Dog Not Wanting To Eat

[whiskedaway]

My eight month old Lappie has been eating less and less for the last month. I thought she didn't like her kibble at first so changed it, then I thought she was being picky (though I've never facilitated that in the past because if they don't eat it, it gets taken away within 10 minutes), now I just don't know. It's a struggle to get her to eat anything at the moment - she picks at any different type of kibble we try, and she even picks at raw meat (she gets lamb flaps or chicken wings with her dinner). She has been showing signs of coming into season for a while, and I wasn't sure if maybe it was because she's close on coming into season?

Has anyone had dogs that stop wanting to eat when coming into season and how long has it lasted for?

[Shelby]

No, have never had any of my girls go off their food before or during a season. Have you checked her throat? She may be suffering from tonsilitis which would stop her from eating her kibble? Hope she starts to eat again soon

[whiskedaway]

Haven't checked her throat, but have checked her teeth and mouth and they're fine. Will see if I can see her throat tomorrow when she's awake. Would there be other signs? She doesn't seem sick.

[Jumabaar]

Just regarding the tonsillitis- from experience Abby who has had it twice.

The first time she didn't go off food (not surprising when she didn't go off food with a pin in the roof of her mouth!) she has a very slight temp, a slight change in personality- difficult to train and just plain silly. When we looked in her throat you could see how red and inflamed it was. I had my wisdom teeth out the day after her diagnosis so we recuperated and commiserated each other on the lounge for a week!

The second time she just seemed a little flat no temp, but we could see the redness in her throat again, I think we caught it early.

None of mine have gone off food, but you already know it is a personal thing.

Is she losing condition or remaining the same weight?

[Ons]

Latte hasn't gone off her food now she is in season but she has changed into a totally different dog - instead of being a wild can't sit still girl she is quiet, sleeps alot and spends her day wanting cuddles.

[whiskedaway]

No redness in throat and she's been bombing around like an idiot this morning so don't think she's sick.

No she hasn't lost any condition yet (can easily feel her ribs but she's always been a little on the slim side) but we are forcing her to eat and not letting her leave her bowl until it's almost all gone. Standing there for half an hour making sure she eats isn't exactly fun though!

[WreckitWhippet]

Trying to force her to eat isn't go to help your situation.

It's quite likely that he growth spurts have now slowed down and she doesn't require the energy and amount of food she did as a growing baby.

Cut her food down to 1/2 of what it was per meal and see how she goes on that. Give her a smaller amount and give her the 10-15 minutes to eat it. If she's still on two meals, cut it back to one a day.

[JulesP]

Amber started her food issues during her first season. She got really fussy, especially with kibble. Bones got gobbled still. She did lose a fair bit of weight and it has been a struggle to get it back on. The vet couldn't find anything wrong.

She is super fussy. She likes bones and beef mince. Not keen on chicken mince. Refused to touch rabbit. Not a fan of tinned food (NG) or sardines. Can only get her to eat a small amount of kibble. All veggies are spat out.

I'm getting her desexed soon so it will be interesting to see if her appetite improves.

[The Spotted Devil]

Latte hasn't gone off her food now she is in season but she has changed into a totally different dog - instead of being a wild can't sit still girl she is quiet, sleeps alot and spends her day wanting cuddles.

I wish Day 13 now and Em is MAD as a hatter still. Definitely no loss of appetite....Zig just approached her crate for a sniff of her nether regions and she just lay defiantly on top of her marrow bone so he couldn't have it :D Even Dizzy the cat has given up trying to steal the bone unless she's out of her crate!

[whiskedaway]

Trying to force her to eat isn't go to help your situation.

It's quite likely that he growth spurts have now slowed down and she doesn't require the energy and amount of food she did as a growing baby.

Cut her food down to 1/2 of what it was per meal and see how she goes on that. Give her a smaller amount and give her the 10-15 minutes to eat it. If she's still on two meals, cut it back to one a day.

She's a dog that's always been prone to being underweight - she was extremely extremely thin as a baby puppy. She's also a very slow maturer and will not be finished growing until she's eighteen months old. So she does still need a fair bit of food. I've already cut out her breakfast and didn't increase her dinner to make up for it. The issue is, she's picking at her food from the first bite. She's not self-regulating - she doesn't want to eat AT ALL.

For example - she just got her dinner about 10 minutes ago. She hasn't eaten a thing since this time yesterday. Gave her 3/4 cup of kibble soaked in beef stock (a tip from someone within my breed to try and convince her to eat) and a chicken wing. She sniffed it and walked away. Came back, ate one piece of kibble and sat down. Then ate another piece of kibble. Then licked the chicken wing. Walked away. Came back, took the chicken wing out of the bowl and slowly started eating it. By the time she had almost done with the wing, my Sibe had finished her dinner (1 cup kibble, one large lamb flap, so a bigger dinner than the lappie). Lappie finally finishes the wing, then goes back to picking at the kibble. She walked away at least four times before she finally finished the kibble.

Everyone says "don't worry, she won't starve herself" but I just don't want her to go back to the way she was as a baby. I was already worried I ruined her then.

Edited August 15, 2011 by whiskedaway

[JulesP]

She sounds exactly like Amber. I swear she eats kibble one piece at a time, with lots of walking off in between. I have to stand outside too to make sure she eats it all and not Poppy.

Amber looks quite immature too and gets mistaken for a puppy a fair bit.

Putting stuff on the kibble didn't really work. Blood was the most successful.

Amber has stacks of energy though and a shiny coat and bright eyes.

[supercharged]

I have an on/off fussy eater as well. I found firstly I was feeding too much at one meal, secondly implemented the 20mins to eat routine or wait till next meal time. I found all these strategies helped getting back on track - but coming into season is always back to square one! She never starves herself though, but dry food is not to ;) lerated full stop, she prefers raw all the way.

[whiskedaway]

Well, Halo came into season this morning, so at the moment it looks like all her fussiness could have been due to that. Will be interesting to see how she goes when she's finished. We've switched to feeding her in the morning, and she seems to be much more inclined to eat earlier in the day, though she's still slow about it.