Cat Food....

[Lurcher]

I'd definately agree with Shmoo about the dental. Our Lurcher had a completely bad tooth, didn't whinge about it, and her breath didn't smell at all.

The only indication was that she quickly went off her dry food, and would only eat the soft wet food.

We gave her one of her favourite chews, and heard her yelp slightly when she chewed it. I guess the flavour overcame her fear of the pain.

After a quick visit to the vets, and minus one tooth, she quickly went back to eating anything and everything she could get her jaws around

Edited for poor spelling.

Edited July 24, 2007 by Lurcher

[t-time]

Look at it this way - you can't get your own food....

Mum gives you brekky which you may or may not eat.

You get given snacks (kibble) any time you want if you get hungry at all during the day.

When it gets late in the afternoon/evening, Mum is going to give you dinner.

You've been snacking all day and you ate part of your brekky so you're just going to eat your favourite bit of dinner and leave your veges.

Do as suggested - cut down the amount of food. Don't leave the bikkies all day. Feed your dog what YOU want to feed. Leave that down for 20 minutes. Pick it back up and don't feed him again until the same time next day

Be STRONG!

And if he really doesn't touch his food (ie NOTHING) after 4 days, check out more medical options whether there are digestion problems or a dental issue.

Good luck

[ShellyBeggs]

I agree with Shmoo. Stop leaving food down for him. He is playing on you psychologically to hang out for whatever he fancies to eat. You need to deal with him by putting the food down for him, and unlike Shmoo who would give him 20 mins, I would only give him 10 mins to eat whatever YOU have selected for him and when he turns up his nose at it, take it away. Let him starve! You will find it will be harder on you than on him to see him starve. Let him go hungry (totally hungry if necessary) for as long as it takes until he eats what YOU have selected for him. I can almost guarantee it will only take a few days before he eats heartily whatever you put down, BUT YOU MUST BE STRONG ENOUGH not to weaken to his whims. It is for his own good, as he should not live on cat food.

He is so small and skinny I don't think I have it in my heart to do it. I mean this pup weighs less than my handbag and should weigh a lot more.

[t-time]

He is so small and skinny I don't think I have it in my heart to do it. I mean this pup weighs less than my handbag and should weigh a lot more.

Then, Shelly, you need to do something to get more weight on him and IMPROVE his appetite ;)

I would still personally do as I and others previously suggested and feed less often, pick up the food and feed again the next day - that way you are making him HUNGRY and he WILL EAT!

You have to be tough or you are building a rod for your own back! You have already had him vet checked and the vet said he is just a fussy eater with nothing wrong?? Get him checked out again if it will put your mind at ease that there are no medical issues.

Don't forget that you will be trying to make him BETTER by sticking to a routine with the food. Tough love! You have to be cruel to be kind under the circumstances! You get the drift....

Then make sure the food you are giving him is 100% packed with good nutrients - crappy cat food and a few bikkies with the occasional bone is not going to cut it if he's so thin. And BOY he sounds skinny!

Do feed him what you want to but add extra -

THRIVE D was suggested - this is a great additive full of good vitamins and nutrients.

Buy some NUTRIGEL - this is an appetite stimulant also added vitamins.

SPRINT OIL for Greyhounds is another product many DOLers have used successfully - all the good oils and more vitamins for your boy!

All these items are available at pet stores or produce places - the ones which don't sell live animals of course!

Do a search here on DOL for SATIN BALLS - these are tempting treat which can be included as part of his meal - they are loaded with fat (lots of cream etc in the recipe and you can add cheese if he likes it) plus mince and other "doggy- type" ingredients.

Feed a super premium kibble - I don't know what kibble you are feeding at the moment but if your of the mind that super premium food is too expensive, just do it until you can get your dog sorted out with his weight and appetite. A kibble like EAGLE PACK or NUTRO is full of good stuff with no rubbish fillers and that's what he needs in his system at the moment. There are heaps of different brands but these two are ones I would suggest.

