My Dog Won't Eat

[doctormann]

I have a 7-year-old Pomeranian male dog that just isn't interested in food.

 

OK, I know that the breed is not ideal in a hot climate but he was not my choice - gifted to us by my wife's family and we have had him since he was a very small puppy/

 

We have tried him on various brands of dry food and wet food but he isn't really interested in any of them - sometimes will take a little but then gives up.  More food ends up in the bin than in him!.  The only thing that he seems at all keen on is those JerHigh chicken sticks - and I doubt that there is much nutritional value there.

 

Under the fur there really isn't much actual dog and what there is is skin and bone.  He does seem healthy enough though and is quite lively, despite the heat.  He is up to date with his shots.  The eating problem has been going on for quite a while now - maybe has got worse now that we're having some very hot weather.

 

Maybe I'm worrying unnecessarily but I would like to see him eating a bit more.  Anyone been in a similar situation?  How did you get your dog to eat?

 

[Pilotman]

Get it checked for Parvo virus, it is one of the symptoms, and do it quickly as its a quick killer. . 

[doctormann]

25 minutes ago, Pilotman said:

Get it checked for Parvo virus, it is one of the symptoms, and do it quickly as its a quick killer. . 

As I said, this problem has been going on for while.  He has his regular checks/shots.  Vet has found nothing wrong with him.

[covidiot]

40 minutes ago, doctormann said:

JerHigh chicken sticks - and I doubt that there is much nutritional value there.

I just googled the nutritional value. 

 

http://www.jerhigh.com/products/dog-snacks/stick/#:~:text=JerHigh Stick (chicken flavor) is,fun for them to eat.

 

It's made from real chicken meat, it contains protein, B vitamins, and Vitamin D.

So it does appear to have a fair amount of nutritional value. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Pilotman]

9 minutes ago, doctormann said:

As I said, this problem has been going on for while.  He has his regular checks/shots.  Vet has found nothing wrong with him.

Has he had a blood test, liver function test, kidney function etc? They don't stop eating for nothing.  If your vet said he found nothing wrong, take him to another vet.  Something is wrong.  They may stop eating for a day or so, maybe hot or feeling just a bit off, but it doesn't go on for long.  

[Cake Monster]

4 minutes ago, covidiot said:

I just googled the nutritional value. 

 

http://www.jerhigh.com/products/dog-snacks/stick/#:~:text=JerHigh Stick (chicken flavor) is,fun for them to eat.

 

It's made from real chicken meat, it contains protein, B vitamins, and Vitamin D.

So it does appear to have a fair amount of nutritional value. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is probably your main issue with the Dogs food.

These " Snacks " for animals are so full of things that the creatures like, and these are enhanced by Nutritionists to make the snack so irresistible to the Animal that they end up wanting only the Snack and nothing else.

My advice is to cut down slowly on these snacks, and feed the dog on food that he is supposed to eat for full dietary requirement.

And be strong about it

I read a report on BBC online just then other day about what goes into Cat  Food.

A real eye opener, and Dog foods will be no different.

Find the article and have a read

[OneMoreFarang]

Have you considered visiting a vet?

If you are in Bangkok you can go i.e. to Chula Small Animal Hospital

Small Animal Teaching Hospital – Chulalongkorn University

It's good and not expensive.

 

The Animal Hospital Kasetsart University is also good and not expensive.

 

[faraday]

There's a wide variation in their skill here, & honestly one or two I wouldn't trust with a fly.

 

If he's stopped eating, then it is - as Pilotman says, for a reason.

 

Please take him to another vet, & post what happened.

[Pilotman]

1 minute ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Have you considered visiting a vet?

If you are in Bangkok you can go i.e. to Chula Small Animal Hospital

Small Animal Teaching Hospital – Chulalongkorn University

It's good and not expensive.

 

The Animal Hospital Kasetsart University is also good and not expensive.

 

Not sure if this is right, but the OP seems to be relying on the one vet.  If I had any love for my dog, I wouldn't accept any one vet telling me nothing is wrong. 

[Antonymous]

I'm not familiar with your breed, but I do know alot about dogs.

