Enlarged Heart & Eating

Question
QUESTION: Willow is a 5 year old MacKenzie River Husky & lab mix. He
went off his feed, so on March 17th we went to the vet and
discovered that he has an enlarged heart, which causes
fluid build up in the abdominal cavity. He feels as if he
is full because of this fluid (I'm assuming). The vet said
to let him eat what he wants to eat. He also didn't have a
great prognosis on his lifespan - 2 weeks to a few years.

Willow is dropping weight pretty fast because I can't get
him to eat enough calories in a day. He refuses all and any
sort of dog food. He will eat moose meat (I'm in Alaska),
and beef but refuses Salmon, chicken, hot dogs, etc etc. He
likes some very strange things, canned green beans, canned
peas, fruit cocktail, fresh collard greens and brussell
sprouts - nothing much that will give him the 1800 or so
calories a day to maintain his weight.

My husband and I have resolved ourselves to the fact that
Willow could be gone ANY day, but I can't see letting him
starve himself to contribute to it.

Any ideas?

As an add, I have nine dogs, all but two are littermates or
from the same parents and none of them has an issue with
eating anything that's placed in front of them :)

ANSWER: Hello!
Here is what I would do if I were you but, of course, I am not you!!

"He will eat moose meat and beef but refuses Salmon, chicken, hot dogs, etc etc. He likes some very strange things, canned green beans, canned peas, fruit cocktail, fresh collard greens and brussell
sprouts"

If he is willing to eat these things, why don't you just make this his diet???? Just make him a full plate of raw meat from the meat he will eat. Hell, if he eats it, it is food and at this point nutrition is not primary--it's getting food in his belly. My friend's dog is a terrible eater but when she puts down the raw food he gobbles it up. If your dog is dying and sick, does it really matter what he eats as long as he eats? FEED HIM WHATEVER HE WILL EAT IS MY ANSWER TO ALL OF THIS AND BE HAPPY THAT HE IS INTERESTED IN FOOD AT ALL if he is that sick.

I am not a vet or even a medical person but I have heard that Lasix helps to get rid of fluids around the heart. Have you considered this? Have you asked your vet? It worked wonders for my friend's dog so please check this out.

Hope this helped and very good luck to you. Sue

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: He is on Lasix and a heart med to keep his blood vessels
open and so his heart will work less. Here's another thing,
he doesn't ACT like a sick dog, other than the not eating.
He is happy, bouncy, playful - but he is losing weight!

I guess I didn't explain enough :)  I have NO problem
feeding him the moose meat, however, it's going to run out
before the end of next hunting season and there's no
guarantee that we will get another moose.

We found out today that he also likes beets ... lol  My
main concern isn't that he isn't eating ANYTHING, it's that
he's not eating ENOUGH.

And the trouble with the things he REALLY likes - the
greens and brussel sprouts, is that there aren't enough
caliories in them to maintain his weight.

I guess I was looking for alternate ideas of food that are
packed with calories - I looked into the Nutra-Cal, but
it's WAY WAY too expensive for an 80lb dog!

Answer
Hi again,
I definitely hear your dilemma. And now I understand completely what your concerns are.

All I can suggest is something very mundane and ordinary. If you are going to run out of moose, then start mixing what moose you have with some other RAW meat that you trust--buy in bulk. Check the internet for RAW MEATS THAT ARE DELIVERED..they usually will deliver if it's over 30lbs etc. But first go to your butcher and see what ORGANIC, or at least hormone/steroid free meats he has. Think of beef, chicken, turkey, venison. Test it out first with your pooch. If you dog likes the SLOW MIXING IN OF THIS NEW MEAT, then you are onto something and could consider buying in bulk. But you must do this SLOWLY, OVER SAY A WEEK OR TWO, AND BEFORE YOU RUN OUT OF MOOSE. You will very slowly get him to like the taste of something else THAT HAS CALORIES. i AGREE with you about the nutrical and the expense for a dog so large.

Have you thought about adding Virgin coconut oil or cod live oil to his foods? How about cottage cheese, regular cheese and yogurt for inbetween snacks? This of course, will all be trial and error. Since you know the prognosis for your dog, it really doesn't matter what he eats at this point. But consider protein fillers of any kind like I suggested above. Don't know if your dog can eat eggs but there is another possibility, not to necessarily mix into his food but to give inbetween. I know that some people have been successful feeding their picky eaters by sprinkling parmesan cheese on their food..just a thought.

Let me know how things are going and let me know if anything I have suggested has been helpful...I surely hope so. Bye now, Sue