A Beagle that won’t eat?
Until recently, neither had I. I’d heard the lack of appetite was a primary trait of canine cancer, but I did not want to believe this was something that could happen to her. You know, Abby, the glutton that has lived with me for 14 years. Abby ever not want to eat – pshaw — not in my lifetime…
Since January, Abby has gone from eating her twice a day meals with gusto, to leaving entire food bowls completely ignored. Initially, we thought she might be bored with the senior formula she’d been eating for the last few years. So we tried another fancy, expensive brand. And then another and another and finally canned dog food. Each time with each brand, it was the same thing: First day– she loved it; the second day: she wouldn’t touch the stuff. And then, she skipped eating for a day and a half. Something was not right in Beagleville. It was then we began the odyssey of discovering that she indeed had cancer.
Last week the vet prescribed an appetite stimulant and said Abby could eat anything and everything, up to and including Mickey D’s hamburgers! You’d think the Beagle would be over the moon – a pure milk bone diet? All the human food she wanted? To the old Abby, this would have been a dream come true, to the Abby of here and now, it interested her very little. Each day we deal with a very finicky dog that requires hand feeding.
We visited the vet today and happily learned she had not lost any weight during the last 2 weeks, even though it’s been a struggle to find things that she will eat. Today, the vet prescribed Prednisone and Tim says she ate a pretty hearty mid day snack. Crossing our fingers that this new medication helps.
Even though I have evidence in front of me daily, I’m still hard pressed to believe I have a beagle that won’t eat.
