Getting fluids into a picky dog

pinkspore

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#1
I'd like to increase Ru's fluid intake while we sort out his urinary issues. Ru has other ideas. Mostly he is a picky princess, and tiny enough to limit how many days I am comfortable letting him starve.

Things that Ru would rather starve than eat:
1. Rehydrated dehydrated or freeze-dried food (Stella and Chewy's, Honest Kitchen)
2. Yogurt
3. Applesauce
4. Wet kibble
4. Kibble with anything touching it
5. Watered canned food
6. Watered baby food
7. Anything chicken-flavored
8. Anything colder than room temperature

Things Ru will usually eat:
1. Dry kibble
2. Room temperature canned food
3. Room temperature baby food.
4. Beads, preferably plastic or glass

Any suggestions for things to try? How long would you let a skinny 6-lb dog go without eating?
 

DJEtzel

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#2
Have you tried warmed up baby food, wet dog/cat food of different consistencies, etc?

If you're just looking to hydrate, since he eats dry kibble ok, I'd maybe ask your vet if you can get some lactated ringers and give sub q fluids?
 

stardogs

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#3
Beef, seafood, or veggie broth? All low sodium of course. Honest Kitchen has some "Winter Warmer" broths now, too.

Watered down tuna juice?

If he can have grains, maybe watered down cheesy grits or cream of wheat?
 

pinkspore

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#4
Sub-q fluids worked really well a few months ago when he had tummy troubles, but this time around I'm just looking for something to help keep him better hydrated on a regular basis.

We'll have a go at warm beef broth, he's not a seafood fan either. I usually end up warming up stuff for him even though I feel completely ridiculous when I do it. The one time I got him to eat a decent amount of refrigerated canned food he shivered so long and hard I nearly took him to the e-vet.

He can have grains so cream of wheat would work, I'll have to get some for him. Grits...don't exist here on Planet California. I'm not sure I want to go through the trouble of trying to make them when I'm not even totally clear on what a 'grit' is exactly.
 
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#5
You might ask the vet if you could put a little salt in his food to make him more thirsty. Do you give him any treats? For a dog that small a few treats would go a long way.
 

noludoru

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#9
Salt. I'm a horrible person and add salt to encourage drinking. Anchovy paste ftw.

Also- slightly watered down cat food? TOTW makes one with a good texture.
 

Stingr69

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#10
My babies are not big drinkers even after a long walk. We bring the water and they might take a sip. We don't even bother bringing it along anymore. Hot days they seem to drink more once they get home but it never seems like they are getting enough. :confused:

I tried some Bil Jac frozen food from the Hollywood Feed store. My breeder recommended keeping some around just in case of a digestion problem. No problems right now but as a test they really like it. Only need maybe a 1/4 cup per day for the little dogs. I portion out the 2 LB bag into smaller sandwich bags then freeze as I don't use it all up real fast. We just keep a small bag in the fridge. You probably need to zap it to get to room temp for the little Ru. Cold food must give Ru a "brain freeze" like you get from eating ice cream too fast -LOL!. The Paps seem to drink more water since we tried the Bil Jac. It has only been a week or two but so far so good. I am adding it to the food rotation. Might be worth a try?

-Mark.
 

Sparrow

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#11
When it's between meals and I want Rook to drink (she needs tons of water to keep her stool soft, but won't drink yucky plain water,) I pierce a fish oil capsule and squirt it in.

I know clam juice (watch salt content) is a go-to for people with picky CRF kitties. Maybe put that in water? Or tuna juice? Maybe canned green tripe mixed with water would be preferred over canned regular food because the tripe smells like death?
 

pinkspore

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#12
Following up on this thread to report that Ru won't touch store-bought broth or stock, but loves homemade bone broth. He'll drink a bowl of it, he'll even eat kibble swimming in it. He doesn't normally eat kibble if there's anything else on it/touching it.

So yeah, I now have a bunch of random cow parts swimming in my crock pot. Giving serious thought to making broth out of that sheep head in the freezer that I haven't been able to figure out what to do with. Wonder if I need to get the hair off first?
 

Stingr69

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#13
Following up on this thread to report that Ru won't touch store-bought broth or stock, but loves homemade bone broth. He'll drink a bowl of it, he'll even eat kibble swimming in it. He doesn't normally eat kibble if there's anything else on it/touching it.

So yeah, I now have a bunch of random cow parts swimming in my crock pot. Giving serious thought to making broth out of that sheep head in the freezer that I haven't been able to figure out what to do with. Wonder if I need to get the hair off first?
Ru must be enjoying the collagen from the bones. So glad you found something that WORKS!!! Might just try it on my 2 parsimonious drinkers. I do have some home made chicken stock. We shall take a run at it.
 

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