Dog Going Off Things (Food)

[SaddlePsych'D]

I'm trying to work out if this is a thing dogs do sometimes, whether it's an emotional thing or behavioural thing (i.e., learning to be fussy), or if it's time to involve the vet...

For a while I've noticed Ivy changing around food. It started with her slowing down eating her meals (Millie's Wolfheart Kibble) which I thought was a good thing because she used to basically inhale it! Then it was stuff like banana, apple, blueberries which was not the end of the world just unusual as she had been enthusiastic about them and they were good for lickmats and kongs. Then she stopped being so interested in frozen kongs even with wet food in that she had previously been really into. Then onto leaving just a few kibbles in her bowl after a meal, then leaving quite a lot, and now being reluctant to come down for breakfast.

It's not a total loss of appetite and there are foods she is still getting excited about. I'm not sure if she's just relaxing about food or if there's something else going on. Weight might be a little bit down so I can try and get her weighed to check; possibly due to change of food variety (MH said there are two which we could interchange for variety which I did last month but OH was sure from previous that she does better on the variety we mainly have her on which is fish-based).

I've tried having a look at her back teeth. There's some plaque (despite our brushing efforts!), I can't see any obvious problems although it's quite hard to see right at the back. Her behaviour at home is either more relaxed (maybe lazy?!) though I do wonder if she's a bit depressed when my OH is away at work in the week. She's enthusiastic for her walks though, especially ones involving the car!

Any ideas?

 

[Aru]

is she underweight? I see fussiness a lot in dogs. In some its a sign things are not quite right especially in the older dogs so worth a check up....but a massive amount of the healthy fussy dogs are overweight( especially in the poodles and their mixes) and just trying to eat to appetite...but the humans associate food with love and keep trying to feed them..

Never any harm in a health check of course! but just worth checking before the consult. tracking water intake and urine and fecal output before the check up is also helpful.

 

[Christmascinnamoncookie]

Add some irresistible stuff on top? If it’s kibble, try a little with warm water to better release the scent.

My lot love anything, but obviously want anything from our plates and always have spare rice, the fat from meat, tins of fish (not in brine), ham, pizza crusts. I know some people add a bit of tinned Chappie (avoid the dried, v poor quality, imo) for interest.

 

[Clodagh]

Greyhounds are renowned for awful teeth so I would get those looked at I think.

 

[CorvusCorax]

I would check out her mouth/teeth, especially given her breed.

ETA snap with Clodagh

 

[planete]

From recent experiencce I can only echo Aru's advice.

 

[SaddlePsych'D]

is she underweight? I see fussiness a lot in dogs. In some its a sign things are not quite right especially in the older dogs so worth a check up....but a massive amount of the healthy fussy dogs are overweight( especially in the poodles and their mixes) and just trying to eat to appetite...but the humans associate food with love and keep trying to feed them..

Never any harm in a health check of course! but just worth checking before the consult. tracking water intake and urine and fecal output before the check up is also helpful.

Possibly slightly under. I think this was the change to the other food variety and we've not been back on her usual one for long. Being a Greyhound and one who came to us definitely underweight, gains seem to take a while to notice whereas slight losses seem more obvious. I'm hoping with a bit more time and extra toppers she'll re-gain.

Toileting seems fine apart from refusing to go out sometimes, especially with the rain! But she is peeing and pooing and I'm not seeing anything unusual or concerning. On walks the second and third poops can be quite runny (ew, sorry!) which is usual for her, especially if she's been running around or got excited.

Add some irresistible stuff on top? If it’s kibble, try a little with warm water to better release the scent.

My lot love anything, but obviously want anything from our plates and always have spare rice, the fat from meat, tins of fish (not in brine), ham, pizza crusts. I know some people add a bit of tinned Chappie (avoid the dried, v poor quality, imo) for interest.

We usually do ad-hoc toppers (sardine, raw egg, yoghurt, tripe mince, wet food) and she hasn't turned away from those so far. She was very enthusiastic about having some of my 'pizza bones' last night!

 

[SaddlePsych'D]

Greyhounds are renowned for awful teeth so I would get those looked at I think.

I am wondering if there's something going on with them. At most recent 6-month check which was done by a vet who seemed fairly thorough, they were pleased with her teeth even with us pointing out her gums aren't looking great along her lower front teeth. I can't remember how much they looked at the back ones. Definitely considering going back.

She (Ivy, not the vet!) got enthusiastic about an ostrich bone we bought her recently. Had a great chewing session with that but now totally uninterested. A while ago didn't both finishing a new frozen marrow bone I gave her, but loves an old one she has cleaned right off and still loves fishing out of the toy basket to run her teeth along.

