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New dog not eating


Stellasmom
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I just adopted a BC mix, about a year old, just spayed. She was found stray and believed to have recently had puppies (very swollen/flabby vulva and mammaries). She needed encouragement to eat her food at the beginning, meaning I would hand feed her a few kibbles and put a few on the floor before she would eat from her bowl. Now that isn't working. She will eat treats. She goes to my other dog's bowl (he gets the same food) and licks it. She looks hungry. I want her to eat the same food as the other dog. It is an oral-health kibble. I don't want my other dog to get fat(ter) by eating his own food and then hers, so I will need to take up her dish after meal time.

 

The things I may have done wrong include scolding her for eating out of the other dog's dish and trying to close her in with her bowl, which I did once at the very beginning to keep the dogs separated at mealtime. As it turns out, neither dog is food-guarding. They share bones and toys like a fairy tale. So I now have her bowl in the same room as the other dog's, but that hasn't helped. She won't eat no matter where I put the dish.

 

I will be taking her for a new-patient check-in with our vet, but she likes to recommend special food, which I don't do. I would appreciate your advice.

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Assuming that there is nothing physically wrong with her, you have to consider that she doesn't like the "oral health kibble". I would try feeding her something else or adding some canned food, shredded chicken, etc to the kibble. Put her in a room with the bowl of food and shut the door, so you don't have to worry about the other dog.

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1. Get her checked by the vet to make sure there's nothing physically wrong. does she have mouth sores or bad teeth, stomach issues, etc.

2. If there is nothing wrong, and she hates the kibble you are giving her, change it. Is there a reason she has to have what you are giving her?

3. If all else is well and you are feeding her something that there's no reason she would not like, then I suggest this protocol:

 

Feed her separately, behind a closed door.

Put food down for 5 minutes and if she has not started eating pick it up again.

If she refuses a meal don't feed her for 24 hours. then put down 1/2 of what she would normally be offered.

If she doesn't eat, pick up after 5 minutes and then at the next mealtime offer her only 1/4 of what she would normally get.

A healthy dog will not starve herself if food is there. If she eats, then go back to full portions, but if she refuses a meal again the protocol starts again.

 

You may have made things worse by hand-feeding her but that can be overcome pretty quickly.

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Agree with all the above. Especially offering her tastier foods if she's not eating. Don't force her to eat something that may not appeal to her. After all she's been through, I'd say go ahead and spoil her a little, offer cooked chicken or canned food or a different kibble, (such as something with salmon which might temp her with the scent) or whatever.

I'd guess there's a chance she's stressed because of the newness of it all, so upping the yumminess of her meals could only help. My thought, anyhow. :)

~ Gloria

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Thank you much for the advice!

They do have bowls of the same material. I thought I was on to something because she did eat her full portion when I switched bowls, but then the next day she wouldn't touch it again. Maybe if she was stray for a time she was used to eating just once every few days, not twice a day. She may be finding things to eat when she's outside. We live in the country.

She did eat this kibble before, but then stopped just the past couple of days. I don't think it's the food. Yesterday she was eating grass and vomiting, so perhaps it is a physical upset. She eats my other dog's poo and snacks from the cat litter box. Maybe she has ingested cat litter that upset her stomach. Maybe she's allergic to tomatoes - she grabbed one that fell on the floor.

I can't close her in. She flips out. Any time she is closed in anywhere, she gets frantic, barks, whines, scratches, poops and pees, within minutes. She has something about doors. Luckily my other dog is good about not eating her food, and he lets her eat his food from his bowl if she wants to. I am not sure if he could resist eating her food if she got something different., though, which is one reason why I want her to get used to eating the same food as he does.

Thanks for all your helpful suggestions. I will try them. Every new dog teaches me new things.

D'Elle your dogs are gorgeous!

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When my old dog lost her appetite due to health issues, I would get a pack of frozen green tripe, break off a piece with a hammer, defrost and mix in with regular food. I have yet to meet a dog who can resist the lovely aroma of tripe!

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Our Bute had cobalamine malabsorption (an autosomal recessive genetic flaw) which caused him to have intermittent diarrhea and stomach/intestinal ulcers. He would eat a new food avidly for a few meals or days, and then while very hungry, would not be able to eat for a few meals or days because of his discomfort. He died of bleeding out when he was three years old, two days after we finally received a diagnosis.

