The Demon Dog won''t eat ANYTHING -- please give me some advice

[Dee Jay]

A few years ago my husband and I adopted what we affectionately refer to as The Demon Dog from the pound. There is NOTHING he won''t eat with the exception of smoked salmon (we found this out at our housewarming party... ) but he hasn''t touched anything for two days now, not even treats or lunch meat. He''ll take them in his mouth and drop them on the ground and walk away.

My husband (who the dog loves WAY more than he loves me!) has been on a ski trip for 8 days, so maybe he''s just depressed, but I''m starting to get worried. The doggie day care people said he could have separation anxiety, but it seems odd that it took 6 days for it to manifest itself, don''t you think? (And no, we do not have so much money to burn that we send The Demon to day care every day (LOL!); we''re getting our kitchen remodeled and are afraid that he''ll get hurt lurking around the construction or will bolt out a door when it gets opened for deliveries so we''re just taking him there for a few weeks -- and damn it costs a fortune!!!)

Someone in my office said to give him chicken soup out of a can but isn''t it loaded with salt?

Does any one have any ideas? Obviously the vet is the next step, and my husband comes home tomorrow night, but I would love to get him to eat SOMETHING tonight...

 

[Mara]

DJ, i would definitely at least CALL the vet, have you done that? our vet does give advice over the phone, if we don't need to bring her in, etc...I call them as soon as something is unusual with our dog because it's better safe than sorry if the dog is acting unusual, esp since they cannot speak to us! It could very well be separation anxiety but it's very hard to read a dog's mind. Is the dog at least drinking water so he does not become dehydrated? Playing normally, bowel movmements the same etc? Lethary is a bad thing typically esp when combined with not eating (though just plain not eating could be cause for lethargy!)...what about boiling some chicken...our Portia loves that unless she is truly not feeling well then she won't eat a thing either.

 

[Kaleigh]

Can you tempt him with his favorite treat?? Is he drinking water, or showing any signs of illness?? Like diaherria, etc...

 

[Dee Jay]

He is drinking water (I would be REALLY concerned if he wasn't at least doing that) and he did not poop yesterday (sorry if I'm grossing anyone out here), but he hadn't eaten anything the day before so I wan't really surprised.

He did have a merry little puke fest at about 5 o'clock this morning (sorry again folks... ) but he barfs all the time for no apparent reason so I can't say that's unusual.

As for activity; he's really active during the day now with all the other dogs at day care. He sleeps a lot when he gets home, but since he's playing 8-10 hours a day I don't think that's odd.

Any thoughts on the chicken soup idea? Unfortunately we have no kitchen right now so the best I can do is heat things in the microwave. Can you boil chicken in a microwave?

And treats held no interest for him last night or this morning.

 

[Mara]

Call the vet, seriously...we can all be armchair dog experts but we aren't professionals and I would literally not wait around hoping and giving her weird things suggested by random people if my dog wasn't eating. If he is not eating and threw up this morning, then if he is not drinking ENOUGH water he may be on the verge of dehydration or similar esp if he is playing vigorously and expending calories that way.

I've been in and out of the vet this week with Portia with an intestinal upset and then an allergic reaction, and I'm glad each time I go even though it costs a pretty penny. You can't put a price on your pet's health.

 

[fatafelice]

I would definitely take him to the vet. He could have an obstruction in his bowel, which can be very serious. Since you are having some construction done...Is it possible that he could have eaten something he shouldn''t have?

Look at it this way: Would you rather spend the time and money to take him to the vet, just in case, or have something awful happen and always wonder if it could have been prevented?

If he is just in a funk, however, you might try meatloaf. That''s what my mom has made for our dogs in the past when they won''t eat anything else. Also, scrambled eggs. We''ve had dogs in labor eat scrambled eggs!

 

[Dee Jay]

You're all right about the vet, I might even see if I can get him in there tonight before the vet closes. The $ means nothing to me but the dog means A LOT!!!

