Sick dog

Dtp1979

My 9 year old St. Bernard has been on a drip for the last 4 days and hasn't atr food for nearly a week. Vet says she has liver damage but she might pull through if she just eats. She's coming home tomorrow, back to her normal environment in the hope she'll eat. She did eat some ham, but only a little and that's all. Does anybody have any idea what I can try with her? I've tried cooked chicken, beef, mince, and even sausages.
If she dosent eat this weekend then it's probably the end for her and I'm dreading it. This is her last hope.

coathanger

Sorry to hear about your dog. Have you tried baby rice,make it up very runny to start with & put a little on your fingers to see will he lick it off until he progresses to eating it himself. My Jrt was v sick & couldn't keep anything down & had no interest in anything even water, I was told to try this & I did & he has come on now in leaps & bounds & is lying in front of fire as I type.
Will keep fingers crossed for your dog.

muddypaws

The vet probably sells Hills prescription wet food, which I've always found dogs will eat, no matter how ill they are. The other possibility is wet cat food, again, the smell of it usually entices a dog. I wouldn't normally advocate cat food for a dog, as it is very high in protein and can cause health problems, but in this instance it might be worth a try.

Dtp1979

Thanks guys I'll try that tomorrow

my friend

Dtp1979 wrote: »

Thanks guys I'll try that tomorrow

Best wishes.

Stheno

Good luck, I'd a seven year old Wolfhound succumb to kidney failure and it was horrid, not the same as you, but those giant breeds would break your heart with their short lifespan

Can't offer any advice but send you Best wishes. x x

belongtojazz

I had a JRT go into kidney failure after an op a few years ago. The vet spent 4 days with her on a drip trying to feed her and eventually sent her home with the idea she was probably not going to make it. As soon as she got back into our house she was like a different dog and ate straight away.
She was too stressed to eat while at the vets

dealornodeal23

Sorry to hear about your dog. Try giving him boiled chicken and rice what I do is boil a fillet of chicken and after 10 mins put in a small bag of rice and boil it for 10 mins my dogs love it when they are off food. Good luck.

lulu1

OP did u ever try wheat grass The vet has told a friend of mine that her 7 year old boxer has kidney failure. Some one told to try wheatgrass which she did and he is now a different dog(although he is still peeing alll over the place) he has also started to eat . Dont know how long this will last but nothing beats a try.

AlanS181824

Can't really help other than to wish you and your dog my best wishes.

Inexile

scrambled egg is another suggestion.

Hope your dog improves. 9 is a good age for a Saint but lets hope he makes 10.

Dtp1979

Inexile wrote: »

scrambled egg is another suggestion.

Hope your dog improves. 9 is a good age for a Saint but lets hope he makes 10.

I thought she'd live longer as she was showing no signs of old age until now

Dtp1979

So far she's turned her nose to hills wet food and baby rice. So I fed her a fistful of hills forcefully. She swallowed it so hopefully it helps. I've given her baby rice with a syringe into her mouth and she didn't mind that. Fingers crossed

I would go to another vet for a second opinion. It doesn't look good, I'm afraid.

Dtp1979

[Deleted User] wrote: »

I would go to another vet for a second opinion. It doesn't look good, I'm afraid.

A second opinion on what though? She's had blood tests that confirms she has liver trouble. She just took a denta stick off me so that's a good sign. She had no interest yesterday

Dtp1979

Dtp1979 wrote: »

A second opinion on what though? She's had blood tests that confirms she has liver trouble. She just took a denta stick off me so that's a good sign. She had no interest yesterday

On food or medication. How serious is the liver trouble? Is it a tumour? Sorry if I seem insensitive, but I'd be very worried about a dog that size not eating and another vet might be more experienced in larger breeds.

Dtp1979

[Deleted User] wrote: »

On food or medication. How serious is the liver trouble? Is it a tumour? Sorry if I seem insensitive, but I'd be very worried about a dog that size not eating and another vet might be more experienced in larger breeds.

She had no interest in anything yesterday or the day before. Today she's showing signs of improvement. I'm feeding her very small amounts of food now trying to get her back to normal

lovelyjubbly

Lidl or Aldi pate. High in protein but it's like crack to dogs.

