anything anymore now. It started with her not liking certain snack's anymore, I changed them she ate them for a while and then didn't like them anymore either. Then came her dog food (Iams Dry), which she has been eating all her live, first less then none, then Iams wet food, same thing. As this whole eating dilemma went on her stool became softer and softer then turned to diarrhea sometimes with mucus and she was also straining at this point. I took here to the vet after about a month into this and we thought that the whole eating disorder is related to her having arthritis which has become worse also. Stool & Urine test didn't show anything of help and the blood test was normal. She was prescribed the pain med Tramadol to which she had a severe reaction and it gave her a urinary tract infection also but Antibiotics cleared that up quickly.
After that the vet and I decided on Dexamethasone SP injections which helped her arthritis somewhat but made her weak, plus it has some serious long term side effects. After 2 Injections we decided to give her Adequan injections also and take her off the Dexamethasone if they proof to be effective. Adequan is helping her a lot after only 10 days and no more Dexamethasone is needed, she gets the Adequan 1x week for a month and after that just when needed.
She is walking much better, not as weak, and seems to be without pain from the arthritis.
But her eating has not improved at all, she still is not eating enough. I've been giving her a teaspoon of Pepto once a day for 4 days now and that seems to help a lot with the diarrhea.
So far everything me and my Vet could think of was tried for the eating problem, from bland diet to added fiber, pumpkin, boiled chicken and rice, most prescription diet foods, but she tries it and then turns her head. I'm lucky when I get a cup a food into her in a day, which is not enough for a Black Lab mix.
Any help and/or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. How do I increase her appetite, what could be wrong and is it save to give her the small amount of Pepto once daily?
She needs to eat more, she lost 5 lbs (down to 46 lbs) so far and was always at a perfect weight prior to this.
Sorry about the long post, just wanted to make sure everything was mentioned.
You might try picking up some canned Evo food or Solid Gold Tripe and see if she will eat that. Just get a can to see. Both are good foods. You can try cooking a small batch of food yourself. Try doing chicken with lean ground beef, liver (I prefer calf's liver), some brown rice, you can add green beans, squash, the canned pumpkin, some garlic and chicken broth. You might also try feeding some low-fat cottage cheese.
Ask your Vet about trying to give her Pepcid twice a day instead of the Pepto and maybe, if she has an upset stomach, that will help settle it.
You might also ask your Vet about giving Vitamin B-12, either by injection or orally. This sometimes helps to stimulate the appetite.
good luck.