Not Finishing Meals - What's Going On?

[KellyandKris216]

We’re trying to figure out what’s going on with Renny. For the last few months he hasn’t been finishing his meals – it seems most days he’ll eat 1/2 to 2/3 of breakfast and most of dinner, though sometimes he’ll eat all of breakfast or skip dinner or some such. We’ve rotated through a couple different foods and it doesn’t seem to make a difference; some days he’ll voraciously eat it all, some days he’ll eat 2 bites. He’s 3 years old and an active, 80 lb monkey, so we serve him 2.5 cups with each meal. My first thought is maybe he’s just eating until he’s full, but he’s gone from being slightly skinny with 2 ribs showing, to showing more ribs than I knew he had.

 

He had a full physical and fecal at the end of April and the vet said he was healthy and parasite free. She suggested changing up his food when we asked about it, which we’ve since done. “Output” is solid, no issues. Behavior-wise he seems perfectly normal. He’s eager to play and run around, follow me everywhere, and then nap for awhile before doing it all again. He’s a totally normal dog, and I wouldn’t know anything was off if I couldn’t play the guitar on his ribs.

 

Besides changing foods, I’ve tried picking up his food after 15 minutes (doesn’t care), leaving him in his crate until he finishes (wines but eventually eats everything, may take a couple hours), and giving him his freedom despite not eating (will growl at Indy or the cat if they come near, but will eventually lose interest and leave the room).

 

Does anyone have any thoughts? I’m kind of at a loss about what’s going on. Having lost both River and my dad in the last year to GI-related cancers I’m irrationally paranoid that it’s striking again, even though I also know that’s totally not the case. I’ve thought about taking him back to the vet, but it kind of seems silly to when everything else seems perfectly fine (though I’m sure they wouldn’t mind if I continued my regular contributions to their kids’ college fund). Maybe’s he’s just a happy, extra-skinny dog? Maybe something more subtle is going on?

[Houndtime]

I don't know why but my guys are doing the same thing. First it was Shine at breakfast and I think she doesn't care for the garlic Bug Off tabs I put in her food. So I reduced the amount of food to one hefty cup and added extra wet food.. I have added Parmesan cheese, gravy, cottage cheese or yogurt and each one works for a bit. She will eat if I feed her kibble by kibble one at a time. But, some days she eats both meals very heartily.

 

Odin is a chow hound and lately he has not been very enthusiastic for breakfast. Both of them will eat if I hand feed them. I have reduced his amount by half a cup to one and half kibble with wet food on top. He eats dinner very well.

 

Maybe it is the hot weather. They are not as active and it has been too hot to walk them. Shine does run a bit most days and Odin ran some today. I don't know what to say, but if he is healthy eating like this; if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

[KellyandKris216]

That's a great thought, I hadn't even considered the heat. Ours aren't spending a lot of time outside either, but with as hot as it's been even the AC is working overtime to try and keep up. And if your pups are doing the same thing not all that far away from us... sounds like you may have hit on a probable cause.

Edited July 20, 2017 by KellyandKris216

[Time4ANap]

Not unusual in the heat at all. 5 cups a day sounds like a lot of food. You might double check the suggested feeding amount on the package for the food you are using. No use in wasting kibble - it's pricey. Rocket came to us at 75 or so lbs and at 12 is now at 85 lbs. He has never eaten more than 3 cups a day of any food we were feeding, plus treats.

