I think Tonks is Sick
 Tonks' appetite has been affected by her taking Prozac. But we were assured that it was temporary, and that she'd regain it. I've been torn between bending over backwards to get her to eat, and refusing to alter her meals so that she can't reject her food in the hopes that something yummier comes out of the fridge. As of our last trip to the vet, about a month ago, she was still about 15 pounds underweight, but she'd added a pound since her previous visit. So I felt good knowing that she was on the up-swing. When we got back from Minnesota, Tonks felt like skin and bones. She had little desire to play, and was sleeping much more than I was comfortable with. Tonks is supposed to be my spastic dog, and while I realize that the Prozac is going to affect this, this was too big a change. So I dropped by the vet, to get her an updated weight. She's dropped 3 pounds in the month since we'd been in for her last visit. Tonks is down to 63 pounds from 80+ pounds. And Tonks' 80+ pounds has always been lean muscle; unlike Luna, she's never been anything remotely resembling "fat". We have an appointment for Tonks to see the vet tomorrow- please cross your fingers and say a little prayer that this is nothing serious. I need us all to be healthy so we can resume our training classes and all the fun we've missed out on sharing these last couple of years!!! |
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| hope all is ok hugs and keep us posted |
| Hate to hear this, I hope they have some answers for you and Tonks. |
| crossing fingers you find out what is going on with Tonks. |
 Crossing all paws! |
I hope it's merely a situation requiring a medication adjustment.  Laurie and Oscar |
Oooh, poor Tonks.  That's a big weight loss. Is she already on a kibble that's in the higher calorie range per cup... say the 450 to 525 per cup range? It might be a way to get more calories into her if she's eating less... just until her appetite returns. Unless her gut is sensitive... if she develops vomiting/diarrhea on a new diet, it defeats the purpose. Hoping you'll get some reassuring news tomorrow.  |
| Poor Tonks..... sending a get well hug. |
| Hugs to Tonks Not sure if we all know this alrady but is she getting older? Has she had medical problems...Whatever..prayers ar going out to you and Tonks! |
| Hopefully, her meds just need to be adjusted....Sending prayers to all of you that Tonks will be better very soon!!!! |
| Hoping Tonks feels better soon. |
| Awww, poor Tonks!! I hope the vet visit goes well and she's back to her happy, bouncy self soon! Maybe she just missed Mommy too much while you were away!  |
| Like everyone else, I hope the Vet can give you some good news. I will be thinking of you and your sweet Tonks. I hope she returns to being a robust and happy dog. |
| Poor Tonks. All fingers and paws crossed that it's just the meds |
| I hope Tonks feels better soon..... Big hugs~ |
| Poor Tonks, I hope she is okay. It's been a rough year for you and the girls. Hoping you will get good news tomorrow. |
6Girls wrote: Oooh, poor Tonks. That's a big weight loss. Is she already on a kibble that's in the higher calorie range per cup... say the 450 to 525 per cup range? It might be a way to get more calories into her if she's eating less... just until her appetite returns. Unless her gut is sensitive... if she develops vomiting/diarrhea on a new diet, it defeats the purpose. Hoping you'll get some reassuring news tomorrow. Dinner time here is quite the production. Luna needs to lose weight, so she is on a low calorie kibble with reconstituted freeze dried veggies added. Tonks is on a high caloric kibble with reconstituted freeze dried raw diet in it - its partially organ meat so it's higher in calories too. Sometimes just to get Tonks to eat I'll top her kibble with good stuff from the dinner table. This weekend she got lamb stew; sometimes I'll get her cans of wet food, and other times I'll try cooking ground beef for her. She does have a sensitive stomach- both girls do. But I find as long as we avoid grain they have little problems. |
Ashley wrote: Hugs to Tonks Not sure if we all know this alrady but is she getting older? Has she had medical problems...Whatever..prayers ar going out to you and Tonks! Tonks and Luna turned 4 this month- so no, she's nowhere near old enough for her to be getting this thin, or slowing down this much. As for medical issues, aside from the occasional ear infection (mostly due to my not drying her ears sufficiently after swimming) and her very occasional aggressive behavior towards Luna (for which we are now trying Prozac) she's pretty healthy. She's been visiting the litter box looking for snacks, so I have to wonder if the clumping litter isn't affecting her. But she's passing stool fine, so I don't think a blockage is the issue. Still, I'm going to mention it to the vet tomorrow just to make sure we cover all the bases. |
| Hugs to Tonks to feel better soon! Cindy |
| I hope you can figure out what's making her lose her appetite and weight. Hugs to Tonks for a good appointment! |
