[xxgawjuzuxx]

Hi

can someone please help me my dog (staffy x Boxer) who's 6-7 years old is not eating her dog food and hardly eats any other food.she usually loves her food and will eat almost anything. She's lost weight and is starting to get skinny. I've taken her to the vet a couple of days ago but they can't find anything wrong with her. I live in australia so its really hot and she's been drinking around 8 cups of water per day. She's really offish she's usually very playful and runs around a lot these days she only gets up when she hears something. She never wants 2 play ( she usually always wants to) and hardly wants to exercise which is her highlight of the day. She been sad almost depressed? Though there has been nothing to happen to make this happen to her? There's only 1 thing I can think of which is the week she got out of the yard and ran over the road a cple of houses down to a house with a pitbull ( which is friendly)and the gates are always open for the dog to roam freely and has approached me and my dog while walking many times and they have never fought though the pitbull is protective of her yard and family I'm nt sure whether they fought as I couldn't see only heard growling and my dog came running out.. she was vaccinated the other day at the vet she is also wormed.I give her plenty of attention which usually she loves 2 soak up but now she acts different and hardly wants any attention. She also usually follows me when I get up, now she doesn't and hardly realises what I do she's usually lyk a shadow to me. I love her so much I would hate for anything to happen to her.please help me... write back as soon as possible. Thanks. Louise

[labman]

She really sounds to me like a sick dog. What ever is causing her not to eat may be a far bigger problem than not eating. Tempting her with rich food may do more harm than good. You could read through the sticky at https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/dogs/i...tml#post254171 It starts with taking the dog to the vet. I would go back or perhaps to a different one.

[Sarah_the_vet_tech]

Sounds like there is a definite problem. I would take her back to a different vet and have some blood work done. Blood work including a general health profile and a complete blood count. After the results the vet can go from there. It doesn't sound to me that this is the result of a dog fight.

[RubyPitbull]

xxgaw, if your dog didn't have any signs of being bitten by your neighbor's dog or any other animal, I wouldn't be concerned about her being hurt or in pain.

You can take the advice of both posters above because I know you are worried, but frankly, I believe your dog's lack of appetite and spunk is due to the heat. I know how hot it can get in Australia this time of year. If you are experiencing an excessive heat wave, it is not abnormal for a dog to go off it's food, be unwilling to move, and to drink a ton of water. At 6 or 7 years of age, your dog is at a point in her life where she will slow down dramatically in intense heat. What do you mean by "hardly eating" and "getting skinny.?" Sometimes what we perceive as eating too little or being too thin is actually the approprate food intake and weight for a dog. If her ribs are showing a little and her waste is trim, that is a perfectly normal weight for her. If she is only eating half or a third of her food, this is very normal for a dog to do when it is hot outside. When a dog doesn't expend as much energy as they normally would, they usually will decrease their food intake. Is she defecating and urinating normally? If she isn't defecating at all or very minimally, you may want to ask the vet to x-ray her to ensure that she didn't eat something that may be causing a blockage. If she appears to be squatting numerous times when she is urinating and nothing is coming out after the first one or two squats, or if her urine is tinged with blood, she may have a urinary tract infection which is easily treatable with medication. If she is just experiencing a little more softness to her stool, that is normal in excessive heat conditions, as is her drinking excessive amounts of water. As long as she is drinking water and eating a little bit every day, personally I wouldn't panic. Obviously, if she appears to be severely underweight, I would ask the vet to run a blood panel screening. If I were in your position, prior to running any tests, I would call the vet (they don't charge for a phone call following a visit) discuss the heat factor with him/her, along with her proper weight and how much she is actually eating. Then, follow the vets advice on whether you need to bring her in to run more tests. Please let us know how she is doing. :)

[xxgawjuzuxx]

Thanks everyone who has written back letting me know what use think is wrong with her. When I took her to the vet they done a blood test for a couple of things, vaccinated her, checked her temperature, and felt her. What I mean by she hardly eating is the only thing I've been able to get her to eat is mainly meat on its own at night and only at the most a cup? I had given her a bit of bacon the past two days which she didn't resist but I tried to give her some today and she wouldn't eat it. And what I mean by getting skinny is she was a little overweight then she lost weight the healthy way and since she's been sick her backbone is starting to stick out. That doesn't sound to bad but she has wide ribs so it makes her seem skinnier. I think she's feeling a little better today she played ball with me for a couple of minutes. Though I realised she's been eating grass which is making her throw up which I know they do when they feel sick. I think it may be the heat that's stopping her from eating and that though she is a very happy lively dog who won't usually turn down any meat and always wants to play.. which she's turning down both. I realised yesterday that a couple of weeks ago the owner of our house came and sprayed pest control and that around the yard.. she's been digging around the edges of the house and fence lately.. could this of made her sick? Please keep writing back.

