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how to help my dog...please read for more info?

My dog got loose during a storm on February 14th. I did all I could think of to find her. We had three weeks of BAD blizzards one right after another. during this time the average Temperature was 40 below zero and the average wind speed was 40-50 mph with frequent gusts approaching up to 90 mph. I gave up finding her and thought she probably was dead. But miracles happening!!! On friday the dog catcher had a report that some people though that there might be a dog living under a building in the airport. He set a humane trap and caught her and returned her to me.The building she was under was a storage shed enclosed by a fence. She somehow got in but was unable to get back out. So she was trapped for over a month without any food or water. There was snow but we are not sure what she had been eating. The dog catcher looked her over and said that she actually looked pretty good for what she had been through. Since she has been back she has done nothing but sleep. She has not eaten or drunken anything, even when i try to feed her by hand. I have taken her out to relieve herself and she hasn,t yet. I live in an Alaskan village and do not have access to a vet without flying her out. Any ideas on how to get her to eat and drink? what would be good foods for her to be eating? PS

Public Comments

1. She is probably exhausted. Try warming up some food for her. I would try offering anything you think she may eat, cooked or raw. As for the fluids, make sure there is plenty available and that it is clean. If she goes too long without drinking, she will dehydrate and get quite sick. Give her a little time and if she doesn't respond, you could maybe telephone the vet and ask for some professional advice. Hope she's OK
2. God Bless the souls that found her and reported! You can try a mash of rice and anything easy on her digestion but if you could get some high calorie restorative nutrients/electrolytes into her and water- especially like pedialyte (for babies/children) formula for ailing or motherless puppies, goats milk, canned or however, canned lamb & rice dog-puppy food, etc. Your limitations are hampering you- but CALL a VETS office even first ANYWHERE should be happy to suggest some things as well!
3. keep her warm. warm her food a little (dry food, put some hot (not boiling water on it).
4. If she just got home recently, then she's probably just glad and relieved, and hasn't thought about eating yet! If she's acting normally other than sleeping a lot (which I would imagine is to be expected after what she went through), then I would just try to feed her whatever you can...or at least anything she will eat!! I always try boiling some beef or chicken and mixing it with some cooked brown rice, and sometimes adding a little bit of beef or chicken broth for some extra flavor...sometimes they also like steamed salmon with the rice, too. This usually works, but you can also try different canned dog foods, or even different dry ones mixed with warm water or beef or chicken broth, too. If you do get her to start eating, the more water you can add to it, the better, especially if she still won't drink much plain water by herself. If nothing works in the next day or two, then I would suggest flying with her to the vet, because she can only go so long without food or water!! Since she was lost for so long, and is still alive, and the dog catcher said she looked pretty good, then she was obviously eating SOMETHING out there, so I would imagine she isn't really ill or injured, so hopefully, she'll eat something soon, and once she starts eating and drinking again, she'll start going to the bathroom normally too!! Good luck, and I'm so happy for you that she was found after so long and is safe!!!
5. I'm happy to hear you got your dog back, I know I'd be heart broken if I lost mine. With that said, I am sure you are worried sick about the dogs health. If the dog has not yet been examined by a vet, it sounds like you are going to have no choice but to fly her out and do that in the near future. Sadly, you have no way of knowing what could have happened while she stuck in there. Should could have eaten a dead animal and contracted something. She could have internal bleeding from an injury.. there is a lot that could be wrong and not eating or drinking or using the bathroom is usually a very clear sign of these things, as well as being extremely tired. If you wont be able to get her out for a couple of days, you could try a few alternative meals rather then just dog food to see if she will eat those. You of course want to be careful in what you feed her. Make a few cups of white rice and add some low fat low salt canned chicken broth to the rice. Try feeding her that. Most dogs seems to think its some wonderful treat, even though its really the same thing as their dog food, just a different texture to it. You could also get some ground beef, fry it, drain the fat and then rinse it with cold water to get as much fat off as possible, mix that in with her dry dog food or just give her some of it straight and see if she will take that. The water is the most important thing to get in her system though. If she is suffering from dehydration she could get very sick quick. You might be able to get her to eat some ice cubes which would be a good way to get the water in, you can make beef flavored ones with a little water and beef soup in an ice tray. I do really think she needs to get to a vet though as soon as possible. Good luck and I hope she gets better soon.
6. hm tricky maybe try giving her wet warm dog food and let her rest and keep warm is she a only dog she might be lonely no probably not maybe give her really good food like meat or something i hopet helps
7. You need to go very slow introducing food and water; if she has not been eating, her system may not handle it well and you do not want her to start vomiting! If you can get unflavored Pedialyte- at room temp- and a syringe (without the needle) the larger the syringe the better- you can dribble this toward the back of her mouth- not into her throat (it may cause her to choke or aspirate it into her lungs). Stroke her throat gently from the outside to encourage her to swallow. If you can't get any pedialyte, you can make a glucose solution with plain water, brown or white sugar and just a little bit of salt. Mix it on the stove so that the sugar dissolves well, then add just a little salt and let it cool to the dogs body temp- It is much more important to get fluids into her than food. If she is conscious and sitting up- and interested in drinking- you can try chicken bioulion cubes dissolved in hot water and cooled-- that may tempt her to drink as well. If you notice that she is drinking well, and you want to try a small amount of food, I strongly suggest against dog food!!!!!! Instead- get a jar of Baby Food meat (lamb is easy to digest for them) heat it so its just slightly warmer than the dogs body temp and feed her by hand to tempt her to eat it. Don't worry about her going out to potty- nothing in- nothing out! She is probably exhausted and weak- and her body functions will be slowed because of that. She has probably been surviving on wildlife and eating snow for water- she is undoubtedly in rough shaped- but with love and care and patience, she will come around! Call your Vet in the morning and see what they say - I am sure they will want to see her Good Luck!!