lost interest in food?

Marley · 03-26-2007, 02:26 PM

Right now my boy marley eats a mix of dry food and wet food. He gets 1/2 a can of Natural Balance twice a day which is mixed with one cup of dry food. I've been feeding Bruiser brand dogfood from Wegmans, but after reading the Dog Food Project Website and the brand being involved in the recall, I will be switching him over to a higher quality dog food asap. I know it's not just the brand, but it just seems like a cheap food.

Anyways, lately Marley has lost interest in eating his regular dog food. I started him on the mix of wet and dry so he'd be more eager to eat it and put on weight because when I adopted him he was about 15 lbs underweight. He'll scarf down some dry food with a raw egg cracked on top, but he's been turning his head to the regular food. I'm thinking that he's either spoiled with getting a good amount of people food, or he's bored. Any sugestions?

Should I try mixing up the varieties of wet food? Is there really that much difference between the varieties in taste?

lb_gf10 · 03-27-2007, 12:17 AM

Lol he's probably a lil spoiled. Try adding a little bit of human food to his regular food.

sanctified · 03-27-2007, 11:41 AM

same problem here our minpin is not eating like he used to be.........ive already switched dogfood 3 times.......and i already gave him lean meats......still not eating......is it normal? do dogs lose their appetite?

Elijah · 03-27-2007, 05:44 PM

Most breeds of dogs are chow hounds as we all know. Perhaps such a variety is making them finicky. I'd set the food down in the morning and if they didn't touch it after about 15 minutes or so, in the refrigerator it goes till next time. No more food till late in the evening. Bring the same thing out again and set it down. Most will gladly eat at that point. If not, try the same the next morning. If they don't eat then, I'd be taking them to a vet.

It's good to rotate brands of food, I think, but not three brands every day or two because they don't like what you put before them. It ain't McDonald's and they can't always have it their way!

CrzyBritNAmerica · 03-27-2007, 05:57 PM

I agree with Elijah. It's the 'tough love' method. But seriously if a dog is healthy then it will not let itself starve. After we mixed some wet food with Bridgette's dry food (something we never did before now) she refused her dry food plain. It was a treat for her and I did not plan on sticking with wet/dry so she was going to eat the dry or not eat. I fed her in the morning, she didn't touch it, we picked it up and she didn't get the chance to eat until that evening when she still didn't eat. By the next morning she was hungry enough to just eat and then she was fine again. I recommend this method. If it goes longer than a day or two then I'd take the dog to the vet and rule out a medical problem.

LoveLilly · 03-28-2007, 01:09 PM

Lilly is odd when it comes to her food as well. She has alot of food allergies combined with anal gland issues that are helped along with additional fiber. She was on a hypoallergenic kibble of fish & potato, a homemade mixture (chicken/barley/carrots/beans/sweet potato) & a wet dehydrated raw mixture grain free called honest kitchen. Well it was always a fight to get her to eat & she is maybe 1 pound underweight which is alot on a 6 pound pap. We recently found what they call a raw grain free kibble that she absolutely loved....so we switched her and all was right in the world for about 1 week. Now she is back to her grazing habits. We used to pull her food up & yes when she was hungry she would surely eat, but it was not helping her anal gland issues & causing digestic upset. Her food is measured & given at the same time every day, 2 times a day. We do leave it out for her to pick at and it generally takes her 1 hour in the morning and about 3 hours at night to eat her meal. I know its not the norm but she is healthy and just about the proper weight and not too skinny anymore. She appears to like all her food, especially the non kibble variety, but is just a grazer. If she was overweight I would deal with it differently, but she is far from that.

bearlasmom · 03-29-2007, 11:51 AM

if you were feeding him the food that is on the recall list and involved in the poisoning, take him to the vet. One of the symptoms of posioning from that food is loss of appetite. Watch for the following: loss of appetite, increased or decreased drinking. excess peeing, lethargic, panting, in the later stages, sign of dehydration may be present. I am one of the Paralegals involved in the class action law suit. my dogs and one cat were all posioned.

Marley · 04-03-2007, 07:44 PM

Marley was not eating recalled food.

I started buying several different varieties of the same brand of wet food, to give him some variety and cut back his portions at each meal by 1/4 cup. It's pretty much fixed the problem.

thanks for the advice.

Geezer · 04-05-2007, 07:10 PM

My Golden Retriever recently started developing finicky behaviour as well. I was feeding her Performatrin Ultra and I have found that I needed to make her dish more attractive to the nose by adding CharleyBear treats and the like. This week I came home with Canidae tinned food and a bag of Canidae kibble. I have started her on 1/3 tin of the Chicken formula and one cup of the senior/overweight dry. Since the switch, she hasn't shown any reluctance to chow down - no CharleyBear needed.

I have tried several different premium "natural" brands with mixed success. This latest switch seems to show the most promise so far (touch wood).

The only problem is that there is only one chain that seems to carry the Canidae brand - Global/Ryan's - so it isn't terribly convenient for me out here in the boonies of NorthWest Halton Ontario.

Geezer

poodleholic · 04-06-2007, 02:38 AM

I've found it's less expensive to poach ground meats and mix it with rice cooked in low sodium chicken broth, along with steamed vegetables, than to use canned dog food. My dogs immediately clean their bowls, whereas, with the canned, they may stick their nosees up and not bother, or, just eat a little, then walk away (hoping for the "good stuff" I'm sure)! I know from experience that they WILL eat the plain kibble eventually, but, I don't mind making their meals more desireable!

I was using Wellness, Innova, & Natural Balance canned, all of which my dogs liked, and better than grocery store brands, yet the dogs were still picky. The ground meat w/rice does the trick, and, I actually use less of it than the canned. Go figure!