| Hope you find answers very soon. |
| I sure hope you get some answers and Tonks is alright. |
| Poor Tonks.... hope she's feeling better soon.... Have they ruled out tapeworm? You mentioned eating litterbox treats, a flea itself has to be eaten to get tapeworm but if a cat has fleas there are usually lots of them in and around the littercox.... |
| Poor baby Tonks! Hope things go well at the vet today, maybe adjustment to meds? Fingers, paws, arms and legs crossed. Prayers going out for you and Tonks. Nancy, Abbey and Oliver |
Poor Tonks. Hope it is nothing seriously. Come on Tonks, Mommy needs you feeling better real soon  |
| Sending positive thoughts your way. Robin |
| Just back from the vet; she wants to try easing back on Tonks' Prozac before we do anything more extreme. Since her appetite seemed to ebb with the start of the meds, she wants to see if we cut back if we can get her eating again, and still have the Prozac be effective. So we'll go back next Friday for another weight check in and see how she's doing. |
| I hope that'll do the trick! Sending big hugs to Tonks. |
| Sounds like a reasonable plan. Good luck! |
| i know how you feel nothing is worse than your puppy being sick...the hardest thing is they cant tell you whats wrong....hugs to you and tonks....hopefully, the new routine will fix her... |
| Get well Tonks! You have lots of fun in your future! |
| Get well Tonks....sending positive thoughts your way! Robin |
I really don't think this is the right path to take, and I told my vet as much. Tonks has been off her food since we started the Prozac- so even at the lower dosage, she wasn't eating. I don't see how returning her to the lower dosage will help. PLUS she was still picking fights on the lower dosage, so WHY would I want her on it? If its the Prozac, then we need to try a different anti-anxiety med. If its not the Prozac, then we need to find out what it is.  |
| What you are saying makes sense. What does your Vet say in response? That sounds like a really frustrating situation. I hope you can figure out what Tonks needs to eat and be relatively content. Some dogs are just never going to be easy but somehow they are so worth it. Hoping for the best for both/all of you! |
| You do make perfect sense about the lower dosing. Although, I do know that adults can have their dosage lowered after a time without relapse. Hoping for the best for Tonks! |
Darth Snuggle wrote: really don't think this is the right path to take, and I told my vet as much. We know our dogs best. I've had to redirect my dogs care at times... to have teeth pulled that proved to be causing problems, to diagnose Cushings, to prove my dog wasn't really hypothyroid and that rutabaga had caused his hypothyroidism. If after a few days you don't feel it's the right approach, voice your concern again. You can seek a second opinion too. 17 pounds is a big weight loss to me if Tonks was at a good weight to start. From what I've read about prozac, loss of appetite is usually temporary so still hoping the drop in dosage will help. |
| There are more anti anxiety drugs out ther besides prozac. I take celexa because my dr. did not think prozac was the right one. I call them my "Happy Pills". Hopefully I will be weaned off in the near future. Some of those drugs have an adverse effect. I would certainly ask the vet about other options and even a pharmacist. They know more side effects and interactions than most drs. Poor Baby Tonks! I can't even imagine what she must be feeling AND YOU feeling anxious and helpless because you can't fix it right now! Hang in there. Hopefully you will get answers soon. Thought and prayers for you both. Nancy, Abbey and Oliver |
| My vet's response to my concern was that IF we see her appetite return after the drop in dosage, then we'll know its probably the Prozac and not something else. If we don't see her appetite come back, then we can start doing blood work and x-rays, etc. I understand where she's coming from, in not wanting to waste my money on tests we might not need. But when it comes to the health of my dogs, I hate wasting time more than I do wasting money. |
| Because of Cosmo, I know about these types of happy, calming pills. What you are thinking is RIGHT ON!!!!! So just keep on top of her food and call the vet if it doesn't improve within a couple of days. Thinking of you.... |
| If puppy Prozac is anything like people Prozac, it's probably just that. Try a different med. That happened with my"human" son. We just had to keep trying different things until we found one that worked for him. Good luck!!! |
| Hoping for the best for tonks! |
| How is Tonks doing? |
| Sheepie hugs for you both, keeping fingys and paws crossed you can find why the rapid weight loss has occured. You both have been through such a journey together and I admire all you have achieved with the girls, let's hope it is just the prozac causing this with her sudden slump in weight Try over her dry stinky additives to her regular dry, sardines is great and most when not interested in food seem to enjoy that and tempts them to polish off the bowl, I would not worry about making her fussy as the moment I would be just trying to get her interested in eating full stop.  Hugs |
