Anyone have any clever ideas for cheap dog food toppers to trigger appetite? Something not loaded in sodium.
My girl has no appetite. I've tried 4 different foods. She has reflux and vomits 3x a week because she won't keep her stomach full. Had the vet check her out, complete with blood work and x-rays on common problem areas (looking for pain/discomfort) and nothing. She's as healthy as can be.
But I NEED her to EAT. She is a 1 year old Great Pyrenees, slender as a greyhound, and barely 85lbs. I just hardly think it's necessary to spend so much money on additives just for pets when they adore cheap human food so much.
Thanks in advance.
Ive never needed to use a topper, but my dogs appetite gets triggered by 2 things, the cat eating food or leftover gravy. Even just a spoonful of gravy and she'll est her whole bowl.
>>2158321
Gravy was the first thing to come to mind. I was really concerned about the nutrition with that, though. I suppose I should look into different kinds
>>2158322
I never really thought about it until now, but you could also add water to thin it out. It might not taste good to us but your dog could love it.
One of my dogs is a little peckish. I have to encourage her to eat. I praise her while she is eating, stay by her, and let her have a few bites out of my hand every now and then.
She always finishes, so it works well for her.
>>2158315
>healthy as can be
>pukes 3x a week
>won't eat
>85lb Great Pyrenees
Take your dog to another vet because your vet is wrong. Have the new vet request the old results from the old vet and see if they interpret the results differently.
I have a dead dog that I wish I would have gotten a second opinion.
>>2158332
This.
Also change her food OP you fucking moron. What are you feeding?
>>2158340
>I've tried 4 different foods.
>>2158332
Typical presumptuous /an/ response.
No one asked for medical advice, and you don't have all the facts. Stop browsing for fights or opportunities to condescend. People like you are really annoying.
>>2158340
see
>>2158342
The dog is a picky eater, that is all. She even gets tired of wet foods after a week. She has to have a constant rotation, which is why I am gathering a list of toppers that I can change around freely to give her foods a wide variety of flavors and textures. She's never had a food that wasnt 4+-starred on dogfoodadvisor.
Does she like things like peanut butter, yogurt, or cottage cheese? What about mixing in bits of boiled chicken? Maybe soak the kibble in some kind of low sodium broth or stock?
I'm trying to think of less junky things you could use.
>>2158315
Healthy as can be, but she is underweight and pukes 3x a week? That alone, and the very reason you bring her to the vet, means she isn't healthy. Have you considered she may have a food allergy? Your vet fucking sucks btw, get another one because this current one sounds like a lazy fuck. They should at least help you through this. Also try to contact whoever you got her from, they may have some ideas, suggestions, and tips. Maybe they are more familiar with this issue than you are.
My pup is pretty picky too. I usually buy a bag of the premade raw food and toss a pinch of that in with his kibble and he devours it. I also use dried liver for training so sometime I'll crush up some of that and sprinkle the dust over his kibble and that attracts him to it
Chicken stock, ground pumpkin, liver pate, yoghurt. My dog loves those maybe your dog will.
>>2158352
Exactly. If the dog wasn't puking regularly and underweight, then it is conceivable that it could be just a food issue.
However, puking 3 times a week is a serious concern, and being underweight is another concern. A second opinion should be considered, including an ultrasound to rule out blockages or other abnormalities, which can often go undiscovered by blood work and exam alone.
Put her on Acana Pacifica.
Its a DOG they dont need additives to their food and wont starve themselves if food is available. Set the bowl down for 10 minutes then take it away, feed morning and night.
>>2158315
sodium free beef stock
your dog might be sick though
>>2158420
this.
your dog will eat if its hungry. if it doesnt, you have a problem and should see a vet.
that, and + the puking means your dog is not very healthy.
A lot of you people don't realize that vomiting from an empty stomach is normal for dogs. Yellow, foamy bile vomit is what happens when there's no food in the stomach to keep the yellow bile in in the intestine track.
A dog's entire digestive system was crafted around their design of their stomachs being enormous food reservoirs, and their intestinal track being short and brutally efficient. This is the opposite of how humans work. Their stomachs are bigger than you can imagine.
So when a dog has an empty stomach, it's not just cutesy little garbles like humans get. It's kind of a big deal. Their system is not made to handle an empty stomach. Hence the vomiting. It's not a sign of direct illness, just an empty stomach.
The cause of regurgitation/vomit can easily be diagnosed in the vomit's contents, color, timing, and whether heaves come with it or not. If they throw up 8 hours after eating and it's yellow foam, preluded by heaving, then it's reflux. The stomach is empty. This usually happens early in the morning after a long night of not eating.
If it's white, chunky, no heaves, or 3+ back to back, etc, it's something else. In this guy's case, it's just reflux caused by the dog not eating.
Stop playing internet-vet and trying to advise on stuff you don't understand.
Dogs not eating can be anything from pain, to other dogs being around, to the bowl being in a bad position, to the food itself - a million reasons. It is really hard to pin down and a vet really can't do much (once bloodwork rules out illness, which it did in OPs case) except offer a long list of things to try.
