Problems! advice please!

I haven't been on in a long while but Boba dislocated his hip 2 days ago and slightly tore a ligament in his knee. He also at some point during all of this has developed a decreased appetite. At first we thought it was his dead tooth but the vet said that it was not infected and should not be bothering him. He is that stereotypical corgi and will eat anything and everything in under a second. Well normally he is. He will eat but not much. I will sit by him and watch him eat then he will walk away and stare at me by the food bowl then come back and nibble some more but won't eat if I'm not there (which is new btw). We currently have him on carprofin for the pain from the tear and whatnot. We also have his best friend (our other dog winnie) at my boyfriends parent's house so he doesn't get too rough and make the tear worse. Mind you he has never been separated from her before. Should i assume that his decreased appetite is from a mix between pain when the meds wear off and a side effect from the meds? At first he would only eat wet food but still barely and now he will eat dry food but again still not much. The vet said he is at a loss for why boba won't eat. Any advice and information would be welcomed.

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Permalink Reply by Jane Christensen on December 2, 2015 at 8:10pm

The vet should be able to tell you what the med side effects are. Could be he's lonesome his buddy. I find adding a bit of warm water to my dogs food also helps I use about 1/3 cup and it won't hurt him but I'd only give him 1/2 his food to see if he likes it.

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Permalink Reply by Brittany & Boba on December 2, 2015 at 8:14pm

Thanks, I will be sure to call the vet to ask about side effects in the morning. I will definitely try the water in the food thing.

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Permalink Reply by Anna Morelli on December 3, 2015 at 12:45pm

I would add some goodies to his food. I'm not for coaxing dogs that are well to eat, but in his situation he needs the food to heal and, when the body is healing from trauma, extra protein is useful. It's easy to cook up a bit of lean chicken in some water,shred it up and mix it in with the broth. You can then freeze this mixture in an ice cube tray or two, then throw the cubes in a zip lock bag. At mealtime, put a cube with a bit of water into a cup and microwave it so it thaws. Make sure it does not get too hot. You can then pour it over his food. Best wishes for a speedy recovery

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Permalink Reply by Vicky Hay on December 12, 2015 at 9:01pm

Dogs can pine away for a missing companion. And certainly meds could make his stomach upset or simply curb his appetite.

If he's losing weight undesirably, consider adding some real food to his dog food. Try plain hamburger cooked in a pan (break it up as it's cooking and store the unused portions in the fridge), or boneless chicken simmered in a slow cooker or atop the stove -- just don't add anything like onions or garlic, since these are toxic to dogs. Straight, unadulterated meat cooked through will not harm the dog, as long as there's no added salt or sugar. If egg doesn't upset his stomach, a poached or hard-boiled egg may tempt his appetite. My dogs like yogurt, which you can add in moderation to whatever you're feeding. And cottage cheese, even though it contains too much salt for Man nor Beast, can be tolerated for a brief period.

Take it easy, though: too much of anything new can cause the collywobbles.