| I can't tell if she's eating more because of the lower PRozac dose, or if its because I'll feed her ANYTHING to get her to eat. But I do notice that if I feed her the same thing 2 meals in a row, she's less likely to eat it. This included tables scraps on her kibble, so I don't know what to think. We get a weigh in on Friday, so I guess I'll know more then. |
| I hope that Tonks is back to her old self soon! |
| that Tonks has gained a little when you weigh her Friday. Sending get well wishes! |
| Hoping that Tonks really packs the pounds this week & that the change in meds really makes the difference. |
| I think the antacid is helping! Tonight I gave it to her at least 30 minutes before her meal, she ate voraciously and licked the bottom of her bowl! |
| That is great news!!! I know how scary it is when they don't eat. Hope she continues to improve and gain her weight back. Good girl Tonks |
Very good news - I hope this continues and she can eat and enjoy her food  |
 Great news!  Kristine |
| Way to go Tonks!!!! |
| this morning Tonks sat and waited for me to make her breakfast. She didn't eat it all, but she ate about 3/4 of it- a good continued improvement in my opinion! |
| YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH TONKS!!!!!!! |
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| That's GREAT news!!!!!!! |
| we had Tonks at the vet this morning. She's put on one pound since her visit a week ago. So the vet wants to continue exactly as we are- the lower dose of Prozac (fingers crossed this doesn't result in a fight) and keep on the stomach acid reducing pills before each meal. We'll weigh her again in another week. I'm feeling some relief- I've been really worried!!! |
| I'm feeling relief too! that this is going to continue to work! |
| If the stomach acid reducing pills are making her feel better, that may help with a little less grumpiness too and may help reduce the possibility of a fight. So glad to hear Tonks gained 1 lb!! Not too often I get to say that |
| I haven't been on the board much lately, but I've checked in a few times from work and I've been following this thread. I just wanted to send virtual hugs to you and to Tonks, and to say I'm glad things are looking up. You go Tonks! |
| So glad things are improving!! |
| Glad to hear things are moving in a positive direction. Keep up the good work Tonks |
| Haven't looked around the board much lately, so I completely missed this. I hope that Tonks continues to improve and regains her appetite for food but not for fighting. Lots of hugs! |
| Sending positive vibes to you |
| Have I missed an update elsewhere? How is Tonks?? |
| Unfortunately I've had to spend some time back in the hospital, and with only a couple of days at home am now heading for a business event in England. We agreed it would be best to send the girls to the kennel for the whole stretch of time, rather than leave them home with Adam while I was at the hospital. Tonks "assumes the worst" and just stops eating when I'm not here, and lays at the door all day long. So I've not seen them, which is killing me. But the ladies at the kennel say she's eating almost all of her food, which is good, and she's playing and behaving herself. I guess we thought if Tonks just thinks this stay was like all the other, and not that I was in the hospital (something she seems to understand and worry about) then she'd stay on her eating and put some weight back on. Some cute photos of when I dropped them off at the Kennel:   they have a fawn there that they are training- these were the only photos where the dogs were not a blur, racing with it! |
and for good measure, here' one I took before kenneling, of the Girls getting along very well with the new cat! |
| Glad Tonks seems to be getting better. Sorry to hear you had to go back to the hospital, hope everything is ok. |
ICH wrote: Glad Tonks seems to be getting better. Sorry to hear you had to go back to the hospital, hope everything is ok. We lowered Tonks' prozac does to get her to eat, so I'm concerned she'll fight with Luna. But for now, fingers crossed, its seems to be going okay. If she eats, and stays civil, we'll probably keep this dosage. If she starts fighting again, we may raise it and hope she'll keep eating. If we have troubles, there are other anti-anxiety meds we can try. My hospital trip was ok- there's nothing new wrong with me, but I'm going to need to go back for physical therapy. It seems my being sick for as long as I have been has caused the muscles in my Pelvis to freak out, and forget how to do their job. There's a decent recovery rate on this; between 70% and 75%. Its a 2 - 4 week process, and we've had a friend out there invite us all to come and stay with them! So Tonks and Luna will be visiting Minnesota in time for some snowy fun, while I have to do butt exercises all day. |
Well, hopefully we will have snow enough to dogsled ...surely you can incorporate that into your exercises!  |