>>2158463
>>2158420
He said the dog is a year old. It's a giant breed female dog, which means it has 6 months of growing to still do minimum. That means you can not do this. You can't wait for them to nearly starve before they choose to eat. They need to eat balanced nutrition while growing and can't miss meals. It's more important than any other stage of their life.
>>2158322
>concerned about nutrition
>his dog is underweight and not eating
Jesus. Buy your dog a fucking chicken and get him eating.
Then find a brand of dog food he likes or just put some damn gravy on it.
>>2158420
>it's a dog
This comment is stupid. It's not like he's feeding the dog large slabs of meat and chicken which is what a dog wants to eat.
He's feeding it dried shit....if the dog doesn't like it, then it doesn't like it.
Try a different food.
>>2158502
>PUT HER ON ACANA PACIFICA
STUPID CUNT.
>>2158502
>He's feeding it dried shit.
Well, that's another problem people don't seem to take into account. All these idiots with their 20lb toy dogs saying wet food is the only way to go.
Flip that can around, and read how much to feed a Great Pyrenees like OP. Males will commonly top out around 150# and females at 125#. My last Pyr was a 210# behemoth.
The can will say 1 can per 10 pounds. So in OPs case, you're looking at 9 cans of dog food. Per day. A decent, not-super-premium dog food like Purina Pro Plan costs about $1.25/can. So that's $11 per day. $340 per month.
Also, I don't think a dog could even eat 9 cans of that shit in a single day. My pyr only ate once a day, but even if you break it up into 2 meals, that's 4.5 cans, which is 58.5 ounces. 5 cans of coke in one sitting. And no dog over 6 months will be eating more than twice a day unless they're grazing, so no point in breaking it down more.
Point being, for giant breeds, kibble is the only realistic option. I'll spare you the math break down on feeding raw to a giant breed except to say it is not financially viable for 95% of households.
>petchup
That is a funny name.
>>2158512
Generally I've only ever seen catfags on /an/ preach about wet food. Dogfags generally just say Acana/Orijin and are done.
Rest of your post I agree with 100%
Pyrs are notorious for self-regulating, did the vet actually say she's underweight? What does your breeder say? Likely her metabolism slowed down now that her skeletal growth is slowing down and she doesn't need many calories, plus big furry dogs are a lot less active in the heat of summer. Unless your vet and your breeder say you have a dire problem, you shouldn't worry. If it is just regular hunger pukes go back to three small meals a day
Here's some things I have topped my dog's food with to encourage her to eat. She's also pretty disinterested in food and she's had several different types of kibble, wet food, home made food, etc but even if she likes it initially she will become bored of it quickly.
Toppers:
Cooked pumpkin
Tuna
Shredded chicken
Fish oil
Olive oil
Melted peanut butter (melting let's you drizzle it and spread a small amount over more area. Just wait for it to cool before feeding)
Scrambled egg
Plain yogurt with no artificial sweetener or added sugars
Try cooking a vegan dog meal once in a while my doggo loves it.
>>2158776
>Fish oil
>Olive oil
Not to be used on dogs that poop in public spaces and need it picked up? LOL
OP here.
We've made a vet appointment with our old vet, who's about 3 hours away, for a second opinion on everything. I am curious if there's a partial blockage that got missed, and am going to have an endoscopy done.
It's possible that a flow of hydrochloric acid is being triggered by the stomach thinking there is something in the lower chamber (blockage), causing the med/upper chambers to pour acid out non-stop. Regular bowel movements would still happen and healthy bloodwork wouldn't show anything off.
You'd just have laziness, which - well, it's a great pyrenees, who'd spot it? Bad appetite, bile vomit, etc ... basically the same symptoms of a picky eater. It would also explain why Pepsid did nothing. If I understand correctly, Pepsid will not stop acid production that's triggered by gastric outflow obstruction. I think. I had a hard time finding clear info on that.
Anyway, I want to know. I'll report back. The consult appointment is later today. Hopefully they can get some testing in.
>>2159099
You dog sounds like my doggo. I got a dachshund that used to do this when he was a pupper. He would be sick fairly often and go off his food. He still does (he's now 4). Turns out he just has some sort of allergy. We fed him on Eukanuba allergy diet when he was a pup - a mix of dry and wet because he's small. Now he's older I feed him on a senior doggie diet or wet that is suitable for sensitive stomachs. He doesn't have an allergy to anything in specific, just seems sensitive. I feed him small meals and something at night otherwise he'll be sick in the morning. You can just give doggy chicken and rice but they get lazy with it plus you'll go through a farm of chickens in no time. Try doggo foods that are specifically designed for sensitive or senior bellies. It's essentially the same stuff. Top mine with cheese sometimes too if he's picky, eats the whole thing everytime.
>>2158315
OP here. Updating ... She's going under the knife today. Pic related.
>>2158315
OP Here
One more update. She's fine. The thing they pulled out was a string-winder/weight that they put on gift balloons. Seeing as those are sort of uncommon, we can safely assume she ate this thing at the beginning of February 2016. She'd also lost 14 pounds in the last month, down to 71.
