Please help, dog question

[amg35]

Max will be 13 next month. He has fatty tumors, arthritis, and a heart murmur. He is on Rimadyl, he is scheduled for a heart ultrasound on April 2, and then a possible teeth cleaning/extraction if that goes well.

So this morning Max wouldn't eat his breakfast which is crazy for him. He never misses a meal. Ever. It's the same brand of dry food he's been having his whole life. My boyfriend was eating breakfast, so he thought Max was distracted by that, but then Max wouldn't eat his own food at all. My boyfriend then went in the shower and when he came out, Max had finally eaten his food.

So being the age that he is and that it's so out of character, we took him to the vet. While we were there (Max is very, very anxious at vet), the vet put out wet food and Max ate it right away. They examined him, and didn't seem to think there was a concern. The vet said we just did the blood tests two months ago and his physical exam was fine today and he's not vomitting or anything, so he didn't want to do anymore testing right now.

He gave us wet food to bring home and have him eat that. The vet thinks it's probaby nothing....
So of course, I'm convinced it's the worst.

Any ideas what could be happening?

 

[happygirl]

Max will be 13 next month. He has fatty tumors, arthritis, and a heart murmur. He is on Rimadyl, he is scheduled for a heart ultrasound on April 2, and then a possible teeth cleaning/extraction if that goes well.

So this morning Max wouldn't eat his breakfast which is crazy for him. He never misses a meal. Ever. It's the same brand of dry food he's been having his whole life. My boyfriend was eating breakfast, so he thought Max was distracted by that, but then Max wouldn't eat his own food at all. My boyfriend then went in the shower and when he came out, Max had finally eaten his food.

So being the age that he is and that it's so out of character, we took him to the vet. While we were there (Max is very, very anxious at vet), the vet put out wet food and Max ate it right away. They examined him, and didn't seem to think there was a concern. The vet said we just did the blood tests two months ago and his physical exam was fine today and he's not vomitting or anything, so he didn't want to do anymore testing right now.

He gave us wet food to bring home and have him eat that. The vet thinks it's probaby nothing....
So of course, I'm convinced it's the worst.

Any ideas what could be happening?

I'm sure he's fine. Try not to worry

 

[nathalee81]

Max will be 13 next month. He has fatty tumors, arthritis, and a heart murmur. He is on Rimadyl, he is scheduled for a heart ultrasound on April 2, and then a possible teeth cleaning/extraction if that goes well.

So this morning Max wouldn't eat his breakfast which is crazy for him. He never misses a meal. Ever. It's the same brand of dry food he's been having his whole life. My boyfriend was eating breakfast, so he thought Max was distracted by that, but then Max wouldn't eat his own food at all. My boyfriend then went in the shower and when he came out, Max had finally eaten his food.

So being the age that he is and that it's so out of character, we took him to the vet. While we were there (Max is very, very anxious at vet), the vet put out wet food and Max ate it right away. They examined him, and didn't seem to think there was a concern. The vet said we just did the blood tests two months ago and his physical exam was fine today and he's not vomitting or anything, so he didn't want to do anymore testing right now.

He gave us wet food to bring home and have him eat that. The vet thinks it's probaby nothing....
So of course, I'm convinced it's the worst.

Any ideas what could be happening?

I, myself, wouldn't worry if your doggie did end up eating the food. If he hadn't eaten it at all, than it might be concerning. It's also good he ate the wet food at the vet-when my doggie was sick she wouldn't even touch the wet food. I wouldn't worry too much at this point-but I know it is hard.

I do have one question, and please don't take it the wrong way (I don't want you to think I am criticizing you or anything).

Why is the vet doing a teeth cleaning on a 13 year old dog with a heart murmur? I just ask because we had a dog about the same age with a heart murmur (my understanding is that it is pretty common to have heart murmurs as they age) and the vet never would put the dog under for a teeth cleaning. They simply wouldn't take the risk of putting a senior dog with a heart murmur under anesthesia. Ultrasound or not.

 

[amg35]

I, myself, wouldn't worry if your doggie did end up eating the food. If he hadn't eaten it at all, than it might be concerning. It's also good he ate the wet food at the vet-when my doggie was sick she wouldn't even touch the wet food. I wouldn't worry too much at this point-but I know it is hard.

