<p>My 12 year old dachshund is sick, throwing up. He is not eating or drinking since Saturday morning. I took him to the vet and they can’t find what’s wrong with him. All the test are normal except the liver enzyme is a little high. X-ray showed nothing abnormal, the liver feels a little hard but of normal size. They dischaged him with medication to calm him down enough to eat. He ate a little last night but this morning he is refusing to eat again. I am forcing feeding him chicken broth at the moment. Should I take him back to the vet and leave him over the xmas? Would he more comfortable at home with me forcing feeding until after the xmas?</p>
<p>No answer for you, but hugs. Christmas is a tough time for pets – they eat things they shouldn’t. I have no idea if that’s what’s wrong with your pup, but hugs to you both.</p>
<p>Igloo, sending your dog hugs too. Have you tried feeding him pieces of boiled chicken and plain white rice?</p>
<p>I’m so sorry. I think I’d keep him home since they already did x-rays and they don’t think his life is at risk. He would certainly be more comfortable at home.
Also, if he misses a meal or two, I wouldn’t force it on him. Not eating can be helpful in healing as long as it doesn’t go on too long. I’d probably feed him once a day until you can get back into the vet on Thursday. The vets didn’t find anything, but what was the vet’s best guess as to what was going on?</p>
<p>Thank you both for comforting me. I think he ate garbage a few days ago. He threw up a few pieces of paper towel from garbage. The vet said x-ray didn’t show. He does that often and usually he’s back to normal right away. Yes, I made rice and chicken for him. He is refusing to eat. I am afraid this may be his end. He is old with advanced arthritis.</p>
<p>moonchild - He hasn’t eaten anything since Friday night. He can barely stand up to go to bathroom.</p>
<p>Oh, dear. Didn’t the vet give you any recommendations? If his blood tests and xrays are normal, it doesn’t sound like he’s in real distress internally. Maybe he’s just very uncomfortable with a mild case of pancreatitis.
He may not be getting up because his arthritis bothers him, and he’s stiff if he’s not moving around.My 11 year old pup has arthritis, and laying around makes it harder to get up.</p>
<p>I have cats so don’t know if vets do this for dogs, but our vet puts a nice “hump” of fluid under our cats’ skin between the shoulders. The cat absorbs the fluid over the next couple of days, so there’s no worry about dehydration. Liquid trumps food for a sick cat. I call it a “hump” because it looks like a little hump and feels like a water balloon under the skin. Inexpensive … it’s just injected. Costs less than some vaccines.</p>
<p>It works well. Our cat ate something and threw up 20+ times one night and into the next day. He couldn’t keep anything down. The water pack kept him from needing to drink. The vet said we could bring him back in a day or two for another but we didn’t need to do so. He slept and used his litter box and in a few days regained his appetite.</p>
<p>I would be worried about dehydration. If it’s been four days since he ate anything, that’s a long time. I would call the vet today and see what he/she advises. Big hugs to you and your pup, iglooo. One of ours was very sick at this point two years ago, with a life-threatening illness and spent six days in the ICU of our local Veterinary Emergency Clinic. It’s so tough when our furry friends aren’t well. My pup who was sick is lying on my feet as I type this. I hope yours has a good outcome, too.</p>
<p>I would see if you could find some Dog-Sure – which is like Ensure for dogs. It’s a liquid in a can, fairly well accepted. If you can’t find Dog-sure, then the canned, or even powdered, puppy milk is a good substitute. (Info from the manufacturer rep when I asked why I couldn’t get the Dog-sure from my distributor and what could I sub for an old dog.)</p>
<p>There is also a product from Honest Kitchen that is a powder to add to water to make flavorful ice cubes for dogs. I have actually used it to flavor water for my dog to drink at shows. I think the product name is Ice Pups.</p>
<p>Great suggestions! Thank you. Keep them coming. I’ll check if our local pet store has them. I am forcefeeding a couple of ounces of water or broth every hours or so. I’ll see if I can get dog-sure.</p>
<p>((HUGS)) for you, Iglooo. The vet here recommends browned ground beef and cooked rice. Also, to keep the pup hydrated, try ice or ice chips in the water bowl. When my sister’s pup was sick, she filled the water bowl with ice chips. That seemed to do the trick. Good luck!<br>
I’ve never tried this with a pet, but I used to stick liquid amoxicillin in a syringe (no needle) to make sure my stubborn toddler (now 22 and still pretty stubborn:eek:) got it down.</p>
<p>Could he have a bowel obstruction? This could cause him not to eat or drink. Did they look in that area? Dehydration will cause that behavior. Maybe you can take him in and get him rehydrated then bring him back home.</p>
<p>So sorry you are going through this.</p>
<p>How is the pain management for the arthritis doing? If he is in a great deal of pain he could lose interest in eating.</p>
<p>What’s his absolute favorite taste? If you offered him a lick of peanut butter or a bite of hamburger, would he take it? If he has no interest in his absolute favorites, I would be very concerned. I guess as long as he has some water, he can make it to Thursday, and go back to vet then. I’m sure he is happier at home than being left at the vet. Hope he perks up soon.</p>
<p>Sending good thoughts. Years ago our lab had similar symptoms, he saw a specialist who diagnosed an allergic gastritis. I remember the helplessness I felt. He would nibble at ice cream and peanut butter which gave me hope he would be ok. He did drink the broth from the poached chicken I gave him. Hope vet says you can wait till Thursday. Hugs</p>
<p>Thank you for well wishes! It’s been a hectic day. This dog loves to eat anything usually, not today. He just turns his head away from food. I finally pureed rice and chicken and forced fed him. I could try rice and ground beef next time. That will be easier to feed. I kept him home. Crossing my fingers.</p>
<p>Allergic gastritis sounds right to me. Was there sny treatment for it? There was a piece of fish skin in the garbage he got into. He’s had a reaction to fish before.</p>
<p>Specialist did endoscopy after reg vet treated with Flagyl , Pepcid and carafate. Treatment was high dose prednisone that was tapered off over several weeks. Change to dry lamb dog food (less allergenic) and Pepcid. He eventually was able to eat regular dog food which he preferred. This was over 10 yrs ago so treatment may have changed. Vet specialist had more education and trainning than any dr I ever had.</p>
<p>Is he pooping?</p>
<p>He had loose BM yesterday morning. The vet said there was enough in his system. He didn’t seem to worry in that regard.</p>
<p>lamom - That sounds like what we should do, see a specialist. There’s a veterinary school at the local university we can go to. Thank you.</p>
<p>Pooping is good. That means he doesn’t have an obstruction. </p>
<p>I myself wouldn’t force feed him anything but water or broth. YMMV.</p>