[bushg]

Yes the spray could be part of her problem. I would inform the vet of this and also ask the owners for the brand or if you could see the label.
I feed my dogs certain types of meat. Cooked with out salt or spices. I limit them to skinless and meats with no fat. Bacon has a lot of salt in it and fat, that may not be so good on her digestive system.

[xxgawjuzuxx]

Thanks we have the spray I tried to find anything on it like warnings and that it only said do not spray directly on animals? And thanks ill try to see what I can make for her she's sort of fussy she doesn't really like plain food.

[bushg]

The ingredients should be listed... type them/google and see what their effects are on animals.

[labman]

Whatever the spray is, it could be a big part of the problem. At least call the vet about it.

Although some people claim their dogs do OK no matter what they feed them, the only safe diet is a dog chow and as little else as possible. There is a large body of knowledge behind dog chows.

[xxgawjuzuxx]

Thanks very much again everyone who posted back. Ill let use know what I find out.

[xxgawjuzuxx]

Deltamethrin is what the spray is which isn't harmful to dogs because its used on flea collars and dogs and cats have been given doses to keep sandlflies from biting them. So I'm still not sure what's wrong.. I hope its just the heat.

[labman]

There is no discounting RubyPitbull's experience. Perhaps wait and see how things go. A wet dog is a cool dog. Can you give her a chance to swim? If nothing else, wet her down with a bucket. Can you keep her inside in the air conditioning?

If she continues to lose weight, you need to do something. I would not trust my dog to the suggestions of somebody with no more than their own personal experience. Many others have had disasters feeding a dog meat and little else. If you want a well balanced view of dog nutrition, see Articles 2 I think some of the links there are junk science put up by kooks, but over all it has some very good material.

[RubyPitbull]

Wetting the dog down is the right way to go if the heat is intense. You might want to buy her a small children's wading pool so she can cool down when she feels overheated. Even though Deltamethrin is used on flea collars, it is a pesticide and animals are not supposed to ingest it. She may very well be suffering from a reaction to it. If you can think back and figure out if she began acting not like her usual self shortly after it was sprayed in the yard, there is a very good chance this is the culprit, and you need to get back with your vet about this. Although a dog will eat grass when not feeling well, if you haven't had any rain since the spraying, you need to stop her from eating the grass that was treated until after a rainfall has occurred.

The other thing I wanted to point out just for you to file in the back of your mind and speak with the vet about: we have been seeing a lot of people post here with dogs who are suffering from pancreatitis. That is due to feeding dogs people food that is processed and/or high in fats. So, the advice you have been given is right on the money. Please do not tempt her with rich foods, such as bacon and fatty meats. Many dogs cannot produce the insulin necessary to break down these foods. Pancreatitis is the result of this, and dogs can die from it. I would ask the vet if he screened her for that when he ran blood tests. If he has and everything is okay, then you need to speak to him about what you can feed your dog that is safe for her system and will encourage her to eat. You might want to ask if a very small amount of low fat, low sodium beef or chicken broth is okay to mix in with her chow until the heat wave breaks. I am not sure if your local grocer would stock that where you live, but check around. The smell from that might tempt her to eat her chow. Don't warm it up in this weather. Just pour a very small amount into the chow either room temperature or cool from the refrigerator. If he hasn't tested her for pancreatitis, due to her excess weight loss, it would be wise to ask him to do so, just to rule it out as a problem. And again, speak to him about the chemical. If he wasn't looking for it when he ran the blood test, it would be easy to miss. He needs to know about it.