Add a tin of SARDINES a couple of times a week - 60 cents a tin!

Mix in some LIVER or HEART or whatever he'll eat offal-wise. (Personally, my dogs won't touch any offal!)

Honestly, as long as he is medically fit, these suggestions WILL work

And what you've been doing is not working So how about you give it a go??

Be strong! I know it can be distressing but they can be little ratbags sometimes

Edited July 24, 2007 by t-time

[Miss Helena]

I agree re the above posts about 'tough love' if a vet has given her health the all clear. When I first got my Chihuahua about 9 months ago she was a real pain with her food (I saw the vet about this too). She is a bit sensitive and very smart and was probably adjusting to her new home anyway (she was 10 months old when I bought her). I was feeding her twice a day on high quality/appropriate food but her appetite wasn't good - she would pick out the 'good' bits and go hungry. Some days she would hardly eat at all. At one point she lost lots of weight, which was scary for such a small/young dog. I resorted to feeding her 'silly' food like cheese etc to try and get something into her - doesn't work in the long term!!

Strangely enough, what worked was the one meal a day trick - no brekkie, no snacks, NOTHING between dinners, so she got good and hungry (walks/exercise helps with this too). She has been eating perfectly for the past 6 or so months, in fact since it's been winter she wants to eat too much!! She has gone from 2.7kg to a solid 3.8kg. My emotions/mind set had some impact too I'm sure - I mentally "let go" and realised she wouldn't die from not eating and changed my attitude from "OMG, please, please eat, Bonnie!! AAAHHHHH she's not eating properly, WTF is wrong!?!?!" to: "Here is a good quality dinner - it's up to you what you do with it, but that's all you get until tomorrow night". Leave them to it for 1/4 hour, don't watch/agonise/coax etc....I'm sure they somehow pick up on your attitude!!

Despite information to the contrary, I've also found that with my dog variety seems to work - a few nights of good quality tinned food (Natures Gift), a few nights of home cooked chicken/veg stew, a few nights of chicken necks, a few nights of raw meat.... I have two kinds of dry food which she gets with her dinner (about 1/2 dry and 1/2 'wet'). I swap the dry food each evening, that way each dinner is a bit different. I feel this method is covering all nutritional bases - I personally don't believe feeding only ONE dry dog food with nothing else can provide everything. But, this method may not work on other dogs - they may pick and choose and go hungry some nights, waiting for raw meat night etc. All I know is that I'm firm with Bonnie and she seems to realise each dinner is "It" for 24 hours. She seems to really enjoy her different meals and rarely leaves anything.

I've also just bought some Ziwipeak daily dog cuisine in Lamb, which is meat based, no fillers or grains, no artificial anything, air dried, not cooked - sprinkling a bit of this on top of food might help too. It's quite rich, so I wouldn't feed as the whole meal. It's available from the Natural Pet Store online.

Hope this helps a bit, it's very frustrating when they won't eat!!

Cheers, Helen

Edited July 25, 2007 by Miss Helena

[t-time]

*BUMP*

How's your puppy going ShellyBeggs?

[ShellyBeggs]

He is doing great.....thanks t-time

Whether the acidophilus tablets kicked in or its all psycological but I worked out that he will eat anything if he thinks he is stealing it from another dog.....

So I put out 4 extra bowls with his meal spread over the 4 of them and spread them around the room and he is happy to go around and eat them all! Takes him 30 minutes. The other dogs finish their dinner and get their bowls licked clean also...

Although not ideal I am happy that he is eating.......and without any cat food! Although every other day I chuck a bit in just to use up whats in the cupboard. And this weekend I am making satin balls.

I am so proud......in 2 weeks my little thin non-eating bubba has become a eating machine.....and he has gained nearly 3kg in 2 weeks!

[t-time]

CONGRATULATIONS!!

That's awesome ShellyBeggs

And it ended up being something we didn't even suggest LOL But hey. whatever works :D

Glad your pup is putting on some weight and food is no longer an issue