About ten days ago I shared with you that I was concerned about Shadow’s odd meal-time behaviors in my post, Senior Eye Exam Scheduled.
I wish I could have gotten a better video to show her odd behavior, but it just didn’t work out.
As I told the vet, any time she senses that she’s being watched, Shadow stops eating. Period. But that being said….
When I finished telling the vet my slightly abbreviated version, the vet checked everything. Shadow’s eyes, her teeth, her spleen/abdomen area, and his records on her past visits. Her teeth are all good – which I expected him to say – except for a little tartar on one of her premolars. She does not have cataracts. She has a little bit of sclerosis (hardening) of the lens of both eyes; but it’s so slight that it is not a concern, nor is it painful.
I raised the concern that she’s not eating enough to stay healthy. The vet knows me well enough to know how hypersensitive I am to Shadow’s issues after Callie’s illness last year. I told him that on days when she eats her full meals she gets between 800 and 1,000 calories…
“For a dog her size, her age, and her activity level, she’s getting enough calories on average.” She had lost very little weight since January – maybe 4 ounces, if even that – so we’ll just do monthly weight checks and see if there’s any need for concern.
“In short,” the vet said, “Shadow is playing with your head. She knows your emotions well. So, what I suggest is some ‘tough love’ at meal time. Continue with the same food; and when she walks away from it, pick up the bowl and put away whatever’s left until the next meal. Eventually she’ll figure out that if she’s hungry, she’s going to have to eat her whole meal first time around. She’s not going to starve. If she starts losing weight too quickly, we’ll run tests again; but I don’t believe she will. There’s nothing in her chart to worry me right now.”
And with all that out of the way, we had to do an X-ray on her left foot. Since Wednesday afternoon, she’d been alternating between favoring the foot slightly and really limping noticeably. I’d been using ice packs on it and giving her some Tramadol; but it didn’t help. Turns out that in one of her jaunts around the yard – chasing the ball – she stumbled and sprained the second joint of the left toe on her left, front foot. (We did the X-ray to rule out any tumors.) So, she’s on rest, Tramadol, and generic Carprofen for the week. We go back for a re-check on Friday. She was already walking better by Friday night, so the Carprofen must be working. π
in my heart 4ever 
I’m glad it turned out to be manipulation and not anything physically wrong. π I hope by now with your tough love she’s back to eating regularly and the meds have helped her soreness.
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She’s eating regularly; but still not enough IMHO. Of course, part of that could be the lack of exercise due to the limited activity this week. Hopefully her sprain will have healed enough by tomorrow for the vet to lift the restrictions.
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Haha…mind games from your dog.
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Hope Shadows paw is healing up and no more episodes.
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Thanks!
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So glad Shadow’s walking better. That pup…she’s one clever girl on the food thing. No doubt it will be harder on you than her. π
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It’s already harder on me. The “tough love” isn’t working yet. She’s still not eating enough to make ME happy.
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Hope Shadow is eating better now and her foot is better. I just hate when the pups seem to be ailing.
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I’m glad she is getting better from that injury, and so glad they didn’t find anything else wrong! Hopefully what the vet suggested as far as her eating works, so you won’t have that worry anymore.
Sheba eats pretty slow compared to her siblings, and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if she was far more relaxed about it, like Shadow, if she didn’t have her siblings hovering around to jump in if she didn’t eat it all (we keep them away, but she knows they’re waiting…..!).
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They really know our feelings and really seem to understand more than we think!! I hope all is well and you are having a nice weekend!!
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Shadow, Shadow, Shadow, why are you worrying your person so much?
Hope the toy recovers quickly. And hope that taking up her food gets her onto a more regular eating routine so you don’t have to worry so much.
Isn’t it awful? Every little thing makes us concerned about our pups.
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