Dog not eating...?

ladyt25

ladyt25

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My parent's dog has decided over the last few weeks she doesn't want to eat her food.
She has been checked by a vet who initially treated her with ABs for an infection. However this didn't seem to do the trick. She's had blood tests and stool samples tested which haven't shown anything.
My parents changed her diet a while back from the likes of Pedigree to a healthier diet and we wondered if that was the issue.
I thought it maybe was her teeth /mouth that was the issue. She is bright enough in herself and hasn't lost any real weight and will eat the likes of cat food!
She is going in for x-rays next week in case of stomach issues /tumours as she had one removed from her throat in the last year. However, if she had cancerous tumours would this not show on the bloods and would she not be vomiting?
Has anyone experienced anything similar? I still think it's a mouth issue although vets reckoned all ok when they saw her the other week?!
 
Ok - not that anyone's offered any advice here but, dog went to vets yesterday to have x-rays to see if any tumours etc in her stomach. Nothing. So, they did scans (ultrasound I think). Nothing. Told my mum and dad they couldn't find anything wrong but took bloods to check if any issues with her pancreas?
Has anyone had this experience where their dog decides they don't want to eat?
She's 9 years old and never been a problem food wise. Weirdly now she'll eat off a spoon but not our of her bowl. Then sometimes even then she may decide she's had enough. It may turn out to be psychological but how on earth do you find out what the cause is??!
 
I havent got any advice i am afraid, but didnt want to ignore, as I can imagine its quite distressing. Our pups stopped eating for a while and we did what everyone (except the vet) advised we shouldn't do, (They are fed on dry food though).. We left food out all day for them, "an all day buffett". and they helped themselves when hungry. They have now gone back to three times aday. Sorry im no help, hope you get sorted.X
 
We're not quite sure when the problem started but it was sometime after she had a suspected cancerous lump removed from near her thyroid.
My sister and I then suggested putting her on a better quality food as opposed to the likes of Pedigree/Winalot etc. This was done with no real issue but then she stated refusing her food. They have tried going back on Pedigree and she ate this for a couple of nights then stopped.
We are not sure if she is intimidated by the cat or something but he's been a house cat for over a year now (he got shot down at our stables) so that seems odd she'd be intimidated now?!
It's very odd.
 
I'm so sorry to hear you are going through a worrying time. Is the dog otherwise in good physical shape? Is it thin or fat? Is it lethargic or is it it's normal active self, apart from not eating?
 
She seems normal in herself. Quite lively really. She has had a cruciate ligament op in the last 12mths which was successful. The other one is 'loose' but so far seems to be ok. She then had the cancer scare with the lump being removed from her throat (hence why the worry she maybe had something sinister going on in her stomach).
It's just bizarre. If the bloods show nothing then we're a bit stumped. We can get food down her - if fed by spoon or hand!!?
 
How worrying!

Has the diet changed from reasonably soft food to dry/hard? Is it now raw?
The dog probably had a sore throat after the op and it may be that the new food simply hurt when it ate.
I would give a small amount of something very easy and familiar to eat (tinned meat and small biscuits), offer the food, at a height which does not mean that dog has to stretch down, and if it is not eaten remove it. I would not coax, or try to tempt beyond making sure that the meal is appetising to this particular dog. If the dog doesn't even make an attempt to eat, simply remove the meal without fuss Offer a fresh helping after a reasonable interval.
If that doesn't work, I would look for very easy to eat alternatives and tbh, if the dog will eat cat food, I would offer some of that with a few small biscuits, or a small amount of rice until eating routinely is established again.
 
Considering what you say, I'm afraid you won't like my advice, but here goes! It is, btw, based on 60 years of keeping a lot of dogs!

Dogs are designed for feast and famine, despite most pet owners feeding three meals a day will say. I would put down a normal sized bowl of what you were originally feeding for, say, 15 minutes. After that time, remove the feed regardless of how much or whether she has eaten. Do not feed tidbits, snacks, or anything else until you can repeat the procedure later in the day, say six hours later. If she is bright and healthy, it will do her no harm to go without for a day or two because, by her reduced food intake at the moment, she is effectively doing that already.

Anyway, that is what I would do. But I did say you wouldn't like the advice! :) And you did ask!
 
