I got an old dog that is losing weight pretty fast. She is 16 and for the last 15 years she has been about 25-28 pounds, and she is currently sitting at like 12 pounds.
I have been alternating between hot dogs and bologna as she likes to eat them and doesn’t fuss about it. Most wet dog foods will work for about a week, then she turns her nose up at it.
I’ve soaked her dry food to get the volume up for her, which worked for a bit but now she pretty much refuses to eat dry food for about two days then nibbles.
I get that older dogs tend to lose their appetite as they get close to the end, but I’d prefer she not pass away from starvation over old age. I do still tend to hold off from straight up sugar/carbs, but a random peanut butter sandwich scrap or three has been passed over to her more than once.
So I am looking for ideas for high calorie food which can be purchased easily and preferably on the cheap.
My old dog went through the same thing - turned out his teeth were bad. Prior to that discovery one thing that worked for keeping his weight up was to cook his food myself. He liked chicken (necks are cheap and the bones aren’t dangerous) stewed up with pasta, rice or potatoes, and veg like peas and carrots; mincemeat ditto, with a bit of liver; ox heart and/or tongue also good but a bit gross. Offal is offally cheap, usually.
Important: Don’t use onion or garlic! They’re toxic for dogs.