Chronic Lack Of Appetite

[Stitch]

I have been able to get some more of her favourite treats ie. Luv Em Liver Cookies with Rosemary and she is actually looking forward to them when they are offered!!!

Over the years they have come in very handy for those who for whatever reason are off their food ie. in the later stages of pregnancy.

I am hoping that they are a start but time will tell so I thought I would share that info in case anyone else is interested.

Thank you all for your ideas, I really appreciate the support.

[kamuzz]

Coda my GSD has always been a problem eater. And he sometimes has bouts of diarrhoea that last for weeks with no apparent reason. His weight has dropped as low as 28kgs in the past.

If there is any sort of fuss made about his food, he won't eat it. No good asking him to sit or doing ToT. He will just walk off when I release him.

The only fresh meat he will eat is chicken. No lamb shanks, kangaroo tails, beef necks or anything like that. Doesn't particularly like dried liver treats. Won't eat pig ears.

After a lot of trial and error he seems to be doing OK on ProPlan Performance. (But ProPlan Large Breed gives him the runs.) And, he gets about a 1/4 can of Natures Gift mixed into his food and enough water to make it quite sloshy.

We have also stopped giving him any supplements like JointGuard too.

But there are days when he just walks away from his food, or won't even bother to follow me outside to look at it.

Edited November 6, 2010 by kamuzz

[Erny]

What I'm finding at the moment is that my boy is less likely to eat in the morning than he is later in the day. I can offer him his breakfast and he'll walk away uninterested. I can offer the same meal around lunch time, and he'll be looking forward to it.

Similarly for his "Roo Jerky" treats. Won't eat any in the morning but later on will happily accept them.

Although I expect there is an explanation for this somewhere, I don't understand it.

Edited November 7, 2010 by Erny

[Stitch]

Mmmm, lack of appetite certainly is worrying. Kamuzz your boy sounds just like what my young girl is doing.

One of mine has IBS and it took a long time to work out what she could or couldn't eat as it came on gradually and she would go for weeks with no problems then have vomiting and/or diahorrea episodes.

Once I realised that this dog couldn't have all the nice doggy things that all the others could eat I just kept her on Hills I/D & life for her became so much better. It took a while for the gut to settle down but once it did, no more sore belly, no more diahorrea or vomiting - she was a different dog. She has now progressed to Hills Sensitive Stomach which is considerably cheaper than I/D and she can also have a Luv Em cookie when she goes to bed. Sensitive Stomach doesn't seem to make her as bloated as the I/D tended to.

But my young girl has me stumped. I have changed back to feeding her a raw meat mix in a crate and as long as it is only a small amount she will eat it eventually - it usually takes about 3 hours. At that point I give her a few chicken necks which she eats fairly quickly. I am also giving her an Inner Health capsule and a dose of Pentavite. We are 'limping' along!! Hopefully things will gradually improve!