Food Advice Please!

[MARY H B]

I've got an adorable rescue dog Ceba, who has behavioural problems.  He's now living with us and our 15 year old toy poodle Angel.  Angel has never been that interested in food, and often will walk away from what a vets told us are the most irresistible treats.     We have a problem as Angel now needs oral mediation, hidden in food.  Well Ceba's (rescue dog) being medicated nicely.  He can't stop eating and will gobble up anything Angel doesn't, disregarding our best efforts.

Is there ANY food that is irresistible to a dog?  We've tried peanut butter, all sorts of meat, cheese.....

[_PL_]

Used sparingly. Liverwurst 

[persephone]

Anything fishy - smelling ? Old dogs will often just not be interested in food .....

if the medication is in tablet/pill form ..would it not be easier to use a pill popper or finger to  put it in Angel's throat  ? That way , you KNOW it's there

[Guest crazydoglady99]

Sausages. Sausages are irresistible to dogs!

[RuralPug]

Some dogs just don't like treats. How is Angel with his ordinary meals? Does he eat them all completely or does Ceba end up eating some of Angel's meals as well?

If Angel does eats all of his meals, then try crushing the medication between two teaspoons  and mixing the resulting powder into his meal. If Angel doesn't eat his meal when the powder has been added then he is detecting it by smell and then you really have no other choice but to administer the pills direct.

[Boronia]

Rolling the pill up in a square of chicken skin quite often does the job especially if you give little bits of skin first then sneak in the pill-covered one then give more skin-treat. Don't just finish with the skin covered pill, keep on giving one or two pieces.

[MARY H B]

On 08/02/2019 at 8:18 PM, RuralPug said:

Some dogs just don't like treats. How is Angel with his ordinary meals? Does he eat them all completely or does Ceba end up eating some of Angel's meals as well?

 

Angel has never been interested in food, since she was a puppy.  I have no idea why?    We've tried sausages, that ended up in the garden for Ceba to find.   But fish!  I'll try that, its something we never have so maybe the answer.  Thanks Everyone!!!!

 

On 08/02/2019 at 8:18 PM, RuralPug said:

 

 

 

[Loving my Oldies]

@MARY H B, I have nearly gone mad over the years with some of my dogs eating barely enough to keep them alive.  And I’ve posted exactly the same as you have and spent $$$$$ on trying all the foods and treats in which to bury pills.  

 

One of my dogs was impossible to medicate in the normal ways because she was like your Angel - food was something you had to endure to stay alive and there was no way you could force a pill down her throat (I hate that anyway) or put it in food because she wouldn’t eat.  I have found success in two ways: 

 

1.   For the dogs who are difficult to feed, I crush up tablets in a tiny bit of Nutrigel and home made bone broth and syringe this mixture.  

 

2.   With the other dogs who will eat, I also found the skin of roast chicken was 100% fool proof provided the pills were wrapped up tightly so the dogs couldn’t work it around and spit the pill out.  All other things, cheese, omelettes, liverwurst, cabanossi, etc didn’t work at all.  

 

I’ve stopped using the roast chicken skin as it is very fatty and both the dogs whom I medicated like that are a bit overweight.  I now buy human grade chicken mince and bury the pills in that and that, thank goodness, works as well as the roast chicken skin without the calories.  

 

In desperation, I also have medication (Anaplex) for the dog who wouldn’t eat and was skin and bone.  As she is a fluffy Maltese x Shih Tzu this wasn’t noticeable until you picked her up.  My heart used to sink as she was so skinny and a feather weight.  Since being on the medication, she is now a good weight (maybe some would say plump    ) and when meal times comes, she is bouncing around as if on springs. Anaplex is quite expensive, but worth its weight in gold as it does the trick.   I have recently (after seeking advice from my vet,, of course) started giving another of my dogs Anaplex and although it took about a week to kick in, she is now eating so much better.  This latter dog is 18 so she is watched extremely carefully and she does have a tumour, but she was going up to two days without eating   and losing weight at a frightening rate.  She is now eating at nearly every meal; not a lot but enough to stop the weight loss.  

 

Hopefully this is of help.   

 

 

[MARY H B]

Thanks for the advice.  My god I've never heard of a dog that doesn't eat to the point of being skin and bone, it must be quite scary.  Angel isn't that bad, just annoying, thank goodness.  Also Nutrigel  I've never heard of it but I'll certainly give it a shot.  Good luck with your dogs.   and thanks again!  Mary

 

On 16/02/2019 at 10:26 AM, Loving my Oldies said:

 

In desperation, I also have medication (Anaplex) for the dog who wouldn’t eat and was skin and bone.  As she is a fluffy Maltese x Shih Tzu this wasn’t noticeable until you picked her up.  My heart used to sink as she was so skinny and a feather weight.  Since being on the medication, she is now a good weight (maybe some would say plump    ) and when meal times comes, she is bouncing around as if on springs. Anaplex is quite expensive, but worth its weight in gold as it does the trick.   I have recently (after seeking advice from my vet,, of course) started giving another of my dogs Anaplex and although it took about a week to kick in, she is now eating so much better.  This latter dog is 18 so she is watched extremely carefully and she does have a tumour, but she was going up to two days without eating   and losing weight at a frightening rate.  She is now eating at nearly every meal; not a lot but enough to stop the weight loss.  

 

Hopefully this is of help.   

 

 

 

[Loving my Oldies]

You get Nutrigel from the vet.  It smells (and probably tastes - I haven’t tried it  ) like molasses.  

 

I use a medicine measure like this. I put in a little bit of nutrigel and bone broth, crush up the tablets and then give it to Tamar via syringe.   

 

IMG_1001 by Cynthia Waters, on Flickr

[RuralPug]

You can also buy Nutrigel online or from any large stock feed merchant or pet store. It is made by Troy so searching for Troy Nutrigel on line will usually find the bargains - but don't get mixed up with the very very similar product Troy Nutripet LOL

I seem to remember that Nutrigel was made by Ilium which is apparently now owned by Troy  - I can't find any reference to when Troy labs took over Ilium so that probably was back in pre-Internet days. I feel so ooooooold  when I come across this sort of thing!

[MARY H B]

On 24/02/2019 at 7:27 AM, RuralPug said:

Yes I've seen it online and will grab some.    Thanks...  no internet, god I remember telephones tthat plugs into a wall, and not for recharging.

 

 

[RuralPug]

6 hours ago, MARY H B said:

... no internet, god I remember telephones tthat plugs into a wall, and not for recharging.

Yep,with dials. 

Even before dials there were telephones. I distinctly remember playing on the floor at age 3 of 4 while my grandmother vigorously turned the handle to make it ring at the exchange. And I had gotten it confused with the meat grinder I think, because I can still remember my disappointment that no mince came out if it.

heh, heh saw this  a while back and splurked my coffee! 

Edited February 25, 2019 by RuralPug