We had a holiday coming up and it was always going to be difficult finding somewhere to kennel Hippie but then a friend suggested that she could have her for the week and take holiday from her job to do just that.
When my boiler broke down and had to be replaced it seemed the ideal time to give this idea a try. We arranged to take Hippie on day release for the two days it would take the plumbers to carry out the work.
It was all going so well ? my daughter got text messages in the day telling her how well Hippie was doing. But when she got home she would not eat her dinner ? we had had this problem before and had resolved it by taking the food away after 20 minutes and then leaving it until the next mealtime. That did not work this time however ? so the next day my daughter took a day off and took her to the vets ? she was asked if the dog had had different food but her friend said she hadn?t fed her.
The next day she was no better and the vet gave her an injection as her temperature had started to rise. In an attempt to make her eat I tried her with pilchards, that only worked once and then she left it. Last ditch attempt was Baker?s Complete ? she liked that when we first got her but it affected her tum (just a bit rich for her I think) ? anyway the first meal she had all Baker?s with water and she ate it. Every meal since has been mixed with her ?sensitive? dry food, Baker?s and water. But each meal has had less Baker?s as we try to sort out her reluctance to go back to her normal diet.
I think for the holiday we will have to weigh out, pack and label each meal to make sure she eats normally. The friend will have her own greyhound by then so I imagine Hippie will be worn out from racing round the garden and will eat and sleep like a baby.