Getting Tired Of Her Kibble?

[Guest Cardiffcouple]

Beth has always been an enthusiastic, non-picky eater -- a member of the "clean plate club" (though I vaguely remember that she was something of a reluctant eater at the adoption kennel). I always feed her plain kibble in the morning, kibble with mix-ins like mackerel or tripe in the evening (or sometimes raw). She has been on TOTW Pacific Stream for about a year and a half -- after a lot of searching it was what finally worked well for her in the poop department. The second best kibble we tried was another fish-only one, Pro Plan Selects Salmon. She is clearly a sensitive-tummy girl.

 

In the past couple of days, Beth seems to have lost interest in eating her kibble when it's plain -- most of the time, anyway. Monday morning she wouldn't eat, and I thought she was having GI issues, as the only time ever she didn't eat before led to her vomiting and being sick for a few days. So I fasted her for a day and started her on a course of Flagyl as my vet recommends, and got some cans of I/D. But she seemed to feel fine and had normal poop. (And no, it can't be a dental issue; her teeth are perfect -- even my vet, whom I took her to for a check Tuesday, said so, and he found nothing else wrong with her on examination.)

 

So this week, she has continued to mostly (not always) sniff her kibble and walk away, sometimes looking at me with what I imagine as a "that all ya got?" look on her face. But she eats I/D eagerly and kibble when there's I/D or something else mixed in, and sometimes once she's eaten she'll eat some more kibble plain. But she's just not going for it the way she always did. I even opened a new bag to see if having fresher stuff made a difference, but it didn't.

 

It really feels like she isn't sick but has just all of a sudden decided she doesn't much like it. I know it's not unheard of for a dog to get tired of a flavor, but how common is it? Does this sound like that to you?

 

I hate the thought of having to change kibbles, when TOTW Pacific Stream has worked so well ... I'm going to try TOTW High Prairie first, as I know people here and greyhound friends not on GT who feed it with success, but the ingredient list has always sounded like the road to D to me. If that doesn't work, oy, it's going to be a pain. I guess I'd know at least if adding in a new flavor perks up her interest in plain kibble again.

 

 

We feed Ben and Mercy the same food and they have just started doing the same thing! They sniff and walk away! We even thought maybe since we bought the large bag that the food at the bottom was off so we tossed it and bought the smaller bag. Same thing. When we first got it they scarfed it down and even loved it for treats. Now they are not interested. If we leave the bowls down they will eventually eat it but we don't like to do that.

[Laurenbiz]

I'm sorry, Anne! I've been reading this thread - but I don't think I have much advice.

 

Bernie and Beth are totally related. He goes through picky spells with his food. (Of course, her spell right now may be something else.) Tonight, for example, I gave him his usual bowl of TOTW Sierra Mountain kibble, with some TOTW wet food High Prairie on top, and some boiled carrots mixed in. (I boil a few handfuls of veggies and then use them later to mix into his food a little every day!)

 

He barely ate any of it. So I went back and put a dollup of yogurt in his food. Then, he ate about half. I then sprinkled some cheese on it later. Finally, he ate the last half!

 

I'd feel bad if I saw him totally avoid it, so I let him force me into trying out different ways to make his food appealing. Cesar Millan would not be proud

[PrairieProf]

I'm still not sure what was/is going on with Beth, but I think it was a flare-up of her tendency towards GI issues. After a course of Hill's I/D and metronidazole she's been back on straight TOTW for some days and does eat it, perhaps not with as much gusto as before. She'd gobble it with add-ins, certainly, but I'm trying to avoid those at the moment both to get a clear idea of how she is with TOTW per se and also not to encourage pickiness. And her poop is OK but not great, kind of variable time to time. I'm planning to go back to the vet in a few days to discuss what the next step might be.

 

Lauren, my vet does say that if a dog doesn't want to eat he shouldn't be forced -- because his tummy may be off and eating isn't a good idea. Hopefully that's not what's going on for Bernie. But the one time in December I really had to force Beth through a bowl of food by a bunch of repeated add-ins she ended up vomiting repeatedly and being really sick -- we ended up at the e-vet because I was scared! (Our final guess was a stomach bug as it wasn't a lasting issue and we couldn't find anything else wrong.) So I really learned my lesson there.