As above. Also try some raw meat - such as chicken or beef bones. You're right to get her off pedigree its full of crap and shes probably refusing cause she misses the sugar in it! ITs like feeding a child fruit loops then telling them to eat granola lol
 
Thanks all! Bloods back today and all clear! So, although that's great it means more head scratching!
She came off the Pedigree a fair few months ago and was absolutely fine eating a healthier pet food without a problem but then she started going off her food and had loose poos so vet diagnosed maybe an infection making her stomach sore and she was treated with some anti biotics.
She's not really been right since though but I think maybe changing too many times (because of her refusal to eat) has not helped and I have said to my parents to stick to one and persevere!
She gets one main meal a day usually and always has but has a small handful of biscuits morning and night. This has been the routine for 8 years with no problems.
I agree with leaving her to realise that is what she's getting like it or lump it.
We have tried her with chicken etc and again, she ate the first time and then turned her nose up at it!
The fact she is eager to eat the cat's meat indicates she is just being picky. Just odd how it's suddenly started!
Think we'll try with persevering and not treating - although I had suggested maybe feeding her her 'meals' by hand throughout the day(ie as treats on walks) so at least we know she's getting what she should have
 
When my last lab got older she started to be very picky, all vet checked and nothing wrong with her. We used to change her dry food brand regularly and mix it up with tinned food, basically changing it regularly and that worked for her. My vet said sometimes get picky as they get older, she lasted a few more years on this regime, we had her PTS at 14 due to completely unrelated reasons.
 
twiggy2 said:
has a stool sample been tested at all?
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Yes, she has that taken a while back to test for campylabacter (spl?).
We are suspicious it's some psychological issue but not sure what. I guess we at least know there is nothing physically wrong with her which is good to know. Just frustrating not knowing what to do for the best!
 
ladyt25 said:
Yes, she has that taken a while back to test for campylabacter (spl?).
We are suspicious it's some psychological issue but not sure what. I guess we at least know there is nothing physically wrong with her which is good to know. Just frustrating not knowing what to do for the best!
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I agree.

As I've said above, dogs are designed for feast and famine. I truly believe they occasionally go through a period of voluntary fasting, just as our ancestors used to do, and it not only does them no harm but is probably beneficial. When I worked with hounds, the old kennel huntsman would not allow any fussing over a hound that stopped eating. He'd just say it would eat when it was ready. I don't recall that he was ever wrong though it was touch and go with one hound that wasted away to the worst RSPCA case you could ever imagine. Then one day she staggered out and started eating…and didn't stop! These days he would have found himself in court! Was he right? I don't know, but he taught me a lot.
 
Dry Rot said:
I agree.

As I've said above, dogs are designed for feast and famine. I truly believe they occasionally go through a period of voluntary fasting, just as our ancestors used to do, and it not only does them no harm but is probably beneficial. When I worked with hounds, the old kennel huntsman would not allow any fussing over a hound that stopped eating. He'd just say it would eat when it was ready. I don't recall that he was ever wrong though it was touch and go with one hound that wasted away to the worst RSPCA case you could ever imagine. Then one day she staggered out and started eating…and didn't stop! These days he would have found himself in court! Was he right? I don't know, but he taught me a lot.
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Funnily she seems better on her legs now she has lost some weight. She had a cruciate ligament op just over a year ago which wad successful but then the other leg has started going the same way but vets have said with gentle exercise it may be ok and not require the op. The last couple of weeks she seems less lame/less tired after a walk.
Hopefully she will just sort herself out if my parents stick to the one food type. It's just so odd. My dog is such a pig I would know there was something seriously wrong if she went off her food! :-)
 
ladyt25 said:
Could give that a whirl I guess.
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It's worked for my elderly, previously greedy boy who went off his food. Vet wanted to endoscope him. I hesitated as dog is a neurotic and old. Turns out he has reflux and warm plain chicken and softened kibble keep him eating and happy.
 
Our cavi goes through phases of not eating, we just let her get on with it and feed her when she shows interest in wanting to eat again.
She has lost all her little teeth between her top yo big ones at the front too so when she foes eat I spoon feed her as she cant pick the food up.

Dry Rot that's really interesting, didn't know that but it explains a lot about my lot having s fed days of not eating
They get on meal split between early morning and afternoon an a biscuit if they ask for if before bed but that's not all ways.
 
The problem is this has been going on for several weeks and we can't see a pattern. Doesn't matter if the bowl is raised off the floor or not. She had some turkey yesterday that my mum had bought (we're all veggies so do not have meat readily available in the house!). Boots ate that out of the bowl but wouldn't eat some dog food from the same bowl. She will eat cat food meat sachets but not dog food out of sachets!
She is perfectly well in herself - was really giddy yesterday on a walk and I think the slight weight loss has helped her hind leg a bit as she seems more comfortable on that

It is just so frustrating!
 
