Not Eating -- How Long Do I Let It Go On?

[Guest JsMom]

Every year, when summer starts heating up, Jeff stops eating. He usually skips breakfast and then eats dinner b/c he's hungry, and it only lasts a few days. This year, it's been going on for WEEKS. Part of it is that he got used to people food b/c our toddler has been trying to win him over. We cut that supply off, but he's still refusing to eat.

 

I leave his bowl out all day, so he can eat when he wants. He generally doesn't. Yesterday, he went over and sniffed, so I took my son into the other room to give him privacy. (Otherwise, the kid has his hands in the bowl. Jeff generally ignores him, but it's obvious he appreciates it when I take the baby away so he can eat in peace.) Well, Jeff came looking for us. So I had to stand there, next to his bowl, holding my son out of the way, til Jeff finished eating. And he would take a bite, sidestep the bowl like something was jumping out at him, and stood next to me/leaned on me while he chewed. He did this every bite.

 

He'll take treats like normal, and beg for people food at the table, so I'm guessing he's not sick. But he has vomited a few times over the past few weeks, and that worries me. Yesterday it was nothing but bile b/c his stomach was empty. Last week, he still had undigested kibble in his system when he got sick at 2 am -- he'd eaten dinner around 530.

 

Any ideas? How long should I wait for this to sort itself out? Should I hold fast to kibble-only and let him eat when he wants? Should I be giving him rice/oatmeal/boiled meat? (He doesn't have diarrhea at all...) Or just sprinkling good-smelling things in the kibble to keep him eating?

[Guest Greensleeves]

If it were my pack, I'd say a vet visit was in order.

 

It could be nothing, but with the food refusal and the vomiting... I'd get bloodwork done at least. The first symptom Nelly had of kidney failure was refusing her treats at bedtime.

[Guest knitkass]

I agree with greensleeves. I'd do some checking to rule out medical stuff instead of behavioural.

[ahicks51]

Have you taken a quick peek around the ol' mouth to see if there's anything that might be bothering him? Not wanting his own food, but continuing to ask for treats/people food is interesting, though.

[Guest Energy11]

Yes, I agree with everyone, too. I'd see the vet, get him an exam and bloodwork, and go from there.

 

Our Cari did the exact same thing! She was vetted, ... nothign wrong! She is STILL A HUGE PAIN to feed, but eats, and is healthy!

 

Good Luck!

[Guest K9_Lady]

Another idea is to try a different kibble. Maybe he is tired of it. Happened to me with my GH last month and now she is eating just fine.

[Guest JsMom]

Another idea is to try a different kibble. Maybe he is tired of it. Happened to me with my GH last month and now she is eating just fine.

You know, we are near the end of the bag, and he does tend to get fussy toward the end and eats better from a fresh bag. Maybe it's just stale?

 

And I have checked his mouth. I didn't see anything, but he does have some sensitivity sometimes. I've tried wetting his food, thinking his teeth might bother him, but that didn't do the trick. My instinct is that he's just being fussy, but now with the mentions of kidney failure and bloodwork, I'm freaking out!

[Guest K9_Lady]

I switched the brand of food but kept the same protein which for her is fish. She was on Wellness and now she is on Fromms. Wellness agreed with her but she just got tired of it!

You can call your Vet too just for your own peace of mind. Good luck and let us know!

[Burpdog]

You know, we are near the end of the bag, and he does tend to get fussy toward the end and eats better from a fresh bag. Maybe it's just stale?

 

Yes, or if it has no preservatives, rancid.

 

Don't buy more than a medium bag with one dog. Try putting in a couple of tablespoons of canned, leave it for 10 minutes and pick it up. Repeat at night.

[KF_in_Georgia]

If you leave kibble sitting in his bowl, it probably gets stale faster. Also, is it a stainless steel dish? Sometimes dogs become leery of stainless steel (seeing reflections in the bowl?), which might explain his taking treats from your hand. (Of course, he could just be conning you, too. Greyhounds train their owners so quickly...)

 

I'd try a few things: If it's a stainless bowl, I might put down his food on a paper plate instead of in his bowl. I'd pour out just a small amount of kibble (just one meal's worth), put it down, leave him alone for ten or fifteen minutes, then take up the kibble (you can bag it to keep it fresher), and don't put it down again until the next mealtime. Make sure he has some peace for his dinner; no toddlers underfoot.

 

If he's still not eating, you might take a treat and crumble it and mix it with his next mealtime kibble. If he eats the treat--or picks the crumbled bits out of his kibble--then he might be tired of his kibble or the bag might be stale. If he ignores the treat on his plate, it might be a dental issue.

 

If he were mine,* I'd probably be scheduling a vet visit, but trying these things before you see the vet could give you some ideas and give your vet more to go on.

 

 

*If it were one of mine boycotting dinner, I'd be having someone's head examined. My two eat in competition and empty their bowls in less than two minutes, knowing "the enemy" will eat anything they don't finish. I swear, I could feed them cardboard and they'd gulp it down.

[Guest JsMom]

Thanks, everyone. I have been adding in little bits here and there to get him to eat, but since we've been down this road before, and he DOES con me into sprinkling cheese onto his breakfast, I was leery about giving in.

 

I decided to call the vet this morning to see if he needs to be seen, and lo and behold, he ate his entire breakfast, right away, without anything added in. I think he knew I was going to call if he didn't eat...

 

I'll keep an eye on him, and get a new bag of food. It never occurred to me that something that's already so stale and crumbly could really get stale (or at least stale enough that he won't eat it).

 

Hopefully, he'll eat dinner too, and we'll be back on track. Thanks, everyone!

[KF_in_Georgia]

It never occurred to me that something that's already so stale and crumbly could really get stale (or at least stale enough that he won't eat it).

 

If you're feeding from a large bag, you can minimize the staleness if you'll break up the contents into smaller airtight containers and seal them well. Then, you just serve out of one container until it's empty, and each batch of kibble gets exposed to the air fewer times than opening and closing a big bag daily for weeks.

 

I've sometimes used old peanut butter jars (the largest size). I can really smell the difference in the kibble when I first open a jar that's been sealed for a while.