Accepted Answer

Hello Sue: I'm so sorry your obviously beloved dog is having so many problems. You mentioned he is taking thyroxine for hypothyroidism but you also said he has a rapid heart rate. I would ask your vet about stopping the thyroxine because one of the side effects of thyroxine is a faster heart rate. Are you seeing a board certified internal medicine specialist or cardiologist? If not, maybe you could ask your vet for referral. If you are already seeing a specialist, then a second opinion is probably not going to get you any more help. As far as what to feed him, that's a very tough problem. If he is in kidney failure, the K/D is a good choice, however, as you know, not every dog likes the K/D. At this point, with such a sick dog, you are right to just try and get him to eat anything within reason. Chicken baby food (Gerbers 2nd Foods) is often something we can get dogs to eat when they don't feel good. It also comes in turkey and beef (and veal, lamb and ham). Chicken seems to usually be the favorite though. If he won't eat it, you could take a syringe and squirt some inside his mouth to get some nutrition into him. You've already tried some of the other things I would have suggested with the cooked fresh chicken and ground beef. Try the baby food and if he won't eat, syringe feed him as long as he is not vomiting. As I said, seek the opinion of a specialist if you're not already seeing one. Here's a web site to help you find a cardiologist if you need it http://www.acvim.org/Specialist/Search.aspx. I hope I've given you some useful answers. If you have other questions, let me know. Best wishes for you and your beloved dog.

Expert:	Dr. Angela
Pos. Feedback:	99.2 %
Accepts:
Answered:	5/11/2008

Veterinarian

Doctor of Veterinary Medicine Degree, University of Illinois