 

Two things I'd do. First consider blood and function tests at the vet, of course. But also consider changing the dog's diet.

 

Never had a dog refuse to eat except when ill.

 

You mentioned dry and wet food, but didn't say what type of food that is. I suspect that you mean kibble and canned dog food. We never feed our dogs on this stuff, or any of the commercial 'snacks', only give them real food.

 

Try feeding him firstly:

 

Raw beef or chicken (never feed raw pork) and/or raw offal (liver, etc).

 

If that doesn't work for a dog, there's definitely something amiss!

 

Then gradually (over a few weeks) add a little then more of the following to the meat base:

+Cooked and completely pureed carrot and kale like a soup

+Cooked and completely pureed brown (not white) rice

 

Note that dogs can't properly digest whole veggies and rice (although they will eat them).

 

You can give various fresh seasonal fruits as snacks. Most dogs love bananas for example.

 

I hope that works for you. We have always fed our dogs this way and they outlive their breed lifespan and stay healthy.

[cleopatra2]

If the dog eats the jerhigh sticks have you tried feeding their wet food .

[MajorTom]

Try to stop feeding jerhigh chicken sticks. I used to give that to my pomeranian and he loved the stuff.. but he had similar symptoms, bearly touched his food. It also made him vomit. After i stopped giving him the sticks he has been ok.

 

Actually, I now give him the Jerhigh salami. For some reason that works ok. Probably different ingredients.

[kbb]

Get a new Vet - FAST.

 

Five years ago, our vet in Pattaya killed our dog. 

 

We had a Chihuahua that started not feeling well.

 

Exam and x-ray. NO BLOOD TEST.

They called it a false pregnancy. 

 

Symptoms came and went for over a month.

 

Finally, the dog was only eating BBQ chicken, and not much of that.

Cut a vacation short, took her to the Vet on Friday.

They said nothing wrong - we were spoiling her. 

 

At some point, most people know their dogs & when there's something wrong ...

 

We took her back the next day - Vet finally did a simple & cheap blood test.

They found related tick disease.

Kept her for treatment - Dog was dead within 3 days.

 

Obviously, I wished we (1) were more informed about Tick related diseases, which are prevalent and deadly in Thailand and (2) that we had changed Vets.

 

Good luck with your dog ...

 

 

 

 

 

[1FinickyOne]

we leave dry food out 24/7... and we daily make a meal of usually chicken and rice or something else cooked for them.. they get more and less finicky... but they sure eat when hungry...

 

ps - never had a dog here who liked the canned 'wet' food

[ronaldo0]

My pom is the opposite. Like a waste disposal unit .

Now and again my dogs won’t eat certain flavours or brands if I buy them , also the foods and biscuits vets try sell you if your dog needs special food for kidney problems etc my dogs just won’t touch any of it for some reason and it costs a fortune.

One thing my dogs will always eat is diced pork cooked with soy and oyster sauce or the cooked chicken you can buy mostly anywhere at markets or roadside stalls . 
One thing that might be a factor is the dogs coat length , if you have let it grow long all over then heat might be causing the dog to lose its appetite. We usually cut the hair on the body of our pom to about a cm in length but leave hair around his neck about 5cm ????

[tonray]

20 hours ago, covidiot said:

I just googled the nutritional value. 

 

http://www.jerhigh.com/products/dog-snacks/stick/#:~:text=JerHigh Stick (chicken flavor) is,fun for them to eat.

 

It's made from real chicken meat, it contains protein, B vitamins, and Vitamin D.

So it does appear to have a fair amount of nutritional value. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's likely more nutritional than a plate of Krapow Moo

[covidiot]

22 minutes ago, tonray said:

It's likely more nutritional than a plate of Krapow Moo

i was going to make a joke, then realized the dog's situation might be serious. 

[Asquith Production]

When you say not eating properly , how long ?. I have 4 dogs 3 are rescues and I have had varying success with vets. I would ask around to try and find a really good experienced one. I have tried 5 different ones and then found a Veterinary practice run by a University teacher and she is first class.

[tonray]

14 minutes ago, covidiot said:

i was going to make a joke, then realized the dog's situation might be serious. 

