I thought I had entered this already but it never went in.

Dog is a 13 and a half-year old Border Collie / Collie mix and she has suddenly stopped eating except selectively out of the hand.

After a lot of battles with pills w gave up trying to give them - her slight heart problem now looks unimportant.

She tries to cover her food with the towel we have under it. She will once in a while take beef or something else from us by hand but refuses her bowl.

She had to have an endoscopic exam because of choking and gagging but nothing was found and now we notice since the pollen season is over the choking/gagging is almost gone.

She had to take anti biotic because of an infection they found in her nose, and pain pills and so on and finally she refused anything that might "carry" a pill. Our vet says female dogs are spiteful and she is punishing us.

Any thoughts appreciated.

expat83

Rather than repeat what is there, I am going to refer you to the sticky, https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/dogs/i...tml#post254171 Stay in touch with the vet, and evaluate her as in the link.

Im still trying to swallow " slight heart problem now looks unimportant." Mirical prayer on channel 13 worked? I want to learn how this was cured, I see a lot of heart problems that don't seem to go away.

More input if it helps

We notice now in day three of not eating that she really wants to eat but seems to have trouble.
At her "table" where we serve her food on a slightly elevated platform she tries to cover her food with the paper towel that's under it. If we can get her to take a piece or two out of the hand she will do this but then turns away or even walks away, makes a loop around the living room and then returns. Now we notice when she does eat a little something she "burps". Then she stops eating. We wonder now if all the anti biotics she had to take may have damage something.
For her incontinence problem I am able to smuggle the small pill in a piece of chocolate.
That goes in right away.
Expat83

If you read my sticky, it is very explicit about seeing the vet, other than the fat, picky dog that needs fed less. Dogs don't suddenly quit eating for no good reason. Each time one of my Labs has, I took her to the vet. In each case, the vet quickly found a physical problem and easily remedied it. No sense of saying what their problems were or suggesting what it could be. If you don't see any obvious problems you can correct, call the vet.

I read your OP to mean she still has the heart problem, it is just that she now has other, more immediate problems.

Chocolate... can be deadly for dogs. When I have to give medicine I take a hot dog 1.cut off one end, take a straw an extract some out of the middle out 2. put the pill in the hole... crushed , whole or, liquid ( tricker to do) and push the extracted hot dog back on the medicine. My dog has never found her medicine and I make sure that this is done right before their meals ( I feed 2 times a day). I hope this helps

Thanks for the info.

We are able to focus a little better on her behaviour now and I want also to clarify the heart problem - her slight deficiency pales when she stopped eating. We were torturing this beautiful creature with a barrage of pills and then she would not take anything from us that remotely looked like a trick. This is an extremely intelligent animal.

We noticed in the last days when she does eat from our hand (she refuses to eat out of a bowl) she has to stop once in a while, walk around the room and then return. She sometimes stiffens her body during eating and then burps. I begin to think now they damaged the flap at the end of the esophagus during the endoscopy. Anyway we will bring her to the vet today now that we see this is more than "acting insulted" as the vet previously thought.

And as for the little bit of chocolate, there is no other way to get her incontinence pill in.
I know this is not good for her but it is not so much and over her almost 14 years she hardly ever got such stuff.

I'll feed back what comes out of our vet visit.

Expat83

Many dogs have died from eating chocolate, but it is not the terror many suggest. For most dogs, it may be as much as an ounce per pound of body weigh for a single dose. Repeated doses can build up, but even then, the amount you are giving may be too small to be a problem too soon.

Far less known and far more dangerous are grapes or raisins or Xylitol, the artificial sweetener found in many sugarless gums. Do they still make Chunky bars? If a dog ate one of them, I would be more worried about the raisins than the chocolate.

I use the shove the pill down the throat technique. The last time we kept our friend's big Lab, I realized I had my hand up to the wrist, in there with all the big teeth. He is funny. He hates the process, but comes running when you pull the case of pills down. You can also buy a pill popper to use to do it.

There is a chocolate like material, carrob, that is safe for dogs that might work. Many health foods people like it because it contains less sugar.

I am glad you are going back to the vet. Border Collies may be one of the breeds that never carry much excess weight. The problem may or may not be iatrogenic.

*iatrogenic (iatro- + Gr. Gennan to produce) resulting from the activity of physicians. Originally applied to disorders induced in the patient by autosuggestion based on the physician's examination, manner, or discussion, the term is now applied to any adverse condition in a patient occurring as the result of treatment by a physician or surgeon, especially to infections acquired by the patient during treatment. Cf. nosocomial.

Chocolate "Repeated doses can build up" resulting in death ! Yes grapes and other items can be deadly if you do not know, Here is a chance to get some info. About them. The ASPCA ( AVMA recommends) has a list of potentially fatal common household items ranging fom food to plants. Please take a moment and print off this list or at least look at it. They also have a 1-888-426-4435(may be a $50.00 consultation fee) and kanas state has a free poison control hotline est. 1969 with a veterinarian on call 24/7 785-532-5679. Please take the time and look at this poison control information it just may help to save your pets life someday.

The above is good info. Thanks. One problem is that grapes, raisins, and Xylitol weren't on such lists only a few years ago. Rather than try to remember or find a list, I don't give dogs human food. Still, most dogs that died from eating chocolate helped themselves to it. So having the list is a good idea.