My female, diabetic, 13 1/2 year old schnauzer/cockapoo has

The diarrhea may have been from excess fat on the bone. She could have an underlying problem with the pancreas flaring up with the extra fat from the table food and that will put them off eating as their stomach hurts.
I have had some older dogs go through a spell of not eating. Boiled chicken or hamburger with the fat drained off mixed with plain cooked white rice sometimes entices them into eating. I have been known though to resort to tempting a sick pet with smoked turkey from the deli, baby food meats, bread, pasta, and cooked meats with fat trimmed off anything to get them to start eating.
One of the things that has worked really well for me to get dogs eating again is the product Nutrical which you can get at pet supply stores. But as this has sugars in it such as corn syrup and molasses you may need to consult with your vet before considering using it.
You might also consider a dose of liquid vitamins daily - Theralin makes a liquid one for dogs. Sometimes that gives a dog enough of a boost to get them back eating. I say liquid as getting them to eat a tablet when nausea is keeping them from eating is difficult.
You might also see if Bene Bac a probiotic is available at your pet supply store if the problem is with food digestion this could help.
You can read about Bene Bac here and as you can see PetSmart has it
http://shop.petsmart.com/product/2534374302025632/282574488339090/845524441780405.htm
My feeling is eating anything with a dog this ill is better than not eating so if it takes baby food or home cooking or delimeat to make the dog interested in eating then you do that until they are eating regularly and can be slowly moved back to regular food.
My 13 1/2 year old dog did this in the spring and using Nutrical and home cooked foods we finally got him back to eating normally.
You may also find info on these pages on diabetic pets that could help you
http://www.petdiabetes.org/
Hope this helps you!



Edited by NHolmes on October 23 2005 at 12:00pm

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Thank you for your quick response. Some things that I forgot to mention...When she had her colon disorder, she was on a diet of boiled chicken or hamburger with rice or cottage cheese. She has never taken to it. I have only been able to get her to eat meat. (other than the noodles mentioned below) I will try your idea with baby food.
I forgot to mention that this whole thing started with heavy respitory breathing. It was almost a pant continuously and sometimes was at a pant. Her stomach "hitches" as if in pain. My vet checked her thoroughly for respitory distress, he did not come up with anything.The breathing has improved some since.
Lately, her back legs have become weak, standing up after laying down particularily, I view this to be from lack of nutrition. She sleeps a lot,her vision and hearing have become impaired (she still sees and hears some) and sometimes acts confused, although she still loves to go for a walk.
She took a tablet vitamin from me yesterday as well as ate chicken in the morning and some noodles in the afternoon, which I thought was a good sign as she has not done as well since this started. Today we were a step back.(Because of the steak bone, I'm sure) She still has not eaten anything as of now today. I checked her blood glucose at 11:00 and it read 168. So that isn't so bad. If you can think of anything else with the additional information, please reply.

If she is drinking a little more talk to your vet about Cushings disease - it goes along with the diabetes sometimes.
You can read about it here
www.marvistavet.com/html/cushing_s_disease.html
and the mental confusion might be related to the lack of eating or it might be cognitive disorder so talk to your vet about anipryl which interestinly is also used to treat Cushings.
You can read about anipryl here
www.marvistavet.com/html/body_anipryl.html
If its pancreatitis that is very painful in the abdominal area. If the whole thing started with a fatty treat too that might be the issue or this might just be an added complication from the bone.
I do know that upper respiratory issues including infections or nasal polyps can put a dog off eating as the dog cannot smell the food well and won't eat what it cannot smell. Sometimes warming the food a little will make it more aromatic and appealing to the dog.


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Thank you! I will be talking to my vet first thing in the morning! This is what I thought that she had (Cushings) when we found out she was diabetic 2 years ago. She has been on Prednisone for about 4 years. This may be it. Her Cholesteral is highly elevated, I'm not positive, but I think that her Alk Phos is also elevated. Muscle weakness, panting, water consumption, incontinence, we even thought that she had a bladder infection that when tested, proved false, thinning hair (that doesn't grow back well) Little black bumps on her back for the last 6 months that nobody knows what they are. ect..Thank you so much again. If it is this, at least we know and may be able to do. This gives me hope!

I hope that this gives you some new avenues to try!
She might have the problem schnauzers get called schnauzer bumps.
http://www.upei.ca/~cidd/Diseases/dermatology/Schnauzer%20comedo%20syndrome.htm
If you found my information helpful you can accept one (or more if you want) of the replies.
I hope she's feeling better for you soon!

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