At the end of January we welcomed a new fuzzy kid into our family. We knew the change would of course change our routines, causes stress for Bender and Luna. In general upset our dogs for a little bit until they were fully use to Toki. As expected, Luna showed her distaste towards Toki by refusing to eat but after a day she started eating again. Bender seemed to be adjusting but after the first week he stopped eating which is very unusual for him. He has never skipped a meal unless we have been traveling.
On Thursday Bender ate his breakfast but only ate some of his dinner. Then Friday morning he didn’t eat his breakfast. He wasn’t even very excited about treats. This is not normal behavior for him so I called the Vet. Luckily the Vet was nice enough to get Bender in even though they were booked up.
Bender got a battery of tests. The Vet checked for ketosis, he came back with normal levels. They did blood work, red and white counts where normal. All other tests came back fine. Bender’s blood sugar was a bit low and he was dehydrated so they gave him fluids and we tried to get him to eat special prescription food. The Vet wasn’t sure what was going on. Besides Bender not eating, everything was normal. The Vet told me, if by Monday he wasn’t eating to bring him back in.
We were sent home with special food. I feed Bender any thing he would eat, which wasn’t much. I had to force feed him the special food but he ate. I could tell he was hungry. He would lick his chops, his nose would be going. But he still refused to eat or go near his food bowl. I cooked some chicken, rice and green beans. He barely ate that. I had to force feed him his special food. He definately wouldn’t touch his normal food.
Sunday evening I had a thought, I smelled the bag of food. It smelled weird. Not bad but definitely not good. To this day I can’t describe the smell but there was something wrong with the bag. I opened a new bag. The new bag of food did smell different, better, but not like it normally smelled.
On Monday we went and got Bender a different brand of food. He ate it up. But the sudden switch caused him issues and for the next week it was difficult to get him to eat but he was eating most of his food every meal. After two weeks Bender was back to normal! Between the new puppy, Toki and Bender not eating it was a few stressful weeks.
I learned a few things from this episode. This might be unique to Bender but I still wanted to share. I figured Bender’s blood sugar levels would be super low and he would be crashing a lot during that week of him not eating. He only crashed once. His numbers actually stayed between 80-120 when he wasn’t eating. His numbers would spike to 200+ if he ate. An insulin shot would bring him back down. Even if I took him for a short walk to get him hungry, his numbers were still pretty good at the end of it, 80-120.
The other thing I learned is, while I always say getting on a schedule is good, which I still believe, it isn’t the end of the world if you have to change the schedule for a few days or a week. After that first week of Bender was still not eating right when food was put down. I usually feed the dogs at 8am. Bender wouldn’t eat until 10am. Then for dinner, instead of eating at 6pm. He would eat at 8-9pm. But then the next day he would eat at 8am like normal, but not eat dinner until 8pm. Even if I took him on a run, knowing he would be hungry and a bit low on blood sugar, sometimes he wouldn’t eat when we got home at 6pm. He would eat at 8pm. So while a schedule is good to be on sometimes that just doesn’t work. I learned that Bender will be fine, if his blood sugar starts to get a little low he will eat.
Lastly, I reached out to Wellness Dog Food (Wellpet) and let them know of the issue with the food. I wasn’t mad. Any food can go bad. I let them know I had an issue with their food. They were very nice and concerned for Bender. They wanted to know some information about the bags of food I had bought. In the end they refunded my money.
I’m really glad to hear Bender pulled through all of that. I ran across your article because I too have a diabetic which I’ve never had a problem getting her to eat. Very rarely does she leave a morsel in her dish. Im actually at the tail end of giving her fluids subcutaneously at home. And, was looking for some ideas as to what I could feed her. She hasn’t eaten in 3 days. She acts like she’s well for the most part but refuses to have anything to do with food. I think she remembers all that throwing up she was going through with the keto. Maybe she thinks if she eats she’ll get sick again. I don’t know what to do. But, I really liked your story.
Hi Just to say thank you for your blog. It kept me going through the early days of diagnosis for our dog Max.
He’s now fairly stable and full of life.
I also wanted to say I hope everything is OK with your dog as you haven’t posted recently, or if you have I haven’t found it. Thanks again.
June,
I am glad my blog could help you. Yes, all my fuzzy children are good. Just been busy so I haven’t been able to post much. But if you have questions please let me know.
-Jeff
aww what a lovely pooch – im really pleased to hear Bender pulled through all of that
Hello Jeff,
Your article so nice and your dog, Bender will be pulled through all of that soon.
