Any advice on what could be going on?

[janetvav]

Ok I know I have had problems with Tucker not eating but it seems to be getting worse. He will eat something one day and the next day no way he sticks his nose up to it. I can leave food out all day and he wont touch it. I talked to my vet about it and told her that he also has had a lot of panting after any excercise too in which he hasn't been that bad before. I suggested a bile acid test and she mentioned something about Texas A@M test in which she said she has to check on and will give me a call back. Does anyone have any suggestions on anything else in what could be going on or what I could have him checked for? I am going crazy trying to get him to eat. My other two will pretty much eat whatever I give them.

[manolos mom]

Originally Posted by janetvav

Ok I know I have had problems with Tucker not eating but it seems to be getting worse. He will eat something one day and the next day no way he sticks his nose up to it. I can leave food out all day and he wont touch it. I talked to my vet about it and told her that he also has had a lot of panting after any excercise too in which he hasn't been that bad before. I suggested a bile acid test and she mentioned something about Texas A@M test in which she said she has to check on and will give me a call back. Does anyone have any suggestions on anything else in what could be going on or what I could have him checked for? I am going crazy trying to get him to eat. My other two will pretty much eat whatever I give them.

I am so sorry Tucker is not feeling well. I would have the Vet do a full blood panel. That may narrow this down. Good Luck to you and keep us updated on what your vet says.

[tjdmom]

How old is Tucker? Has he always been a picky eater or is this a new thing? Is he over or under weight?

[kalina82]

Has be had regular blood work done and is he healthy otherwise? Is this picky eating a new thing or has he always done it?

[janetvav]

We have done a full reg blood work and everything looks good so that is why the vet doesn't know what it could be. He is 14 months old and other than his accesive panting seems to be in good health. When he was put on iv's two months ago for dehydration they couldn't find out anything so they thought it could be prancreatis but the blood work didn't show that so thats why she thought maybe the texas a@m blood test would show the whole digestive system. Some days he doesn't seem as active as others like he is somewhat depressed. He has me so confussed I worry so much about him. I lost my last dog last July because of liver problems and now I'm going through the same issues with Tucker with the eating issues that I was with him.

[Lizzie07]

I have a 15 yr old IG that was driving me berserk the same way. I was at the point of cooking for her to get her to eat and even then she wouldn't necessarily eat what I gave her. She'd go more than 24hrs, at least once a week without eating. Her normal weight is around 13 lbs and she was down nearly 2 lbs in the past year. All her routine blood work, just fine. She even looked healthy, for a 15 year old. My regular vet kept telling me to give her pepcid.

This dog has always been a master manipulator and she was my first IG and the first dog I'd had in a long time. She is a total princess, and her highness gets a away with murder around here, I admit. But not a day goes by that I don't thank God she is with me.

Anyway, for nearly a year I thought Gracie was manipulating me into cooking for her and giving her whatever she wanted. I'd buy all kinds of different foods to get her to eat. I was cooking steak for her and having her turn up her nose. My vet kept saying she was okay and to give her pepcid. Gracie even had two dentals during that time as IGs have notoriously bad teeth.

In desperation I took her to the internist that treated one of my dogs for lymphoma. He has way more diagnostic equipment than my regular vet and I just had to make sure we ruled out anything else that could be wrong. I was watching my dog waste away. It is hard when a dog is her age to decide if it is age related or something else and I can't tell you how awful and guilty I feel not having gotten her to the specialist sooner. I KNEW something wasn't right, and I just don't know why I didn't take her to Jory sooner.

Long story short, she has IBD caused by food allergies. She had an endoscopy done and her intestines were so inflamed, he could only get the scope a very short distance past her stomach. He did do multiple biopsies to rule out cancer. She has been on prednisone, 5mg 2x per day for nearly a month and a half. She has gained all her weight back and could fool anyone into believing she is a much younger dog. I just cut back her prednisone yesterday to 5mg 1x a day. She is also eating Science Diet ZD, canned and dry. I always use to think my dogs would eat SD over my dead body, but I am so grateful she is eating on a regular basis.

What I am hoping to get across in this long narration is that you have to keep pursuing an answer. If Tucker use to eat well and that has changed, even if the change is gradual, pursue an answer as to why. I think you feel in your gut that something is going on with Tucker and haven't gotten the answer. That is how I felt with Gracie, but I wasn't as proactive as you are being and I feel awful that I wasn't and Gracie suffered as long as she did.

[mojo]

I had a very similar thing with my dog. She wouldn't eat - I too thought she was being picky, didn't want her dog food, just wanted people food, etc. She became lethargic, depressed. When I noticed the weight loss, I took her in. Took vet forever to diagnose and figure out what was wrong with her (addisons disease).
Point is, your dog clearly seems ill. If your vet doesn't seem concerned or can't figure it out, I would find another vet. Not eating is not normal and something is wrong.
Sorry you are going through this.