[Lez]

Hi

can someone please help me my dog (staffy x Boxer) whos 6-7 years old is not eating her dog food and hardly eats any other food.she usually loves her food and will eat almost anything. shes lost weight and is starting to get skinny. ive taken her to the vet a couple of days ago but they can't find anything wrong with her. i live in australia so its really hot and shes been drinking around 8 cups of water per day. shes really offish shes usually very playful and runs around alot these days she only gets up when she hears something. she never wants 2 play ( she usually always wants to) and hardly wants to exercise which is her highlight of the day. she been sad almost depressed? though there has been nothing to happen to make this happen to her? theres only 1 thing i can think of which is the week she got out of the yard and ran over the road a cple of houses down to a house with a pitbull ( which is friendly)and the gates are always open for the dog to roam freely and has approached me and my dog while walking many times and they have never fought though the pitbull is protective of her yard and family im nt sure whether they fought as i couldnt see only heard growling and my dog came running out..she was vaccinated the other day at the vet she is also wormed.i give her plenty of attention which usually she loves 2 soak up but now she acts different and hardly wants any attention. she also usually follows me when i get up, now she doesnt and hardly realises what i do shes usually lyk a shadow to me. i love her so much i would hate for anything to happen to her.please help me... write back as soon as possible. thanks. Louise

I know with are dogs the heat does affect them eating but they also don't eat much when they are missing someone there close to if that makes sense does you dog show any effection?

[xxgawjuzuxx]

thanks for posting more. =] I'm happy to say she's eating more now I gave here steak and kidney meat which she's ate 3-4 half bowls since I posted my last thing. I've let her go swimming in a little paddle pool a week or two ago though she doesn't really like water unless she's been for a long walk ill see if she wants to go swimming tomorrow. I'm going to try to bring her inside she's really an outside dog and protects the house well (weve had people trying to steal from our neighbours lately) but she's kept them away from our house so my mum doesn't really like her inside where she can't keep a look out. Ill sneak her in =] and for the last comment.. shes real close to me. She's not really close to the rest of the family and even saying that no one has gone away or given her less attention. She shows a little affection but no where near as much as she usually does. She's usually my shadow which she hasn't been lately and sometimes she doesn't want to sit with me.shes sort of my baby I always pay her attention and everyone picks on me for it. It's a bit weird though I call her and she comes to me slowly wagging her tail and sometimes she goes and lays on the grass at night which she never use to do. She use to always try and lick me now she just gets close to me and doesn't lick or anything. Even now that she's eating I'm a still worried still because I'm meant to be going away for 6 days on Sunday just me not my family I usually do that every holidays but since she's not feeling well I doubt whether to go. Thanks heaps everyone. Goodnight.

[xxgawjuzuxx]

this afternoon, my sisters friends were out the back and Jamie my dog ran over to the back fence n started attacking something... turns out it was a red belly black snake that was 1.5- 2 m long it was grossss =] she was winning and had it in her mouth and was shaking it.. luckily she didn't gt biten or hurt =] she's sleeping at my feet at the moment I'm glad she let us know that it was there because my baby sister usually goes right to where it was and plays but today she was at school. I love Jamie so much =] she's the best dog I could ever have.

[Lez]

Your best friend is in your dog bless her sounds like she is very protective? How is the eating going? I was thinking does she have toys she plays with like ropes? As are.s stopped eating as she had rope stuck inside she was having trouble passing waist till we found the bits of string and ball in what she had passed like it had bloked her up. Is she passing OK? Sounds gross but have a look at her waist not saying in detail ewww but just to see if you can see anything that might be blocking her up. X

[xxgawjuzuxx]

Thank you everyone for writing back to my post but on the 11th we had to put her to sleep I didn't want it to happen but I didn't want her to go through pain either. She usually doesn't mind going to the vet but that day she wanted to go straight back out and wouldn't go into the vets room. I feel so awful cause she came to me before the vet had to put her to sleep as if to protect her but I didn't.. she cuddled into my arm hiding and cuddling me.. she went to sleep so quickly and I saw the colour go from her eyes I just kept telling her I love her and I was sorry. She was such a beautiful dog the best dog and best friend I've ever had. Its so strange without her here I usually say goodnight and I love her every night and tuck her in and I keep thinking I see her outside but I know she's not. No dog can ever replace her I feel like I'm missing a huge part of me. I love her so much rest in peace jamie jame.