Sudden increase in appetite and energy?

[Sarah83]

Rupert's always been a bit of a couch potato. Enjoys his walks and enjoys playing but just as happy curled up under the table or on the sofa. He's never been particularly interested in food, would frequently skip meals and you could leave a plate of food on the floor, leave the room and he wouldn't touch it. Recently though he's started to clear his bowl every meal time and actually look for more food. He's not put on weight as far as I can tell. He's also suddenly very restless. He's gone from being a couch potato who enjoys walks and play but also enjoys just cuddling up next to you to a dog who's constantly on the move. I tried increasing his exercise thinking maybe he was bored or not getting enough exercise/attention but it's made no difference. He's also become very disobedient compared to how he usually is. He's 7 years old.

Now I know a vet check is going to be recommended but I'm a bit lost as what to get them to check for with just those two symptoms. Any advice?

[sarahjayne]

His metabolisme has obviously changed for some reason. Maybe it's a thyroid problem
The vet can do tests to check this and it can be controlled with medication.
What does he eat ?

[Nettle]

Sounds very thyroidy to me. Your vet will - if asked - test bloods for all organ functions so best to get them all done in case it is something else.

Have a full body check too, eyes, ears, teeth, joints and prostate. Castrated dogs get as many prostate problems as entire ones, and vets don't always check unless asked.

[Mattie]

Vets prefer us to take our dogs in as soon as we see a big change in our dogs, they manage to catch what is wrong early so less damage is done. Merlin was in the early stages of renal failure for just over a year because he was caught early, if left he would have gone a lot sooner than he did.

Just describe to your vet what you have noticed, with both the operation on his back, the renal failure and discovering he was trapping a nerve all started with him not stepping under his body properly with one of his hind legs.

[Sarah83]

Thanks guys, will get him in to the vet ASAP.

Sarahjayne, he's been on Wainwrights for 18 months-2 years now. Before that we tried pretty much every food going to try to find something he'd eat, wasn't allergic to and that kept his weight fairly stable.

[sarahjayne]

Hello again
I just checked the ingredients of Wainwrights dog food and discovered that it contains a minimum of 0,5 % of natural seaweed.
Seaweed stimulates the thyroid, so this could be making Ruperts thyroid work over time. It's worth mentioning to the vet anyway.
I think it would be a good idea to mention the funny turn he had in the garden too.
Have you tried him on a raw diet ?
Unfortunately almost all commercial dried dog food contains at least 60 % of grains of some sort, and grains can play havoc with the canine metabolism.
A great book if you want to read about the "bones and raw food diet" is "Give your dog a bone" by Ian Billinghurst available on Amazon.
Well I hope all goes well for you both,
Sarahjayne.x

[Sarah83]

I think it would be a good idea to mention the funny turn he had in the garden too.

The one where he refused to come in and lay there shaking? I do think that was fear of me but I'll mention it anyway.

I've not tried him on a raw diet, I'd like to but right now it's not practical. We can't get anything delivered to the house, we're not allowed to use the local butchers and if my husband were to be sent away with work I'd be struggling for food for myself let alone for the dog if he were fed raw. If it comes down to it we'd have to work something out but it would be difficult. We are limited to what we can feed him. Wheat makes him horribly itchy and gives him ear infections, corn he seems able to handle now and then but on a regular basis also causes problems.

[sarahjayne]

I understand your problem
The itching and earinfections are typical of the many symptoms caused by grain, as dogs are not really made to eat grain.
I don't know if you've read the article on raw food diet here on the forum but it's very interesting. (no grain at all)
Any way It's obvious that you do the best you possibly can for your dogs and that's what's important
Anyway the seaweed is the only thing that I can think of that may be causing a thyroid imbalance if that is found to be the problem
I hope all goes well at the vet.
Take care.

[Mattie]

Sarah, if you are in the UK try Burgess Sensitive, I use it with my dogs, Joe had terrible allergies to many foods and was fine with this, Merlin had a sensitive tummy and had no problems. It is mainly British lamb, they don't use foreign lamb, white rice and sugarbeet pulp. I had Tilly on it from 20 weeks old and she has developed really well.

[Sarah83]

That ones been recommended before Mattie but I've never been able to find anywhere to get it other than online. Getting anything delivered to the house means meeting the delivery at the guard room which is good half hour walk away and either picking it up from there or escorting them. A lot of them won't wait the half hour it takes to get there. I can't even search for the nearest stockist, our post code doesn't exist! I can hear the men in black tune playing....

God I so want to be back in the normal world!

[sarahjayne]

Where are you ? If that's not an indiscreet question

[Sarah83]

We're on a military base somewhere in northern Ireland (hubbys in the army). We'll be a hell of a lot less restricted when he gets moved from here thankfully.

[Mattie]

Sarah, Pets at Home sell it if there is one near you, if not there may be another big pet supermarket that will sell it.

[Sarah83]

They do? I'll have to have another look then when we next go. We have a Pets at Home about 20 minutes away.

[Mattie]

You will be surprised just how little she will need, I soak it for a couple of hours before feeding it, it swells to 4 times its size and my dogs think they are eating a lot more than they are.