| I am glad you are out of the hospital. I have been following Tonks story but have not posted I am glad she is eating. I think prozac may be in molly's future |
| We went to the vet today to get Tonks weighed. She's not put on any significant weight; she's up by .2 pounds. POINT TWO. Not enough, not nearly enough. But the vet is happy that she isn't losing more weight, and wants me to go back and re-weigh her in another 2 weeks. I feel like if something is wrong, all these delays can't be helping. But in other, good news, they girls haven't fought since I lowered Tonks' Prozac dose, so thats one thing I don't have to worry about.... yet. I just wish she'd put on 10 pounds. I went to Petco and bought a selection of food, in the hopes that the starches and fillers will do the job that all the high end boutique foods I'm feeding her don't seem to be able to.... |
| All in all, that's encouraging for now. At least she's kind of stabilized. It's darn scary how quickly they can drop the weight if they stop eating. Hoping you'll find some real yummy foods to get a few pounds back on her. |
| Does she show no real intrest at all? even when say you are carving some meat? |
| Growing up one of our dogs had a bleeding ulcer and lost a lot of weight. To put it back on my mom would feed him mashed potatoes with cream cheese in them and other high calorie people foods. If Tonks is interested in that kind of food you could add a bit to the kibble you are feeding. Always a slippery slope because you don't want to always have to feed the "special" stuff, but an idea if you get desperate. |
Archies Slave wrote: Does she show no real intrest at all? even when say you are carving some meat? that's the tough part- she does. She will sit next to the treat jar and just stare at the treats, waiting for us to give her some. She'll even wait at the counter while I make her food. And about half way through eating, she loses interest. And its not a big serving I'm giving her; I grew tired of throwing away perfectly good, un-eaten dog food. I'll often pick it up so that Luna can't finish it off and save it to try and give her a little bit later in the day. Sometimes it works, most times it doesn't. |
Amanda P wrote: Growing up one of our dogs had a bleeding ulcer and lost a lot of weight. To put it back on my mom would feed him mashed potatoes with cream cheese in them and other high calorie people foods. If Tonks is interested in that kind of food you could add a bit to the kibble you are feeding. Always a slippery slope because you don't want to always have to feed the "special" stuff, but an idea if you get desperate. Tonks has grain allergies, so the food I'm feeding her doesn't have a lot of carbs in them. But mashed potatoes is a very good idea- I've got some left from Thanksgiving, I'll start with that! |
| I would also start with table scraps, also known as "food enhancers", and worry about the potential weight and begging issues later. I know you are trying to load her up with calories, but be careful with cream cheese, butter, etc. on those mashed potatoes, as high fat foods can cause pancreatitis. Though Oscar's pancreatitis is autoimmune related, and not food related, his last bout almost did him in. Tonks, eat your food so mommy doesn't have to worry about you.  Laurie and Oscar |
| I've tried table scraps- even though I cut them up very, very small, she manages to pick them out of the kibble in her bowl. She's really vexing me something fierce! |
| I don't know if this is possible...maybe you can feed her less per meal, so by the time she is uninterested she is done, but feed her 3 to 4 times a day? That way she gets more food overall? Or give her more "treats" (kibble) throughout the day? Don't know if it would disturb a routine, but maybe worth a shot? Hope Tonks feels better!! |
| How is Tonks doing???? |
Ashley wrote: How is Tonks doing???? I'm back to mixing up her meals- changing it up in case she gets bored, or if the previous meal didn't agree with her stomach, that she won't stop eating it the second time I serve that food. Its tedious, but she's eating about 2/3 to 3/4 of her meals. I've also begun lifting her bowl the minute she's finished, and offering it to her a few hours later- sometimes she'll eat it then. But for now, there's nothing more to do other than wait to weigh her in again in a couple of weeks. Her last weigh in she'd gained less than a quarter of a pound, but the vet was content that she wasn't still losing weight. She still feels so boney and thin to me.... |
| Come on tonks. Eat girl eat!! |
Darcy wrote: Come on tonks. Eat girl eat!! |
| Come on Tonks...........eat for Darcy. |
Darcy- whatever you are doing, please keep it up! I told Tonks that "Darcy says you have to eat all your dinner". I put her left overs from her meal hours ago back on the floor and she licked the bowl clean.  I wonder if this will work at breakfast too? |
