Dog recovery surgery

[sellotapechicken]

Im
really concerned about my dog. She had surgery on Friday for a foreign body and she’s not 100%. She’s on a liquid diet that is just under 1/2 of her usual daily amount but as her usual amount is 80g this is a tiny amount of food spread out between 5 meals. She weighs 8kg and needs to stay on this until her stitches come out in a week. She’s going to lose weight that’s obvious. Is there anything I need to watch out for like hypoglycaemia ? She has diarrhea because she is basically only eating liquid and it’s just awful. Can anyone give me some positive stories?

I just had to wake DH up to hold her and protect her stitches whilst I showered liquid poo off her. Poor baby. I’m seeing glimmers of our girl in there but it’s taking a while.

how long did other dogs take to recover ?

Does she want to eat and drink and no sickness? If not call your vet.
If so, ask if you can feed something like tins Hills G/I, Royal canin Gastro-intestinal or Purina EN.

All easy to digest and balanced foods for pets with recovering gastrointestinal tracts.

I have never heard of underfeeding a liquid only diet post FB surgery (I am presuming intestinal obstruction with no unusual factors). I work in vet industry in the UK.

The intestine will never be empty, it has bodily secretions going though it always and the gut needs nutrition to heal. If the incision is going to leak...it's going to leak! (always a risk with intestinal surgery)...the type of food won't make a difference (within reason).

I think their thought process is she has stitches in her actual stomach and a dog died last month at the practice because the owner fed them normal food and their stomach perforated so they’re being really cautious now.

The issue we have is the food they sent us home with (hills a/d) is chicken based and she’s really allergic to chicken. So we’re trying find a recovery type food that is low volume high calories that is not chicken based.

Shes desperate to eat, she’s just not interested in that particular food so I’ve been feeding chappy because it’s bland and boring and low fat etc. it’s so hard! The vet said to me yesterday‘I know it’s hard but a skinny dog is better than a dead dog’

Usually the recovery diet food is a hydrolysed jobby which means the protein is SO processed it is not recognised by the dogs body as an allergen. However you could also just tell the vet about the allergy and ask for a food that isn't chicken.

As long as she is getting decent food that is easy to digest, multiple times a day, she isn't likely to suffer hypoglaecemia.

I would not feed Chappie - it used to be recommended as a very tempting diet for unwell dogs because it stinks, when it was the canned fish and rice based food. It was good for a lot of dogs, not because it was particularly nutritious but it would get a poorly dog over their illness induced anorexia.

Modern Chappie recipes are not the same or remotely comparable, though people still keep on recommending it like some old wives tale - and as with all dog foods, it'll suit some dogs just fine and others not at all. Also, all the canned meat Chappie recipes contain Chicken and that won't be the hydrolysed non-reactive stuff, just chicken.

Several companies make very soft, easy to digest liquid and mousse diets for dogs recovering from surgery, just ask your vet for an alternative option.