[Ella'sMomma]

Please forgive me for starting another thread about a puppy that won't eat but I'm really worried about my Ella and don't know if I need to call a vet. Ella is 9 months old and has always been a very finiky eatter but she has gotten worse this last week. She used to eat two small meals a day but about a week ago she started only eatting one. This lasted for 3 days then she didn't want to eat at all. I could get her to eat by playing with her food and offering her a few kibbles by hand though. The last three days she has only eatten a very small handful of kibbles each day after much pleading. She has been acting fine otherwise. She is drinking, playing, and going to the restroom normally. I took her temp tonight and it was 100.4. Should I be worried? She eats her treats fine just not her dog food. It's just not like her to only eat maybe ten small kibbles a day though. When should I be worried enough to call the vet? Thanks for your advice!

 

[Piccolina]

You can try the "sausage" formula of Natural Balance. They sell it in turkey, lamb, or beef flavor. You can slice it and then make small cubes out of it. I have a finicky fluff too, but they usually love this substitute. You can find it at Petco or Centinella.

 

[allheart]

I would try and withhold the treats ( I know that is hard), but it may be filling her belly enough, where she doesn't get as hungry to eat her food. Put her food down in the AM, for about 20 minutes, if she shows no interest, do the same for her dinner, and if she still is showing no interest, it doesn't hurt to call your vet.

It's the hardest thing to do, but to get them on a routine, will really put your mind at ease.

Giving her treats, when she is picky about eating her food, may make her not interested in the food, and just be happy with the treats.

Good luck.

 

[malteseboy22]

Yes what ever you do take away the treats. I learned it the hard way, now have a picky eater.

 

[Ladysmom]

I would try and withhold the treats ( I know that is hard), but it may be filling her belly enough, where she doesn't get as hungry to eat her food. Put her food down in the AM, for about 20 minutes, if she shows no interest, do the same for her dinner, and if she still is showing no interest, it doesn't hurt to call your vet.

It's the hardest thing to do, but to get them on a routine, will really put your mind at ease.

Giving her treats, when she is picky about eating her food, may make her not interested in the food, and just be happy with the treats.

Good luck.

I agree with Christine. She may be filling up on treats and have no appetite for her kibble.

What are you feeding her? What kind of kibble? What treats?

 

[kathym]

i agree about the treats..It could be that your pup does not like her food try mixing a little boiled chicken in with it or change her food ..If that does not work call her Vet .Better be safe .

 

[The A Team]

Is she very tiny that she could get hypoglycemic?? Is so it might be a good idea to keep some nutracal on hand.

My Abbey goes in spurts sometimes she doesn't eat for days, then she's ravenous on others. I used to worry about her, but not so much anymore. If she's not eating, I sit on the floor and hand feed her (and Ava) pieces of their canned food (Merrick's Turducken). It's messy, but for some reason they'll eat out of my hand. If that's what it takes....that's what I do, talk about spoiled maltese.

The boys - they eat good.

 

[Snowbody]

I've gone through the same sort of thing with Tyler. It worries me to death but I think he just goes thru days when he isn't that hungry. He's not a treat dog so I knew I wasn't filling him with those. Tyler's now 17 months old and he started to prefer one meal a day or what I ended up doing was making both meals smaller and now he eats two. But yesterday was one of those "won't eat anything days." Don't know what was up but finally able to entice him last night at about 9pm. I home cook and he seems to eat those meals way more readily than he did the dog food.I think it's much more critical if you've got either a really young one or a really little one. Tyler's 4lb12 oz so a good size now. Try the boiled chicken but if it does go on much longer I'd give the vet a call.

 

[Ella'sMomma]

Thank you all for your responses! Ella is 5 pounds so she is a fairly good size. I feed her welness super 5 small breed and have tried her on a 4 other brands (natural balance, eukanuba, blue buffalo, and solid gold) which is probrably the reason she is so finiky. She will eat a brand for a while and then just refuse to eat it. I really don't want to change her diet again and hoped I had found something she would stick with. The treats she gets are eukanuba puppy biscuts (which I know are not good and will be changing when she finishes the box) I break them small so she only gets one whole one a day if I'm feeling generous. I will definately stop giving these now since she won't eat. I took her for a long walk this morning in hopes of getting her appetite up but she only ate 3 kibbles when we got home. Do you think I will make her even more finiky if I add a bit of wet food to her dry to encourage her to eat?

 

[vjw]

Please forgive me for starting another thread about a puppy that won't eat but I'm really worried about my Ella and don't know if I need to call a vet. Ella is 9 months old and has always been a very finiky eatter but she has gotten worse this last week. She used to eat two small meals a day but about a week ago she started only eatting one. This lasted for 3 days then she didn't want to eat at all. I could get her to eat by playing with her food and offering her a few kibbles by hand though. The last three days she has only eatten a very small handful of kibbles each day after much pleading. She has been acting fine otherwise. She is drinking, playing, and going to the restroom normally. I took her temp tonight and it was 100.4. Should I be worried? She eats her treats fine just not her dog food. It's just not like her to only eat maybe ten small kibbles a day though. When should I be worried enough to call the vet? Thanks for your advice!

I'd call the Vet. and discuss this with him/her.