Gun Dog Forum

A few weeks ago my Whip started having some trouble swallowing and became disinterested in his food. Took him to the vet and they did an x-ray. She determined that he had a case of tonsillitis. We put him on antibiotics and soft food and he appeared to recover just fine. This week, he went back to not finishing his supper. He'll take a few bites and half halfheartedly eat about half of it.

I took him back again yesterday and they did blood work. He tested positive for a tick borne disease....escaping me at the moment but not lyme. So we have him back on a 21 day regimen of antibiotics and I guess we'll have to see. He's completely normal except for the not eating. He's energetic and happy so it's quite puzzling.

Anyone have a similar experience?

Anaplasmosis or Ehrlichiosis?

I did, but not illness. Her teeth all came in at the same time. It was.so bad her gums were bruised. I mean like dark purple bruising. Had to soften the food and just feed her a lil at a time until the teeth cut.

NEhomer wrote:A few weeks ago my Whip started having some trouble swallowing and became disinterested in his food. Took him to the vet and they did an x-ray. She determined that he had a case of tonsillitis. We put him on antibiotics and soft food and he appeared to recover just fine. This week, he went back to not finishing his supper. He'll take a few bites and half halfheartedly eat about half of it.

I took him back again yesterday and they did blood work. He tested positive for a tick borne disease....escaping me at the moment but not lyme. So we have him back on a 21 day regimen of antibiotics and I guess we'll have to see. He's completely normal except for the not eating. He's energetic and happy so it's quite puzzling.

Anyone have a similar experience?

Nothing similar , but apparently most? dogs test positive even for Lyme, but their immune system keeps it in check/ no symptoms.
I'd say you've just had a string of bad luck.

This is why folks say that price of the dog is the least of the expenses over15 years.

Yup!

We're up to our first $600 already!

He seems much better this afternoon and has his appetite back....for now anyway.

NEhomer.... I've only owned one setter the dog I have now. My brother has had a few setters. My Setter and all his seem to have the same eating habits. They don't seem to be chow hounds, sometimes they eat everything at other times they leave a portion. I know this is just a study of a few Setters, but these setters have strange eating habits compared to the other dogs I've owned. The Lab's and Britt's I've owned never left food or walked away to chew food from their bowls, if my lab's didn't inhale their food like a vacuum cleaner I knew there was something wrong with them. I wouldn't be to concerned unless your dog seems lethargic and dropping weight.

Thanks nevermind. He seems to be fine again this evening. What's funny is that as a little puppy, he practically breathed in his food. We spread it out on a plate just to slow the pace of ingestion.

Maybe as an adult, he'll just be finicky.

Don't think eating slow or differing in the amount he is eating translate into finicky. It is probable though you are feeding a little too much or at best you are feeding all he can eat on a hungry day. All animals including humans do not eat the same amount everyday. There are two ways to solve the situation, cut back the feed slightly so he will be hungry when fed or ignore it unless there is a difference in the dogs condition. If that happens then I would be concerned but not too much till then.

ezzy333 wrote:Don't think eating slow or differing in the amount he is eating translate into finicky. It is probable though you are feeding a little too much or at best you are feeding all he can eat on a hungry day. All animals including humans do not eat the same amount everyday. There are two ways to solve the situation, cut back the feed slightly so he will be hungry when fed or ignore it unless there is a difference in the dogs condition. If that happens then I would be concerned but not too much till then.

Excellent advice!

Keep 'em just a little bit hungry and you don't have feeding issues. Plus, then if they happen to go off their food, it's like an alert that maybe something is bothering them.

Every single one of my setters cut back on their intake when they got to just about their full growth. They just don't seem need as much as when they were growing, unless they are in training or in a ramped up conditioning program.

He ate a full meal this morning and is as chipper as ever. Yeah, maybe he's been overfed but he's such a skinny pup. I suppose it's the breed and it's not as if his ribs are showing or anything.

Seems fine at this point but I'll run him through this course of anti-Biotics.