Not eating

[Ritz459]

Chloe's always been a finicky eater, but this is rediculous. This past week or two she has been refusing to eat. She will either flat at refuse to eat both of her meals, thus not eating anything for the day, or she'll eat some but not all (amounting to about a cup of food or a half cup of food for the day). She should be eating two cups of food a day to maintain her optimal weight. Yesterday she had two milk bones to eat and that was it. She wouldn't even go near her food bowl.

Normally I'm not concerned, as after a couple of days of fasting she'll go back to eating, but she has started to really loose weight. She was always at a good weight before, but now she's getting downright skinny.

There are no health problems to speak of, no worms or anything like that, so I am completely stumped. I have never known a dog to refuse to eat to the point that it is loosing weight without a medical reason. She's not under any stress or anything like that. Nothing has changed in her enviornment, besides the fact that I'm actually home more now because school is out.
I've never supplemented her food with anything else and when she doesn't eat I don't add something "tasty" into her food to get her to eat. I've tried changing the location of food dish and that hasn't helped any. She eats better penned out in her kennel then anywhere else, but that is only about a 55% rate of success and only when she is left outside for a couple of hours (while I'm at work, etc).

She is really driving me nuts. I'm planning on switching her food soon anyways because of pooping issues and I'm hoping that will help with her starving herself as well. I would really prefer NOT to mix anything in with her food (like canned food), but I realize that anything is better than her slowly starving herself.

Any ideas?

[Doglover1988]

Humm that is very strange. When my sister's dog Pixie was here she refused to eat and I wet her food with water and that made her eat it right up. Maybe you could try that? I used to have this problem with Zoe too her whole life, her weight would go up and down and she was very strange about eating.

[calgal]

When dogs lose weight from not eating, there is definately a health problem. I'd take a stool sample in to the Vet. for testing. Parisites can pop up anytime, and especially with hot weather.
Mayb you "should" consider switching her from dog food to real food. I've been home cooking for 48 years and have never had a dog that refused to eat. Here are some site I'm sure you will find very interesting about dog food:

Food Pets Die For; a Book Excerpt

food even a dog shouldn't eat

Rendering: the "Invisible Industry" Gets a Green Facelift | Center for Media and Democracy

Welcome to Born Free USA united with Animal Protection Institute

http://members.ozemail.com.au/~aciro/pollak1.html

Does Your Dog Food Include Euthanized Dog?

WHO REGULATES THE PET FOOD INDUSTRY

Also there is another major recall: FDA Requests Seizure of Animal Food Products at PETCO Distribution Center

[Cassiepeia]

I agree. I'd take her to a vet and find out what's wrong. She may have a sore tooth too, or perhaps a sore spot in her mouth somewhere? Talk to a vet first and then, if they give you the all clear, think about behaviour second.

Cass.

[Dangels]

That does seem very strange, and as stated above.... when a dog refuses to eat for that long of a time period, there is almost always some type of medical condition behind it. If I were you, i'd take her to the vet and get her checked out, if you haven't done that already. If everything comes back fine from the vet, then i'd try changing her food. Another thing you could try, would be to add some healthy, natural foods to her diet. I really wouldn't recommend adding a canned food, instead maybe some chunks of chicken, rice, veggies, ect. That's just a thought....

Anyways, best of luck!

[Ritz459]

I really don't think anything is wrong with her physically. She has no problem chewing/eating other things (treats, bones, paper...) so I highly doubt that there is something wrong with her mouth. She was dewormed a couple of months ago and I've been keeping up on her heart worm medicine (which also kills other types of worms as well). I will mention something about her lack of appetite when we go in for a checkup and shots next week, however, because I'd hate to be wrong.

It is almost like her food doesn't interest her. Although today when I left for work I put two cups worth of dog food out in her bowl and she had eaten all of it by the time I got home (four hours later). I had it sitting down for her all morning inside and she refused to even look at it.
From her past behavior about eating, it is almost as if she needs to have a change of scenery before she'll eat. If she's inside most of the day she won't eat inside but outside. If she is outside most of the day she won't eat outside, but will eat when I bring her in.

So for the time being that is what I'm going to do....if she's inside, feed her outside. If she is outside, feed her inside. I'm also going to decrease her feedings to just one a day and give all of the food to her at once so when she is "in the mood" she'll eat it all instead of just half of her daily portion.

Maybe you "should" consider switching her from dog food to real food.

I've honestly thought about it before, but I don't know if I would be up to it. Feeding kibble is just so much easier than raw cooking. I have just now started getting motivated and used to feeding my Guinea Pig fresh veggies....so maybe in a year or two I'll be less lazy and more willing, but until then, I'll just admire those who do it. I will look at the links you posted though.

Another thing you could try, would be to add some healthy, natural foods to her diet. I really wouldn't recommend adding a canned food, instead maybe some chunks of chicken, rice, veggies, ect. That's just a thought....

How should I balance out what I add to her food with the amount of food she eats?

Would a broth (like chicken) be okay to just drizzle a bit over the kibble to make it a bit more appealing?

[Lunachick]

Zoe used to be like that, though, not to that extent. I used to feed twice a day on the previous brands of kibble (Pro-Plan, Nutro, then Eagle Pack). But after I changed the brand to Wellness and only once a day, she hasn't skipped a meal. So I'd say after the vet check-up, if the problem persists, maybe change the brand and drop it to one meal a day?

[Ritz459]

Just bought a small bag of CA Natural Lamb and Rice formula. We're going to start the switching tonight (very, very gradually because of her sensitive stomach) and HOPEFULLY it will help. I hand fed her a couple peices of the kibble and she liked it well enough.

Hear's hoping I get Chloe's eating problems and pooping problems under control. This dog gives me headaches. LOL

[Ritz459]

She's started to eat again, the dummy. The night before last she woke me up at 2am and panting and carrying on. I took her outside and she had massive dierreah and then puked twice....had a couple of loose stools during the day, and today she is perfectly fine with normal stools.

I've slowly been mixing in the CA Natural with her regular food, and so far so good. She's getting a mixture of about 60% Chicken Soup with 40% CA Natural (just bumped it up today...she was getting a 3:1 ratio).

Hopefully this food does the trick. I'm optimistic.

[IceyBlueSibes]

Have you maybe tried some plain yogurt to add to her food, for her tummy? Anyone think that may help? I know it's go the live cultures in it to help with digestive systems?

[Dangels]

How should I balance out what I add to her food with the amount of food she eats?

Would a broth (like chicken) be okay to just drizzle a bit over the kibble to make it a bit more appealing?

Chicken soup or broth should be perfectly fine to add as a little extra flavor to her diet. I just add a little bit of something, for a dog her size i'd say table spoon full of chicken peices, and mix it into her food. But, what you're doing with chicken soup should be alright too. I always ask my vet, and get directions from her when I add things to their diet. Mainly because I have mostly Great Danes, and they can only have a very small amount of protein in their food. Feeding them too much protein could be very bad for them. However, if Chloe is eating her new food with the chicken soup mixed in, i'd just continue that unless your vet tells you otherwise.

I'm glad that she's finally eating again!