 

There is a DNA test for this. You might want to discuss thoughts with your vet and this might be something to consider. Dogs can lead a healthy life with simple Vitamin B injections in spite of this disease.

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^^ I had a mix (border collie x spitz-type) with this also. Once we finally got a diagnosis -- many vets don't seem to know to test for it -- she lived quite happily with inexpensive B-12 shots every week or so till the ripe old age of nearly 18. But she never refused food unless she was in a bout of the vomiting and diarrhea.

 

It could be simple dislike of the food, but there are also many other medical reasons why she might be presenting with inappetence. I'd definitely have a vet check if she were mine.

 

Wishing you the best.

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The DNA test Sue refers to above is Intestinal Cobalamin Malabsorption, or I-GS. Paw Print Genetics (google them) offers the test for $80, I didn't check other labs. It might be money well-spent.

 

Good luck, and thank you for rescuing your dog.

 

Amy

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Have you had her checked at the vet?

 

You need to prevent her eating from the cat's litter box. some cat litter is very toxic, other kinds will cause gastro-intestinal blockages. Please do something about this. I suggest a litter box that has a lid with an opening in the top, and/or put it in a room with a baby gate so that only the cat can go in there. I have a cat-poo eater myself, and I have done this.

 

tomatoes are considered toxic for dogs, by the way.

 

If you cannot enclose her, then feed her outside while the other dogs are eating inside, or vice-versa. But you need to separate her from the other dogs during mealtime.

 

Limit her time outside to times when you are supervising her so that she doesn't find things to eat outside. This is dangerous for her, if she is doing it, because you don't know what she is finding and it could be something toxic, rancid, dangerous, or even poisonous. I believe in closely controlling what dogs get to eat and never allowing them to find something on the ground to eat for many reasons.

 

Try very yummy things for a while. roast chicken. Boiled hamburger meat and rice. If she eats it then you can slowly introduce the kibble again, by mixing a tiny bit in with the food she is eating and slowly increasing it over a few weeks.

 

Thank you for the compliment. The dog on the left is sadly no longer with me, but the one on the right is 15 and 4 months old now and is my lovely lady. :-)

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Certainly, re-manage your cat litter arrangements because, as D'Elle says, cat litter is not something you want her to consume at all.

 

As for Bute and his IGS - that problem can result in stomach/intestinal ulcers with a painful digestive tract. He'd be hungry, ravenous even, but as soon as he put his face near his food dish, he'd turn away - it hurt too much to eat. After not eating for a few meals, his insides would again be able to tolerate food and he would eat. The ulcers would flare up as a result. It was a vicious cycle.

 

At the time, IGS was not widely recognized in Border Collies by vets, at least not around here, and by the time a newer vet elected to sample blood to test for this, it was too late for him. He was a tough, wonderful little dog who was so stoic that even the vet did not realize just how sick he was.

 

So, it's something easy to test for and I threw it out as a possibility for you here. If it is indeed your dog's problem, the Vitamin B injections are inexpensive and provide a good quality of life instead of an early demise.

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We have two dogs and two cats and use 'top entry litter boxes'. Petmate sells one on Amazon for $20. You can also buy an 18 gal Rubbermaid tote and use a box cutter to cut a hole in the lid. It is a bit cheaper and larger as well than the store bought ones. It also helps keep litter in the box when the cats jump out onto the lid. Neither of my dogs have ever been able to get their heads in far enough to eat anything.

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IGS (Immerslund - Gräsbeck Syndrome) does not always present with a lack of appetite. My affected dog always had a voracious appetite before he was diagnosed and started the B12 injections which are now down to once a month.

 

His only symptoms were loose stools and slow growth / weight gain until the day before he collapsed at 14 months when he vomited twice, eventually starting to tremble and stagger. I suspected poisoning at first.

 

Diarrhoea has been fixed by switching to feeding him a complete raw food. It only returns if he scavenges.

 

That said, I've also had a new rescue that refused all food from stress for days after we got him an took weeks to eat confidently.

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Is IGS the only thing that causes B 12 malabsorption? I honestly don't know the answer to this and am curious if anyone here knows.

 

My dog who was diagnosed with a simple blood test that the vet did in his office. She also had folate malabsorption, which didn't require additional treatment; giving her B 12 corrected that somehow. It's been a couple years since she died and many more before that that she was diagnosed so I don't remember all the details.