Anyway .. things are heading in a good direction finally. Problem solved, lessons learned, $1800 lost. We will pick her up tomorrow morning.
>>2159444
Shize, hope you had insurance.
>>2159444
Could've bought another 5 dogs with that money.
Glad you went to another vet, op. U did good
>>2159308
What's that white thing?
>>2159444
damn what a nightmare.
>>2159444
You've been blessed by trips. Godspeed pupper.
OP here.
Update. We're not out of the woods yet. Seems 6 months of anorexic habits are hard to break and she's not eating.
Bluepearl is charging $900/day just to observe her/keep her on fluids/meds. So ... whatever. Not much else to say.
>>2159515
>hope you had insurance.
Read that fine print on the policy. Pet insurance is pretty much a scam. Even the best policies don't cover routine healthcare (vaccinations/checkups). A lot also don't cover anything dealing with internal problems including broken bones. So basically, only external lacerations are covered. That's it. They are incredibly strict and incredibly overpriced.
I hashed this one out just now, for shits and giggles, and my out of pocket expenses for the consult, surgery, medication, and aftercare, are still 80% out of pocket on a $40/month plan. The fine print/exclusions lists are mind boggling. Pet insurance is a total St. Elmo's Fire.
Put habanero paste on the food, should get her juices flowing and whet her appetite.
>cheap dog food
>cheap
Well here's your problem, or at least, one of them
Don't cheap out on your dog
Give that dog some steak or fucking chicken
I had good luck with canned mackerel in oil, not brine.
>>2158315
Maybe a cheap chorizo gravy, tube of beef non spicy chorizo is less than a dollar, mix into simple white gravy mix.
I have to watch that stuff like a hawk when I make it, it's the only food my dog will get in trouble on purpose to obtain, it's like crack for my golden.
Pretend the dog food is something you'd like to eat and put it at the table before leaving the room. That's how I used to trick my cat into taking pills, he'd be too busy trying to steal the lot before I returned to notice the tablet inside the prawn paste.
Try rice with some low sodium chicken broth.
OP here.
Just one last update. I don't want to keep bumping this.
The pooch started eating in earnest today. Probably about 1.5 cups worth of boiled chicken and bacon. Which may not seem like a lot, but compared to 2 ounces of yogurt yesterday, it's a big deal.
Thanks for the thoughts and advice. I'll bear it all in mind going forward.
>>2159444
good job getting that second opinion, OP. you did right by your dog. wishing her a speedy recovery.
>>2158315
Low sodium chicken broth could work, also most dogs love coconut oil so if you mix some of that in it could help (plus it has amazing health benefits). Personally my dog loves plain greek yogurt, as well as a raw egg, so those are options as well.
>>2161457
No. It's fine. Please keep bumping this and keeping us updated!
It's awesome she is doing bettee. I hope you are through the thick of it now. Good luck to you and your pupper. I would love to own a great pyr one day... such beautiful dogs.
>>2161457
YAY
>>2161457
OP, this is /an/ of course we love your updates, especially since wonderful doggo is recovering
>>2158492
Sound like your dog has Addison's. You rolled the big dog roulette and lost. Be ready to pay 250 a month or have a dead dog.
>>2158315
My pyrenees won't eat dry kibble by itself, so I buy those buckets of dehydrated liver treats and crumble one up to mix into his bowl. When I'm out of liver, I cook up some ground beef and keep it in a container in the fridge, serving him a tablespoon at a time. We've got him on Taste of the Wild's Wetland formula, since Blue Buffalo was too rich.
>>2158953
Don't do this. Dogs need meat. They may omnivores, but they strongly lean toward carnivore. Dogs will eat what you put in front of them because they trust that you know best about what they need. If you feed them vegan meals you will wind up killing them.
>>2159444
Trips smile on your doggo. I wish her a speedy recovery
>>2162892
He said once in a while, Anon. There's a bunch of stuff dogs can digest just fine, but I doubt it'd be fine for a daily meal.
Owned a pyr there not supposed to eat just kibble... Your supposed to give them actual chicken and steak. Cut up and cooked.
I was spending up to 400$ weekly on my dog and he was never sick and always healthy.
Like two whole chickens and five steaks a day...
Kibble was around if he wanted it.
But if you actually research kibble it's fucking disgusting.
>>2158321
Seconded. I top my dog's hard food with low sodium beef gravy and he always finishes.
>>2163870
Idiot.
Now that the problem was already found and resolved, I guess food advice isn't needed, and this is just storytime about the family pet 20 years ago.
My Pyr - and I hear this is normal for the breed - wasn't super food motivated compared to other breeds. He'd eat what he felt like and then stop. So I wouldn't expect yours to bulk up instantly.
We didn't do this very often, but raw egg works (use one of the fancy treated ones if you're worried about salmonella). Stir it in something else first, so the yolk is broken and mixed in, then pour it over the dog food while stirring so it gets everywhere. He'd lick that bowl clean. It's lso fine to scramble the egg, just make sure to let it cool off before mixing it in with the food. (But that also makes it possible for the dog to just pick out the egg bits and leave the rest).
