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My Dog Isnt Eating Any Food.. *HELP!*

12K views 123 replies 31 participants last post by  princess_ella 
#1 ·
It has been since christmas eve that my dog has been sick. She had some poo with blood in it just one night. We took her to the vets they did blood work , x-rays, checked her teeth, her stool.

Everything came back normal and healthy. We have no idea what is going on with her but she will not touch any food at all. The vet gave her a nutritional supplement but there is no food she will touch. She is 4 years old and has always ate human food not dog food. She is not eating anything doesnt even smell the food just has no appetite at all. She is not even interested in eating her treats.

It is impossible that she is nibbling at anything because she is with us all day, she is not eating anything around the house or outside. The vets even said her x-rays showed an empty stomache.

The vet also gave her a shot to boost her appetite that night she had a couple bites of meat but nothing else and not enough. She used to always want to eat and now we cant get her to eat anything at all. I have tried literally EVERYTHING.


Does anybody have any suggestions on what to do?! Pls help
 
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#3 ·
She has been to two different vets and they both say the same thing. They arent sure what is going on with her she is healthy but they think its possible it may be depression.

We are always home with her and nothing has changed. If we try putting food close to her mouth she is growling at us now which she has never done. I tried to rub honey on her gums and she tried to bite me. But i know its not her teeth bothering her because last night she was chewing on her chew stick but not for long a minute max.

She is still drinking water.
 
#4 ·
Ok well if it was my dog, as long as she is staying hydrated and still chewing on things, has no blockage confirmed by xray and is not having any other symptoms Id leave a bowl of her food down, or whatever it is she likes and just watch her, dogs can go several days without eating, many people are not aware of that.. At this point she may be picking up on your stress and that could be further upsetting her (the growling)
 
#5 ·
I would leave food down too, and some Puppy Milk with melted raw honey mixed into it. I read that humans can live for a month or two off of honey and milk, so I got that for when our Micha was sick and it was easy to tell that she felt immediatly better.
Hope she feels better soon <3
 
#6 ·
Just my 2 cents worth, i would still get another opinion especialy the fact that you state she had blood in her poo, B12 will perk up the appetite, also if the dog is chewing on chewies take those away as she might be preciving those as a filler up, you can also try peanutbutter on your finger or a spoon or even a dish, peanutbutter is alittle more tempting than honey and will help keep there strenght up.. Is the dog afraid/or not like the dish the food is in? Try switching that up. Theres a reason why shes not eating, you just need to get to the root of the problem, have you given her plenty of time between trying to get her to eat? Try waitting with no food or treats around for few hrs then soak some dry kibble in water till it puffs up, drain the water from it, fry up some hamberger/drain grease, then add the burger to the wet kibble mix lightly and leave it down for her, dont force it on her and dont try hand feeding, just simply place it close by her in a quiet place and walk away. Is her feeding area in a place of high traffic or where people walk by alot? That might be upsetting her. She also might be eating in the middle of the night when your not watching her, some dogs dont like people watching or standing over them while they eat.
Just my 2 cents worth
 
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#7 ·
Has she been tested for Lyme disease? I had a cockapoo that didn't want anyone near him and didn't have much appetite. He had Lyme, but after meds he was fine! Just a thought.

Also, what about a holistic vet? Sometimes they approach things in a different manner.

I would definitely try the honey and milk.

Hope she gets better soon!:(
 
#8 ·
Another day has gone by that she will not touch food.

My dog has slept in my bed with me for almost 5 years, she is not eating anything during the night when nobody is watching her because she doesnt have access to the food in the middle of the night.

She is not eating any treats, she is not taking from my hand, she wont eat if i chew up the food for her, she wont eat with it in her bowl. I have literally tried everything. She is starving herself to death now. It is not the food dish because we cleaned everything but new stuff down we have been trying to hand feed her usually when we eat dinner she begs for food and she goes crazy to get some from us and she is not doing that she wont even eat that.


She does not eat dog food nor ever has. I am taking her to visit a different vet tonight with all her results for another opinion. I am worried her organs will shut down from not eating.
 
#10 ·
I boarded a little dog a while back that would not eat. For a whole week she ate not one bite. She was fine when she got home. I had to board her again coz they had to go back to hospital, she told me to put food on floor, she forgot to tell me she will only eat on a paper towel on the floor. no bowl. So I poured it in the corner of her crate and she ate every bite twice a day. You might just sprinkle something on the kitchen floor. Just a thought. Hope you find out what is wrong!!
pam in TX
 
#11 ·
So we went to the vet last night, and this is the 3rd vet she has seen in this time period that she has not been eating.

I have tried sprinkling food on the floor, from my hand from a paper towel . Everything possible i have tried and she just turns her head and sticks her nose up at it.

The vets all say that they havent seen this before but her poo is goey which tells him its something bothering her in her tummy possibly acid which is turning her off food but it should not have gone on this long that she is refusing to eat.

He gave her a liquid that is something like tums to help coat her tummy to make it feel better if that is why she is not eating.

This morning we put baby food in a syringe and got two syringes down her plus some more of this liquid (tums ) . It was suggested from the vet because if we dont get any food in her then her organs will shut down its been to long for her to not have eaten anything and she is getting weak.

She didnt like us forcing her to eat that but its the only thing we can do to save her life and we will do it again tonight and hopefully this will help her to start eating on her own.

After we had given her the stuff she perked up there was a difference. So hopefully by tomorrow she will have interested in food.. Im hoping..


Any other suggestions?
 
#12 ·
Hi!

I have a 7 month old LC Chih and we had problems with him refusing to eat / drink just after Xmas!

