Refusing to eat

[Gina]

Have you tried feeding sadie by hand? When Vash got his Upper Respitarory Infection he was unable to smell the food, so when I put it in his bowl he was unintrested and just walked away. However if I hand fed him is food he would eat every last bite.

Afterwards I started using items that had a very strong smell to intice him into eating his kibble from his bowl, for example I dipped a few peices of kibble in peanut butter and dropped them in the bowl.

The only reason I wouldn't hand feed is because they will get used to it, and then you will have another habit to break. Same thing with the peanut butter. I think if she's eating at least one meal (out of her two meals) then I wouldn't baby her that much.

If she's still being picky, ask your vet about an appetite pill. I'm not sure exactly what it was called, but a dog we were showing was a picky eater and after being on the appetite pill, he would eat it up. And after a while, he didn't need the pill anymore. He just eats his heart out!

 

[Gina]

I heard it from our vet, and also saw it on an emergency vet type of show on t.v... If memory serves me correct...it has something to do with it possibly causing bloat, and/or twisting of the intestines???? I could have the possible potential problem wrong.. Anyway, we've just always done the two feedings after they get out of puppyhood. During puppyhood...we did 3 x a day.

Bloat usually occurs more in larger dogs. I think for Shelties it's okay Just be sure after they eat that they have some time to digest before going outside for a romp.

 

[ClantyreSheltie]

Sadie is STILL trying to refuse to eat. I'm beginning to really think that she's just waiting for me to feed her something better and that there's nothing wrong with her. Her nose has been out of joint since I was taking Ginny to training and giving her good treats.

She's continuing to act completely normal. Its been very hot lately so I've been keeping the girls indoors where its cool.

She's still refusing meals, but she's ALWAYS hungry by the time the next meal comes around and resorts to grudgingly eating her food.

I tried giving her a different flavor of Wellness and while she ate it, she didn't have any more enthusiasm for it than her usual flavor. She never misses more than one meal in a row and I pick up her bowl after 10 minutes.

Feeling VERY frustrated with her. Given all of the digestive issues that Sadie had in the past, I am just not ready to switch her food when she's been doing SO WELL on this one.

I've stopped trying to entice her to eat because I don't want this to be about attention or other goodies. I guess I'm just going to have to wait it out and hope that she stops being so stubborn, which is hard since I'm not even seeing an end in sight.

Sadie isn't losing weight yet and could stand to lose a few pounds, so I guess the battle continues...

This is exactly the pattern my landlords Standard Poodle went through. She refused every food, or would eat one meal, then pick at a few meals, sometimes turning over the full bowl as if to say "what is this?" My landlord went through all kinds of foods and supplements and pro-biotics. This went on for months. The dog lost weight because neither her nor Jacky were going to give in.

So one day I walked downstairs, handed the dog a hunk of chicken, and she said "thank you very much", walked into her crate with it, chowed down, and never looked back. Poodles have pretty sensitive guts, and I guess the kibble didn't agree with her. She ranged from Purina One Sensitive to Solid Gold to Orijens, and she wasn't crazy about any of it. She did finally put the weight back on.

You can always add raw egg or cottage cheese to her meals. That's a guilt-free way of enticing her to eat. Eggs are 100% digestible and contain all the essential acids.

 

[Ann]

For what it's worth, I did hear something not too long ago about Wellness being bought out and changing the formula. I wonder if that's part of the problem. I never question when a dog tells me they don't want a food they've eaten for a while. There's always a reason. Last time it happened, the manufacturer had changed the formula but didn't announce it until dogs started getting sick. Don't assume it's all Sadie...I know she has digestive issues, but I'd try a different food for her. I would also not change meals to once a day...with her digestive issues, you're better splitting it into two feedings.

 

[Calliesmom]

For what it's worth, I did hear something not too long ago about Wellness being bought out and changing the formula. I wonder if that's part of the problem. I never question when a dog tells me they don't want a food they've eaten for a while. There's always a reason. Last time it happened, the manufacturer had changed the formula but didn't announce it until dogs started getting sick. Don't assume it's all Sadie...I know she has digestive issues, but I'd try a different food for her. I would also not change meals to once a day...with her digestive issues, you're better splitting it into two feedings.

I actually decided to switch from Wellness (had been happy with it for over 5 years) and not wait for any problems to show up. all the pups have been on TOTW since June

 

[OntarioSheltie]

For what it's worth, I did hear something not too long ago about Wellness being bought out and changing the formula. I wonder if that's part of the problem. I never question when a dog tells me they don't want a food they've eaten for a while. There's always a reason. Last time it happened, the manufacturer had changed the formula but didn't announce it until dogs started getting sick. Don't assume it's all Sadie...I know she has digestive issues, but I'd try a different food for her. I would also not change meals to once a day...with her digestive issues, you're better splitting it into two feedings.

I actually decided to switch from Wellness (had been happy with it for over 5 years) and not wait for any problems to show up. all the pups have been on TOTW since June

Yeah, I thought I remembered something about that a few months ago but couldn't remember where I read it. I looked online and didn't see any references to formula change, but I suppose that could be the problem.

What a pain, I spent hours researching foods before switching her to Wellness and now I might be back to square one.

I actually contacted Wellness yesterday online to see if they've changed their formula but I haven't heard back from them yet.

Sadie ate all of her food yesterday and this morning without too much complaint. I don't think we're through the woods yet though, but I'll keep my fingers crossed.

 

[corbinam]

Yeah, I thought I remembered something about that a few months ago but couldn't remember where I read it. I looked online and didn't see any references to formula change, but I suppose that could be the problem.

What a pain, I spent hours researching foods before switching her to Wellness and now I might be back to square one.

I actually contacted Wellness yesterday online to see if they've changed their formula but I haven't heard back from them yet.

Sadie ate all of her food yesterday and this morning without too much complaint. I don't think we're through the woods yet though, but I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Hopefully it won't come to this, and Sadie will be back to eating Wellness happily, but I did want to recommend California Natural to a dog with a sensitive stomach. It's what we're feeding both of our dogs because of stomach issues. They have limited ingredients, so it works well for us.

 

[OntarioSheltie]

Well, I had the idea to put a tiny sprinkle of garlic on Sadie's food to try and entice her to eat. Sadie LOVES garlic to the point that even if most of the kibble doesn't touch the garlic, she'll still gobble everything down.

This morning she STILL didn't eat all of her food. I thought she would have been starved, as she did a lot of running around yesterday.

I still haven't heard back from Wellness about a possible change in formula, but am starting to lean that way...it is so not like Sadie to be picky.

Ginny doesn't seem to notice a difference, although her bowels have been loose on and off lately. I thought it had to do with the heat, but maybe not...?

 

[take4roll10]

I hope they haven't messed with their formula. I just recently switched Bailey from california natural to wellness and she seems to like it. I don't want to switch foods again.

 

[OntarioSheltie]

I'll be really disappointed if they did too. It seems whenever I find a product that works for me, either it gets discontinued or changed. I must have the worst luck because this happens to me all the time. *sigh*

I spent weeks doing research on dog food before deciding on Wellness and the girls have been doing so well on it, up until now. I'm so frustrated that Sadie doesn't want anything to do with it now!

I'm going to have to buy a smaller bag this time, till I decide what I'm going to do...I think at this point I have no choice but to switch foods, regardless of what Wellness tells me. Sadie's refusing to eat close to half of the time and she's other wise healthy.