Why is My Dog Refusing to Eat?

[Student100]

Anyone ever had a dog that wouldn't eat? I just dropped 1500 on vet bills for our 7 month old husky/wolf mix that has refused to eat her food. Vet couldn't find anything wrong with her. She plays, drinks, runs, and does other dog like things just like normal, but she’s lost about 6 pounds in the past few weeks.

I've tried changing her food to a couple of different brands, giving treats, ect. She isn't getting food from anywhere else unless she’s catching small birds out in the yard (which she’s done a few times that I've seen) it's perplexing.

I use to have probelms just getting her to sit still why giving food, now it just sits for days. Shes still pooping, just not as much.

 

[Evo]

Anyone ever had a dog that wouldn't eat? I just dropped 1500 on vet bills for our 7 month old husky/wolf mix that has refused to eat her food. Vet couldn't find anything wrong with her. She plays, drinks, runs, and dose other dog like things just like normal, but she’s lost about 6 pounds in the past few weeks.

I've tried changing her food to a couple of different brands, giving treats, ect. She isn't getting food from anywhere else unless she’s catching small birds out in the yard (which she’s done a few times that I've seen) it's perplexing.

I use to have probelms just getting her to sit still why giving food, now it just sits for days. Shes still pooping, just not as much.

My dog stopped eating and now I have to custom cook all of her food and hand feed small bits to her until she's finished. The problem is that she takes meds 2-3 times a day that must be taken with food, so I have to do whatever it takes to get food inside her.

 

[Mark44]

My wife and I have two dogs, one that belonged to her daughter, and that we took care of for extended periods of time. Before we got the second dog, the first one would occasionally not eat his food, and if we gave him a Milkbone, sometimes it would sit uneaten on his bed for days.

As soon as we got the 2nd dog, the 1st dog immediately decided that it was better to eat his food than let the other dog eat it.

Sometimes dogs can get stressed out, and won't eat, if their routines are disrupted. Our little dog (the 1st one) loses his appetite and will barely eat anything if we take him on a road trip. Once things are back to normal, his appetite improves greatly.

I can sympathize with spending big bucks at the vet. One of our dogs (#2) has had something like a sinus infection for about 6 weeks. We've taken her to the vet three times, and she's now on her second course of antibiotics, and is still emitting copious amounts of goo from her nose. I'm hopeful that this second round will do the trick, but it's been over $1000 so far...

 

[lisab]

I'm sorry to hear about your dog. I know sick pets can be frustrating and troubling. Have you tried switching to a different brand of food?

I had a very large chocolate lab who maxed out her weight at about a year old, at ~105 lbs. Then her appetite cut back a bit, her weight dropped to 85-90 lbs, and she stayed there for the rest of her life. Maybe your dog is done growing at such a fast pace, and she's settling into her adult size. Does seem too early for that though.

 

[Student100]

Thanks everyone. Wow Mark hopefully the next round of antibiotics clears it up.

It turns out she'll eat if I'm handing her the food. Whether or not she's hungry is another story, but at least she's eating something for now. I'll give your custom cooking her food suggestion a try Evo.

 

[turbo]

Perhaps a little change of pace? Our dogs don't turn up their noses their food, but if they smell beef liver and chicken cooking, there is nothing that will keep them from swarming you. My wife bakes bread every weekend, with the same result.

When I was growing up, liver "had" to be fried with onions, and onions are bad for dogs, so we make allowances for them. Good luck with getting your dog's appetite back.

 

[Evo]

I can sympathize with spending big bucks at the vet. One of our dogs (#2) has had something like a sinus infection for about 6 weeks. We've taken her to the vet three times, and she's now on her second course of antibiotics, and is still emitting copious amounts of goo from her nose. I'm hopeful that this second round will do the trick, but it's been over $1000 so far...

I hope she gets better soon, I hear you on how quickly the bills add up.

It turns out she'll eat if I'm handing her the food. Whether or not she's hungry is another story, but at least she's eating something for now. I'll give your custom cooking her food suggestion a try Evo.

It can be something very simple, when you cook meat, you can set some aside just for the dog. I wonder if something has affected your dog's sense of smell, vets have always told me that if my dog/cat has a stuffy nose, they won't eat, and to try to feed them something super stinky.

I had one cat that lost her appetite after surgery, so I started feeding her canned tuna. I had another cat, so I would feed the sick cat in the hall bathroom so the other cat couldn't interfere. That worked great, it got to where when the sick cat heard the can opener, she'd run into the bathroom and wait to be fed. Unfortunately, after she got better, it took a long time before she realized that the tuna wasn't coming every time I opened a can.

 

[Mark44]

Thanks everyone. Wow Mark hopefully the next round of antibiotics clears it up.

It turns out she'll eat if I'm handing her the food. Whether or not she's hungry is another story, but at least she's eating something for now. I'll give your custom cooking her food suggestion a try Evo.

That's got to be the epitome of catering to a dog, "hand-feeding" them, but I've done that, as well. When we're staying somewhere else and my little guy hasn't eaten anything for two or three days, I'll put some of his food in my hand and he'll eat a bit. I figure even just a little bit is better than him not eating anything. Soon as we get back home, he gets his appetite again.

 

[AlephZero]

It turns out she'll eat if I'm handing her the food. Whether or not she's hungry is another story, but at least she's eating something for now.

I guess she's decided it's time to start training you to behave properly, and not the other way round. That is not good, unless you have nothing else to do except what your dog wants.

if she looks generally healthy and has plenty of energy, and there's nothing obviously wrong like bad teeth or gums, losing a few pounds isn't going to hurt a big dog much. When she gets hungry, she''ll eat without being hand fed. Carnivores are unlikely to eat every day in the wild.

Either that, or she's found another source of food - e.g. a neighbor who feeds urban foxes, or whatever.