Dogs are smart. When their tummies aren’t feeling good or their food is tainted, they stop eating. Usually we can find something to get a sick dog to get something in. We have a little 15 year old chihuahua that has periods he does not want to eat. We give him on these occasions meat baby food or cook him up some low fat ground turkey and offer them as much fat free, sodium free chicken broth they will drink or pedialite so they do not get dehydrated.
My dog Tash suddenly went blind and deaf four weeks ago. He’s 18 years old, a poodle mutt, in good health. He’s had cataracts for many years, but was able to move everywhere, run and play with my other dog, and never bump into things. A month ago I left him inside the car for two hours, when I went back to the car and took him for a walk he appeared disoriented, began bumping into things and wouldn’t respond when called. He’s been like this ever since. His sense of smell doesn´t appear to be working well either. Tash often bumps into my legs. I would think even if he´s blind he would recognize me by smell. He walks all the time and doesn’t stop wondering around. I took Tash to the vet, they took an x-ray and found a broken spinal disk on his neck. The vet said the disk had been broken for many years, and that maybe when my daughter’s dog attacked my dog a week earlier could have bitten him in the neck and trigger the blindness and deafness a week later. Is that possible? My vet recommended acupuncture but says probably he won´t recover sight or hearing. Then last week Tash began to lose weight, sleep all the time, be very hungry but eat little, vomit often and to urinate and drink a lot. Yesterday he was diagnosed with diabetes and is hospitalized right now. Could these two problems be related? For how long could he have had diabetes? Any suggestions?
Patricia,
I’m not a Vet so I can’t say if Tash’s injury, blindness, deafness is related to his diabetes. Your dog could have done something while in the car which caused his spinal injury to become a problem. Who knows.
Diabetes usually expresses pretty quick. Bender was fine one day. The next drinking tons of water and having accidents. Took him to the vet and he was diagnosed with diabetes.
-Jeff
Hey guys have you ever tried cannabis as an alternative medicine for your sick dogs? I’ve heard that CBD Hemp is now a thing for dogs with arthritis, compromised immune systems, stress responses, aggression and digestive issues.Well they said it was pretty safe because of the low THC, CBD hemp won’t make your pupper high.I was reading some info here about CBD here in http://www.ilovegrowingmarijuana.com/cbd-in-medical-marijuana/.I would very much appreciate any ideas and advice regarding on this issue on dogs using cannabis as an alternative herbal medicine. Thanks in advance to those who’ll answer.
I hope he feels better soon.
I have a 9 1/2 yr. Old MiniatureSchnauzer. He was diagnosed with diabetes last November. Did pretty good for awhile but lately up and down. He stopped eating, tried all sorts of things. Now he will not eat again tonight? Any good suggestions? Usually will eat for my hubby but not tonight. I am just beside myself, makes me sick to my stomach. We are out of ideas. He did eat white rice and chicken for awhile but quit that too. HELP!
Ruthelda,
If your offering your dog food you know it will eat/was excited about before and they aren’t eating for several meals. I would consult your Vet. There might be something else going on.
-Jeff
Hi Jeff Mendelsohn
Good read. I really liked your story. After going through your post, I can now figure out when they’re low on blood sugar. Sometimes it’s difficult for a vet to diagnose a dog without proper tests. I think we should surely consult with a vet if our dog doesn’t eat at scheduled times or refuse to eat. Mass made or commercialized foods are sometimes unsuitable for dogs and can cause digestive and other health problems. Thus it is better to give homemade food or brand food. Thanks for sharing.
Does anyone have a good diabetic homemade dog food recipe? I have used chicken, brown rice, and added a little veggies. Maddog sings to get tired of that quickly, so looking for some other recipes. Thanks in advance, because she is diabetic and also refuses to eat at times. Ashley came home one day from work, at lunchtime, and found her in a full-blown seizure because she had not eaten, and her sugar was only one Hundred after I gave her a lot of corn syrup and rushed her to the vet.
I have spent money and time trying to help miniature poodle to eat, six long years. Last month, after another near death experience, I tried royal canon gastrointestinal canned food with very thin layer of chicken baby food. Her blood sugars have become normal and she eats it right down.
No sickness to be seen. Bowels are normal. I have had her on glycobalance royal canon that she has refused or ate a little. I am so happy I wanted to share this. Hope it works for some some other pups.