Dtp1979

Dtp1979 wrote: »

She had no interest in anything yesterday or the day before. Today she's showing signs of improvement. I'm feeding her very small amounts of food now trying to get her back to normal

Fingers crossed that she continues to eat. It can be a pain trying to figure out what a sick dog will eat!

aonb

lovelyjubbly wrote: »

Lidl or Aldi pate. High in protein but it's like crack to dogs.

Thats good!

OP I went through this with my elderly dog - his liver & kidney just started to fail, in his case he was very old - but trying to get him to eat something/anything became an obsession. I feel so sorry for you. Try the Aldi/Lidl Pate - who cares if its high in protein - if you can get her strong and interested enough, you can reduce the protein again - for her liver - when shes back on her feet. My guy would eat tiny bits of scrambled egg, but the 1 thing I could usually get in to him was the ROYAL CANIN wet food for RENAL FAILURE. Very nice smelling :cool: and worth a try - costs a fortune, but worth a try...

I love the giant breeds, but could never face having one again with their (relatively) short life spans. I hope your girl picks up, and you get to keep her for another while.

DBB

I've had a dog with liver problems too OP, and for all intents and purposes, I think they feel as we do when we've a really bad hangover, and that's why they don't feel like eating.
Liverish dogs don't like fat, and often really don't like eggs!
You might find that if you can get some sort of stewy broth into her which contains some ginger, the ginger helps to reduce that nauseous, liverish feeling. Milk thistle from the health food shop can have the same effect. Your vet should be able to supply you with a liver supplement called Samylin, which should also help improve her icky feeling, and hence improve her appetite.
Often if you can just get them eating something, just get them started, you'll get them to eat.
Good luck

Dtp1979

DBB wrote: »

I've had a dog with liver problems too OP, and for all intents and purposes, I think they feel as we do when we've a really bad hangover, and that's why they don't feel like eating.
Liverish dogs don't like fat, and often really don't like eggs!
You might find that if you can get some sort of stewy broth into her which contains some ginger, the ginger helps to reduce that nauseous, liverish feeling. Milk thistle from the health food shop can have the same effect. Your vet should be able to supply you with a liver supplement called Samylin, which should also help improve her icky feeling, and hence improve her appetite.
Often if you can just get them eating something, just get them started, you'll get them to eat.
Good luck

Sorry I'm not much of a cook. What do you mean by stewy broth and how do you make it??

DBB

Dtp1979 wrote: »

Sorry I'm not much of a cook. What do you mean by stewy broth and how do you make it??

Oh, sorry op!
With my liver patient, I'd stew up some chicken or turkey breast (the darker leg meat can be a turn-off for liverish dogs, I think because it's more greasy), potatoes, carrots, and some sort of green veg, like broccoli or peas. Carrots are meant to be great for liver patients, and spuds are good purifiers. A bit of ginger chopped up into it is great.
You could use a low-salt gluten-free chicken stock (like knorr stock pots). Many dogs prefer their food warm too, and a stew like this is great doggy comfort food.
Try a small amount first, no point in making a huge amount only to discover she doesn't like it
Do try to get your mitts on milk thistle too.

Dtp1979

DBB wrote: »

Oh, sorry op!
With my liver patient, I'd stew up some chicken or turkey breast (the darker leg meat can be a turn-off for liverish dogs, I think because it's more greasy), potatoes, carrots, and some sort of green veg, like broccoli or peas. Carrots are meant to be great for liver patients, and spuds are good purifiers. A bit of ginger chopped up into it is great.
You could use a low-salt gluten-free chicken stock (like knorr stock pots). Many dogs prefer their food warm too, and a stew like this is great doggy comfort food.
Try a small amount first, no point in making a huge amount only to discover she doesn't like it
Do try to get your mitts on milk thistle too.

Do I make it watery or have loads of meat/veg in it and make it kinda lumpy/chewy?
And thanks again

DBB

Dtp1979 wrote: »

Do I make it watery or have loads of meat/veg in it and make it kinda lumpy/chewy?
And thanks again

Lumpy/chewy

DBB

DBB wrote: »

Lumpy/chewy

You could eat that yourself! sounds delicious! What about fish, or would that be too oily?

