Sick Dog Who Won't Eat or Drink?

After nine years, my dog has finally gotten sick enough to be cause for alarm.  Normally, she drinks water constantly and will lie to me just to get a second helping of food, so when she refused to eat or drink I was concerned.  It all started off with what appears to have been a sinus infection.  After about a day, she was becoming lethargic and disoriented.  I noticed she was drinking significantly less water, so I figured she was just dehydrated.  We switched her food to chicken soup, which she loves.  Fever ensued.  After about another day, she refused to even eat that.  What with the arthritis on her back legs, she was just stumbling around sideways like a drunken camel.  Not so good.

We took her to her doctor and he prescribed her an antibiotic in a pill form, which is hard to feed a dog who doesn't want to eat.  I snuck it in with the eggs and tuna that I had to actually put inside her mouth, but after another day she wouldn't even accept that.  Even after her fever broke, she still refused to eat or drink.

Running out of ideas, I went online to look for some more information about dogs who won't eat or drink, and I stumbled upon this article, which talks about feeding dogs maple syrup and water or chicken broth via syringe or turkey baster.  I must say, I felt strange injecting a maple syrup and water solution into the back of my beast's cheek, but she liked it.  After a few minutes, she was willing to take a short walk, which opened up her appetite for a little more tuna and turkey (in which I hid her pill).  She even ate some by herself out of her bowl and then had a little water.  This morning, she had more maple syrup, plenty of water, and some puppy treats with a few bites of tuna.  The puppy treats she's willing to eat on her own.  We will take another stroll soon and hopefully open up her appetite a little more.  She's definitely on the mend.

Awesome Tip of the Day:  Spoil your dog when they're sick.  Just give them whatever is necessary to get them to eat and drink and take their medication (if applicable).  Try not to think about how impossible they will be once they're both healthy and well-accustomed to eating gourmet dodo bird eggs drizzled lightly in unicorn tears and served up on a gold platter.

Update:  Osa is eating just fine now and drinking plenty of water.  Now it's just a matter of weening her from being picky, now that she's used to all the special treats.  I let her be hungry all morning and she finally ate her food.  We had some blood drawn a couple of days ago to test for Lyme Disease, which is quite possible in coastal California, just in case.  Just waiting for the results.

Update on Lyme Disease:  Results- negative.  (No more excuses... ;) )