(upbeat music)
- Today's video is top tips for you
when your pet won't eat.
And this is super important, right?
There are lots of reasons that our pets won't eat,
and so that's, the things we need to think about is,
why are our pets not eating and address that.
And then I'm going to give you some tips and tricks.
And some of them are going to be things you can do at home,
and some of it, is going to require going to your vet
and getting some medications.
Nothing is more frustrating
when you can't get your dog to eat.
So in this vlog, I'm going to give you tips and tricks
to get your dog eating.
Let's break it down, let's talk about
the different things that we can do to get our pets eating.
Let's do it.
(swooshing)
Alright guys, so your pet won't eat.
So I thought for this part, it might be helpful
to have my husband, Dr. Kerry Heuter,
who's a board-certified internist,
help us with some suggestions of things you can do
in the home, if your dog or cat won't eat.
- Well, some dogs and cats can get bored
with what they're currently eating,
so trying something new can help.
If you have another commercial diet that's available,
you can try that, but a lot of times you don't
and so you could try something like some home cooking.
So either some boiled chicken, boiled rice, boiled pasta,
baked potatoes, all those things can help.
Heating the food in the microwave,
giving it a little bit more of an aroma,
or adding a little bit of something extra on top
like a little bit of chicken broth
or something like that can be helpful.
- Yeah, so these are one of my favorite things.
So, I usually like a low sodium chicken broth for dogs
and cats, just so we're not adding a lot of salt.
For cats, one of the things that I love is
a little bit of tuna, and sometimes even just
a little bit of the juices from the tuna,
I find, is really helpful as well.
What do you think about, so I have some chicken.
Can I cook it with some nice olive oil
or maybe some butter?
- No, I mean that's
the one big negative. - Right.
- You don't wanna do anything really fatty
or anything with a lot of spices.
- Right. - So, I didn't say table food.
I said boiled chicken-- - Right.
- Boiled rice, boiled pasta,
something that sounds kinda bland and it is bland,
and it's good for the stomach, but they also,
something new for them, they will really like it.
- Right. - You don't need to spice
it up a little. - Yeah.
And one of the big mistakes that I think clients make when
their pet's not eating is they switch over their food
and so they don't make that transition slowly,
'cause they're so, like, they just want them to eat anything
(laughing) and then what's the next thing that happens?
Diarrhea. - Diarrhea, right? (laughing)
So, it's okay if your pet's not eating
to try different foods, but then if you're trying things
that had oil or butter, they can get diarrhea
and, worst case, they can get pancreatitis
or something like that.
So I think it's really important that we keep it lean,
keep it simple, some of the things I like to do,
if you have it on hand at home, so, some plain white rice
you can mix in the food.
And I think that's great.
And then, you know, sometimes you might not have chicken
but maybe you have some cold cuts in the house.
So, we usually have some chicken or turkey in the house,
so that would be other things that you can mix
in with their food, or heat up with their food
and might be some good options as well.
- Yeah, and for people who don't wanna cook,
you could even use the rotisserie chicken
that you get in most markets.
Just make sure you take off the skin.
That's where a lot of the fat it.
- Okay, usually I think eggs
is another good, simple protein--
- Yes. - That you can do,
so you can cook up the eggs, just as a good suggestion.
If your pet's not eating and you're going on a day or two
is to go to the pet store and just try different foods.
Don't invest in a big bag or a big can.
Maybe try different things and give them a little bit
of a sampler, and that can help as well.
You know, people often ask is, can you use steroids
to stimulate the appetite, because it is a known side-effect
that steroids can stimulate the appetite,
and one of the things that I think to always be careful
with steroids is, that you can't just give a couple
of doses of steroids and stop it.
You have to taper it, so that's always one of the issues.
Many pets are on non-steroidal anti-inflammatories,
especially for pain and things like that
and we don't wanna use steroids
with the non-steroidal anti-inflammatories.
(swooshing)
Okay, so we have been talking about tips and tricks
for anapodins and I have to say guys,
I have learned so much from y'all.
So I did a post on Facebook and you should definitely check
it out, and also on Instagram.
And I have to say thank you for the shout-out.
I just wanted to share some of the tips and tricks
that you guys have shared with me, 'cause some of them
are really great.
So Debbie, her pet was on Palladia and that's definitely
a medication that can cause some decreased appetite.
She said that she would feed her pet whatever she would eat.
Warming food, one of the things I mentioned, that's great.
So she would feed them eggs, as we talked about,
boneless, skinless chicken breast and hand feeding can
be really be important as well.
- [Debbie] So, this is extraordinary
because my dog is eating.
Oh my God, she hasn't eaten in a week.
Look, she's eating, oh wow.
That makes me really happy, but she's not supposed
to eat burgers so we're gonna get her some chicken breast,
'cause this is very greasy for her.