Edited February 9, 2011 by PrairieProf

[Guest NJgrey]

I feel like I've posted this story 100 times but hey, it's my experience so what can I do. Just throwing it out there.

 

Ellie went through a similar thing. She got picky with kibble, we started doing add-ons, everything under the sun to get her to eat cause we felt so bad. That road ended with pancreatitis, colitis and HGE, and a three day stay at the e-vet getting fluids because she was severely dehydrated.

 

If the dog doesn't really want to eat, don't make it eat, even if that goes on for a couple days. My vet later said that dogs were pleasers, that they know you want them to eat so they force themselves to (at least a little), even though they don't feel good. And in the case of some GI things, it makes them feel even worse to eat or even drink.

 

I would be doing the same thing the OP has been doing - the flagyl treatment etc. I would also get a blood test and check for pancreatic inflammation, cause if it's that, then anything hitting her stomache is going to cause her discomfort or even pain.

[PrairieProf]

Beth is doing much better over the past few days -- she's eating heartily now and her poop has finally firmed up after being kind of so-so. No more flagyl but we've been hitting the probiotics and Prozyme pretty hard. I swear I think that part of it (maybe a big part of it) is that it's been super cold this week and we haven't been going to the dog park where she unfortunately eats poop like crazy (and since it's the dog park she can't wear her muzzle with stool guard -- I actually tried once since I'm just there with other doggie "regulars" I trust, but her object-obsessed Doberman friend started to chew the muzzle while it was on Beth's head! ). The first time she didn't want to eat (and some subsequent times) have been when I tried to feed her kibble after a big poopsicle breakfast in the early morning, sigh.

Edited February 10, 2011 by PrairieProf

[DonnaBehr]

If she had a poopsicle breakfast, she probably wasn't hungry any more.

[TheFullHouse]

Beth is doing much better over the past few days -- she's eating heartily now and her poop has finally firmed up after being kind of so-so. No more flagyl but we've been hitting the probiotics and Prozyme pretty hard. I swear I think that part of it (maybe a big part of it) is that it's been super cold this week and we haven't been going to the dog park where she unfortunately eats poop like crazy (and since it's the dog park she can't wear her muzzle with stool guard -- I actually tried once since I'm just there with other doggie "regulars" I trust, but her object-obsessed Doberman friend started to chew the muzzle while it was on Beth's head! ). The first time she didn't want to eat (and some subsequent times) have been when I tried to feed her kibble after a big poopsicle breakfast in the early morning, sigh.

 

 

Now that makes sense. My Emmy got a really bad case of HGE from eating poop. She spent 3 days at the vet and couldn't even keep water down and was pooping bloody liquid. We almost lost her. She is the reason everyone in the house now wears muzzles with stool guards when they go outside. It scared me to death.

[PrairieProf]

Beth is doing much better over the past few days -- she's eating heartily now and her poop has finally firmed up after being kind of so-so. No more flagyl but we've been hitting the probiotics and Prozyme pretty hard. I swear I think that part of it (maybe a big part of it) is that it's been super cold this week and we haven't been going to the dog park where she unfortunately eats poop like crazy (and since it's the dog park she can't wear her muzzle with stool guard -- I actually tried once since I'm just there with other doggie "regulars" I trust, but her object-obsessed Doberman friend started to chew the muzzle while it was on Beth's head! ). The first time she didn't want to eat (and some subsequent times) have been when I tried to feed her kibble after a big poopsicle breakfast in the early morning, sigh.

 

Now that makes sense. My Emmy got a really bad case of HGE from eating poop. She spent 3 days at the vet and couldn't even keep water down and was pooping bloody liquid. We almost lost her. She is the reason everyone in the house now wears muzzles with stool guards when they go outside. It scared me to death.

 

OMG, that's scary! I'm glad we're supposed to have quite a warm-up over the next week and hopefully the poop won't be quite so alluring -- it's definitely the frozen stuff she's fixated on. Beth has never gotten dramatically sick or gotten the runs from poop, so I wasn't prepared for it to be a major factor here. Maybe she reached the critical mass of consumption...

