What can we do to get her to eat? She is so up and down, on a cocktail of meds and at times just won't eat.

Help.

I am sorry to hear about your situation. My dogs are family. Best wishes to you and your family.

I found a wonderful resource for the Nutritional Requirements of Dogs and Cats with Cancer (http://www.oncolink.org/types/article.cfm?c=22&s=69&ss=550&id=6002), from an affiliation of the Veterinary Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (VHUP).

There are many suggestions there, including this one:


Resist the temptation to coax a pet to eat when he or she is feeling or showing overt signs of nausea or discomfort. Pets that gulp or drool at the sight or smell of food, turn their heads away, spit out food when placed in the mouth, or bury the food under their bedding should be left alone. Pushing food on a patient who clearly does not want it is a good recipe for creating a learned food aversion.

Pot... sounds crazy but some human cancer patience use medical marijuana... it helps them with pain and appetite

Who would give pot to a dog intentionally? I've seen my fair share of dogs who have eaten pot, and it's not fun.

Marijuana Intoxication - Pet Health Learning Center (http://pethealth.petwellbeing.com/wiki/Marijuana_Intoxication)

Approximately 30 to 90 minutes after ingestion, canines will show signs for up to 72 hours. Symptoms of Marijuana Toxicosis include mydriasis (excessive dilation of pupil), glazed eyes, bradycardia (slow heart rate), hyperesthesia (abnormal increase in sensitivity to stimuli of the senses), ataxia (gross incoordination of muscle movements), coma, drooling, tremors, depression, drop in body temperature, respiratory depression and somnolence (drowsiness). Marijuana Intoxication can depress the nervous system and bring regurgitation and vomiting. Other signs may include agitation, vocalization, urinary incontinence, diarrhea, hypersalivation, seizures, tachycardia (rapid heart rate) and coma. In some cases, death can occur.

I have gotten my dogs high my entire teenage life, even had one that would seek out my stash and eat it. None of them suffered urinary incontinence, diarrhea, hypersalivation, seizures, tachycardia, coma or death.

Please do not give your dog marijuana. If your dog has an illness there are plenty of medications available from your vet, as the OP has already said, the dog is on medication it just has a suppressed appetite.

What sort of cancer is it? How to put this delicately... Is it an aggressive cancer or is this something the dog will be living with for quite some time?

If it is an aggressive cancer I say give the dog whatever food it likes... boiled chicken, raw meat even table scraps.

If it is a cancer that is non aggressive and the dog still has plenty of time then I would look at just playing around with different dog foods. Some dogs go crazy for canned food, it's not the best for them, but it still has all the nutrients they need.

You may also like to talk to your vet about appetite stimulants. Periactin is a commonly used one. But as said above, don't force her to eat if she doesn't want to.

Know what I have seen? Three dogs die because their owners thought it was great to get their dogs high. Two got into their owners stash, and one was just exposed to fumes, and obviously had a hypersensitivity to it, that caused its death. I have seen about 5 more that due to exposure, found their way into our hospital with seizures and other issues. Know one thing it didn't do? Make them want to eat anything.

I had a dog that ate close to a pound of dark chocolate when I was a child and he was fine! But do I go around and recommend that dogs go eat chocolate?

Back to the topic at hand... What medications does your dog take? What kind of cancer is it?