He was vomiting and simply not going to the toilet atall.

After 2 days I took him to the vet and she suggested scrambled eggs. With the smallest amount of butter but WITHOUT milk 3-5 times a day.

We persisted with this for 3 days and he took to it very well, the vomitting has stopped and we've just started bringing back in his Kibble and doing well so far!

Might not work for your Chi but thought I'd share the advice just incase

X




Sent from my iPhone using Petguide.com Free App
 
#13 ·
We have tried the eggs, she wont physically eat anything herself just smell it and walk away from it.

She still has not eaten so yesterday we gave her baby food in a syringe and her medicine to help soothe her stomache in case it is acid. We had to force it in her mouth.

She is still not interested in any type of food and does not like it when we are putting the syringe in her mouth to feed her but we are just trying to save her.

We are going to visit the vet again today and get an ultra sound done as that is the only thing we have not done yet and hopefully they can figure something out from that since everything else is coming back as normal.

She also still has not gone to the bathroom and it will be a week tomorrow.

After we gave her 40ml of the baby food yesterday her stomache was contracting so we dont want to do this anymore which is why we are going to get an ultra sound done.


I hope its nothing serious :( She is getting weak and has lost alot of weight and is not playing or full of energy and is growling when anyone goes near her.
 
#14 ·
Have you checked her mouth to see if she has any infected tooth? Have you had a urinalysis done? What were you feeding before she started acting this way? Have you tried feeding raw steak? Raw chicken? Can you hear her stomach making any noises?

If she's not eating or drinking much, she won't be going to the bathroom that much.
 
#17 ·
Okay, here's my take, based on what I've read. First, I'm glad to hear that you've tried several vets.

I'm guessing there may have been something that stressed her out or made her stomach upset around the time that she first stopped eating. Dogs are very similar to humans from a physiological standpoint...so think back to the last time you waited "too long" between meals to eat again. Have you ever been so hungry you didn't feel hungry anymore? When you knew you needed to eat, but just physically had no appetite? Dogs can feel the same way...only they can't reason it out like we can, and tell themselves they have to eat no matter what.

It sounds to me like she stopped eating from a stomachache of some sort, then by the time the bellyache went away, she didn't have an appetite left. When you go long enough without eating, the smell of food (even a favorite meal) can actually be nauseating. I would keep on with the baby food and the medication as your vet prescribes. I feel like the growling issue is probably due to a combination of the fact that she doesn't feel well, and your stress level (not much you can do about that really, you're going to be stressed because she's sick). Just try to keep your routine as close to normal.

If you can get it, see if you can get a little bit of fresh, raw goat's milk into her, maybe with a bit of honey mixed in (it needs to be raw, organic honey, not the pasteurized stuff; once it's been pasteurized, all of the good proteins in honey are denatured, and it's only good as a sweetener). Remember, too, that her stomach is shrunken now because she's gone so long without eating, so her intake capacity is severely limited. I don't know what size syringe you've been using, but I'm wondering if the stomach contractions you said you felt were because she got more than she could handle at this point. I would stick with very small amounts, given at frequent intervals throughout the day (every hour or two, if possible).

Hope she gets better! Illness in our furkids is always so much harder to handle when we don't have a definitive diagnosis. :(
 
#18 ·
So sorry about her not eating! I have the opposite problem!

lyngraves has a good point. Unfiltered honey is pretty much a complete food. Do you think she would lick just honey off your finger? It's worth a try. Of course if you don't have the unfiltered/un processed one, then I would try any kind!

I do hope it isn't anything serious.
 
#22 ·
We checked her mouth as well as the vet. All of her teeth are fine not infected nothing stuck there no problems inside her mouth. They checked her poop and pee. Yesterday I braught her poop with me because she finally yet.

Ive tried feeding her raw meats and raw food. Her stomache is not growling. She is drinking a lot still and licking ice cubes and the vet told me to allow her to lick popsicles for sugar.

She is not interested in the milk and honey I tried that and she wont lick honey off my finger I tried that as well.

I don’t want to give her any meal replacements I don’t feel that’s necessary the vet did that one day and she vomited. If babys can live off of baby food and formula that is what she will be living on until she starts eating by herself again.

The vet thinks at this point it is all hormonal. Her poop and blood work show normal and she is healthy so they don’t think it is anything serious. They basically think she is being a hormonal bitch. Her bottom two nipples are swollen now and there is substance in them he says. ( My dog is a virgin never been around other dogs ) He believes this is a false pregnancy and she is growling because she is now in protective mode. As for not eating she just doesn’t have the appetite right now everything doesn’t smell good to her. She is smelling a lot of things now but not eating them… We have to wait it out and then get her fixed.
 
#23 ·
I know it's not good to just keep grabbing at straws, but I wonder if anything like primrose or something might be of any help. If people can balance hormones with meds or supplements, maybe dogs can too.

I really feel bad for you and her. It's awful when the little ones are listless!

Hope she "pops" back soon!:(
 
#26 ·
Hi there,..

I think you better go to another vet and ask them to check her bowels and other digestive system. Is she suffering from gastric maag?
I had a neighbor who has a chihuahua. Her chihuahua also doesn't want to eat anything. She lost her appetite at all, then she gone check with the digestive system. Then the doctor said , there are so much ulcers on her bowels tissue..
But she couldn't survive anymore, it's already too late at that time, the ulcers are too many on her bowels tissue.

Have you tried to give her the egg yolks? I always give my chi egg yolks when the loose their appetites. Egg yolks help increasing her health so she won't easily get sick.

Hope my suggestions could help you. =)

jesslynalvin - myknitt
 
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