Re: when a dog won't eat
This is a very interesting thread; things I particularly notice - cactusdr, you have a vet you really trust who does in fact seem to know well about diabetes; not everyone here has that experience! I was as fortunate as you; my vet knows it well.
Carolyn, your techniques for getting Gretel to eat are fairly standard ones used at least by positive-oriented dog-trainers; maybe by those who are willing to punish dogs, too. (There is never, ever, a need to punish a dog - my views on that are on my web site.)
Cactusdr; is your dog actually six months old or so? That's young for a diabetic! - yet not all that uncommon, either. The picture is wonderful; if you can put up a few more, I'd enjoy them.
And Kumbi was easy; he ALWAYS ate; the one time he began turning down food, I thought it might be teeth-pain, and I soaked his kibble, and that did the trick.
He DID refuse his breakfast the morning he died - that is, he was already dead just at his breakfast-time. Pardon my macabre humor here. (Sometimes when things hurt so much, well, I don't mind being macabre about my own dog, whom I love with a total passion still - and he died of cancer, not diabetes.)
I have at times had dogs who wouldn't eat, but they weren't diabetic.
With my new dog, as I tend to be rather a perfectionist, and have to watch that I don't become too inflexible, I decided to feed HER every 12 hours, just as I had Kumbi, therefore Kwali too. It's such a great feeding-schedule for any dog, providing the human can manage it, because any medication that needs to be given every 12 hours with food (that's surprisingly common), or any that needs to be given on an empty stomach - are easy to schedule when you're feeding every 12 hours.
So, I worked to teach Camellia to eat every 12 hours. Kumbi was on a schedule of feed at 6:30 a.m. and p.m;, inject at 7 a.m. and p.m. I thought I'd do better with Camellia at 6 a.m. and p.m., but she didn't take to that, so I tried the 6:30 version. She's now been my dog for about 3.5 weeks - well, close to 4 weeks, and is quite reliably eating at 6:30 a.m. (and p.m.). Managing any treats given during the day helps with ANY dog, not just diabetics. I too use treats for training, and Camellia needs SOME training, though I'm going as light as I can with it, as she is hypervigilant and unduly stressed - so I'm trying to keep her stress levels down. (We're having a lot of success, but it will take time to get her in really good shape.)
I just might use the pumpkin cookie recipe myself! I'll also have to be careful that Camellia gets the cookies instead of me. Or maybe we can share them; ha!
Sun, 12 Sep 2010 01:29:54 (PDT)
This is a very interesting thread; things I particularly notice - cactusdr, you have a vet you really trust who does in fact seem to know well about diabetes; not everyone here has that experience! I was as fortunate as you; my vet knows it well.
Carolyn, your techniques for getting Gretel to eat are fairly standard ones used at least by positive-oriented dog-trainers; maybe by those who are willing to punish dogs, too. (There is never, ever, a need to punish a dog - my views on that are on my web site.)
Cactusdr; is your dog actually six months old or so? That's young for a diabetic! - yet not all that uncommon, either. The picture is wonderful; if you can put up a few more, I'd enjoy them.
And Kumbi was easy; he ALWAYS ate; the one time he began turning down food, I thought it might be teeth-pain, and I soaked his kibble, and that did the trick.
He DID refuse his breakfast the morning he died - that is, he was already dead just at his breakfast-time. Pardon my macabre humor here. (Sometimes when things hurt so much, well, I don't mind being macabre about my own dog, whom I love with a total passion still - and he died of cancer, not diabetes.)
I have at times had dogs who wouldn't eat, but they weren't diabetic.
With my new dog, as I tend to be rather a perfectionist, and have to watch that I don't become too inflexible, I decided to feed HER every 12 hours, just as I had Kumbi, therefore Kwali too. It's such a great feeding-schedule for any dog, providing the human can manage it, because any medication that needs to be given every 12 hours with food (that's surprisingly common), or any that needs to be given on an empty stomach - are easy to schedule when you're feeding every 12 hours.
So, I worked to teach Camellia to eat every 12 hours. Kumbi was on a schedule of feed at 6:30 a.m. and p.m;, inject at 7 a.m. and p.m. I thought I'd do better with Camellia at 6 a.m. and p.m., but she didn't take to that, so I tried the 6:30 version. She's now been my dog for about 3.5 weeks - well, close to 4 weeks, and is quite reliably eating at 6:30 a.m. (and p.m.). Managing any treats given during the day helps with ANY dog, not just diabetics. I too use treats for training, and Camellia needs SOME training, though I'm going as light as I can with it, as she is hypervigilant and unduly stressed - so I'm trying to keep her stress levels down. (We're having a lot of success, but it will take time to get her in really good shape.)
I just might use the pumpkin cookie recipe myself! I'll also have to be careful that Camellia gets the cookies instead of me. Or maybe we can share them; ha!
Sun, 12 Sep 2010 01:29:54 (PDT)
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