# Should I be worried?!



## Muttkip (Aug 18, 2011)

**Please no bashing or flaming or anything for my choice in dog food please, thank you**

First let me say, I'm HOPING this is a case of a picky dog. But for Beau it's just down right worrisome, he's 9 years old and starting to show it a bit. 

But this has me worried, he hasn't eaten in about 4 or 5 days now. He won't eat his kibble, I've checked his teeth and felt around his mouth nothing, no abscesses or lumps or any pain reaction at all. He's healthy as a horse as well. I've even gone as far as wetting his food with water to soften it up and he wouldn't touch it, I had to force it down his throat to get him to eat. I just swapped his food to Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul and before that he was eating Purina Dog Chow with no issues. 

He will take treats and human food when offered, he's running around playing like usual, he has no way of getting a hold of anything that would cause a blockage. He's drinking water like normal and he weighs about 23 pounds. He has a clean bill of health as well.

But I also know MY dog and he has NEVER turned his nose up to any food EVER, he's a chow hound.

So like I said I'm hoping this is a case of a picky dog and not something worse since he is starting to get older.


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## minnieme (Jul 6, 2011)

4 or 5 days seems like a long time....I would probably take him to a vet if he were mine. Got my fingers crossed for him!


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## Muttkip (Aug 18, 2011)

minnieme said:


> 4 or 5 days seems like a long time....I would probably take him to a vet if he were mine. Got my fingers crossed for him!


I really hope it's just me over reacting, cause it does seem like he's eating, but it's like he's not eating ALL of his food like he normally does....I gotta check the budget to see if I can get him to the vet.


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## catahoulamom (Sep 23, 2010)

Maybe he wants a food that actually has some meat in it. Try that.

Or take him to the vet.


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## Muttkip (Aug 18, 2011)

Julie said:


> Maybe he wants a food that actually has some meat in it. Try that.
> 
> Or take him to the vet.


Drop the food bit please, I'm feeding him the best food I can afford and even it's way out of my budget and from what I understand Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul is a decent food at a price I can actually manage to afford. I already asked not to be bashed or flamed for what I feed my dog.


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## KC23 (Nov 17, 2010)

Maybe he doesn't like it. I don't think my dogs were all that fond of Chicken Soup either when I fed kibble. I know they sure loved the taste of Purina though. If I didn't mix in canned food or cooked chicken and homemade broth in with foods like Chicken Soup, Diamond Naturals or Canidae--it would sit there till late at night when they finally got hungry enough to eat it.


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

Muttkip said:


> Drop the food bit please, I'm feeding him the best food I can afford and even it's way out of my budget and from what I understand Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul is a decent food at a price I can actually manage to afford. I already asked not to be bashed or flamed for what I feed my dog.


Suppose... just suppose.. it is the food. Would you still feel the same way? Just because you don't want to talk about it doesn't mean it might not be the issue.

Posting a caveat doesn't mean everyone is going to do what you say when you ask a question on a public forum. No one is "flaming" you.

I don't know if it's the food or not - if it were my dog and he hasn't eaten for several days, I'd take him to the vet. 

Everyone here would like to see your dog get better. But on a dog food forum you can pretty well expect people to discuss dog food.


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## MollyWoppy (Mar 19, 2010)

If he is acting perfectly normally in every other way, including eating treats and human food, and, you have just changed his kibble to a new brand, I would be inclined to think he just doesn't like the new food that much. 
If you have any doubts though, I'd think I'd definitively take him to the vet too, just to be on the safe side.


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## catahoulamom (Sep 23, 2010)

I'm not meaning to bash of flame you for what you feed your dog. I'm just saying, there are other cheap foods out there that have a LOT more meat in them than Dog Chow. Even Purina One Beyond seems better than Dog Chow... and I'm not sure the price but I doubt it's unreasonable. I'm not crazy about the food I'm recommending, but I know you have to do what you can afford. Or if you can, get some Beneful wet food (comes in little tuppleware containers) and mix it in with his dry. It's pretty cheap and their wet food is probably better than Alpo canned.

Or, you can get some cheap ground meat on sale from the grocery store, cook it up, mix it with some rice or sweet potato if you want it to last longer, freeze it, and take out a little bit at a time to mix in with his food. That's probably cheaper than buying canned food.


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## Muttkip (Aug 18, 2011)

Julie said:


> I'm not meaning to bash of flame you for what you feed your dog. I'm just saying, there are other cheap foods out there that have a LOT more meat in them than Dog Chow. Even Purina One Beyond seems better than Dog Chow... and I'm not sure the price but I doubt it's unreasonable. I'm not crazy about the food I'm recommending, but I know you have to do what you can afford. Or if you can, get some Beneful wet food (comes in little tuppleware containers) and mix it in with his dry. It's pretty cheap and their wet food is probably better than Alpo canned.
> 
> Or, you can get some cheap ground meat on sale from the grocery store, cook it up, mix it with some rice or sweet potato if you want it to last longer, freeze it, and take out a little bit at a time to mix in with his food. That's probably cheaper than buying canned food.


