Getting Too Picky With Food

[Busderpuddle]

I am getting frustrated with Ruby being so darn picky about her food. She has a lot of issues with gas, so we try to stick to simple foods and ones without too many ingredients. Lately we have been feeding the Fromm chicken and something, and at first, she gobbled it down. Now she is back to picking at it and I worry she will starve to death.

I am tired of trying to always come up with one that she likes and wasting a ton of money.

Do any of you just keep feeding a food you know works well for them and let them either eat it or not ? I know she will eat it if I doctor it up every time, but I don't really want to have to do that. She does not lose or gain weight. She doesn't get any treats if she hasn't eaten a meal that day.

Anyone else just give them the food and not worry how much they eat ?

Edited July 18, 2014 by Busderpuddle

[JAJ2010]

Yup! Tough love is sometimes necessary. I think our record is 5 days if I remember correctly. Sunshine recently went on a food strike while I was away at school. She would eat one day and skip the next, rinse and repeat. It didn't kill her.

[Guest CleverJason]

Whenever mine starts getting picky about his food, I try to find ways to spruce it up and keep him guessing. He never refuses his food when it's mixed up with a little water and a raw egg or peanut butter.

[Guest IrskasMom]

Every Day is a challenge for Morty to eat . Some Days he will eat and maybe the next Day nothing .

[Guest k9soul]

I'm having this problem with my senior non-grey. She wasn't always fussy but she has gotten that way in the past couple years. I'm trying now to rotate what she gets so that things stay newer. She's raw fed so it's a bit easier to do that. She seemed to really enjoy green tripe but got bored of that so I'm holding that for a bit and will try again when it's "new" again. Also moistening and heating the food a bit may help.

[Feisty49]

Annie Banannie gets picky sometimes (for instance, this summer she's gone more days not eating breakfast than eating it) so I'll sprinkle parm cheese on top or, if I have it in the fridge, a tablespoon of something macaroni. I don't cook special for her. (Hell, I don't cook for myself!) On days she's picky, I do continue to give her the usual number of treats, which isn't many so she's not filling up on them. Her weight fluctuates up and down by 2 pounds, but it's the same 2 pounds, exactly like people fluctuate.

 

I don't have any advice except, because Ruby's not a senior, to do the tough love thing mentioned above. If she were elderly, I know I'd jump through a few food hoops for her, as I will for my Annie.

[vjgrey]

We went through that with Lucy, and it turned out to be IBD.

Edited July 18, 2014 by vjgrey

[TheFullHouse]

My vets told me that a healthy dog will not starve itself to death. Myself, I continue to feed the same food until they eat. I have found the more I switch things around, the pickier they get. The only time I add anything is if it's a senior dog who is not doing well and then I will add some canned dog food to their kibble.

[JJNg]

My vets told me that a healthy dog will not starve itself to death. Myself, I continue to feed the same food until they eat. I have found the more I switch things around, the pickier they get. The only time I add anything is if it's a senior dog who is not doing well and then I will add some canned dog food to their kibble.

 

I agree completely. The only exceptions are if the dog is old, sick, or taking medication that suppresses appetite.

[cleptogrey]

 

I agree completely. The only exceptions are if the dog is old, sick, or taking medication that suppresses appetite.

agree w/ both.

 

when i had salukis- who are notoriously bad eaters i finally decided dry kibble since they used to suck the juicy flavor off the kibble and spit it out. yes, tough love all the way....but they ate. no table scraps, no treats, just dry kibble. when they were boarded they didn't eat since the kibble w/ moistened and mixed w/ canned food. once i informed the boarding kennel about the dry routine- gobble gobble. but if i have a sick dog- it's steak, chop meat chicken, or what ever freshly cooked as if i was serving it to the humans. that's a different story. if your dog isn't terribly under weight then i wouldn't go gray over the situation and stick with one kibble that you can afford.

[Guest k9soul]

When Tasha was younger, in the summer she often had less interest in breakfast. She was at a decent weight (she's always tended towards lean) and seemed fine so I didn't worry too much over it. In the winter her appetite definitely picked up.

[maria]

yes, Rhoda is a very picky eater and funny, looks like Ruby and Morty. She usually eats her food (once a day at night, there is NO WAY she would eat breakfast), usually after food is heated not too hot and not too cold, some cheese is placed on top and mixed in and we both sit at the table that keep saying "Rhoda eat". We have to not look at her or talk directly to her or she will come over for pets and get distracted. About 10% of the time she refuses to eat completely or eats just a few bites and waits for her greenie, which she gets after eating all her food. I get very frustrated with her sometimes because she will whine if she doesn't eat. I know she is hungry. She has us well trained!

Edited August 1, 2014 by maria

[Guest lilamaru]

I see no good solutions here. I am so worried about my greyhound. She has always been a picky eater; best I could do was to either fry or broil some beef or pork (sirloin steak is her favorite) in morning; lunch was a small pack of moist dog food, the kind that looks like ground hamburger meat which the vet says has no beneficial value; supper was half a can of ground pedigree dog food. But now, she does not want anything and her belly is really swollen. Vet has taken blood samples which came out ok. Does not know why belly is filling with fluid. She is giving me some Lasix to try tomorrow. Anybody have any suggestions? please email me at lilamaru4472@yahoo.com. I would be so grateful for any help. Maybe someone knows of some kind of good food to feed her or why her belly is filling up with fluid. She also had a seizure according to the vet. I told him she had fallen twice, was shaking very badly, one front leg was sticking out and she was panting really hard. I held her up against my leg till it passed. She limped a few steps and laid down; I was so upset (I have had her for 7 years and none of this has ever happened before) so I laid down beside her and spent the night on the floor with her, gently rubbing her belly and talking to her. Vet said it sounded like a seizure. HELP.

[Brandiandwe]

It seems to me that your dog not eating might be the least of your worries. I'd have my dog at the vet until they worked out what was going wrong and gave me advice about how to deal.

[maria]

I am so sorry about your grey's medical condition. This is definitely not just a picky dog, you sound like you have a very sick dog. I'm so sorry, most of us have had dogs with serious medical illness and we all know how it feels to feel so helpless. I would rely on your vet's advise as we out here in internet land don't know what is really going on with your doggy. My prayers to your precious dog and you.

[JJNg]

lilamaru, I'll send you an email, but you may also get more responses here if you start a new thread in the Health & Medical section. It sounds like your dog has a serious medical problem that needs to be worked up further.