My Dog Won't Eat

[ChrisKC]

2 hours 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.

 

 

Pet food (kibble) is NOT the best food for any dog. See my other suggestions I made a little earlier.

[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.

[siftasam]

I have two dogs: one German type Pom, who eats everything, and one very white Japanese Spitz/Pom. They are 7 years old.

Both are very healthy and fit BUT my white one has had a skin problem for 4 years. We have an excellent vet in Lamphun who looks after both dogs superbly on a very regular basis.

Kati (white) keeps out of the sun much of the time, which with its problems leading to some bare patches on its skin, is very wise of it!

 

The big problem for Kati is food. He wants to eat but, as indeed the vet told us, he cannot eat anything with chicken. This certainly limits the choices!

 

The vet recommended Royal Canin Hypoallergenic (there are several other RC types for specific problems).  I always fed Kati this with some kibble and a few treats. No problem. He liked it. But now it seems totally unavailable. Lazada appears not to stock it any more, and there's none in the shops I've visited in Lamphun and CM.

 

This week has been difficult but we've cooked some rice (white, although I think we should switch to brown) with Maria sachet wet fish and a little cooked pork and vegetable added. Two meals a day.

He can have a stick or treat or two during the day. But he doesn't want now (or can't eat) much rice; however, I've rescued my sanity (at least temporarily!) by pouring a raw egg over the rice and a little kibble.

 

He loves it!

(so far!)

[Pilotman]

we are not hearing from the OP?  I hope he has taken the dog to another vet, if he has not, then he must question whether the dog means anything to him at all.  OP, lets hear from you please. 

[Lacessit]

Some dogs can be fussy eaters, and start training their owners to only give them what they like. Try mixing chopped up sticks with cooked chicken and rice. No more sticks alone, it's a battle of wills.

Dogs will eat just about anything, I can remember a couple that lived in a cherry orchard and would eat the windfalls. Pips and all.

[G Rex]

4 hours 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.

 

 

 

Pomeranians can be notoriously fussy eaters , as can many of the smaller spoilt pocket breeds.

In my opinion many people expect their dogs to eat a lot more than they need.

If his activity level & behaviour has not really changed, he just seems to be eating a bit less, I would not be too concerned. If he is not losing weight then we can assume his calorific requirements are being met.

Some dogs enjoy the extra attention they receive from worried owners about their perceived low food intake - so this can become learned behaviour.

 

It is interesting to read other pet owners advice here. Some of it is scary, some just plain wrong!

Worried pet owners are the reason I could retire early to Thailand. So many owners are begging for ways to be parted from their cash to ensure that their Fur Baby is getting the best possible treatment.

 

If your dog is behaving normally, just eating less - by all means monitor the situation, make sure he has no dental issues, & don’t stress too much.

 

My dogs will do nearly anything for those JerHigh treats - we call it dog Crack!

[xtrnuno41]

You checked his mouth? His teeth are clean? Not something else in his mouth?

You checked his skin on flees? They can suck up ALL of his blood. Ticks on his body?

The vet took a stool sample? No, coccidia? No other worms or bugs? How is the the temperature?

Still drinking water? Is he de-hydrated? Is he pooing, didnt eat something which blocks his guts?

A dog not eating? It is a miracle, mostly they eat anything.

That said, a dog is a meat eater, proteïnes. Giving rice or veggies, no , meat. Also be aware with salt if there is. it is a no.

You have an animal, a dog , take care of it.

[Adiudon]

My 3 year old Thai mongrel bitch has been a fussy eater all her life, she won't entertain any tinned dog food, will only have a mouthful of dried food, I have tried all types and makes of food with no joy.

She will eat "human" food no problem except anything green.

What I feed her with now is half of a cake of chicken blood with a handful of smart heart dried food, some still gets left and fed to the local dogs outside though.

I have found that with some of the dried foods even the outside dogs turn their nose up at it, read somewhere it could be down to the oil used in the making process being stale.

Give it a pigs knuckle bone and  it'll bury it then eat the rancid stinking thing days later, strange animal !

[holy cow cm]

Smart Heart Gold dry dog good. One of mine passes on all the others but eats this every time. If still finicky then maybe add a little chicken stock as flavoring, but just a little to make it more appetizing.. Some problems will come from a person conditioning their dog giving them too much people food so they just boycott the dog food.

[khunPer]

On 6/3/2021 at 5:10 AM, 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?

Try to feed your dog with something else than dry food, and/or mix the favorite dry food with something.

 

Dogs are meat-eaters by nature, actually raw meat, which some recommends as food for dogs. However they might happily eat cooked meet, or just left over from humans meat-dinners, if you eat meat.

 

Some suggestion that my happy dogs love, and they get a variety of dishes, as dogs also can get tired of the same food every day:

• Boiled rice mixed with a can of mackerel in tomato.
• Fried minced pork mixed with their favorite dry food (my dogs prefer Pedigree Pal beef-taste, your dog might have another taste). I fry an amount, use little soy sauce for taste (my dogs loves that), and keep it frozen in small portions, ready to defrost a couple of hours before meal-time; size depending on the dog's size, I count about 50-75 gram per dish for a 17-19 kg dog.
• Boiled bones. Pork bones are easy to get and cheap (never feed a dog chicken bones). I boil a number in a fairly small amount of water, so I can use the water as sauce to mix with the dry food. The meat sauce becomes like gel when refrigerated, with the fat op top. I serve a small bone and a cup of dry food (depending on dog size) mixed with sauce-gel. You can change between bones from pork legs, often you can find bones cut in half for soup in hyperstores, and occasionally ribs, which are little more expensive, but also more like gourmet dish...????
• If you serve dry food only, mix some oil in it for the dog's fur, otherwise the fur might get too dry, I use what we use for cooking, either palm oil or coconut oil, just a small amount like a teaspoon or spoon full, depending of the dog's size. Coconut is said to be healthy, and good for the brain, so my at least 14-years old inherited third-hand dog is still playing and running around with young pals.

My dogs get one meal served a day, dinner after humans have been eating, but in between they get some small snacks (sticks) as goodies, and in the morning a small (tiny) bowl of milk. Worth experimenting to find some menus your dog like, if it's otherwise healthy...????

[alacrity]

Had issues with my dogs appetite toward the end of last year. They would rather rather starve, than consume the food they had eaten for years. They refused it to the point of losing weight.

 

Tried a variation of alternative  foods from different manufacturers and found that they would heartily eat dry food based on animal proteins. Seems the original manufacturer had changed the recipe and moved onto vegetable proteins, evidenced from package information.

 

Now use an animal protein based dry food manufactured in the Philippines, rather than the same brand name manufactured in Thailand, which is vegetarian protein based. The dogs crunch it up.

 

Suspect the OP should give fewer snacks and feed a quality food. 

 

From an earlier post I'd really like to know how a Pomeranian/GSD cross came about if the GSD wasn't paralytic drunk.

[scammed]

i would have its intestines scanned, somethings wrong

[Meat Pie 47]

Take him to a vet and give him an ex ray he might have swallowed some thing which is stuck in his throat I am not a vet but I watch a lot of vet shows