Lighten up a bit......

[hotchilli]

22 hours ago, doctormann said:

Maybe I'm worrying unnecessarily but I would like to see him eating a bit more.  Anyone been in a similar situation?  How did you get your dog to eat?

Give up on the dry food or dog tin foods, it's often very unappetising.

Try him on a very small portion of chicken/rice mix, start with a few mouthfuls to get him interested.

As long as it's drinking don't worry too much

[Presnock]

We have 2 Siberian Huskies (long haired type) that would prefer cold weather too but if they did not

want to eat then I would have the vet check them quickly as I would assume that they were dead!  If one has cats, they can leave the cat in the house with 2-5 days of food and the cat won't suffer at all as it only eats till it is full while dogs if you did the same might have their stomach explode as they will try to eat all the food a once.  Our dogs eat in the AM and every time anyone goes toward the kitchen they run for their bowls because they think the get to eat again.  They seem hungry all the time!  Just saying.

 

[doctormann]

OK folks, thanks for all the replies.

 

i don't think that my dog has anything seriously wrong to be honest as he is still very lively - just not eating much and will go a couple of days with eating virtually nothing.  Maybe it is just the heat - certainly saps my appetite.  We do keep him trimmed to a reasonable length of coat.  One time, we took him to a 'professional' groomer who proceeded to shave him down to the skin and even removed his whiskers.  I was furious and the dog was traumatized!  Never again!

 

I have no issues with our current vet - he has looked after our dog since he was a puppy and has administered all the shots, etc.  The dog has had a blood test and that showed nothing abnormal.

 

Food that we have tried (various flavours)

 

Pedigree wet food (in sachets)

Smart Heart wet food (in sachets)

Cesar (in a sort of sachet)

 

Pedigree dry food - for small breeds

Royal Canin dry food - for small breeds

 

The dry food is always available - can be left out.  He sometimes eats a little but is clearly not keen.

 

JerHigh snack sticks - various flavours.  Supposed to be as rewards only but, as he will eat these when he won't touch other stuff he's maybe getting rather too many.

 

I have not seen any JerHigh wet food around.  Our local Royal Canin shop has a vast variety of stuff - I'll take a better look.

 

 

[schondie]

1 hour ago, kbb said:

Get a new Vet - FAST.

 

Five years ago, our vet in Pattaya killed our dog. 

 

We had a Chihuahua that started not feeling well.

 

Exam and x-ray. NO BLOOD TEST.

They called it a false pregnancy. 

 

Symptoms came and went for over a month.

 

Finally, the dog was only eating BBQ chicken, and not much of that.

Cut a vacation short, took her to the Vet on Friday.

They said nothing wrong - we were spoiling her. 

 

At some point, most people know their dogs & when there's something wrong ...

 

We took her back the next day - Vet finally did a simple & cheap blood test.

They found related tick disease.

Kept her for treatment - Dog was dead within 3 days.

 

Obviously, I wished we (1) were more informed about Tick related diseases, which are prevalent and deadly in Thailand and (2) that we had changed Vets.

 

Good luck with your dog ...

 

 

 

 

 

I was going to suggest the same, four months ago one of our dogs went off their food and she had a blood check and nothing showed up, a week later we had another blood check and it found two different tick borne parasites in her blood, the first tester was faulty so it didn't show anything.

She's still undergoing treatment and slowly her appetite has returned to normal. We are now more careful with making sure the other dogs get their Bravecto on time.

[herfiehandbag]

1 hour ago, 1FinickyOne said:

we leave dry food out 24/7... and we daily make a meal of usually chicken and rice or something else cooked for them.. they get more and less finicky... but they sure eat when hungry...

 

ps - never had a dog here who liked the canned 'wet' food

I have 3 dogs ( 2 Chihouhas and a big black hairy monster). I put out dry food (Smartheart) in the morning, and they browse it all day. In the evenings cheap wet tinned food ( " Bok Dok" chunks in gravy) mixed with wet cooked rice. Barbeque chicken wings a couple of times a week. 

 

They seem to do well on it.

