[ILUVMYPOOCH]

My dog is old she is 17 and she is a chihuahua. I started to give her purina canned food cause I noticed she was getting real thin. Before that she was on dry food. With the purina canned food it caused her to get diarrhea. So I switched to a special canned food that I have to buy at my vets. I have given her this food in the past but stopped cause she stopped eating it. Well she still doesn't eat it. So I started giving her cooked chicken mixed with rice. She only ate the chicken. I'm not sure if this made her diarrhea worse but it made it smell horrible. So I took her to the vet and he said do not feet her chicken or beef cause she is really old and her digestive system can't handle it. So he recommended yogurt with rice. She doesn't even touch it I don't want to force feed her and cause her to choke. She only weighs 4lbs. So I haven't seen her eat anything yesterday or today. So today I tried to feed her chicken again just so she could eat again, but now she doesn't even touch it. I'm so lost on what to do. Anybody have any ideas?

[Donna5503]

Oh my.....your poor puppy!...Is it just recently that she has become this thin --- how much did she weigh for most of her life?....4 lbs seems like so little.

What kind of dry food was she eating?....have you tried adding a little warm water in it to give it a little broth and softer eating?....maybe it's a little to hard for her.

My dog is a picky eater -- so I feed him Blue Buffalo Dry Food with some boiled chicken ---sweet potatoes are good for dogs too.

Good Luck --- and don't give up...your puppy needs you!

[Kathyy]

You need to get to the vet now.

A tiny dog that isn't eating is big trouble! I am not a vet and if your vet isn't taking this seriously then find another.

Your dog is going to be dehydrated if she isn't already and probably hypoglycemic if she hasn't eaten for 2 days. I would want my dog to be on an IV drip and have the blood tested to see if kidney, heart, liver or pancreas are diseased.

[Cobalt]

I don't have an answer for you but I wanted to tell you that I am sorry you having trouble. Our maltese Lilly did the same thing and it was hard to get her to eat. Dealing with a toy breed as they get older can be hard. They don't always eat even when hungry as other dogs will especially if they are a bit senile. We fed Lilly what she would eat and tolerate and for her it was Science Diet canned ID (I dislike Science Diet but it worked for her) mixed with chicken and her dry kibble.

Is she drinking? Lilly often wouldn't eat much but as long as she drank I was not too worried.

Good luck and give her a hug

[Skyegirl]

As a vet student I know that it is critically important that your dog eat, no matter what. First off you could try any type of canned food that you can find to see if she will eat it ( even if its of really poor quality), as long as she eats something she will be in better shape than if she eats nothing. If she still won't eat talk to a vet about the possibility of a stomach tube. Once a stomach tube is placed you can bring your dog home and feed it using the tube, this could prolong the dog's life and can be kept in a very long time as long as it is kept clean and checked regurlarly by the vet. It could be an option for you if nothing else works.

[briteday]

When our dogs are sick and won't eat anything else I've found they will almost always eat Evangers canned food. You might give it a try.

But you really need to get that dog hydrated. A quick trip to the vet so they can give her some fluids might just do the trick. Sometimes it's hard to get the appetite going if something major is going on with such an old dog. It might be worth the money to get some blood work done to see exactly where you stand with this issue.

[Cobalt]

Also, canned pumpkin can help settle her tummy if she gets any more diarrhea. With all of the food changes this often happens. You sure don't want dehydration and diarrhea going on.

Let us know how she is doing.

It's tough when they get old.

[ILUVMYPOOCH]

Well we took her to the vet again yesterday (her original vet). They put fluids in her with this really long needle but it was thicker than a needle. He looked at the medication the other vet prescribed and didn't know why he gave her one of the medication cause it was for dogs who ate and it caused nervousness and told us to stop giving it to her. So he gave her new medication. He also suggested to put her to sleep cause she's old. What got me and my boyfriend is why are they looking at her age? they should figure out why she's not eating. So today I was trying to give her antibiotics and noticed her TOOTH WAS LOOSE. I'm so upset why didn't both vets find this out. This is why she's not eating. Now we're waiting til the vet gets in (their at lunch). Me and my boyfriend are stressing cause all this is adding up and we're trying to figure out how we are going to pay for this.

[Cobalt]

Our vet gave us the talk too. I think he was trying to prepare us. We decided that when she was in pain, we'd make that call. When it happened, it happened fast and we couldn't get her to the vet fast enough for it to end for her. She was pretty good until the last day. You and only you will know when it's time and pain is a good indicator.

She may be too old to tolerate surgery to take care of the tooth. Will she eat soft food at all? Poor baby.

[InkedMarie]

Originally Posted by ILUVMYPOOCH

Well we took her to the vet again yesterday (her original vet). . He also suggested to put her to sleep cause she's old. What got me and my boyfriend is why are they looking at her age? they should figure out why she's not eating. So today I was trying to give her antibiotics and noticed her TOOTH WAS LOOSE. I'm so upset why didn't both vets find this out. This is why she's not eating. .

Please find a new vet, one that actually cares about animals. I can't believe any vet would suggest putting a dog to sleep because she is old. If she has a loose tooth, maybe a nice smushy canned food would be best. It sounds like she could use a dental but at her age, anesthesia might not be good.