Apple Cider Vinegar & Cod Liver Oil

[Ellis]

Since we first brought Lexi home I have had her on Apple Cider Vinegar as I read that it was good for dogs. I mix it in with her meat. Recently she went off it & would not eat any food with it added around the same time she also went off Sardines. Today I bought Cod Liver Oil to try with her as she wasn't taking the ACV as I had heard that the Oil was good. Nope she won't touch the meat. I put 1 tsp in about 300g chicken mince.

The other 2 dogs came along later & scoffed it down & never hesitated.

Any ideas on how I can get her to take the Vinegar &/or the Oil?

Thanks

Beth

[Akitaowner]

some just dont like the taste - i have to be very careful with the amounts (i usually just use splash) for my boy as any more and he wont eat - OUr girl has no trouble tho and will eat almost anything.

he will eat anything if he is hungary enough - i dont really see the additives as vital and tend to only put them in every few days...

[Ellis]

I had been advised that 1tsp a week may help Lexi's skin problems, so I wanted to give it a try.

I mixed 1/2tsp with an egg yesterday & mixed it up, she scoffed it down. So maybe 1tsp was to much.

[cazxxz]

Perhaps try feeding her dinner with no ACV for a few days, then slowly increase the amount until you are feeding her the old dosage.

It's weird that she went off sardines though! I can't imagine a dog not liking the stinky slimy things. Could you try adding something she normally loves to the supplemented food? Maybe meat juice or stock, liver, whatever makes her go crazy?

[chloebear]

I'm lucky my dog will eat anything

[Ellis]

Perhaps try feeding her dinner with no ACV for a few days, then slowly increase the amount until you are feeding her the old dosage.

It's weird that she went off sardines though! I can't imagine a dog not liking the stinky slimy things. Could you try adding something she normally loves to the supplemented food? Maybe meat juice or stock, liver, whatever makes her go crazy?

Yep totally off Sardines & now that you mention liver she has gone off that too. I usually give it once a week or once a fortnite & the last 2 times I gave it she wouldn't touch it. I gave her a heart the other day she left it for a while then came back for it. Just seems to like her chicken mince at the moment as well as frames & wings. She is also on Advance biscuits & it fine still with those. Has me beat.

[RuralPug]

Yes, I, too increase up to the daily amount slowly to accustom newbies to the taste.

Slightly OT, sorry, but, gee, 1 tsp a week for a GSD doesn't sound like a lot. I give mine 1ml per approx 5kg bodyweight daily, added to their meat/veg mix and then their kibble ration over that. So the tinies get 1ml, most of the Pugs 2ml, the corgi cross got 2.5 ml etc. etc.

How much do others add?

Belated edit to say I'm talking about ACV dosage but dopey me has just realised that the 1tsp a week you're talking about is probably cod liver oil? [[[slinks off embarrassed]]]

Edited December 26, 2007 by Ruralpug

[RuralPug]

Perhaps try feeding her dinner with no ACV for a few days, then slowly increase the amount until you are feeding her the old dosage.

It's weird that she went off sardines though! I can't imagine a dog not liking the stinky slimy things. Could you try adding something she normally loves to the supplemented food? Maybe meat juice or stock, liver, whatever makes her go crazy?

Yep totally off Sardines & now that you mention liver she has gone off that too. I usually give it once a week or once a fortnite & the last 2 times I gave it she wouldn't touch it. I gave her a heart the other day she left it for a while then came back for it. Just seems to like her chicken mince at the moment as well as frames & wings. She is also on Advance biscuits & it fine still with those. Has me beat.

Edited to add - she's gone off liver as well? Could it be a hormone thing then?? Like some pups get funny taste things around early adolescence (6 - 10 months depending on breed size)?? Or is she due to come on heat soon?? I knew a bitch who was a piranha until just before her seasons & then she became Little Miss Fussy for a few weeks.

[Ellis]

She was desexed at 6mths. So definately not coming into season. Not sure about the hormone thing. What happens to hormones after desexing?

[RuralPug]

In a healthy desexed adult bitch, hormones ought to be fairly stable. In a young desexed bitch however, there will still be some hormonal fluctuations associated with growth. In a large breed like the GSD these could maybe happen up until about 18 months or so.

It's weird that this is not so much a LOSS of appetite (which would send me scurrying off for tests) but just a CHANGE in appetite. She is still happily eating her kibble and "undoctored" mince but not the extras and yummy stuff. :cool: If she is otherwise alert, healthy and happy then perhaps it's just a quirk.

You could try cutting down her kibble ration a little and seeing if she then becomes more interested in sardines, liver etc. Or, alternatively see if tipping the cod liver oil ration over her kibble will get it down her. Not sure if it would work to add ACV to dry though, I always add it to the meat/veg part.

One more suggestion - try mixing the ACV ration into the chicken mince as before, but then pouring a little hot water over the mince (about 2 tblspns over 300g should go) and letting stand for 1 min. Of course she will still smell the ACV but hopefully the yummier smell of warmed mince will be just too irresistable.

Edited 'cos I got tsps and tblspns mixed up!!! :D:D

Edited December 26, 2007 by Ruralpug

[Ellis]

Thanks for the advice Ruralpug. Lexi is an Amstaff, sorry for the confusion. The GSD in my avatar is my childhood dog.

Yep she is fine in all other aspects apart from going off the liver & Sardines. She did have a yeast infection in her ears, she is almost finished the ear drops & antibiotics for that but her appetite had changed before that.

A couple of times I did serve Sardines first thing in the morning with nothing else & by lunchtime she still hadn't eaten.

I was thinking of ditching the ACV as I had her on it from when she first came home to prevent any skin or ear problems & she has had both so I thinking that it isn't going to work for her. That is why I bought the Cod Liver Oil last week to try that instead.

The 2 little dogs have no worries with the ACV so I shall keep giving it to them.