Dear Jack,
My old girl is refusing to eat. It does no good to gently force feed her; she just closes her mouth and walks away. She doesn’t even want her favorite treats. What should I do?
Sometimes we are just spoiled when you’ve added “people food” to our meals or tease us with tasty treats. After a while we can put our nose up to everything until we get the tender vittles that we seek. Sometimes, however, we need to be evaluated to find out if there is something physically wrong with us.
Typically if we are older or if we have struggled with ongoing health issues, we will tell you when we’ve had “enough”. We cannot tell you through speech so we must tell you by our actions. This is one of the clues for you, of knowing when the time is coming to help us on our way.
When we stop eating due to illness and decline towards the end of life, it often indicates that we are ready to give up the fight. When we are frail, disabled and infirmed, the only control we have is to close our mouth and refuse the food. So many people don't understand this. They attempt to force feed or they think that we are being uncooperative or unreasonable. We are just communicating the only way we know how. We are saying enough is enough.
The best thing when the time comes is to be prepared, stay in the energy of the power of the love and faith in your heart…and don’t cling. It’s the clinging, the resistance, the refusal to let go, that always causes the most pain.
Love, Jack
Credits: Jack McAfghan: Letters From Rainbow Bridge