(Not to mention my husband would absolutey kill me if I let anything happen to HIS BABY while he was out of town... )

 

[Kaleigh]

Take him to the vet. Let us know what the vet has to say. Not eating is a scary sign and something is going on. Better to play it safe.

 

[Shay37]

If the vet cannot find anything wrong, put your hubby on speaker phone so that his Baby can hear his voice. The dog may be pining for him because his absence hit some "magical" number in the dog''s head. Hmmm six days, daddy ain''t coming back. That kind of thing. I have a friend who had a dog that if they went on vacation and they left him with their one daughter, he would not eat until Ed called and spoke to him on speaker phone, then he was fine. LOL If Brandon stayed with me, he was fine. LOL harder. Amy (the daughter) said Brandon had it in for her.

shay

 

[Mara]

Actually the interesting thing about time for dogs is that they perceive time as longer than it is. Aka an hour is like a day, a few hours is like a few days, a few days is like a week or month! This is why dogs greet you so exuberantly even if you have been gone for just an hour or two! Sometimes when I would leave the house to just get a salad then come home 20 minutes later, Portia would act like I had been gone for hours instead of 20 minutes!

They also have a short-term memory in that whatever it is they are feeling at the very moment encompasses their whole being. If they are really happy and bouncing around and they get yelled at, they are instantly very unhappy. It's not like 'oh i was happy and now i'm sad and i will be happy again soon', but instead the unhappiness or fear encompasses their entire mind and being and they feel that it will NEVER change. It's hard to explain but this dog book I read explained it better! So basically when a dog is missing you or is lonely or alone, they feel like they will always be lonely forever, rather than 'oh Mom will be coming home soon'. They don't think the way we do, for them it is like all or nothing.

So separation anxiety can be a very real thing if they feel like the person has been gone 'forever'...but I do think at least call the vet or take him in...dogs are such a mystery but whenever they act ODDLY for me it's always worth a call or at the very least a close assessment and if it doesn't improve in a day or so, that is when I call the vet. But I have heard some horror stories about dogs and it's better safe than sorry!

Oh and one last thing, when we travel I always call my Mom daily to hear about how P is doing and I typically will speak to her on the phone, aka phone up to the dogs ear...she usually licks the phone or reacts with a wagging of the tail, who knows if it REALLY helps but it sure makes me feel better.

 

[Dee Jay]

Mara - that's really interesting about the way dogs perceive time.

And Shay, you could be right, maybe it's been long enough that Dino thinks Daddy's not coming back. Hell, after 8 days I'M starting to feel like he's not coming back...

I will definitely call the vet ASAP.

Ug. If I would have known how much work (not to mention $!) this was going to be I would have just had children!!!

 

[aphisiglovessae]

If you''re worried about the salt content of chicken soup, they do make kinds that are low in sodium. Just look for it on the label.

 

[fire&ice]

Are they feeding him at day care? Maybe too many doggie treats coupled with over exhaustion.

My male has gone a couple of days w/o eating. He is fine & we can''t figure out any rhyme or reason except that he is protesting. He will throw up bile though on those occassions.

Could be separation anxiety. Could be something physically wrong. I''d eliminate that by going to the vet.

My male recently did get a bug. But, he had diareha on top of not eating. The vet has always recommended chicken & rice or chicken and pasta. Funny, he wouldn''t touch the rice & chicken - just picked a bit at the chicken. The next day hubby made pasta and chicken - he whole heartedly ate.

Good luck - hope the demon is on the mend.

 

[Dee Jay]

Won't eat anything for 2 days, I look down while we wait at a stop light as we're walking home from day care and he's snarfing something up off the ground!?!

I got him to eat a little peanut butter off a spoon and a tiny bit of the chicken soup (thanks for the low sodium tip, by the way).

We'll see what the vet has to say when she calls me back...

ETA: Forgot to say, they don't feed him a regular bowl of food at day care, but they might be slipping a little treat in every now and then!

 

[pricescope]

If you are going to call vet first it would help if you can provide some extra information to him.