| Simone and Harry are both picky eaters now. Simone because of her tummy issues, Harry because he forgets. Breakfast is iffy for both of them unless there is an enhancer and Harry is told specifically to go eat. This morning it was sardine oil......you bet all three stood on their heads over their bowls. Enhancers are difficult.....indeed the dogs are very good about picking out the goodies and leaving kibble.......Glacier was a pro. I swear she would take a kibble, lick off the enhancer and spit out the kibble. I worry about MO not getting her meds, especially her Pepic AC in the a.m. Often she will take a cookie, so some food in her belly is better than none. If she rejects a cookie, then she really is ailing. Then I retry feeding her 2 hours later......50:50 there. The next meal she gets reduced amount and usually eats. Of course she's hungry 6 hours later and gets a snack before bed time. So for her it's 3 maybe 4 mini meals a day. You mentioned grain allergy.......is there a lot of grain in the cookies? Maybe she is addicted to the cookies but gets sad tummy from the grain to where she won't eat kibble. |
It sounds very similar to Tonks. the other night I roasted a chicken, so I put some of the pan drippings on her dinner. She licked the kibble clean, leaving it in her bowl.  Her cookies are all grain free- I've even tried crushing them and mixing them into her meals, with limited results. She's never been all that keen on food, which was fine while she maintained a healthy weight. But since she dropped 20 pounds, I NEED her to put weight back on, and its just not happening. |
| "It sounds very similar to Tonks. the other night I roasted a chicken, so I put some of the pan drippings on her dinner. She licked the kibble clean, leaving it in her bowl." Celyn would do that. She could even lick the goodies of grains of rice and spit the rice out. My lounge carpet used to be covered with unwanted rice. Bless her!  |
| Sorry I meant to say hope that Tonks carries on improving with the eating. Go Tonks xx |
| Have you tried Satin Balls? Alas it has a lot of grain in it: wheatgerm, oatmeal and Total cereal anong with meat, eggs, etc. I'll type of the recipe if you think it might work. I came across the recipe as a sure fire way to add weight and glossen coats. Another treat recipe without wheat is Salmon Treats: 8 oz canned salmon undrained 1/2 cup chopped parsley 3 eggs....and their shells 1/2 cup sesame seeds ground up 1/2 cup flaxseed ground 2-3 cupts potato flour........you could take potato buds and whiz them to make flour if you can't find the flour. Put salmon, parsley and eggs in a blender or food process and whiz until the egg shells are very fine. Add the sesame seed meal and flaxseed meal, mix well. Then with the motor running, pour in the potato flour. Dump onto a potato floured counter or board and knead, adding more flour until it is like a cookie dough consistency. Roll out to 1/4 inch think and cut to desired size and shape. Bake on parchment or well sprayed cookie sheets, 375 for about 30 minutes. |
| Allison try scrambling 2 eggs, some cottage cheese and popping that over her grain free Kibble or just on its own. Serve it warm, in fact to tempt them if you just zap her bowl for a few seconds it makes it smell better and more tempting to eat the lot, not just picking around the kibble. Scrambled eggs helps put on the weight. I'd do that just a few times a week, till you can get her weight up. As well as potato, sweet potato and pumpkin along with her meats she has, again zap it and warm it slightly. With sick dogs who refuse to eat to tempt them back they say warm it slightly to make it more pungent and tempting. Also if you can get "Goats Milk", I dont know if that is handy and available there, it is here in the supermarket fridge and long life section and let her have a drink of that in morning slightly warmed, great treat for them you can even add a tablespon of youghurt to it and a raw egg yolk if not doing scrambled eggs. All will help her gain weight. The goats milk I weaned the puppies onto as well as momma drinking gallons when feeding the babies and can highly recommend it as hard for you too with tonks not able to handle grains. Have you tried "Barley" I know that is a grain, cooked in Broth and served with meat and veggie, a nice change too instead of kibble as a mixer. Barley has therapudic properties and is believed to cool the blood especially if dogs have skin issues or allergies, but any of these are trial and error to see what works with your possum. A lot of people I know swear by goats milk and weight gain from this, 99% of dogs love it and a lot of breeders wean pup on it. Hoping your sweetie pops on weight soon. |
| here's a link too for quite a few recepies to gain weight, a few on this are grain free too and non are too complicated and quiet easy to make. http://www.lowchensaustralia.com/health/diet4.htm xx for tonks. |
| Archie was never a big eater, but he was fond of dried chicken or beef liver treats, which are very crumbly. So, I would crumble one or a few over his kibble to encourage him to eat. Most of the time it worked. I thought of it as seasoning for his food. And who doesn't like a change now and then? |
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