 

As far as ticks are concerned (I live in a rural area and they are a problem) shampoo every week, powder every couple of days and "Frontline" every month, together with regular grooming keeps them clear.

[giddyup]

I made a rod for my own back when our small dog (maybe Schitzu cross?) who was very fussy about eating any of the good food we cooked for him, so I started giving him a small bite from my hand and once he got a taste he was OK to eat, so now he waits for me to give him his first mouthful by hand before he will start. He will just lay down alongside his food dish until I do it.

[ronaldo0]

45 minutes ago, doctormann said:

OK folks, thanks for all the replies.

 

i don't think that my dog has anything seriously wrong to be honest as he is still very lively - just not eating much and will go a couple of days with eating virtually nothing.  Maybe it is just the heat - certainly saps my appetite.  We do keep him trimmed to a reasonable length of coat.  One time, we took him to a 'professional' groomer who proceeded to shave him down to the skin and even removed his whiskers.  I was furious and the dog was traumatized!  Never again!

 

I have no issues with our current vet - he has looked after our dog since he was a puppy and has administered all the shots, etc.  The dog has had a blood test and that showed nothing abnormal.

 

Food that we have tried (various flavours)

 

Pedigree wet food (in sachets)

Smart Heart wet food (in sachets)

Cesar (in a sort of sachet)

 

Pedigree dry food - for small breeds

Royal Canin dry food - for small breeds

 

The dry food is always available - can be left out.  He sometimes eats a little but is clearly not keen.

 

JerHigh snack sticks - various flavours.  Supposed to be as rewards only but, as he will eat these when he won't touch other stuff he's maybe getting rather too many.

 

I have not seen any JerHigh wet food around.  Our local Royal Canin shop has a vast variety of stuff - I'll take a better look.

 

 

Another thing you might want to try is tinned tuna , my dogs go nuts when I open that to make sandwiches. Now and again I will just mix it with their food or add a little mayo and put it on top of their biscuits. Clean bowls all round every time , before they proceed to come clean their faces all over me afterwards as thanks ????

[Pilotman]

2 hours ago, Asquith Production said:

When you say not eating properly , how long ?. I have 4 dogs 3 are rescues and I have had varying success with vets. I would ask around to try and find a really good experienced one. I have tried 5 different ones and then found a Veterinary practice run by a University teacher and she is first class.

local FB pages can give reviews on vets, good indicators. 

[Pilotman]

1 hour ago, giddyup said:

I made a rod for my own back when our small dog (maybe Schitzu cross?) who was very fussy about eating any of the good food we cooked for him, so I started giving him a small bite from my hand and once he got a taste he was OK to eat, so now he waits for me to give him his first mouthful by hand before he will start. He will just lay down alongside his food dish until I do it.

we are the same. The two Shih Tzus we have will normally only eat if fed by hand.  That's my wife's doing since they were puppies.  Bloody HiSo dogs, they get cooked chicken liver, which I love, do I get it, no, the damn dogs eat it before I get to it.  Asparagus tips, yes tips, leave the storks. They even have their own brand of French soft cheese to eat.   Bain of my life. Dont judge, it wasn't me, its her indoors. They are clearly baby substitutes now that she is none child bearing.  I suppose better HiSo dogs than babies. Back on topic;  For the OP, get to a new vet, fast! 

[Iron Tongue]

I agree that something is wrong.  

 

Try feeding a dollop of plain yogurt every day, Greek, if possible.  Yogurt is probiotic and will reintroduce helpful gut bacteria into your dog's digestive system.  It may help to induce hunger.

[ChrisKC]

On 6/3/2021 at 10:44 AM, doctormann said:

As I said, this problem has been going on for while.  He has his regular checks/shots.  Vet has found nothing wrong with him.

There is something wrong with a dog that doesn't eat. Just because the vet cannot find the problem, doesn't mean there isn't one.

 

pomeranians like innards, colon, liver, and so on. First try raw and if not interested, cook but not overcook. tempt him from feeding small bits from your hand.

 

try a bit of raw fish (not with tomato sauce), or a bit of prawn to establish a principle of a problem about eating as opposed to what it will eat.

 

Go to another vet for a second opinion