sebastian589
New member
So, I have a 5 year old Chesapeake X. She has always been a super foodie. Loves most anything that’s edible.
Last September/October she suddenly stopped eating and after a harrowing week I got her into the vet and after testing her blood and taking a urine sample, they informed me she had diabetes and had reached the ‘crash’ stage. (After going over how I take care of her, and the diet I was giving her, the vet believes it could be genetic. It’s unusual that diabetes develops so young and she was already on a low-carb, diabetic ‘safe’ diet.) They started her on insulin and after another harrowing several days she started to stabilize and eat again. However - she never would eat kibble again. (I did leave some out for a bit and she’d eat a couple here and there, but not actually go for it when she was hungry.)
Once she fully stabilized, I told the vet I was thinking about switching her to raw instead of struggling with the kibble and she said it was probably the best decision I could make. So - we did. At first it went great. Dog was thrilled with the new food and we blasted through the first box of it. (Using the ‘ready made’ meals. So I just have to unthaw the patties/bricks/cubes in the appropriate amount and feed her). Then - she started getting picky. I chose a different box of it for the second round and she was less enthusiastic about that. She didn’t really like it. Fair enough - we powered through that box. I discovered she rather preferred it frozen, so I would whack the thing up into smaller, more manageable chunks for her (those were the half-pound bricks and rather. . .hard) and let her eat it raw. We managed to get through that box.
However SINCE then. . .she has been getting pickier and pickier. I have tried nearly every brand we have available, in every shape and form. Different protein sources. Frozen and unfrozen. I add treats to it, I chop it up fine, I give it to her whole. . She’s been refusing to eat more and more. I even started buying real meat, cooking it up and chopping it fine to mix in with the raw so she has the ‘flavour’/smell of the cooked while still eating raw. It worked for a day. . .
Unfortunately, I made the mistake of trying to feed her by hand - while it worked briefly, she quickly started to refuse and I started shoving it in. She got snarly and bites. (yeah, not the most brilliant decision I made.
) I stopped and went back to trying to coax/bribe her - which worked. . .briefly, if I added enough tasties to the top.
Now she is refusing to eat at all. She’ll eat REAL food (mine!) or treats, but is refusing to eat her dog food. at all. Yesterday she refused to eat breakfast at all. Even with treats. I did manage to get a small bit of supper down into her by using chicken from MY supper.
Today - I got her to eat an egg with her insulin shot. But she refuses to eat anything else. I finally gave up and put her breakfast back in the freezer. But this is getting ridiculous. I can’t let her ‘starve’ until she stops being picky because of the insulin shots. But the whole ‘eating’ thing is starting to stress us all out so bad it’s not funny. I’m near tears every time I have to feed her and she’s getting more and more defensive. Which really isn’t helping anything.
I’m stressed because she will get sick and die if she doesn’t eat - and the vet just says to make sure she gets the food into her with the shots. But no help on HOW to get her past this insanely picky stage.
I’m at a loss how to fix this and am ready to give up …except that giving up pretty much means she’s dead.
I see the tactics to use with a ‘normal’ healthy dog. . .but what do I do for a diabetic that *NEEDS to eat regularly???
Last September/October she suddenly stopped eating and after a harrowing week I got her into the vet and after testing her blood and taking a urine sample, they informed me she had diabetes and had reached the ‘crash’ stage. (After going over how I take care of her, and the diet I was giving her, the vet believes it could be genetic. It’s unusual that diabetes develops so young and she was already on a low-carb, diabetic ‘safe’ diet.) They started her on insulin and after another harrowing several days she started to stabilize and eat again. However - she never would eat kibble again. (I did leave some out for a bit and she’d eat a couple here and there, but not actually go for it when she was hungry.)
Once she fully stabilized, I told the vet I was thinking about switching her to raw instead of struggling with the kibble and she said it was probably the best decision I could make. So - we did. At first it went great. Dog was thrilled with the new food and we blasted through the first box of it. (Using the ‘ready made’ meals. So I just have to unthaw the patties/bricks/cubes in the appropriate amount and feed her). Then - she started getting picky. I chose a different box of it for the second round and she was less enthusiastic about that. She didn’t really like it. Fair enough - we powered through that box. I discovered she rather preferred it frozen, so I would whack the thing up into smaller, more manageable chunks for her (those were the half-pound bricks and rather. . .hard) and let her eat it raw. We managed to get through that box.
However SINCE then. . .she has been getting pickier and pickier. I have tried nearly every brand we have available, in every shape and form. Different protein sources. Frozen and unfrozen. I add treats to it, I chop it up fine, I give it to her whole. . She’s been refusing to eat more and more. I even started buying real meat, cooking it up and chopping it fine to mix in with the raw so she has the ‘flavour’/smell of the cooked while still eating raw. It worked for a day. . .
Unfortunately, I made the mistake of trying to feed her by hand - while it worked briefly, she quickly started to refuse and I started shoving it in. She got snarly and bites. (yeah, not the most brilliant decision I made.
) I stopped and went back to trying to coax/bribe her - which worked. . .briefly, if I added enough tasties to the top.Now she is refusing to eat at all. She’ll eat REAL food (mine!) or treats, but is refusing to eat her dog food. at all. Yesterday she refused to eat breakfast at all. Even with treats. I did manage to get a small bit of supper down into her by using chicken from MY supper.
Today - I got her to eat an egg with her insulin shot. But she refuses to eat anything else. I finally gave up and put her breakfast back in the freezer. But this is getting ridiculous. I can’t let her ‘starve’ until she stops being picky because of the insulin shots. But the whole ‘eating’ thing is starting to stress us all out so bad it’s not funny. I’m near tears every time I have to feed her and she’s getting more and more defensive. Which really isn’t helping anything.
I’m stressed because she will get sick and die if she doesn’t eat - and the vet just says to make sure she gets the food into her with the shots. But no help on HOW to get her past this insanely picky stage.
I’m at a loss how to fix this and am ready to give up …except that giving up pretty much means she’s dead.
I see the tactics to use with a ‘normal’ healthy dog. . .but what do I do for a diabetic that *NEEDS to eat regularly???