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Dog refusing food :( Advice and WWYD please

2 replies

tulpe · 27/06/2011 12:43

Sorry - This is rather long (in order to give all necessary detail) and more of a WWYD and "Am I on right track?" kind of question really.

She is 18 months old and was fine up until spending the week with the dog sitter over half term (at dog sitter's house).

The first week she was back with us and she was refusing food I put it down to a mixture of missing her new friends and possibly having been given different foods whilst there (although I did specifically ask for her to be fed her regular food). She usually has a great appetite and wolfs down her breakfast and tea before you can blink. She very reluctantly ate some but not all and she would graze rather than wolf down.

She began being sick at the start of the second week of food refusal so we went to vet who found slightly elevated temp, raised lymph nodes and treated for GI type upset (antibiotic and anti-inflammatories). During the following weekend we fed her on rice and chicken which she did eat and then gradually mixed in her regular food which, once again, she would leave.

So third week, I put it down to being a little stroppy little madam! She is perky enough for walks and play and obviously has an appetite because when I am preparing food or when family is eating she is begging for snacks. I have so far refused to give her snacks this past week (except for training treats when out on walks), based on assumption that if she is hungry then she will eat her regular food.

I have just returned home to find her having been sick again :( Without being too graphic, it is just grass that she ate yesterday evening on her walk as she has no food in her tum. I have an appointment with the vet this afternoon to review.

Am I being too harsh by insisting she eats her regular food? I must stress that prior to the dog sitter break, she has eaten that brand of food quite happily since she was 12 weeks old (changing to adult food on vet's advice 3 months ago). My cats can be little so-and-so's with being fussy with food so I treated her the same as I would them, really.

Just wonder how others would deal with it? Anyone any direct experience? Do I need to just give in and give her something else?

Or is there a chance that a dog will still beg for treats when there is something more sinister going on with their system which makes them unable to eat their regular food?

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tulpe · 27/06/2011 12:45

oh and she is also not drinking a great deal either - even with this bout of hot weather :(

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charliebear100 · 27/09/2011 18:28

Hi Tulpe,

I think you should definitely take her back to your vet. It is not normal for a dog that has previously had a good appetite to suddenly develop a picky appetite and start vomiting.

I am a vet, and although it is unlikely to be anything serious - she may require a longer course of treatment, or perhaps blood tests maybe to check out her pancreas (pancreatitis can cause abdominal pain when dogs start eating and vomiting).

The not drinking a great deal is most likely insignificant - she is most probably not dehydrated from the occasional vomiting episode.

Let me know how you get on and what your vet thinks when he examines her again.

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