Our Girls Are Suddenly Not Eating Well. Acting Fearful Of Their Food.

[Guest AbbyH]

We have two greys that will be three years old in May. They have always eaten well. They get two cups of kibble with water twice each day. We feed them Victor grain free which by all accounts is a 5 star food.

 

Monday morning one of our girls was reluctant to eat. She sniffed but backed away. She almost acted afraid of the bowl. This continued through Wednesday. We tried a different food on Wednesday. For one meal she at well but then stopped at the next meal. New food or old did not make a difference.

 

On Thursday our other girl started on the same path. She is our beggar. She often begs for food. Now when we put it in her bowl she will back away and even go in her crate and lay down. She also acts fearful of approaching her bowl.

 

Tonight when I put their food down both of them went in their crates (which is unusual) and laid down. I put a little canned food in with the kibble and they ate some.

 

We have taken the first girl to the vet. Blood work and everything else checked normal with the exception of a very mildly high temperature. She is being given antibiotics in case of an unknown infection starting.

 

We are two weeks into a bag of food that normally lasts three weeks. They loved it the first two weeks.

I've contacted the food mfg. They claim there have been no problems and they they will test a retained sample. I haven't heard back.

We store the food in a sealed container that gets cleaned after every bag.

They will eat treats.

We have no knowledge of them eating anything harmful and our yard has been checked thoroughly.

 

They act like they feel well and play like puppies with tons of running and romping. Still, something about this is really bothering me. Watching them act fearful of their bowl, sniffing and backing away looks very strange and alarming. I just get a very bad feeling about it.

 

Any insight would be appreciated.

[macoduck]

Is anything different in the area where you put their food bowls? Gas leaks? Electrical short?

[Guest AbbyH]

Is anything different in the area where you put their food bowls? Gas leaks? Electrical short?

 

No. Everything is just as it always has been. We've made no changes in the room or their routine.

 

We've really spent a lot of time racking our brains trying to pick up on any little thing that could be bothering them. Everything is the same as it has been for months.

I should also mention that their bowls are about 15 feet apart and are separated by our dining table.

[gryhndsr4us]

Have you tried moving their bowls to a different location?

[Guest AbbyH]

Have you tried moving their bowls to a different location?

 

Sorry, I neglected to mention that. We've tried moving their bowls and have even tried hand feeding. Same results.

[TheFullHouse]

It could be they both are ill with a virus or something. I just had the same thing here with 3 of mine. Be careful with the food changes. If they are having tummy issues, the food changes can make them worse. Check with the vet now that both are having issues. He can give them something for their tummys. You may find they go back to normal in about a week. Make sure they are drinking because they can dehydrate quickly.

[Guest AbbyH]

It could be they both are ill with a virus or something. I just had the same thing here with 3 of mine. Be careful with the food changes. If they are having tummy issues, the food changes can make them worse. Check with the vet now that both are having issues. He can give them something for their tummys. You may find they go back to normal in about a week. Make sure they are drinking because they can dehydrate quickly.

 

We only experimented with the food change. They are still on their original brand as the new food really didn't help.

 

We are keeping the vet updated. We do know that our second pup's temperature is normal.

 

Their water intake is normal.

 

Thanks

[Guest FloridaGirl]

Claymore did EXACTLY THIS! Acted like I had poisoned his food, went to his crate and refused the food starting exactly a week ago today... I chalked it up to the time change, and just went about as normal - 15 minutes and food goes away. Today he finally ate both breakfast and dinner without complaint. I hope it's just a weird spaz attack for your girls - they may be feeding off each other emotionally. For Clay, it was the time change - not used to eating when there was no light in the window.

[Guest AbbyH]

Claymore did EXACTLY THIS! Acted like I had poisoned his food, went to his crate and refused the food starting exactly a week ago today... I chalked it up to the time change, and just went about as normal - 15 minutes and food goes away. Today he finally ate both breakfast and dinner without complaint. I hope it's just a weird spaz attack for your girls - they may be feeding off each other emotionally. For Clay, it was the time change - not used to eating when there was no light in the window.

 

I'm sorry that Claymore is having problems but glad that he had a better day. BTW my kids really enjoy your posts about him.

 

We changed our clocks but left feeding on the old time. Still, our problems started a week ago Monday. We are still not doing any better. One of your girls just went to her bowl for the first time today but only to try to bury it with her nose. This is the first time we've seen this. Immediately after she just went to her crate and laid down.

 

The good new (for now) they still act normal with normal energy levels etc. This still really concerns me.

 

Thanks for your insight.

[seeh2o]

Just a long shot, but is it possible you have mice who could be creeping around their bowls our the area of their bowls at night and they could be smelling them having been in the area when they eat?

[Guest FloridaGirl]

I also seem to find that Claymore is very dainty when it comes to the cleanliness of his bowl. He ate voraciously after I took a bit of soap and hot water to it (usually it's a cursory rinse out with warm water and wiping right after eating). I always made sure that there was no leftover smell or food bits, but for some reason I think the soap help "reset" him. He is a weird horse.

 

And if they're acting normally and all that, I'd say they're fine. Did you recently change to a new bag o' food, out of curiosity?

[Guest AbbyH]

I also seem to find that Claymore is very dainty when it comes to the cleanliness of his bowl. He ate voraciously after I took a bit of soap and hot water to it (usually it's a cursory rinse out with warm water and wiping right after eating). I always made sure that there was no leftover smell or food bits, but for some reason I think the soap help "reset" him. He is a weird horse.

 

And if they're acting normally and all that, I'd say they're fine. Did you recently change to a new bag o' food, out of curiosity?

 

I will try the clean bowl idea.

 

They were about two weeks into a bag that typically lasts three weeks when all of this started. Still, I opened a new bag (I made sure that it was from a different lot). No help.

 

I did try a new food this evening that was a big hit for at least this meal. It is Victor salmon and sweet potato. Hopefully this will work.

 

I'm glad to hear that you are finding things that work for Claymore. BTW our two are Abby and Piper. Piper was the first to abandon eating.