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Originally Posted by OwnedByJezebel  Regarding food and my 14 year old Matlese, she was always an extremely picky eater. It was always a huge struggle to get her to eat. My previous Yorkie was a garbage disposal, she would probably eat until she split open if you let her. So the two of them in combination was very difficult to manage. She never wanted to eat at a set time and would always turn her nose up at it. I couldn't leave food down for grazing ("when she gets hungry enough she'll eat" kind of thing), because then my Yorkie would eat it all. When my Yorkie passed, then I was able to go back to free feeding for the Maltese, and it worked out OK, she would eat when she got hungry.
Now I have a one year old Yorkie, Jezebel, who does fine with free feeding, so we were able to continue with that.
However, 6 months ago, I decided to try commercially prepared frozen raw. My 14 year old loves it, and not once has she turned her nose up at it. She wines for it, waits for it, and eats it immediately. I do break up the medallion into 8 - 10 separate small chunks. It is like night and day compared to what a struggle it was to get her to eat in the past, she's like a different dog. While she eats I put fresh water in her bowl, kibble in another bowl (they free feed the rest of the day) .... she is DONE by the time those two other bowls reach the floor. Then she walks over and checks out the Yorkies raw to see if there is any of it left behind she can eat. (Never is, but she checks anyway).
If you're so inclined, I think the frozen raw is worth a shot. I just wish I would have tried it on her sooner. |
I've tried raw with some of my seniors, all IGs. Right now, I am feeding raw to the older dogs. The IBD dog likes it, Opal, the mitral prolapse dog did for a couple days, but is turned off it now. Monty too liked it real well at first but seems to be so so about it now. My Cushings girl is good with it. I gave Opal a little cooked roast and a little steak with her raw today, along with a little pumpkin and she ate it all. My IBD girl is suppose to be eating Science Diet ZD, but that burned out and I broke down and starting feeding her the raw, beef only. She is doing great on it.
The last two seniors I lost got whatever I could figure out to feed them. I got all kinds of deli meats, every canned meat, and every canned dog food on the shelf, good or bad. I cooked chicken, roasts, steak, hamburger, lamb, pasta, soups, and of course, rice with any and all of the above. I tried flavoring the food with anything I could think of. It seemed that something new might be good for a day or meal or two, then back to trying to find something to get them to eat. And I hand fed. I also fed lots of little meals, throughout the day.
When I took Grace, the IBD dog to the vet because I was having a hard time getting her to eat, and after an endoscopy to diagnose her problem, she was put on Pred, and I also got mirtazapine to stimulate her appetite. It works, and I will be asking for it again if feeding gets to the point it did with the other two girls.
Senior care really is more demanding. The seventeen year old that I lost in January had renal failure. I gave her fluids for nearly two years to keep her going. At first I was only giving them about once a week but as time went on, the frequency increased. At the end, I was giving them everyday. She really didn't like it, and I struggled with whether it was the right thing to do or not. Yet, she really seemed to have a good quality of life other than that. I am very squemish too, and at one time would never have imagined myself sticking a dog with a needle to give fluids.
You just have to do what you have to do. Because of my experience, with having so many seniors at one time, I warn people to spread out the ages of their dogs. My problem is I am a sucker for the older dogs. I have a hard time saying no to taking them and to placing them.