Edited July 20, 2017 by Time4ANap

[SanTanSnuggles]

Both of my greys eat about a cup at meal time three times a day. I try to feed them either chicken or turkey and some beef I cook. I then give them about a cut of milk to wash the meal down and then give them a dental bone to clean their teeth some after eating. My younger one is a three year old girl, I got about a year and a half ago. When I got her, she had a bare butt, but now it is nicely covered with white hair. The other one is a boy who is almost ten years old. He eats his food with gusto. The girl will eat a little slower or save it for later. If she does not eat when I offer them their meal, I come back to her a little later and she will eat very nicely. That works for us just fine. They have access to water anytime they want it. I never put food down for them just to munch on to keep them busy. If she does not want her doggy bone, she will bury it and than go back and get it a short time later. She tries not to let him see that she buries her bones, as he will retrieve and eat it, when she turns her back. If he does that to her, I just give her another one so she does not loose out. When that happens, she will flaunt her bone in front of him to let him know she still has her prize. It is a lot of fun around here when they eat. I do however, feel that the heat bothers us all when it is in the 90's. Even us humans eat less. I do not think I would worry too much if they do not finish the meal right away. Especially when the vet seems to think things are just fine.

[JohnF]

Peggy only eats 2/3rds of her normal diet in the Summer months. On a day when she has done zoomies she will eat a little more.

[cleptogrey]

i see this all the time in my house. i just ignore it.

 

when the dogs are really hungry they will chow down. if a dog is not that active they will often naturally reduce their intake and the heat does affect their appetite. i personally like a thinner dog so i don't worry. do check your dog's teeth to see if something might be going on - just in case. when it comes to bones or chews they usually go for it no matter what. also try to cut out all treats and see if you dog eats better.

[RaineysMom]

we have been going through almost the EXACT same thing with our 8 year old Zeke since mid-April! he went from eating every single meal with gusto in a few short minutes to either not eating ANYTHING or sometimes eating 1/4, 1/2, sometimes maybe 3/4 -- and after the first few weeks we decreased his kibble amount by at least half, so he wasn't even getting CLOSE to the 3 cups of Kirkland Lamb/Rice per day they he should.

 

we have spend thousands on tests -- they suspect(ed) IBD, but he had none of the other symptoms other than the lack of appetite. Now, Zeke is very thunderphobic and would NEVER eat if it was raining or about to rain, so that we understood but this has been WAAAAY past that. He has even been regularly snubbing most if not all treats, even high-value ones! And I COMPLETELY understand how you feel about his not eating, I am the SAME way having lost 2 brothers to things related to GI/not eating. :(

 

We tried about everything -- he was already getting yummy add-ins at each meal, like pumpkin, sweet potato, cottage cheese yogurt, sometimes pizza crust, canned salmon, heck you name it -- so trying to add that to get him to eat was out. I tried home cooking, I cooked ground beef, ground pork, roast pork, cooked white fish, ground turkey, chicken (although not that too much as if he had an allergy/IBD, that is supposedly the most allergenic protein). Tried 6-8 different kinds/flavors of kibble, including the Royal Kanin hydrolized stuff that smells yummy even to me. Some days he'd eat ok, but most days again, barely or not at all.

 

Bruce picked up some PRIMAL freeze-dried raw food and when nothing else worked, he did seem to like this and would eat 4-5 "nuggets" so last week I pulled out a lamb heart and tongue I had in the freezer, cut it up and gave him a taste raw. He GOBBLED it down. I pulled out a beef roast, cut it up, along with some beef liver, some leg of lamb, etc. - and bought some chicken gizzards. Since last Thursday he (knock on wood) has been inhaling his food -- I put the kibble on the bottom, mix in the raw meat and top with some cottage cheese (which the CC was the only thing he ate most days) and he is eating it ALL. I don't know how long this will last, but praying it will.

 

I don't know if raw is an option, but it might be worth a try to just buy a small piece of fairly lean beef or whatever and see how he likes it.?

 

I wish you and Renny the best -- I really feel for you.

 

ps. what kind of food was he on when all this started? just curious.

[cleptogrey]

Did I mention that mine do this on and off.....well it's on again!! I think Annie read this post!

 

After having salukis for 18 years one learns that dogs can have prolonged hunger strikes. No salukis owner that I know feeds their dog twice a day. Generally it's a late evening. The greyhounds are the only dogs that I have fed numerous times a day. Like their bloodwork they are different than other dogs.