not hungry dog

C

chilledoutpony

Well-Known Member
Joined
22 December 2014
Messages
140
Visit site
My dog eats but not as much as usual dogs. He doesn't get excited when we put out his food and only feels urged to eat when other animals are nearby.

What do you think?
 
Used to feed Butchers years ago thinking it was good and tasty, dogs didn't eat very enthusiastically at all and one went right off his food.
Changed to raw and now they are there ready waiting and eat it as soon as it is put down, been on raw now for getting on 10 years and I would never go back to commercial food.
Try a little raw and see if it makes a difference.
 
chilledoutpony said:
Pedigree wet food (jelly or loaf) sometimes we swap it as we think he might be bored. We swap to Butchers
Click to expand...

Honestly, please don't take offense but that is one of the worst feeds you can give your dog. Mine get natural dog company dry foods, holistic and human grade very high meat content and nothing artificial at all. Works out cheaper as they need less of it. They live it. You don't need to feed raw to feed well but pedigree is a terrible food.

I honestly would just try him on a much higher quality food and see how he gets on.

Xx
 
Not great dog food, maybe try a better quality food and see how he goes. If he has always been like this and is not loosing weight etc then I wouldn't be too worried.

Some dogs just don't have a huge appetite. I can just about get 1 meal into my collie a day, he won't eat if he isn't hungry and has never eaten with enthusiasm as let's say....a labrador! His weight is good and he has boundless energy, he is the same whatever food we give him, and has been all his life (12 years old).
 
We have been battling with my parent's dog to get her to eat since August. She has been back and forth to the vets who drew a blank. Got 2nd opinion vet who carried out more tests and finally found she wasn't producing any thyroxin. This affects apetite so she is on thyroxin tablets. However, it is still a daily battle to get her to eat anything, even the most tempting food. She has lost about 5kgs and is dreadfully thin now. Thankfully she has a coat that disguises it. Oddly though her energy levels are fine - if not more than before and her previous cruciate ligament issues are barely noticeable (vet says thyroid issues are linked to cruciates).
They suspect there could be something more sinister but aside from opening her up there is no way to tell as all scans so far are clear.
So, we shall keep going. She is having another blood test on Friday so this will tell us if any improvement in thyroxin levels.
Oddly she caught and eagerly ate a vole yesterday but I am not sure we really fancy buying her live 'prey' to have daily!!
 
Firstly, is your dog the correct weight for his/her size?
Secondly, does your dog experience any medical issues that could be attributable to diet?
Thirdly, does your dog exhibit any behavioural problems that could be attributable to diet?

Some dogs, like humans, are not food focussed. However, if your dog has weight problems or you answered yes to either of the other questions above then you should give careful consideration to changing the diet.

In all honesty, what you are feeding is not top quality, BUT if your dog does well on it and has no problems, then so be it. You could however, probably, be doing better for your dog in the long term. Just my view.
 
I would also advocate raw, when we got our dog he was very skinny and his previous owners said he didn't eat his food at all. After a day on raw he was eating his tea in about 5 seconds flat and looks great now :)
 
Thanks everyone! We've tried some better quality ones and he walks away from it:(
He is a good weight but he doesn't eat much.
He is a collie:)
Were gonna try raw now thanks
 
Wonder if it is a collie thing? May be worth getting bloods checked if the loss of appetite is recent as there could be an underlying cause.
We have tried our dog on all kinds of quality foods and raw but, although she may eat once the next day she won't touch it! I managed to get her to eat raw egg yesterday as she is not absorbing protein so we need to feed her as much protein as possible!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top