He's not eating Dog Chow anymore, it's the Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul he's not eating, he's always done really well with Dog Chow and I swapped him because I wanted him on something better.


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

You can continue doing tough love, I've seen dogs go longer than he has without eating before they cave in. And since he's acting normal otherwise I wouldn't be concerned. 

There might also be something wrong with the kibble that he is picking up on, so switching to another higher quality food might be another option.


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## Scarlett_O' (May 19, 2011)

Ive never seen a dog, even Brody's EXTREME Pig-of-a-Pug momma be happy about CS food!

I would HIGHLY suggest trying a different food if he IS eating treats well...if not, well then it is for sure vet time, but IF HE IS eating treats and other wise acting normally then YES another food is in order, IMO!


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## Caty M (Aug 13, 2010)

Chicken soup's not bad. Did he eat it fine at first? How long has he been on it? Before 5 days ago did he eat it willingly?

Most dogs love low quality food like Dog Chow. I sure do like the taste of grilled cheese sandwiches and Froot Loops and it's basically the same thing. 

Do you leave out the food? Try having it out for 15 minutes only- whatever he doesn't touch in that 15 minutes gets taken away for a few hours... and repeat. :wink: this actually does work with quite a few dogs.


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## hmbutler (Aug 4, 2011)

Caty M said:


> Do you leave out the food? Try having it out for 15 minutes only- whatever he doesn't touch in that 15 minutes gets taken away for a few hours... and repeat. :wink: this actually does work with quite a few dogs.


This works - Duke eats absolutely everything, and the first time I ordered pork heart, I was cutting it up and he was being very well behaved, so I gave him a little chunk as a treat... he chewed and chewed for ages, then just ignored it, so I was sure he wasn't going to eat it (along with the 20kg I bulk ordered!!)

I went to take it off him, and what do ya know, he grabbed it and swallowed within seconds haha the thought of me taking away his food was enough to make him eat it! He now eats it no worries 

So yeah try setting Beau with a time schedule of how long he has to eat his meal, then take it away, regardless of if he's touched it or not. He'll soon realise he has to eat when you put his food down, or he wont eat at all lol


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## CorgiPaws (Mar 31, 2009)

Well, yeah, in a tough love, food transition situation, I wouldn't be worried. Dogs have gone longer without food and been just fine. 
But 4 or 5 days of unexplained loss of appetite when previously being an enthusiastic eater? Plus being a senior dog? I'd be at the vet, but that's just me. I don't rush to the vet often, but something is going on. I'm not mentioning this to "bash" or "flame" you, but really tied up outside he could have been exposed to a number of things and you'd really have no idea. Poisons, other animals, etc. 

Again, I'd go to the vet. 

And I thought you joined here to learn about raw anyway?


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## Muttkip (Aug 18, 2011)

PuppyPaws said:


> Well, yeah, in a tough love, food transition situation, I wouldn't be worried. Dogs have gone longer without food and been just fine.
> But 4 or 5 days of unexplained loss of appetite when previously being an enthusiastic eater? Plus being a senior dog? I'd be at the vet, but that's just me. I don't rush to the vet often, but something is going on. I'm not mentioning this to "bash" or "flame" you, but really tied up outside he could have been exposed to a number of things and you'd really have no idea. Poisons, other animals, etc.
> 
> Again, I'd go to the vet.
> ...



I did join here to learn more about RAW, I'll most likely be making that swap when I get a place of my own most likely sometime mid or late next year 

And I'm going to test something tomorrow, I'm getting a small bag of the Dog Chow just to see if he really is turning his nose up at the food. 

I'm guessing if he doesn't like this food, I could always go back to Diamond Naturals....he liked the food but his coat looked terrible on it, the food he does best on is Purina One Sensitive Systems.


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## Muttkip (Aug 18, 2011)

Caty M said:


> Chicken soup's not bad. Did he eat it fine at first? How long has he been on it? Before 5 days ago did he eat it willingly?
> 
> Most dogs love low quality food like Dog Chow. I sure do like the taste of grilled cheese sandwiches and Froot Loops and it's basically the same thing.
> 
> Do you leave out the food? Try having it out for 15 minutes only- whatever he doesn't touch in that 15 minutes gets taken away for a few hours... and repeat. :wink: this actually does work with quite a few dogs.


He ate the first bowl fine after that, he didn't seem to care for it much. He was eating it, but leaving like half the bowl, and that's what he still seems to be doing now, he'll eat but not without it being watered down or me basically taking the food in my hand and popping it in his mouth.


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## Caty M (Aug 13, 2010)

If he liked Diamond Naturals I'd get that over Dog Chow... buy a salmon oil supplement at Walmart or other pharmacy meant for humans and toss him one or two a day.


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