of poodles and discussion about what to feed GoGo, who eats less and less. She is disappearing, and I am so frightened to lose her. My friend Joanne suggested I boil down the bones of the turkey I baked for GoGo until it became gel. We did, and Joe ground up the bones and put them back into the pot, for more calcium. After 2 days of simmering it down to gel, GoGo won’t eat it. Ah well.
GoGo has never liked to eat, and now getting older and older, less and less. She has liver disease. She is surviving on hard boiled eggs, bread, vitamins, liver and a myriad of other things I tempt her with daily. Liverwurst to lamb lungs, dog brownies to canned food, seared venison, baked Alaska..
She is our miracle girl at 13-1/2, to just keep Go-going with a liver that looks like she drinks a pint of scotch every day. Keep on my little brown angel.
Oh yea – the phone doodles.
my darling girl
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Venison and sweet potato is about as complete a food as you can get and is easiest to absorb I believe. A friends dog developed very bad gastro and went allergic to almost everything, he kept going for years on just minced venison and sweet potato!
Comment by Wendy Moss — January 7, 2010 @ 2:16 pm
Never was there a more dignified and lovely Grande Olde Dame. Wait…Baked Alaska?! You made me laugh.
Comment by Sue — January 7, 2010 @ 2:43 pm
Oh, your darling daughter, GoGo. Old humans stop eating too.
If her liver is really bad, you may not be able to do this, but sometimes a little short dose of prednisone can kick up the appetite.
When Luna stopped eating, I went to extreme measures to get her to eat. Well, I exaggerate, being the person I am. I begged her and she ate, for me. Afterwards I regretted that more than I could stand. She did not want food. She was dying and getting her to eat was really more for me than for her. But just in case GoGo just wants something you aren’t offering, have you tried:
1) baby food
2) canned tripe
3) lunch meat in thin slices, maybe slathered with butter or margarine
4) raw meat
5) giving her something for nausea before you feed her. Something like Dramamine.
6) Feeding her in small amounts or trying different size bowls. I found that both of my dogs would get all torqued when the bowl was too big or the portion was too much. Like it was just too overwhelming to think about.
Comment by Lynne Benson-Colbert — January 7, 2010 @ 7:27 pm
Wendy M – you are so right. If only she would – our grande dame. If she could attach to anyone outside her Familia, Sue, it is you, with your generous GoGo love.
Lynne, you’ve summed it all up perfectly. It is exactly this, and I know it. I’ve tried all the above. She is now past any raw (horrors!) or food I feed the other 2. She will still eat some tripe. No longer likes butter. Likes whole wheat bread, no white. I’ve begun feeding her at different times, when she asks, alone in my office – yes – on a yellow paper plate. Just like your dogs she gets overwhelmed at large amounts. Or if I dare mix food. Like a child, she wants everything separate and small. She sometimes likes Gerber hotdogs.
Dramamine – excellent suggestion. But yes, it is for me, and I know it. I wrote a journal entry the other night reasoning my way out of my anger at her for not eating. It is not her, it is me. I’m taking LaRoo in for her annual Monday and will ask for some pred for GoGo. Just a little to get her to eat. She gets all fired up when she eats, so I know she has more time.
Of course, tonight when Andy came and laid down next to her I started imagining he was on vigil again. Then I realized he wanted her shark cartilage that she had gnawed at but didn’t eat.
Comment by Wendy Wahman — January 7, 2010 @ 9:06 pm