Take Demon''s temperature (dont freak out at the number as it suppose to be a bit higher than humans).
And his heart rate can be count if you place you hand on the spot where left elbow touches the chest if you bend dog''s leg.

Hope it''s just an absence of your husband, was he out of town for so long before?

 

[Dee Jay]

Thanks so much for the advice about the temperature and the heart rate. I was able to “take his pulse” but there was no way in hell he was going for that thermometer!

And no it's not normal for Bill to be gone so long. He used to travel a bit for his old job, but only a few days at a time. This 8 day stretch is an anomaly.

I finally talked to the vet and she said Dino really probably is just missing Bill. She advised me to wait 'till Bill comes home tomorrow, and if Dino doesn't eat something with a few hours to bring him in on Sunday morning.

By the way, I felt kind stupid posting this thread, so thank you to everyone for not telling me I'm an over-protective goofball and for giving me such good advice!

 

[AndyRosse]

DeeJay, what did the vet say?

 

[Dee Jay]

Rascal - our posts must have crosssed.

The vet is hoping he''s just missing Bill (which begs the question: What''s wrong with ME??? I''ve been here the whole time walking him, feeding him, petting him, even letting him sleep high up on the bed with his head on Bill''s pillow.... But somehow *I''m* not good enough!!! [LOL!])

We''ll see tomorrow...

 

[monarch64]

Dee Jay, I hope your doggie gets to feeling better!

I hope he is either back to normal by now or you have called the vet for advice. In addition to others'' suggestions of what to try feeding him, you could try ground beef and rice--my MIL swears by it, and she''s had lots of dogs in her lifetime.

As an owner of a dog who definitely goes through separation anxiety, I have to tell you some of what we''ve been through in the last two years... you mentioned that your husband had been gone a few days already before your dog''s behavior changed, and I don''t think that''s unusual because I''ve been in your shoes. The last few times my husband and I have gone somewhere for more than one night and left him at home with one of our good friends(he stays with Milo in our house, sort of a dual house/dog sitter), the dog has waited until about the fourth day to get all kinds of sick everywhere in the house. The first time it happened, we had to pull up our beige carpeting and re-do all our hardwood floors. There was vomit and what we refer to as "chocolate pudding" everywhere. Our friend said he was fine until the night before we got back, and then all hell broke loose. The next time we left him we came home to what looked like a chocolate pudding fight in the kitchen, only this time there were newspapers covering the tile and our friend had been smart enough to confine the dog with baby gates so he couldn''t wreck the rest of the house. We thought maybe our friend had slipped him a treat that didn''t agree with him, so the next time we left town we dropped off the dog at DH''s parents, who even have another dog about his size to play with. The night we brought him home from their house, he had horrible diarrhea all night and we were up to let him out about 10 different times before dawn. Ridiculous.

We haven''t taken a trip lasting longer than 2 days since then. This summer we are going to Wisconsin and have found a pet-friendly rental so we can take him with us.

Milo is a beagle, and what we didn''t know about the breed before we got him is that they are a particularly pack-oriented breed. That is, they don''t feel right unless they are with their pack members...they''re not loner types at all. Also, some dogs just suffer from separation anxiety no matter what breed or mix they are. Our obedience trainer told me there is an herbal remedy suitable for both dogs and humans that has a calming effect but without the side effects of a prescription drug or sedative. You might want to ask your vet about it. I''ve never tried it, and can''t remember what it''s called, but he/she should know something about it.

BTW, have you read "Marley and Me?" It''s the story of a yellow lab and his people--you laugh one page and cry the next, and no matter what breed of dog you have you can relate to all the crazy things this dog does!

Good luck!

 

[aljdewey]

Date: 2/3/2006 5:03:43 PM
Author: fatafelice

Look at it this way: Would you rather spend the time and money to take him to the vet, just in case, or have something awful happen and always wonder if it could have been prevented?

Let me tell you that the "something awful" CAN happen, too....it happened to me.

