I got an old dog that is losing weight pretty fast. She is 16 and for the last 15 years she has been about 25-28 pounds, and she is currently sitting at like 12 pounds.
I have been alternating between hot dogs and bologna as she likes to eat them and doesn’t fuss about it. Most wet dog foods will work for about a week, then she turns her nose up at it.
I’ve soaked her dry food to get the volume up for her, which worked for a bit but now she pretty much refuses to eat dry food for about two days then nibbles.
I get that older dogs tend to lose their appetite as they get close to the end, but I’d prefer she not pass away from starvation over old age. I do still tend to hold off from straight up sugar/carbs, but a random peanut butter sandwich scrap or three has been passed over to her more than once.
So I am looking for ideas for high calorie food which can be purchased easily and preferably on the cheap.
My old dog went through the same thing - turned out his teeth were bad. Prior to that discovery one thing that worked for keeping his weight up was to cook his food myself. He liked chicken (necks are cheap and the bones aren’t dangerous) stewed up with pasta, rice or potatoes, and veg like peas and carrots; mincemeat ditto, with a bit of liver; ox heart and/or tongue also good but a bit gross. Offal is offally cheap, usually.
Important: Don’t use onion or garlic! They’re toxic for dogs.
When my old pup was struggling we made him chicken and rice. Boiled chicken thighs and then cooked rice in the broth.
Steamed chicken and rice with beans was the meal today
Get her to the vet, loosing weight this fast might be a sign of illnesses, like cancer and such
She has cancer actually, on her neck but the vet wasn’t confident on the operation success with its location and her age, so she has kind of just been dealing with it for the last year. I am sure it is a major factor in addition to just being old.
I had a cat with cancer in his mouth who was a chunky boy and we noticed this primarily from his sudden weight loss. This is why I commented about it. I hope that she gets better ❤️
Low sodium broth could make the dry food mpre appealing.
Good call, not sure why I didn’t think about soup over water for soaking.
Make certain its low sodium. Very important. Don’t expect this to gain a bunch if weight. But it will retain fluids and actually add bulk which means less calories. This more to keep interest in the foods for them and or fluid retention.
Also, as I learned from having a wife who needs to watch her sodium intake, less sodium doesn’t necessarily mean low sodium, which I believe has a legal definition. You may need to shop the higher end brands that come in cartons, not the store brand cans. But I think a little splash should help pretty well and last a while
I landed on white rice, chicken breast and black beans with a tablespoon or two of just vegetable oil for a fat. Figured it was a fairly balanced carb/protein/lipid mixture in addition to whatever dry food I mix into it. Zero salt added, she is munching away currently. Next time I get to the store I will get some low sodium broth to mix into the rice and beans while they cook to soak it up.
I don’t know how healthy it is for an older dog (mines 13 today) but lipids / fats are the most caloric dense food w/9 cals per gram whereas carbs and protein are 4cal/g. That said for my dog I’d consider cheese, peanut butter and fatty fish like salmon.
The vet is a good call too.
Xox to your dog.
When our dog started like this (drastic weight loss, and appetite issues) the vet said it was a musculo skeletal disorder that hits some dogs. Have a vet check them out. Also probably better to avoid preserved meats. Could also be pancreatitis flaring up reducing their appetite
Vet has looked at her a number of times, they gave her an appetite booster even which got her eating for about a day. So far as they can tell she is healthy, but old.
🙁 sucks that they get old so fast.
At this point you need to be watching sodium due to kidneys, and looking for slightly higher carb contents but not sugars. Dogs don’t have the same metabolism as humans. High fat surely will add weight but sour the stomach and turn it acidy likely theyll eat grass or vomit of its too bad but their bodies will store carbs quicker as their rapid burn or store calories. Up the carbs. Try pastas with a bit of meat test for types they like, think alfredo with chicken or spaghetti with not long noodles, low salt, a ton of lost weight is likely water weight, Chinese foods, vary the diet and feed them what they want like your foods And I’m serious do human foods so simply make more of your foods your eating and share. Heat things up, make it special in their eyes, feed from your own plate encourage table scrap behaviour to keep excitement. Little less fiberous foods but enough to keep the digestive moving. Add a dog probiotic makes a world of difference do it daily, more is not better, normal doseage and consistency is most key. Fish oil. Exercise keeps the body young and appetite hungry.
Sugar free peanut butter should be fine. Chicken and rice are great, you can try asking at the shop for lungs, heart, tails, etc, same for any other meat.
Avoid lentils, they can cause respiratory issues.
Worth noting since “sugar-free” sometimes means “sugar substitute” in marketing parlance: some peanut butters use xylitol as a sweetener, and xylitol kills dogs.
So yeah, read the label. Some peanut butters have literally just peanuts as an ingredient and those are best!
Of course! I actually quit chewing gum because I worried about my fur babies getting into it.
