Tasty food

[Cat]

Apologies in advance if this is the wrong place to put this.  
 

hamish is eating less and less.  He still seems happy in himself though and seeks affection ( the vet said if he stopped eating and stopped seeking affection then its probably time to give him his wings) so i am after ideas of what might encourage him to eat.   He has lost all interest in puppy canned food. We had been getting BBQ chickens but he only had a couple of bites this morning. Mornings seem harder though.  

[Loving my Oldies]

@Cat, I’ve had enormous difficulties finding things my oldies will eat.  Check out my thread called “Whatever Jeune Wants .....”

 

I have actually started buying dog roll from Woolies - horrors.  I wouldn’t dream of it if they were young, as I feel it is a bit like giving children Maccas or pizzas for every meal.    But they really seem to like it.  I lightly cook human grade mince with lots of home made bone broth and mix some of that in it.  
 

Mine went completely off BBQ chicken too.
 

Good luck finding something to tempt dearest Hamish.  

[Boronia]

Hamish may like tinned mackerel, it's around $2.50

 

[Deeds]

  Normally I would never give canned food to my dogs but I gave Pepper those small cans of Applaws dog food in her last few months.  She loved them because it was soft & easy to eat.  Probably like Mars Bars for dogs but it did the trick.

[mackiemad]

Max has been off his food but happy for little walks etc since he did his acl may last year. Nowadays he is getting a varied diet of some k9 naturals, some dry (savour life ocean fish or roo), some barf, some wellness canned food (he prefers the gravy ones), occasionally some Ivory Coat or black hawk gf canned food, and some ziwipeak or providore sprinkled over. He doesn't get all of this every day but I'm finding that varying the canned food flavour and the mix every day is keeping him eating pretty well. He's always been fit not fat (for a mini schnauzer that's important) but he's still now slightly on the skinnier side of fit tbh. 

 

He also gets a good squeeze of some nutrigel in his dinner too. I tried a whole lot of different things but it seemed to be the variation that really made the difference. He's 13 and only started to slow down properly when he did his acl. He still goes for at least one walk a day and one wander and sniff a day too fwiw. He gets antinol for his arthritis in his dinner.

[sandgrubber]

I don't know what Hamish is suffering from.  When Patty was on her last legs, prednisone took her from not eating to normal Labrador food gusto.  She still went downhill, but I think she was happier as she went to the end of her road. 

[Papillon Kisses]

I’d consider whether he might be nauseous or in pain, which can sap their appetite. Recently I found that Malcolm could eat a little once I got his nausea and pain medication down. Mornings remain worse as you’re finding.

[Tassie]

You've probably tried it, but an old fashioned recommendation for inappetent dogs is tinned cat food .. something like Whiskas Kitten food.  The nutrient value might not be great, but it seems that something like this can get them interested .. and sadly, when it's end of life care, we really just want them to be comfortable and eating something that they enjoy.

[Cat]

Thanks for the replies.  
 

hamish has a very aggressive lymphoma.  The vet had mentioned that he had sores in his mouth and we think that is why he hasnt been eating much.  He does have tummy issues as well.  Unfortunately if i cant give him food i cant give him meds...  Id rather not spend his last days fighting over pills (he still has plenty of strength to fight ). 

ill try the dog rolls and mackeral.  He had gone off sardines some time ago because id hide pills in them but mackeral may be a bit different.  We had tried cat food but I’ll try a kitten one. Unfortunately i just end up throwing the high end canned dog food away as he won’t eat it. 

 

[Loving my Oldies]

@Cat we all know how skilled dogs are at sorting out a pill half the size of a pin head from a walnut sized piece of meat.  For Mezza, I have started buying Devon, I slice it really really thinly and roll it up.  Works most of the time.  
 

For Jeune and Tamar, I crush their tablets in Nutrigel.  This has two benefits:  they get the goodness of Nutrigel, and because Nutrigel is sticky, they can’t spit it out although I do hold their mouths light closed while they lick it down.   
 

Jeune has cancer, too, so she is very thin and I know it won’t be long  

[Cat]

where do you get the nutrigel from?

[Deeds]

Try here https://www.thevetshed.com.au/buy/nutrigel-200gm/NUTRI?gclid=EAIaIQobChMImZnRzZeh6AIVihaPCh0cIgopEAQYBSABEgIPy_D_BwE

[Loving my Oldies]

1 hour ago, Cat said:

where do you get the nutrigel from?

Your vet.   
 

[_PL_]

Sticky tasty things like a fingernail size of liverwurst, cream cheese, nutrigel or (xylitol free) peanut butter. 
Problem I've found is you get a couple of keen days and then they won't eat it so you have to try the next thing.  

Have you tried to dissolve and syringe the meds in? I've found it quick and with less struggling when dealing with the dogs who spit everything out. Quick squirt and then a treat if they will take one. 

 

Sorry about Hamish being so unwell. 

[Boronia]

@Westie mum used to feed her wonderful Mac with blue cheese mixed with other stuff, hopefully she will come here to suggest some of her recipes.

You could also try chopped chicken meat that is lightly fried...just at the stage where the outside is brown but still really soft, you can lightly flour it so it browns better (IGA have whole chickens for $3.90 at the moment)

I didn't realise Hamish was so crook, just awful for him and you

[Cat]

16 hours ago, Loving my Oldies said:

Your vet.   
 

Thank you.they hadnt suggested it so thought they must not have it.  
 

sorry to hear about Jeune  this is all very hard isnt it?   I wish they could tell you how they feel.  
 

thanks everyone for the advice.   I will try to dissolve his meds and syringe it to him.  Hopefully that will help.  At least until i can get some nutrigel.  

he ate some dry elderly cat food this morning of all things.   Hopefully it will keep him interested for a couple of days at least.  

 

[Loving my Oldies]

8 hours ago, Cat said:

he ate some dry elderly cat food this morning of all things.   Hopefully it will keep him interested for a couple of days at least.  

Goodness, I’d forget my head if it wasn’t screwed on.  Some weeks ago, sample packets of dried cat food were being put in people’s letterboxes. Normally, I would just give these to someone with a cat,  however, this time I gave it to Jeune.  She loved it .... then.  Won’t touch it now    You’ll find it in cat treats area, called Temptations.  

[Papillon Kisses]

I’ve been baking (pâté style) canned food into treats using those pyramid/silicon pan mats. Takes say 30 minutes on 180. When it’s hard for him to take his tablets he will sometimes take some treats and I can use behavioural momentum to get him to take the tablet and then keep going with the treats.