I came home late from work one night when I was 24 to find my dog's front paws literally soaked from drooling. I immediately took her to the vet, but she was all stoic when we were there, and they couldn't diagnose anything wrong. X-ray and bloodtest didn't reveal anything. They said it looked like some kind of poisoning, but they couldn't determine for sure.

I asked if I should leave her for observation for the night, but they made light of it and said "well, take her home and just keep an eye on her." Being young and inexperienced myself and not ever thinking anything SERIOUS could happen (she was only 4 years old), I followed their advice.

I watched her as I moved around the apartment, and I KNEW she wasn't right - listless, wouldn't even respond when I unwrapped a candy bar. But, I reasoned to myself, it won't do any good to take her in again if they couldn't find anything wrong to begin with. It wasn't even that I didn't want to spend the money...it was that I felt sure they would say the same thing - can't tell what's wrong, nothing seems wrong.

Big mistake. Dog woke me up after an hour in bed - convulsing. Rushed her to the 24-hour vet 3 towns away. They couldn't figure out what was wrong either, but also suspected some sort of poisoning. They said they should hold her/observe her overnight, and I should go home. I did...and an hour later, they called saying that they was dying. I had them keep her on the respirator long enough to go and say goodbye.

This happened 16 years ago, and to this day, I always wonder if the outcome would have been better if I'd listened to my gut instinct. I had lacked confidence in the first vet, and in hindsight, I should have hauled my dog *directly* to another vet. If I had, would it have made a difference? I'll never know, and that has stayed me with for a long time.

NOW? Now, I'm insano about my dog the way Ame is insano about her rings. If I even THINK that my dog is panting or has even the slightest odd behavior, we pack him up and go the vet. I don't care if they think I'm the biggest paranoia case on the planet. I can live with that, but I can never live with the thought that I may have been able to do more and didn't......for yet another dog.

 

[aljdewey]

Date: 2/3/2006 8:51:39 PM
Author: Dee Jay

By the way, I felt kind stupid posting this thread, so thank you to everyone for not telling me I''m an over-protective goofball and for giving me such good advice!

Are you kidding? Don''t apologize for that.....I wish more people were over-protective goofballs!

They can''t take care of themselves......so they need us to be goofballs.

 

[Dee Jay]

Monarch - thanks for the message. After your experience maybe I should stop complaining that he's not eating because that's so minor compared to what you've been through!

Al - Oh my -- I'm so sorry!!! Even though it's been so many years I can tell how you still feel about it. Really, you couldn't have known, and we're all older and wiser now.

Dino is, as I type, nibbling at the chicken soup (thank god for Progresso!) and we're about to go for a walk so maybe his spirits will lift a bit (he LOVES to go for a walk!). But if he exhibits any further weird behavior in the night we are packing right off the emergency clinic. There is nothing I wouldn't do for this dog. You know how you play those crazy games in your head... Please god, if you let Dino be OK I'll _____ (fill in the blank). Well my _____ was that if anything was so wrong with him that he needed really expensive medical care and we somehow didn't have the $ I would sell my new 3 ct upgrade to pay for it. If that doesn't prove how much I love this dog, nothing will.

(I know that all sounded tongue-in-cheek, but I really would do whatever it took becuase he means so much to us. I can't even imagine what you people with HUMAN children go through!!!!!!!!!)

 

[AndyRosse]

Thanks DeeJay, yeah, I must have been typing while you were too

And I absolutely agree with Al, my vet must honestly think I''m crazy, and he sure makes lots of money off of me. But I still call them whenever something is wrong, even if I just think he''s a bit "off." I changed vets a while back because the vet did not take my concerns very seriously.

 

[pricescope]

Date: 2/3/2006 9:13:02 PM
Author: aljdewey

Date: 2/3/2006 8:51:39 PM
Author: Dee Jay



By the way, I felt kind stupid posting this thread, so thank you to everyone for not telling me I'm an over-protective goofball and for giving me such good advice!

Are you kidding? Don't apologize for that.....I wish more people were over-protective goofballs!

They can't take care of themselves......so they need us to be goofballs.

Yeah, don't ever!

