Topic: Doggie question...

[carrot-cruncher]

Can anybody make any suggestions to help our old boy.   He's an eleven year old Great Dane/Alsation cross dog.   Up until a few months ago he would merrily scoff anything and everything that "happened" to cross his path.

In the last few weeks we can hardly get him to eat his evening meal.   Some days he'll eat his dinner, some days he won't make the effort to move into the kitchen to eat it.   

We've changed brands and flavours to see if he was bored with what he was being fed but with no success.   Also, every so often he'll have his tea then within an hour he has to go outside to be sick.   

He's currently on Rimadyl from the vet for his arthritis plus one cod liver tablet & two glucosomine, all of which he's been on for a while.

He doesn't appear to have lost any weight & the vet can't find anything wrong.

Does anybody out there have any other suggestions to help us, please???

Thanks in advance

CC

[joji]

I agree in what wardy has said but I would also get that checked out at the vets as it could also that his age is catching up with him so there could be other underlying problems. I know you say that your dog is a Cross but both Great Danes and GSD's don't live much longer than 12 and to get him to 11 you have done very well. :)

[Margaret]

Hello CC. My dog Jess,as in the photo!! is also on Rimadyl and Glucosamine.Before she even went on them she would have occasional periods where she would not eat and was sick.We put it down to something she scavenged,at which she was rather good at when we were not looking! I asked the vet if it was ok and he said as long as she was not off her food for more than about 24 hours then it was nothing to worry about.She is now about 13/14 years old and has lost a lot of muscle from her legs and shoulder due to the arthritis,but the Rimadyl have certainly given her a new lease of life.She couldn't take Metacam,that really did make her sick.

Whjen she goes off her food i tend to encourage her with pilchards or chicken,that generally gets her going again.One other thing i remember reading about Great Danes and other large dogs.It is considered better for them to have their feeding bowls at body height rather than on the floor,due to their height.If you don't already do so maybe this would be worth trying?

[BAGGY]

You could try little and often if it is the food making him ill and not an underlying complaint.  My GSD / moose cross used to eat egg and pasta or chicken and rice.  We would buy the frozen turkey mince as it was cheeper and easier to ook for him.  If it is just a tummy upset the vet said kaolin & morphine was ok - about 2 tablespoons or so.  (use a syringe unless you want to be whitewashed)

[kenkew]

I pleased the vet hasn't found any problem and maybe it's just that not being as active in his later life is the reason for the amount of food he eats.

[MikeB]

Hi,

As Baggy has said, little and often.  Had a similar if not the same problem with 'Shadow', the dog on the right in the photo, halved her food and then fed her twice a day (to make it up to the full amount), solved the problem.  Figured she just didn't like having a bloated belly as she got older.

[MikeB]

Thanks wardy,
Left to right: Bandit, Brodie, Bailey and shadow.  All rescue dogs.

MikeB

[MikeB]

Thanks wardy but no, the ones I have got at the moment are a handful and they are all female.  Much better companions etc.  TM, AD, RC & DTF this is not an invitation to start shooting at me, I have been a dog trainer for the last 30 years and the female of this species is far superior.

MikeB

[MikeB]

Yes and no, I know that sounds like a cop out, but as an example I was offered a dog that quite honestly needed me, but she was terrified of men, quite happy to go with my wife dawn, but when I approached went into a fit.  What I did do was find her a female owner (don't like the word owner, but you know what I mean).
Personally I have always wanted a German shepherd and the last time I went to battersea I told my wife and everybody else that I wasn't leaving with any other type of dog.  Thats when I got bandit, the one on the left, a sort of Doberman cross, maybe next time.  As you say, in this case the one that had the greatest need.

Mike

[MikeB]

The same thing happens to me wardy, I think you are only allowed so long to reply then it times out.
The method I use now is to type my reply, then copy it, if everything goes OK then I just carry on, but if the post fails then I just have to click the quick reply button and paste the post and send it again.  Always works the second time.

MikeB

[Delilah]

Oh Wardy is your poor little fella any better this morning?

How did it go at the vets last week?

[mc55]

my doggies used to shake so much when they went to the vets that they couldn't actually walk and we had to carry them in ... strangely the vet used to ask us to hold on to the end with the sharp, pointy bits !  Pitchy was on metacam and he and Jess both used to take cod liver oil (1 tsp per day on their dinner) for arthritus which made an amazing difference.

Unfortunately they're in doggie heaven now, miss them soooo much.  When Jessie was feeling poorly she could usually be tempted by a Morrison's spit roast chicken ...