Wits end!

[Lori, Daphne, Lucy & Pippa]

Well, I am at my wits end! I just don't know what to do with Annie, my new foster. She is so very thin. At least 10 lbs underweight. But I just can't get her to eat. I feed my girls Zignature so Ive tried giving her that mixed with a can of wet food to add calories. She's not interested. Someone donated a case of Royal Canin protein and even though I know its nots great food, I just want her to eat. She gobbled that up along with some of the dry food and I was so excited. Until the next morning when I stepped in the undigested food on my way to the bathroom. So last night I gave her a small can of Natural balance on her food and she ate that and some of the dry. I also added proviable DC to her food. She managed to keep that down but breakfast is another story. She is just not interested in the food. Daphne and Pippa don't always eat their breakfast so I thought maybe she just doesn't want food in the morning. 

Annie is a counter surfer and loves bread. I have had to adjust my thinking since mine are not tall enough to counter surf..Lol. This afternoon, she grabbed a loaf of bread that was on the counter but behind some obstacles. I managed to get it before she tore it open but I thought she must be hungry. I fed her a spoonful of plain yogurt and she licked it from the spoon. So I put it in her bowl on top of her food. She took a couple licks and walked away. I just don't know what else to do. She is currently taking prednisone (which should be making her hungry) along with minocycline since she is heart worm positive. I just don't get it. I know Ive always heard that they won't starve themselves but she's doing a pretty good job. 

Ive witnessed Annie eating out of trash bags on the road and she would eat hot dogs that we tried to lure her with. Thats the only way I am giving her her meds. I cut up hot dogs and then put the pills inside. She  will eat any kind of "junk food" I hand her...chips, toast, lunch meat...but she won't eat dog food even if I hand feed her.  She took a dog treat from me today for the first time. She refused them until today. She is very picky for a stray who ate trash! Please help!!!

[Carrie Shepherd]

OMG Lori, I'm on this site this morning for almost the same thing. My Lucy has me so stressed I'm actually ready to cry. She refuses to eat. Lucy has always given me problems with eating from day one. I have had her since she was 5 months and she just turned 2. I've always given my dogs the best food I can, "just food for dogs" it's all natural, organic with all the supplements they need for their diet. For 16 months she would throw her food up about every 4-5 days, right after she ate it. I have raised her bowl, changed foods but then she really wouldn't eat, she's been tested for almost everything. I was even starting to think was it the supplements in her food? In the last 3 months I realized she has an allergy to quinoa which was in her Pork, Apple and Quinoa. So, "Just food for dogs" gave me the recipe and I started making her food with rice. Lucy did awesome for a few months, even took her on a 2 week road trip and no issues. Last week were back to square 1. Lucy woke up Tuesday and just wasn't herself (fortunately us doodle people can tell when our active, loving and happy babies arent feeling well). I watched her all day and she was just blah.... By Wednesday she had a 103.9 temp and was at the vet all day with IV fluids and tons of stuff to make her feel better. Vet had me take her to animal hospital for the night to continue IV fluids. The doctors ran all types of test, took X-rays, ultrasound the belly and nothing came up other than her potassium and white cells were down, which makes since because she was throwing up bile on Tuesday night. The vet at hospital recommended in future to run an intestinal biopsy to see what's going on in her gut. I have no idea what to do with her!!! I'm going to get a second opinion with a vet who was recommended highly. Supposedly he has a gift to help find things out, who knows.... Sorry this is so long but I feel your frustration and I have a feeling my issues with Lucy are going to be long term:(.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Carrie, since Lori posted this discussion, Annie has had a biopsy and been diagnosed with Inflammatory Bowel Disease, which is an incurable, immune-mediated disease which can be managed but never cured. She's doing better now, but she was one very sick girl for a while there. 

I cannot recommend strongly enough that you take the hospital vet's advice and have the biopsies done. I am one of several members here who wasted precious time with various diets, etc. before my guy was so sick that it took most of a day in the ER to get him stable enough to even do the biopsies. The longer you wait, the harder it will be to treat her, because the inflammation can cause ulcers and other secondary conditions that require very very strong drugs. Second opinions are nice after you have a diagnosis, but the only way to get that is by doing the biopsies, which require either an endoscopy or abdominal surgery. No matter how "gifted" a vet may be, he cannot "find things" in the intestinal tract any other way.