Dee Jay, adopted dogs have strong preferences always, he might love you the same but if it's your husband who decided to take him - the dog is HIS forever. It may be a different reason and you will never figure it out - but does it really matter?

 

[Dee Jay]

Rascal, you raise an interesting point about changing vets. The night of Dino's first day at doggie day care his muscles were spasming in his sleep. Not just the twitching of chasing-the-rabbit dreams, but really spasming. When we woke him up and walked him around he was fine, but this happened several times that night while he was sleeping. I called the vet the next morning and she said he was probably physically exhausted since he has never been in an active play environment for 10 straight hours before, and this his muscles were just "flexing". She didn't seem concerned at all. It turns out that it's never happened again, so maybe she was right, but I just did not feel like she took it very seriously. And now this--let's just wait and see, even though your dog hasn't eaten anything for two days already. I think a new vet is in order here.

P.S. - He ate the chicken soup and went for a walk, and I got him to eat a little lemon pound cake when we came in. (This was after he rejected ALL of his treats, Oscar Meyer Bologna, Kraft singles, and baby carrots -- can you tell I'm going through the fridge one item at a time in the hope that something will appeal to him???) Under normal circumstances I would NEVER EVER give him this crap, but whatever he's willing to eat at this point he's getting.

ETA - PS, you're absolutely right--it does not matter which of us he loves better or why, we're just lucky that we were in a postion to take on an animal that needed a home and that he's turned out to be such a great great companion. (Even if he does hog up so much of the bed - LOL!)

 

[tawn]

My dog used to have horrible separation anxiety when I went away. He wouldn''t eat, and would just mope around the house with his head hanging down. Then, on the 3rd day he would go pee in the corner, and then he would maybe eat a little, but mope around until I got back. He would shadow me for a few days when I got home, and then be back to normal! My husband could leave, and he could care less...he loved him, but he was "my dog" for some reason!?

He was a Boxer, and when we adopted him when he was 4yrs old, and we put him to sleep almost 4 years ago. He was 13.5, which is a pretty advanced age for his breed! His name was Zeus...but he would only answer to Doodles! I still miss him terribly! I always chuckle because he actually really hated the mailman and chased him off the porch a few times! Poor mailman!

But, back to your dog, I''d trust your instincts! It''s probably the separation anxiety with the timing and everything....but if you "feel" like it''s more, definitely take him in! We don''t trust our intuition enough!

 

[pricescope]

I did not meet a healthy (not eating for other reasons) dog yet who turned down crab-flavored fish sticks, you know, the kind they put into California rolls.

ETA: Tawn, that is an incredible age for a boxer!

 

[aljdewey]

Date: 2/3/2006 9:51:47 PM
Author: Pricescope

And Al, get a new dog, adopt one and your guilt will release you.

Actually, I did.....I got my next dog right away.....within a few days. In hindsight, I should have waited a bit longer, but I had just moved to a new state by myself where I didn''t know anyone or have any ties, and having a dog was important to me.

She was with me 11 years; died in 2001 from congestive heart failure. After 2 months, I brought home my Nicky....and he is the apple of my eye. He has gotten to me in a way that no other has.....has me TOTALLY on a string.

But getting new dogs hasn''t taken away my remorse over having not done more to advocate for my first dog when I *KNEW* in my heart that I should march myself to someone else with her. It has, though, made me a repentant student of that lesson and made me an exceptional advocate for my pets since then.

 

[ladykemma]

doggies get toothaches too. oww. time for vet!

 

[Lorelei]

Plain diet - get a plain roasted chicken from the store minus herbs and spices and some rice which you can cook in the microwave. Small meals of that - little and often and plenty of water. Hand feed if necessary and if the slightest doubt get back to the vet. This diet is easy to digest and will help settle his stomach. Try a small portion hourly if you can, every bite counts and do call the vet ASAP if you need to. Also plain chicken breasts you can nuke, cool and feed him with the rice. The vet will tell you to use this diet anyway for an unwell dog, especially if it is gastric trouble. Hope this helps.