[CptJSparrow]

Hi everyone,

Sorry for the long post but I wanted to provide as much detail as possible in case anyone can help. I haven't found the answers I'm searching for while looking at the posts.

My adopted Yorkie boy (around 13 yo) is sick for the third time in a little over a year. He did great until January of 2019 when he started having diarrhea. We were able to get that under control after the vet tested him and found no health issues. We've been giving him Blue Buffalo products over the years and most recently after that episode, we switched from Wilderness Senior to Life Protection Small Breed. The vet wanted to put him on prescription Purina EN but this new dog food seemed to work, at least for a year.

He got diarrhea again in March of 2020 and that was again gotten under control rather quickly with the home remedies of rice, chicken and broth. He got diarrhea again about 6 days ago. This time is different in that he won't eat. He refuses to eat anything that has even one grain of rice in it so I started giving him potatoes. He loved that but he wasn't always drinking enough. He also had some off and on bile and regurgitation. His stool was almost getting better as it was starting to get firm albeit lightish in color and still mushy. Last night he regurgitated probably everything he'd eaten in the prior two meals and then refused to eat anything further. He didn't eat this morning either. He then had bile and then a huge bout of liquid diarrhea mixed with blood. Otherwise he acts completely normal most of the time wagging his tail and being all excited and wanting to be with us.

I took him to the vet and they gave him some fluids and vitamin injections along with medicine to take home and going to do a fecal exam. He's still not eating. I was only able to give him a little potato and chicken. I even cooked new rice in chicken broth to add flavor to it. But he doesn't want it. He sniffs everything but doesn't want anything. He's also had diarrhea and vomited after sniffing the bland foods this past round of 6 days.

I'm going to change his food once his diarrhea is under control. The vet said not to feed him Blue Buffalo as they're not truthful about what's in the food. I researched it and found what they were talking about so I will not be giving him Blue Buffalo anymore. I'm considering Halo Adult Holistic Chicken and Chicken Liver Dry food and Merrick Classic Healthy Grains Chicken and Brown Rice Recipe. They wanted me to try Purina One, Science Diet, or Royal Canin but the reviews were not so hot. Does anyone have any suggestions? How do you give a sensitive stomach diet along with something that is nutritionally rich and tasty? I also read about Imodium in another post as well as using probiotics in addition to the food. Is the Imodium the human kind? How much, how often, and when do you give him that? Any other thoughts?

As far as getting him interested in food, I don't know what to do. How can he just not eat? He's so little as it is and can't be losing any more weight. Does anyone have any ideas? How can I get the food to smell like something he might want to eat? I was thinking of spraying or sprinkling it with something but what? He does separate what he doesn't want out of the food. He's never been like this. He always ate so fast and so happily.

Thank you in advance for your attention!