DBB

Deleted User wrote: »

You could eat that yourself! sounds delicious! What about fish, or would that be too oily?

Lol, I'd been going to say to the op that if the poor dog doesn't eat it, the humans can
But I'm keeping everything crossed that the dog will eat it
Oily fish might be a bit on the oily side alright, white fish might be an alternative though. I don't know how other owners of liverish dogs got on, but mine really became turned off by fatty or oily food, she wouldn't touch it despite wanting to eat.

Dtp1979

DBB wrote: »

Lol, I'd been going to say to the op that if the poor dog doesn't eat it, the humans can
But I'm keeping everything crossed that the dog will eat it
Oily fish might be a bit on the oily side alright, white fish might be an alternative though. I don't know how other owners of liverish dogs got on, but mine really became turned off by fatty or oily food, she wouldn't touch it despite wanting to eat.

I'll go but the ingredients shortly.

Dtp1979

No good news unfortunately. She sniffed it alright but wouldn't touch it. I blended some up for her with extra ginger and syringed it into her mouth. She took about a mug of it. It's the only thing that she dosent throw back up apart from the hills food. She's ate nothing voluntarily yet so that's a bad sign. I'm clutching at straws now. I'll ask the vet if there's any pill she can take for the nausea and maybe that'll get her apetite back.

DBB

Aw sorry OP
Now, I am not a vet by any stretch but your vet may be able to give her something to stimulate her appetite.
These are really hard times OP. They can be very up and down with their liver. You got a good dose into her tonight, hopefully she'll feel a little brighter with it

Stheno

Dtp1979 wrote: »

No good news unfortunately. She sniffed it alright but wouldn't touch it. I blended some up for her with extra ginger and syringed it into her mouth. She took about a mug of it. It's the only thing that she dosent throw back up apart from the hills food. She's ate nothing voluntarily yet so that's a bad sign. I'm clutching at straws now. I'll ask the vet if there's any pill she can take for the nausea and maybe that'll get her apetite back.

God love you, it's an awful situation to be in

Dtp1979

Thanks to all for your input and help. I tried feeding her as best I could and exhausted all avenues. Today at 5 I knew by her she wasn't right. We brought her in at 7, lit the stove and she lay on an old duvet in front of it. At 9 she started to decline and sadly died an hour ago.
I'm happy now that she's at peace.

DBB

I'm so sorry to read this dtp, very sad.
But as you say, her suffering is over now, there was no more you could do for her. I'm sure it'll be very hard to get used to her not being about any more.:(

Stheno

Dtp1979 wrote: »

Thanks to all for your input and help. I tried feeding her as best I could and exhausted all avenues. Today at 5 I knew by her she wasn't right. We brought her in at 7, lit the stove and she lay on an old duvet in front of it. At 9 she started to decline and sadly died an hour ago.
I'm happy now that she's at peace.

Cherish all of the memories of happier times, think of how you cared for her right up to the end, and mind you and your family.

very sorry to read your news it shows what a bond you had that you recognised how poorly she was

muddypaws

I'm so sorry for your loss, but how lovely that she drifted away, with the people she loved, a peaceful passing. Take care.

coathanger

Am so sorry to hear she has passed away. Take comfort that you were with her & she was surrounded by her own smells & family in the comfort of her own home.

Mind yourself.

mojesius

Very sorry for your loss OP. You did everything you could and gave your dog a happy life. Sounds like shr just drifted off in the end. It's a tough time but it gets easier

I'm so sorry for your loss. Comfort yourself with the thought that you did your very best for her. Keeping you in my thoughts and sending you my very best wishes. Maryanne x x

aonb

she was lovely. how nice for both of you that she drifted away in her own home, and no stress of vets and having to make that awful decision. hugs

tk123

aonb wrote: »

she was lovely. how nice for both of you that she drifted away in her own home, and no stress of vets and having to make that awful decision. hugs

+1 I was going to say the same thing - no stress just peace and being with her owners. Sorry for your loss OP