Have you thought about changing her to raw?

I don't go the whole hog with my dog - ie she has her puppy biscuits, but most meat she gets is either raw beef from the butcher or whatever cooked meat we may be having for dinner.
 
She was tried on raw and actually, it was shortly after that she started with all this. We were trying to change her to a better, healthier diet after this cancer scare so we suggested my parents tried some better quality food.
I think she was ok on it to start with but I do wonder if maybe they've tried too many varieties of food, changed too often and caused irritation to her stomach and this is what started it all.
She's eaten turkey tonight so has at least had something!
 
ladyt25 said:
although I had suggested maybe feeding her her 'meals' by hand throughout the day
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I think this is a bad idea.

She's probably not eating because she knows it's always readily available and I really dislike hand feeding in general for dogs - IMO it just creates spoilt dogs.

Get her off dry, boring biscuits (if she's still on them) and put her on something like plain rice and chicken with a little bit of warm water. If she has an upset tummy for w/e reason this will be the best thing for her anyway.

Put the food down, and if she turns her nose up take it away after 5 minutes and don't feed again till dinner time.

It's much like trying to get a toddler to eat - if food on the plate isn't eaten, don't then feed them Cheerios by hand or of course they won't eat normally.

I don't think changing the food would have given her an upset tummy, unless she literally only ever has eaten dry biscuits. Ours get something different every day and we've never had a problem.
 
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Madmav, interested to hear about your dog and reflux. Mine goes off his food several times a month. He is fine the previous evening, next morning he wont eat anything until about 2 pm. Vet did say could be reflux but I wonder if he might have ulcers. You can always tell he's going to be off food as his stomach is rumbling and gurgling !
 
SpringArising said:
I think this is a bad idea.

She's probably not eating because she knows it's always readily available and I really dislike hand feeding in general for dogs - IMO it just creates spoilt dogs.

Get her off dry, boring biscuits (if she's still on them) and put her on something like plain rice and chicken with a little bit of warm water. If she has an upset tummy for w/e reason this will be the best thing for her anyway.

Put the food down, and if she turns her nose up take it away after 5 minutes and don't feed again till dinner time.

It's much like trying to get a toddler to eat - if food on the plate isn't eaten, don't then feed them Cheerios by hand or of course they won't eat normally.

I don't think changing the food would have given her an upset tummy, unless she literally only ever has eaten dry biscuits. Ours get something different every day and we've never had a problem.
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She has always had meat with some biscuits mixed with it so doesn't just have dried food.
She has been in the same routine for 8 odd years so it's just strange it has suddenly started.
She had turkey yesterday which she ate but then she did this the other week and wouldn't eat it the next time it was offered.
Unfortunately this morning she has had a bit of and 'accident' over the kitchen floor so we're not sure if the turkey has been the cause?!
She has always been a bit sensitive to too fatty foods as would throw up straight away. She hasn't thrown up at all since going through this episode so it's very odd. A bit like she has IBS almost
 
Ok, just reviving this as sort of a "what would you do? ". Dog is still not eating properly and is losing weight. She still has a lot of energy and seems well in herself.
Parents have spoken to vet again and they have said the only way to really investigate now would be to open her up and have a good check of her intestines.
The thing is, they are essentially seeing if the cancer cells they found were present in a lump they removed from her throat earlier in the year have spread. The issue my parents have are, if this is the case, what can they actually do? I assume only remove any immediate issues but really they can't do a lot.
So, would you put your dog through it? Is there any possibility it could be something else, something treatable?
The odd thing is she'll eat some things eagerly but doesn't seem to chew normally and this has been the case ever since this started.
If this was cancer would she not have deteriorated in general seeing as this has been going on about 2 months?
Would it be right to put a 9 year old dog through another operation (she had a cruciate ligament op last year)?

Sorry, I've rambled more than I intended to. Just feeling very frustrated!
 
I believe just opening her up and examining the intestine. Maybe taking biopsies? I suppose it would depend what, if anything they find. I guess the concern is she seems to have been at the vets so often this year for scans, x-rays, blood tests (you name it, she's had it) my parents are wondering if this will be worth it as, if the cancer's spread I don't imagine the treatment will be much different than what we're doing now (ie maintaining her weight as best we can).
Then again, I suppose then you at least know what you're dealing with. It's so hard to know what to do for the best!
 
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