I do have one question, and please don't take it the wrong way (I don't want you to think I am criticizing you or anything).

Why is the vet doing a teeth cleaning on a 13 year old dog with a heart murmur? I just ask because we had a dog about the same age with a heart murmur (my understanding is that it is pretty common to have heart murmurs as they age) and the vet never would put the dog under for a teeth cleaning. They simply wouldn't take the risk of putting a senior dog with a heart murmur under anesthesia. Ultrasound or not.

They are doing the ultrasound to check if he's okay for anesthesia because if they don't find anything else on the ultrasound (valve problems, etc), he thinks the murmur is being caused by his teeth - a bad tooth infection or gingivitis. He said (in January) that Max isn't in decline, so he thinks we should get these things done now while he's healthy.

I can talk to him more about it after we get the results of the ultrasound, maybe we won't do the teeth cleaning anymore...

 

[JessB320]

They are doing the ultrasound to check if he's okay for anesthesia because if they don't find anything else on the ultrasound (valve problems, etc), he thinks the murmur is being caused by his teeth - a bad tooth infection or gingivitis. He said (in January) that Max isn't in decline, so he thinks we should get these things done now while he's healthy.

I can talk to him more about it after we get the results of the ultrasound, maybe we won't do the teeth cleaning anymore...

Well you may have your answer right there. A bad infection and or gingivitis is defiantly going to make eating hard kibble painful.
Maybe it hurts to eat his kibble, the soft food would be much easier to eat with a sore mouth.

 

[hiwaygal]

I wouldn't worry about the no eating thing unless it went on for more than a day or two.

My golden is 14 (almost 15) and up until recently she ate when we put food down on the floor. Of course with our two other (diabetic) dogs, I think she thought she had to eat it quick or not get any! LOL

Anyway, our new dog doesn't eat regularly. He kinda picks when he wants some and will go what seems like an eternity (to me) before he'll eat something. I think our golden is kinda taking cues from him.

Plus, I think as they get older sometimes they don't use the food up as much (lower energy output) so they just might not feel hungry.

And lastly, if your vet thinks the teeth may be causing problems, it is possible that Max's teeth are hurting a bit and he may be "avoiding" the dry kibble as long as possible.

While wet food is not as good for dogs teeth, as dogs get older it may not be as critical as making sure they get the right sustenance and nutrition.

If your vet doesn't think there's a problem, try not to worry about it! Easier said than done, I know.

 

[amg35]

Well you may have your answer right there. A bad infection and or gingivitis is defiantly going to make eating hard kibble painful.
Maybe it hurts to eat his kibble, the soft food would be much easier to eat with a sore mouth.

Well I would think so too, but the vet didn't say anything about it today, but he can't really do a full exam on Max's teeth unfortunately, so maybe that's still it. It just seems so out of the blue....

he just gobbled up more wet food again. We didn't try his dry food yet. He's acting totally fine otherwise.

Thanks everyone!

 

[nathalee81]

They are doing the ultrasound to check if he's okay for anesthesia because if they don't find anything else on the ultrasound (valve problems, etc), he thinks the murmur is being caused by his teeth - a bad tooth infection or gingivitis. He said (in January) that Max isn't in decline, so he thinks we should get these things done now while he's healthy.

I can talk to him more about it after we get the results of the ultrasound, maybe we won't do the teeth cleaning anymore...

Maybe someone else will chime in with a little more information about heart murmurs and teeth cleaning.

It just stood out to me because of my own experience.

I don't mean to make you worry anymore than you already are...

 

[erincon23]

Maybe someone else will chime in with a little more information about heart murmurs and teeth cleaning.

It just stood out to me because of my own experience.

I don't mean to make you worry anymore than you already are...

Our dog (mini poodle, 14 years old) has congestive heart failure, which first presented as a heart murmur (diagnosed when we adopted her at the age of 6). Until the last couple of years, she was ok to put under for the teeth cleaning. It's only been the last two or three years where they decided that it was too risky to put her under to clean her teeth. If it's just a murmur, your dog will probably be ok, depending, of course, on what the vet says.