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Dog won't eat! Need soft food ideas!

4K views 8 replies 6 participants last post by  Jaugust 
#1 ·
I posted in the health section about Princess, who ended up having an autoimmune disease mixed between erythema multiforme and toxic epidermal necrolysis. She has mouth ulcers so it's difficult for her to chew or hold food in her mouth... And for whatever reason now... SWALLOW! I'm so annoyed because I've tried everything I can to get this girl to eat! She's now going on 3 days not eating. Things I've tried:

Boiled chicken (she loves it, but now can't chew big pieces)
Baby food (liked it for a day, now won't eat it)
Blended chicken (nope)
Steamed carrots mashed and mixed with mashed potatoes (got stuck in her mouth)
Hard boiled eggs
Ground turkey and rice
Blended ground turkey and rice
Canned wet food (a soupy kind)
Chicken and vegetable broth

Today I bought bananas, canned pumpkin, frozen green beans, cottage cheese, plain Greek yogurt, deli turkey, none of which have been very successful.

She either will take a few licks or bites of something she likes then won't eat it again, it gets stuck in her mouth and she freaks out using her paws to get the food out, or just turns her head away from the food (especially blended meat lol!) I can't seem to find one food that she will consistently eat!

I don't know what else to do! I even try to spoon feed her! I'm seriously just starting to feel like she's being stubborn. The healthy Princess would be swallowing everything I put in front of her... I need her to eat so she can start to fully recover! Help!!!
 
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#2 ·
With her mouth problems I would buy the pureed type of dog food, make sure it's a high quality food, and mix that with some water so that it's like a thick soup sort of like the consistency of split pea soup, and put that down for her to eat.

If she licks it up the first day without any problems and you know she at least liked it the first day, then keep feeding that to her. Put it down 2 to 3 times a day whatever she doesn't eat in 10 to 20 minutes pick back up.

If she simply doesn't like it that first time, or she's truly having problems eating it, then try something else. The more you keep switching around, the pickier she's going to get.

If you haven't already it's time to get her back to the vet since she's having trouble swallowing. What's being done for the mouth ulcers?
 
#4 ·
She's being treated with steroids and another immunosuppressant, which is healing her other ulcers, unfortunately her mouth is taking much longer to heal.

I see what you mean about switching the food, but the only reason I have been is because she either stops wanting to eat it or can no longer chew it comfortably.

I just put down some cottage cheese and salmon and she ate some of that... But then food got stuck in her mouth again and she stopped eating. Honestly if the food would stop getting stuck, she would eat anything I gave her no problem! It's just a matter of finding foods she's willing to eat that wont get stuck. It gets stuck to the roof of her mouth by the way, and her tongue is a little ulcerated, so I imagine it makes her tongue almost useless.
 
#5 ·
Yeah, it's horrible to try to eat when your mouth hurts, or the food gets stuck. I can understand why she's wanting to eat but not wanting to eat.

Maybe some canned cat food would tempt her. It's not nutritionally correct for dogs, and you shouldn't feed it long term, think of it like fast food, some nutritional value, can survive on it, but it's not going to keep you healthy in the long run. It's really smelly and most dogs LOVE it, I'd get the puree type and still water it down a little to make it easier for her to eat.
 
#8 ·
Make a broth and try freezing it in ice cub trays. Chip up a cube or two and see if she can take it that way. It might not hurt her mouth so much? This would provide some nutrition and might be a short term solution for you.
 
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