 

It's really frustrating: the dog park is the only place Beth can really run in the winter, but it's laden with frozen poop (people are so frikkin' lazy about picking it up in the snow! .) Finding a time where she can be there solo with her muzzle is very inconvenient, and she'd miss playing with her buddies if she never got to be with them all winter....

Edited February 11, 2011 by PrairieProf

[IndyandHollyluv]

Interesting read here. Far be it from me to tell people how and what to feed their pups (so I'm not!) but if your dog REALLY doesn't like its food - why would you continue to feed it? Kinda like if your mom knew you totally hated, uh say - rutabagas, but served them every night anyway?? Just asking. Perhaps the food is too rich? Seems to be a problem for many of the hounds. Is it rancid? Maybe it simply doesn't smell very appetizing?

 

Maybe it's just dumb luck but none, nada, zero of my hounds - young or old - have ever turned their nose up at a meal. Ever. (Wish I could serve raw but I don't have time to deal with that right now.)

 

Right now, here's what I do which seems to work for my three seniors:

 

Breakfast - kibble moistened with warm water; I smear several "licks" of canned food (pate style) on the inside of the bowl rim. I throw in a "bonus" soft treat like jerky or similar (I have one virtually toothless senior so I try not to make life too difficult for him.); or perhaps a few slices of banana, a couple of fresh blueberries, a spoonful of well-rinsed canned salmon - whatever strikes me.

 

Lunch - kibble sprinkled with Heska FA Granules (omega / flax meal) moistened with warm water. Maybe a bonus treat.

 

Supper - I heat up in the micro some canned "stew" dog food (Blue, Merrick, Avoderm, Wellness - I rotate the stock) and mixed vegetables (spinach, green beans, peas, broccoli, lima beans, other greens), a couple of noodles, legumes, or cooked sweet potato, whatever; mix it up with the kibble. Maybe 1/4 to 1/3 of a cup. Makes for a very yummy stew and very content hounds.

 

Admittedly, my dogs poop a lot. Consequences of eating three times per day!

 

But I never serve just "dry" kibble. Bor-ing. My hounds LIVE to eat. It is the highlight of their day, week, month, year, life! so why wouldn't I try to make it yummy and fun for them?

 

That being said. None of my hounds have ever had any dental extractions. So you can't blame a "soft" meal. I brush teeth a few times per week and they all get an annual dental. I adopted the almost toothless 12 yr old last summer, so I had no control over his lack of dental care.

 

Currently, I'm back to Purina Pro Plan Sensitive Skin & Stomach as I think the TOTW Pacific Stream was too rich for my 10 yr old boy who has a very sensitive gut. He was super gassy, burped a lot, and had bloody stools which have since cleared up. Also I just purchased my first bag of Blue "Basic," a limited ingredient food for sensitive tummies. Salmon and Potato, I think? I am introducing that and will continue to mix in with the Pro Plan.

 

Other foods I've tried along the way: Wellness Whitefish & Sweet Potato, Pinnacle Trout and Sweet Potato, California Natural (the fish one), Merrick (various), TOTW Pacific Stream and High Prairie, Nutro (green bag, years ago. Big D and vomit. Too rich.). Probably some others I have forgotten about.

 

I also rotate my selection of dog treats (no wheat, corn, or soy; no dairy either).

 

BTW, I also have two poop eaters! My old girl seems to like poop as after dinner dessert!

 

Beth is awfully young so I hope you can figure out what works for her and makes her happy. Life is too short for tough love when it comes to food! There's really no need for it (unless a serious medical condition). Good luck!

Edited February 16, 2011 by IndyandHollyluv

[PrairieProf]

I'm happy to report that Beth is happily eating her TOTW again. It wasn't, after all, a getting-tired-of-it issue but a GI issue, probably stemming from her tendency to eat frozen poop as I detailed above. I'm slowing re-adding some add-ins, cautiously, to make sure she tolerates them.

[Laurenbiz]

I'm happy to report that Beth is happily eating her TOTW again. It wasn't, after all, a getting-tired-of-it issue but a GI issue, probably stemming from her tendency to eat frozen poop as I detailed above. I'm slowing re-adding some add-ins, cautiously, to make sure she tolerates them.

 

 

:yay