 

[Clodagh]

If she’s ok about her mouth I’d have a really good poke about myself to check for splinters or sore bits. Get OH with a torch and dive in there.
Also if she’s on mwh and doing 2 or 3 poos on a walk, that’s a lot. I know mine are labs but the 2 I currently have on mwh do one firm poo am and pm. They get fed twice a day.

 

[skinnydipper]

If she’s ok about her mouth I’d have a really good poke about myself to check for splinters or sore bits.

^This^ - especially if she has been eating anything hard like Yak chews, antler, bone . A head torch is handy.

Slab fractures aren't always easy to spot, could just be a sliver of tooth missing but enough to expose the pulp, which could be just a small pink dot. In addition to visual inspection also slide your finger along the teeth to check if there an area that feels rough due to missing enamel.

 

[SaddlePsych'D]

She's okay enough about her mouth that I think I can get in there again with a head torch to investigate. Annoyingly OH is working this weekend until Wed/Thur so it's just me here to have a look.

I gave up on Yak chews because Ivy goes in too heavy instead of gnawing it to soften it up a bit first. I did give her a paddywack a while ago and wasn't loving the 'rock hard' sound of it being chewed so distracted her to remove it and the rest went in the bin!

We talked about feed and poop frequency with the vet, they didn't seem concerned at that last check-up (within last couple of months) but I will mention it again if we're going back.

If it is a tooth fracture, is that surgery under GA to have it removed? She'll have whatever is needed of course but I want to prepare myself!

 

[skinnydipper]

If it is a tooth fracture, is that surgery under GA to have it removed? She'll have whatever is needed of course but I want to prepare myself!

Your first opinion vet could extract the tooth under GA.

A veterinary dentist would have a look and tell you what options were possible, such as root canal.

Your vet would need to refer you -

14 Veterinary Surgeons found who are Specialists in Dentistry

findavet.rcvs.org.uk

 

[MurphysMinder]

is she underweight? I see fussiness a lot in dogs. In some its a sign things are not quite right especially in the older dogs so worth a check up....but a massive amount of the healthy fussy dogs are overweight( especially in the poodles and their mixes) and just trying to eat to appetite...but the humans associate food with love and keep trying to feed them..

Never any harm in a health check of course! but just worth checking before the consult. tracking water intake and urine and fecal output before the check up is also helpful.

A friend has a dog who is overweight, she has been put on a diet by the vet. Friend was telling us the other day that the dog hadn't lost any weight "I'm feeding her the diet food, but she doesn't eat it all so I add a bit of tinned fish to it to encourage her" . When we told her to stop doing that her response was " but then she doesn't eat it and I don't want to starve my dog"! Hopefully she took on board that she wasn't starving her dog, it was telling her it wasn't hungry, but I doubt it !

 

[Aru]

A friend has a dog who is overweight, she has been put on a diet by the vet. Friend was telling us the other day that the dog hadn't lost any weight "I'm feeding her the diet food, but she doesn't eat it all so I add a bit of tinned fish to it to encourage her" . When we told her to stop doing that her response was " but then she doesn't eat it and I don't want to starve my dog"! Hopefully she took on board that she wasn't starving her dog, it was telling her it wasn't hungry, but I doubt it !

This is a conversation I have with people multiple times a week..... so so many people genuinely do not appear to see that they are the problem in this scenario. I'm getting blunter with my answers over time(jaded much lol).
its makes no odds though, some people are determined to kill their pets with kindness..

in the OP though I didn't realised you have a longdog. absolutely check the teeth

 

[SaddlePsych'D]

Quest to find head-torch has begun... will report back!

ETA - will soften/moisten her meals for now while working with the tooth problem hypothesis

 

[SaddlePsych'D]

It's quite hard doing by myself and the head torch isn't bright enough compared with our regular torch. Will try again when OH is back. I think something might be going on with a molar right at the back on one side, possibly the other too. I couldn't tell if it was food or plaque or something else so brushed it and it bled a fair bit. A little gum bleeding seems to happen with her brushing but we do find it improves if we're consistent and regular with brushing.

Understandably she wasn't a fan of me fishing about in her mouth. I couldn't feel anything obviously sharp/sharper than her teeth seem to generally be. Perhaps next step is to ask if vet could sedate her and get a better look?

Eta - she was much more enthusiastic about dinner than breakfast. I mixed in some wet food and put half of the mix in a kong. She did go off the kong a bit but did finish it all.

