Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Hi, it has been almost a week since Tonka's surgery. He's doing well still except he hasn't really been drinking from his water dish. We tried chicken broth but he still wasn't interested. He will eat snow when we go out side but that has been it. He did have his first chemo treatment with ciplatin last Wed. Could this be a left over effect from that? We are keeping a close eye on him and he is not dehydrated plus he will be headed back to the Vet's this weekend for blood work. I wanted to see if anyone else had this kind of issue.
Thanks.
Michelle (Tonka's Mom)
Are you raising his water dish? I don't know what you feed but maybe add some water to his food to get some water into him? He's eating OK? You could also try tuna water as an enticer. Also, Animal Naturals Super K9Fuel is a great enticer to get a dog to drink. Add powder to water(and a great muscle builder too!). I feed that to Maggie daily and also give it to her after walks in water to alleviate possible soreness.
Tracy, Maggie's Mom
Maggie was amputated for soft tissue sarcoma 10-20-09
Maggie lost her battle with kidney disease on 8-24-13
He's eating pretty well. His food and water bowl are raised. I will try putting some water in his food this evening and see if that will help.
Will he eat crushed up ice....try that. Be careful with canned chicken broth, lots of sodium. Will he eat watermelon? Paris loved watermelon!!
Good luck, Ginny & Angel Paris
Grateful for every moment we had with Paris…..no regrets!
Honoring her life by opening our hearts & home to Addy!
Is he drinking anything at all? How about water mixed with his food or feeding canned for more moisture? It is pretty important for him to get plenty of fluids since he had cisplatin and that can affect the kidneys.
Pam
As others suggested, lots of dogs seem to take items, such as ice, from people's hands even if they won't drink or eat from a bowl. Or start with the crushed ice in the bowl.
Tazzie would drink large volumes of 'vegie water' (water in which broccoli, and some cabbage and carrots, were boiled to a pulp). I would have thought that chicken broth would be more attractive, yet even my cat started to like the vegie water. So maybe it is worth a try. And you don't have to worry about salt with the vegie water.
Sounds like your best chance is to add water to his food as Pam suggested and are trying. He NEEDS water! Keep a close eye on this since he had Cisplatin.
He has been getting all wet food lately but I will try adding a little water to that. He does love watermelon so that should work as well. I will try the veggie water as well.
We have been watching him and he's not dehydrated but we don't want to get to that point.
It does seem odd to eat and not drink. So maybe he has been getting enough water in his wet food. It can't hurt to have more, as long as there isn't too much sodium. Keep a close eye on the kidney values in the blood work since he is getting Cisplatin. It is surprising how many dogs on chemo will only take food or water in the form of ice, preferably by hand.
He ate great right after we got him home but over the weekend we had to hand feed him his food. today he ate on his own. Although he really didn't have a drink out of his water bowl. He does love to eat the snow so he has been doing that the past few days. He never really liked ice. I tried that as well.
Hopefully these other tricks will help.
Is Tonka peeing & Pooping? It is amazing how much water is need to form poo. When Supai had her first TPLO surgery she was finiky about drinking for about a week. We used Watermelon and Oranges, she wolfed them right down and still loves them as treats today.
Good Luck
Shaun & Supai
If you are desperate getting him hydrated and/or help flush the kidneys, try inject water with a syringe slowly to the back of his jaws. Even if he determines to have the jaws clenched, water can still seep through them and chances are, he will swallow a portion of it. This is best done when he is lying down.
Be careful not to overdo with watermelon, as it is among one of the high sugar containing fruits.
Good luck!
Broth in the water, watering down his food, watermelon... all good tips. Gotta love this community! My guess – and hope – is for this to be only a temporary side effect from the chemotherapy. Please keep us posted, and be sure to let us know what works fro getting Tonka to drink.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
I'm happy to report that tonka is drinking better. I tried adding some veggie water to his water bowl and that seemed to do the trick. I still have to bring him the water dish but at least he's drinking. 
I have also been using watermelon pieces as treats which he loves. Thanks for all the great advice!
Glad to hear it! Be sure to make Tonka get up for his food and water once in a while so he doesn't become dependent on you bringing it to him.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Glad to hear he is drinking some. I did not really expect the vegie water to appeal that much to Tonka, but it is a great (no salt as long as you avoid salty vegies) source of water if it does. I ended up discarding large volumes of cooked to a pulp vegies since I was using that method to pump lots of water through Tazzie at the time. But it sure seemed to help his kidneys.
I can understand if Tonka wants to lie around and be hand-watered. Poor thing had surgery and chemo all in one go so he is bound to feel low for a while. Tazzie did get up to eat and drink but that is the only time he moved during the first couple of weeks. Is Tonka peeing ok?
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