HELP! What to feed him?

mattjam · 03-10-2009, 04:03 PM

Hi all

Our boxer, Duke is 11 years old. Last week he suffered a fit, & took a turn for the worse.
For the next few days he was lethargic, would'nt eat, would'nt drink much & his breathing got shallower. Did'nt want to get out of his bed

The vet said he had an irregular & slow heartbeat, and because of his age, he'd given up & reccomended putting him to sleep.

He was not in pain, so my wife & I decided not to have him put down & to try & get him going again.

The next day he started to show improvement and although his breathing remains quite shallow, he now has an appitite, & gets out of his bed to greet you when you walk in the house.

The problem is that he can't or won't eat his own food. Any dog food. Think he's struggling to eat & breathe at the same time.

For the last couple of days he's had porridge in a morning & chicken or beef later on with rice or mashed potatoes.

What sort of things can we give him that are nutritionally valuble to him, but without being too rich (as he's had a touch of dioreah already)

Thanks

bruinsBoxers · 03-10-2009, 04:49 PM

If he is not eating kibble you could put him on a homecooked diet . It would be mainly meat vedgies and some grains . A home cooked diet is balanced over a few weeks to a months time . Most perpare a big batch and just portion some out to feed a bunch of meals and then freeze other portions .

You can boil or pan cook meats 60%. add in some vedgies and rice or oatmeal for the other 40% . It is best to also put in some bone powder for calcium .Not enough bone will give him loose stools .

You can just google or search for canine homecooked diets and you will find alot of helpful information.

Did the vet say he is in congestive heart failure , sounds like that may be the case with the shallow breathing and lethargy and irregular heartbeats.

Give a big hug to Duke .

Ron · 03-11-2009, 01:32 PM

how's he doing today?

superpimp · 03-11-2009, 01:37 PM

keeping my fingers crossed for your boy

mattjam · 03-11-2009, 04:24 PM

Thanks all.

He's fine in himself, other than his breathing. Still got the appitite of a horse! I'l try & resize some pictures of him & put them on here. He's tan & white & around 7 stones (98 pounds or 44.5 kilos) Big dog, I know!!!

I've looked at some sites about diets for him. Gonna make another appointment at the vets & discuss it with him. Hopefully it will help his condition.

I know he's an old man but don't want to lose him yet!

Once again, thanks for your comments