 

It wasn't something that was a lifelong problem for her, either. It only presented a few years after I'd adopted her as an adult, so she was at least 8 years old, I'd guess. It did take some time to find the right vet who was able to diagnose her, but early on she had no symptoms that I noticed until she started having the severe bouts of diarrhea and vomiting.

 

Just curious if anyone knows. Tx.

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We have two dogs and two cats and use 'top entry litter boxes'. Petmate sells one on Amazon for $20. You can also buy an 18 gal Rubbermaid tote and use a box cutter to cut a hole in the lid. It is a bit cheaper and larger as well than the store bought ones. It also helps keep litter in the box when the cats jump out onto the lid. Neither of my dogs have ever been able to get their heads in far enough to eat anything.

Thank you! What a great idea!!! I have three cats, and keeping dogs out of their food and litter has always been a challenge, and the cats also scatter litter and have poor aim from time to time. I have tried all kinds of covered litter boxes, and one cat doesn't like that type, but I never thought of a top-entry one! I am going to buy a large tote on the way home and put their open litter box down in it. Why didn't I think of that? That's why I love these boards. Of course I am getting the best cat advice on a dog board....

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Dear OP,

Do the dogs eat at the same time where they can see each other?

 

Donald McCaig

It's the oddest thing. I expected my dog to protect his food and try to eat the new one's food. Instead he wouldn't eat until he verified that she was fed. He would follow us to her dish in the other room, and then go back to his dish to eat. When she didn't eat, he wouldn't either. What a pair these two dogs are. They loved each other instantly. He is ordinarily food-obsessed. Before, When he got a bone or something special, he would protect it from the cats or other dogs. Not this time. They take turns gnawing on a bone.

 

Anyway, it appears to have been a tummy upset. She is eating fine now.

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D'Elle, thanks for your advice. I was a little worried that she grabbed a tomato, knowing they are toxic, and maybe this (or the cat litter) gave her a tummy upset. I followed your first advice about giving her just a quarter portion, etc., and that worked like a charm. Now, exactly as desired, I feed the dogs in adjacent bowls and they both eat all and only their own food. Hooray!

 

Since she was a stray, found in a bad neighbourhood in the city, she might be used to eating anything she could find. Hopefully she will learn to be more discriminating. But I will be rigging a top entry litter box fortress and an even more secure cat food fortress at least for now. She is ridiculously obedient, once she learns something, and she learns really fast. I am trying hard to get her in to an agility class, but so far no luck finding a spring class that's not already full.

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Let's not get our panties in a twist about tomatoes, folks. :lol: (Trying to keep this lighthearted, not critical.)

 

Ripe tomato fruit is not toxic to dogs, though for some it could cause some tummy upset. For those, of course, don't feed them tomatoes. And even ripe some websites recommend limiting the consumption, though I suspect that's more about potential tummy upset than it is about true, dangerous toxicity.

 

Leaves and stems however are toxic, so make sure your dog doesn't graze on the green parts or on unripe green tomatoes (as opposed to ripe green tomatoes. Yes, it is a thing.).

 

http://www.petpoisonhelpline.com/poison/tomato-plant/

 

https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/animal-poison-control/toxic-and-non-toxic-plants/tomato-plant

 

http://canigivemydog.com/tomatoes

 

http://www.askavetquestion.com/answer_np.php?id=811-are-tomatoes-bad-for-dogs

 

My guess is that this is similar to the misunderstanding that dogs can't eat avocados, which like tomatoes could cause some stomach upset, but then a lot of fruits and vegetables can cause this in dogs. :rolleyes: Be careful of the pit though; a dog could choke on it if s/he tries to swallow it whole.

 

https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/animal-poison-control/toxic-and-non-toxic-plants/avocado

 

http://www.petpoisonhelpline.com/poison/avocado/

 

http://drjeandoddspethealthresource.tumblr.com/post/43604617320/avocados-dogs-cats#.WPVKJqK1tZg

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Cool! But expensive! I have made the top entry version as recommended and it works. Keeps the dogs out and the cat litter in. Thanks again!

So glad you made one! I love them.

 

We used to feed our guys on a table so the dogs couldn't access it. But eventually cleaned out a walk in closet and used the Door Buddy to keep the door open. You can adjust the strap so the cats can fit in but not the dogs. No more cat food all over our table either.

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01N77TZ83/ref=mp_s_a_1_3_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1492914912&sr=8-3&keywords=door+buddy+adjustable+door+strap

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