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How to make it easier for a toothless dog to eat...
My 13 year old dog is toothless and I just switched her to wet food. She's eaten dry food for 5 years based on her preference. When I first got her, she had her teeth pulled (due to them being rotten and neglected from her previous owners, she was a rescue). She wouldn't eat wet food and preferred to eat dry. My vet said it was normal because dogs don't usually chew anyway.
She's lost a lot of weight and has become REALLY finicky. She has congestive heart failure and her cardiologist says it's normal to not be able to keep weight on dogs with her condition. I've been feeding her high protein wet food but she seems like she isn't getting the hang of eating it, instead just licking at it for awhile before just walking away. Is there anything I can do to make it easier for her to eat? I have tried to use a fork to make it in small chunks but it isn't working. Any ideas?
Re: How to make it easier for a toothless dog to eat...
My Lunch Blog
This is what I would suggest too. It works for our senior rescue who is missing quite a few teeth.
If you're still having trouble getting her to eat, here are a few thoughts: 1) maybe experiment with different brands...see if your local pet food store would give you some samples of high quality foods, 2) see about adding something yummy that she would like...some people add pumpkin or yogurt for digestive reasons or maybe she'd be tempted by a few of her favorite treats sprinkled on top, 3) try a vitamin supplement...this actually worked for our cat! I think it's B6 that helps with appetite if I'm remembering correctly, but the vet gave us a liver-flavored liquid multi-vitamin and after giving it a few days, we saw a real improvement.
HTH! GL!
"The hardest thing is to live richly in the present without letting it be tainted out of fear for the future or regret for the past." - Sylvia Plath
I've tried a bunch of different foods to mix with limited success. Cottage cheese, chicken, cheese, beef. I haven't tried yogurt. Do you just use plain? Pumpkin is also a great suggestion that I didn't think of.
I'm calling my vet right now to see about that supplement. I would love for that to work!
Yup, I'd stick with the plain yogurt to avoid any extra sugar.
Good luck! I hope you find some combination of things that works!
"The hardest thing is to live richly in the present without letting it be tainted out of fear for the future or regret for the past." - Sylvia Plath