 

[SaddlePsych'D]

A quick check back in. I'm keeping an eye on that tooth, as best I can without a second pair of hands. Ivy seems to have perked up this week - in general and for her meals. Possibly the increase in 'topper roulette' options has boosted her enthusiasm as well as the softened kibbles.

She's really getting stuck into her new ostrich bone this evening, with gusto! Chucking it around all over the place and chewing on both sides, no signs of bleeding I like these bones better than other chews because she gnaws on it and it softens rather than chomping and sounding like she's eating rocks.

 

[SaddlePsych'D]

Further update... OH and I had as good a rummage around Ivy's mouth as possible, she's quite good at poking her tongue in the way in protest. Understandable.

Neither of us can see anything really obvious, other than the very back tooth which looks like it has quite a bit of plaque on it. I've started using a smaller toothbrush head to help get right back there when we brush. No obvious pain when we're brushing her teeth or touching her gums. We can't feel anything especially sharp.

I can't work out whether it's eating discomfort or possibly she's just getting bored with dry kibble. She went off breakfast again over the weekend but OH was feeding her dry food with no topper. She had a good chewing session with her ostrich bone again which makes me lean away from there being discomfort. Will continue keeping an eye on her. I had been worried about her going off food in general but that doesn't seem to be the case thankfully.

 

[SaddlePsych'D]

Hmm...becoming more convinced it's not teeth. The past few mornings she's got all excited about breakfast, then sniffed it and walked off. Today I sprinkled a few other flavoured kibble on top, she picked those off and crunched them quite happily then proceeded to leave the rest!

 

[Goldenstar]

I have seen similar once in an older Labrador.
It turned out she had ulcers .

 

[JBM]

I would say kibble just isn’t that appealing unfortunately

 

[AmyMay]

Do you soak (or at least add some water) to the kibble? Can you not add some meat?

 

[SaddlePsych'D]

I have seen similar once in an older Labrador.
It turned out she had ulcers .

She seems otherwise well in herself but we are keeping an eye on her. She did eat the meal when we offered later in the day and hasn't been turning down her dinners, it seems to be a breakfast thing.

I would say kibble just isn’t that appealing unfortunately

Lots of dogs are fed kibble, this dog in particular has up until recently eaten hers with great enthusiasm.

Do you soak (or at least add some water) to the kibble? Can you not add some meat?

Recently have started adding a little water but never used to. Although she turned away from that on one of the mornings this week. We've always done toppers a few times a week, maybe we just need to do more of them.

 

[Goldenstar]

It was a breakfast thing with my dog as well .

 

[SaddlePsych'D]

It was a breakfast thing with my dog as well .

Interesting, thank you for sharing your experience as it's not something I knew or had though about. Did your dog recover from the ulcers?

 

[AmyMay]

It was a breakfast thing with my dog as well .

My little Daisy (who is always starving ) will sometimes turn her nose up at breakfast. And I know of many dogs who simply aren’t interested in a morning meal. So unless she’s turning her nose up at all food and is loosing weight, I’m not sure I’d be overly worried tbh.

 

[Goldenstar]

With mine for a long time I just told myself she older she does fancy breakfast it was only later that I took her to the vet and the vet said I think it’s ulcers we gave her medication and that was that .

 

[SaddlePsych'D]

My little Daisy (who is always starving ) will sometimes turn her nose up at breakfast. And I know of many dogs who simply aren’t interested in a morning meal. So unless she’s turning her nose up at all food and is loosing weight, I’m not sure I’d be overly worried tbh.

Weight could do with a check as I think she did drop a little when we switched to the supposedly interchangeable other flavour kibble. She's been back on the usual flavour for about a month now and doesn't seem to have dropped any more.

Will keep an eye for other symptoms and speak to vet at her next 6-month check up, unless anything changes then we'll book her in sooner.

 

[Escapade]

It was a breakfast thing with my dog as well .

Mine was similar, she started to have bouts of bilious vomiting in the morning as well.
Since finishing the medication (this was about 2 years ago), I've kept her on less "rich" feeds and she gets her dinner a bit later in the evening. Been eating with gusto ever since

Messing with toppers, as tempting as it is, will only create a picky dog

 

[SaddlePsych'D]

Mine was similar, she started to have bouts of bilious vomiting in the morning as well.
Since finishing the medication (this was about 2 years ago), I've kept her on less "rich" feeds and she gets her dinner a bit later in the evening. Been eating with gusto ever since

Messing with toppers, as tempting as it is, will only create a picky dog

I'm mindful about toppers, they go down when the meal is first offered. I wouldn't add one after she's turned her nose up at food. We've always given her some kind of topper a few times a week since we've had her. It's only just recently she's been doing the breakfast thing.