- [Sue] And lots of happy peppy encouragement.
So using those voices that our pets like.
- [Debbie] Good girl, Kya.
Good job.
- Feeding outside, so change of environment.
I think that's really important.
She said when the weather was nice in the summer and fall.
Sometimes changing the bowl, putting in on a plate,
giving them something different, so if they eat out
of metal, maybe ceramic.
Maybe using one of your plate.
These are some tips that you don't learn in vet schools.
She also tried tuna fish for her dog, on dog food,
so I talked about using tuna fish and the juice for cats,
so you can use it for dogs as well.
Anything with a high scent.
Okay, along the lines of what Debbie just suggested,
Gillian, when she had her pet Simba going
through CHOP chemotherapy, replaced the metal bowl
with a glass bowl and fed him chicken and roast beef slices,
and started making use of bone broth.
So again, some tips and tricks that I think can
be really helpful.
And then also used a PEPCID, which is Famotidine,
which is an antacid.
And that was when her pet was on Prednisone,
which is a steroid and that
can cause some stomach irritation.
So that really helped as well.
So those might be things that you wanna talk
to your oncologist or your veterinarian if your dog
is on steroids, sometimes that
can cause some stomach irritation.
They might wanna use PEPCID,
which is an over the counter medication,
but I personally like Omeprazole as well, which is Prilosec.
Please talk to your veterinarian before adding any
of these medications, even over the counter ones.
Sometimes they are going to be contraindicated in your pet,
and sometimes you don't wanna be giving them
with certain medications and things like that,
so those are good tips.
But again, bowl changing, I love that.
Good, good, good tip.
Thank you Gillian.
Guys, I love this one.
Here's a kitty tip.
So, this came from Laura who's kitty,
our 14 year old male kitty Thunder, great name,
had low grade, small cell lymphoma.
Always been a picky eater.
Right, so that's gonna be hard if your cat's never been
a great eater, and now your cat is on chemotherapy.
So, she had a hard time telling whether Thunder,
appetite was low due to chemo or to the cancer.
Or was just as she said, "Holding out for something better.
"He'll often turn up his nose at food
"and then enthusiastically gobble up Temptations
"or chicken breast."
She used Mirataz and Cerenia,
but this is one thing that I love.
She said she would try another texture.
What does she mean by that?
So sometimes, he wants pate,
sometimes slices, sometimes shreds.
The texture seems to be more important than the flavor.
And then, one of the other big things she said
was cutting him off from those Temptations completely,
so then she knew that he wouldn't be holding out for him.
Okay, Sherri, big fan of ours with a gorgeous dog,
who I think it going through lymphoma.
Let me show you the picture.
Cerenia and Entyce seemed to lose their kick
about 5 months into treatment.
So they switched to ondansetron.
Just as one food may not always work,
one nausea medication may not work, so she switched
to Zofran and Mirtazapine, and they have helped us a ton.
So that's a great tip.
If one medication seemed to be stopped working,
you can talk to your oncologist or your veterinarian.
They cooked from the Dog Cancer Diet
in the book that I co-wrote, The Dog Cancer Survival Guide
and Agnes will eat if hand fed her from her bed. (laughing)
And she said "Can we say diva?"
And she said "Although not optimal,
"chicken nuggets work almost every time when desperate."
And sometimes when you're desperate, you have to do it.
And she sent a cute little picture
of Agnes getting chicken nuggets in the car.
Okay guys, a few more tips 'cause these are great.
So, Arwyn Todd says "Sprinkle something tasty on top."
A little Parmesan cheese, crushed cookie crumbs were
a favorite for their family, and of course hand feed.
And we made sure not to get too emotional about meals.
I read somewhere they can associate when you're upset
with meal time, making harder to convince them
to eat, so if I needed to cry or yell in frustration
I'd hide in the closet.
Good tips.
Brittany says baby food.
That's a great tip that I usually remember
to mention, but I didn't so thank you Brittany.
Anchovies, ugh, I don't like anchovies,
but hey, if it works.
Canned food and warm water, make gravy, canned chicken.
And then Diva suggests goats milk
from Answers Pet Food, it's amazing.
I'd never heard of that one, so that's another tip.
Canned tripe was suggested.
So smelly that most can't resist.
Jacoby, one of my patients apparently, he typed in
that he likes a little bit of freshly grated Parmesan
on top of his food.
Guys, I hope this helped.
Comment below, don't forget to subscribe.
I really appreciate you guys taking the time to watch.
I really hope this helped.
I know how frustrating it is when our pets aren't eating.
So, again, if you have other tips or tricks,
make sure you comment on the vlog below.
If you know somebody who thinks
this will help, please share.
Don't forget to subscribe, please comment.
Thanks for watching and I'll see you at the next one.
(upbeat music)