We have our good days and our bad. Yesterday was awful so that this morning I woke up with a migraine. Anywho we, as a family, are trying to keep BeAnne going forward.
She won’t eat and so has her hepatic diet syringed down twice a day. It has become a huge battle and one that stresses me out probably more than her. She is actually quite good about it. We are getting into a routine now.
Daily we go out for a long walk in the hopes it will help BeAnne’s digstion/appletite and our mental state. Today Her Maj woke up bouncy and tail-waggingly happy so I took her onto the hill. She loved it, running like a normal dog everywhere. The Boyzens came too. The Girlzens stayed in their field.
I am a great believer that it is not the actual distance you cover on a dog walk but the fun the dog has so we all stopped and let BeAnne look for bunny rabbits and enjoy herself.
She sniffed a rabbit out – ever the hunter (just a rather hopeless one).
I sat on a peat hag and watched my wee dug doing what she loves most. I wanted her to get the most out of her fun.
She was so happy – an enthusiasm I haven’t seen for a while.
My peat hag.
I sat for a while watching her to and fro from each rabbit hole totally oblivious to the fact that the bunny was long gone!
But she was enjoying herself and that’s all that matters.
And the view was very good too.
After a good 20 minutes, BeAnne admitted defeat and went home. She even went for a bit of a dip – you only have to ask her if she wants to go “swimbig” (said in an adenoidal fashion) and she dives into any puddle.
We got home and Her Maj is tired now but I think a good sort of tired (and she also nipped upstairs and stole the cat food). Not ideal, I know, but according to the vet any food is better than no food and if she gets her head back into thinking she can eat, then I will go with that.
My heart is breaking watching BeAnne. I clutch at any straw. I feel awful syringing food down her but food is calories, antibiotics are going down and she is still with us. I look at her and wonder. We regularly have family conferences about her and at the moment we still keep going because if she is hunting and looking for bunny rabbits, she is still happy.
Oh Frances. I feel so much for you all. When our cat who died last year stopped agreeing to eat it tore us apart but it did change day to day and he still loved cuddles – you will know when the balance has shifted and until then you are doing your best for her and sensibly enjoying seeing her enjoying things still. Love and thoughts.
She certainly was looking like she is enjoying life. Loved the bunn who popped out of the hole unnoticed. If she ate the cat food, is it because she doesn’t like her special food? Is there another brand you could try? X
There is no food on this earth we haven’t tried.
What a good day for BeAnne – chasing bunnies and nosing peat bogs. I know how hard it can be to do anything to tempt our critters to eat, even syringing down the gullet. I will take heart she is taking microscopic steps forward given her activity today and snatching Monster’s food. Is the the smell or the texture of her new diet she objects to? Keeping her in my prayers.
Glad to see she is at least running around, all fingers & toes crossed, lots of prayers to her sis to take good care of her. Have to say this has brought years & smiles, tell her to keep it up x
Lovely to see BeAnne having fun – long may it continue. I remember being told that it wasn’t advisable to feed dog food to cats but that cat food won’t do dogs any harm so if stealing Monster’s food gets her eating, that’s all to the good. Fingers still crossed! xx
It may take a little while before the change in diet has any effect on improving her liver function. When I switched my dog to her prescription low fat diet she actually looked like she was gaining weight due to slight bloating from the change in diet, but after a week she slimmed down and perked up significantly. Give BeAnne a little more time to get used to her new routine and she may improve greatly. Just the fact that her energy is up, she is having fun, and she is interested in anybody’s food is a good thing! Hopefully all the good wishes and prayers heading her way will help BeAnne to get through this.
The important thing is that BeAnne has a loving family, and she has a FUN life!! Many, many dogs unfortunately do not have either.
It is good to see that BeAnne is still having some enjoyment of life. last year i had to finally end my cat’s suffering, it was a few months of trying to get him to eat anything and seeing him decline that was so hard. this Fall after returning home from a two week trip my 31 year old pony had a rapid decline. it surely seemed liked the end but she rallied. prior to this she had been very sturdy but now we have to do everything to try to keep her weight up. she has been blind for several years now but had still been a feisty little mare. still she seems to enjoy being outdoors in her paddock taking in the sunshine and eating treats. I was not sure she would last the Winter but it has been a mild one thankfully and she is still with us. wishing the best for your pup and all your creatures. they are so blessed to have you care for them.
I am sending all possible positive thoughts, best wishes & hugs to BeAnne.
Hugs to you. Prayers continued for Beanne.
Bless your hearts….doing all those good things for BeAnne. And she looks happy as she tries to rout out those gosh darn rabbits! That’s got to be good therapy for her…running and swimming and looking for rabbits. Hope you can have her for quite a long time yet. Praying for that, my friends.
Once when I had a sick dog who wouldn’t eat my vet suggested I try cat food, the stinkier the better. Sometimes it can be used to jump start the regular diet.
Hugs for BeAnne and you.
I’m going to give BeAnne the benefit of the doubt and suggest there were some Kits in that hole. She looks really good here Frances.
It’s so wonderful seeing BeAnn out and about – and having so much fun!
Don’t beat yourself up about the syringing food – she might not like the procedure, but I’m guessing she feels better with food in her stomach afterwards.
It’s a horrible feeling when our furbabies are not feeling well. They can’t tell us what the problem is. Hope she’s better soon. Oh and what’s a peat hag?
Small cliff made of peat