help, my dog wont eat..

[hollyandnoah]

Does anyone have any advice.
I have a cavalier king charles spaniel. she is 7 months old.
She has always had butchers puppy pouches now she has the adult tins.
A few days(4 i think) ago she stopped wanting her food. just leaving it in her dish all day. untill i washed it out and put fresh stuff in.. but she just left that too.
Usually if you put a food plate on the floor she would try and sneak upto it so i thought i would try putting some food onto a plate in the living room. She had a sniff and left it. I also tried this with milky bone treats and choc button treats. didnt want them either.
So i bought her a different meat, pedigree chum casarole collections. And some of the dry food too. But it is still in her bowl.
She is drinking lots of water - more than normal i'd say. She has a chew shoe that she's been eating.

Yesterday i bought her gammon stakes which she ate straight away :| But i dont want to have to keep on buying her stakes!

She has been crying a lot, and seems quite qrumpy. She keeps on digging things like her bed, the carpet, cushions off the sofa.
She wont go outside withough me lifting her and taking her outside, even then she just runs back inside. She is sleeping a lot also.

Has anyone experianced anything like this before?

[beautifulgirls]

I would suggest you should really get her taken to the vet and checked over to find out exactly what is upsetting her. She sounds unwell. If you call your own vet they will either answer or more likely have an answerphone that will tell you how to get hold of a vet for a check over the weekend.

[hollyandnoah]

I did take her to the vet. I thought i said that..
They said i was to keep her water topped up and keep an eye on her. She could be going to break down. The said her vulva looked slightly swollen. But i couldnt see a difference.

[combustiblelemon]

Agree with BG, she sounds ill/unsettled. Sounds like a trip to the vets is in order. TBH, I wouldn't leave tinned food out- if you want to, cover it and pop it in the fridge after half an hour to try again later.

[combustiblelemon]

Oops, sorry. Helpful vets.

[combustiblelemon]

Sounds like her first season.

[hollyandnoah]

It could be couldn't it. I bought her this mat yesterday because she kept trying to dig holes in her bed. She doesnt have a cage though it is just on the floor, and she hasn't tried to dig it. She just keeps taking all her toys and lying with them.
What would you do about eating? keep offering her dog meat or just get some gammon stakes in that i know she is eating?

[combustiblelemon]

I have no idea about feeding- personally, I'd try little bits of gammon or even hand feeding a little tinned meat if she'll let you, but I've got no experience of it. Have you tried googling for breed/breeders forums, as they should have advice? The digging/nesting and mothering toys sounds like hormonal behaviour.

[SpandexIsMyEnemy]

don't give her too much gammon - lots of salt.

sounds like her heat might not be too far away. but see the vet if you're worried.

[combustiblelemon]

Male dogs can be just as odd though when the hormones are flowing- ours used to sit in the garden and howl, occasionaly breaking off to sniff the flowers .

[moosemama]

Hi,

Bearing in mind your vets aren't concerned about her and taking into consideration what they said, it sounds to me like she is approaching her first season. Most breeds have their first season between 6 and 8 months with larger breeds usually starting later than smaller ones.

They can become quite moody, exhibit strange behaviours such as digging in bedding (nest making) and hoarding things like cuddly toys and cushions etc, although this varies on the individual.

She may be off her food, but it's unlikely she will starve herself. Its probably not a good idea to start trying to tempt her with tastier treats and meals as this could lead to problems later on. (Becoming a picky eater and refusing to eat anything but the good stuff.)

As long as you offer her her usual meal/s and she has constant access to fresh water she should be fine.

Its best not to leave food constantly available to any dog, offer her her meal/s at the usual time in the usual way, if she hasn't eaten it after half an hour take it away and try again at the next meal time. She will almost definitely get hungry at some point and eat some or all of one of the meals. At the moment she knows she doesn't have to eat when the food is put down because it is always there if she wants a nibble.

Basically, she is feeling premenstrual and her tummy is probably feeling quite weird if not a bit sore. Something many of us ladies can relate to.

If you are still concerned and she is still refusing to eat after a couple of days of sticking to meal times only or if the drinking increases with her showing signs of getting very overheated and lethargic, take her back to the vets for another check.

[OLIVIASMAMA]

Try her on scrambled egg - it always goes down well when my dog is "off it". Otherwise another good one is weetabix with warmed milk.

..... as SIME said, not too much gammon.

[combustiblelemon]

Forgot about the salt in gammon. Our dogs will eat white fish poached in milk or steamed chicken if they're really off food. Not that they're spoilt or anything.

[moosemama]

I know you are worried about her and it probably sounds harsh, but honestly trying to tempt her with different foods is really not a good idea.

We have to remember that she is a natural animal that is listening to her own body and she just doesn't feel like eating at the moment. Think morning sickness, its a similar thing, raging hormones affecting your digestive system. Having just got over ms myself I know how I would have felt if people had kept on offering me different meals when I 'knew' I couldn't eat a thing.

You really could be setting yourself up for future problems, especially if you go as far as trying to hand feed her. I have seen one too many dogs that refuse to eat almost anything except expensive cuts of meat hand fed by an worried owner.

If you really would like to try her with something 'gentler' you could replace her 'usual meal' with white fish and rice or scrambled egg, as has been suggested. But only offer it at her usual meal time, from her bowl. Put the food down and leave her alone to decide whether or not she wants to eat. If she doesn't, don't try to encourage her, just take up the bowl with no fuss or attention to her at all, then offer either the same thing or her usual feed at the next meal time.

Dogs pick up on our anxiety so easily, you may find if you put the food down and leave her alone with it she may well eat some.

[SpandexIsMyEnemy]

lol. mine when off their food - well we tough it out, and they either don't eat, or if they have poorly tummys, they get steamed chickn & rice, or steamed fish n rice.

with weetabix or scrabbled eggs.

also might be worth trying smaller meals more often - I think 7 mo mine had 2 meals a day, but if poorly I would do 4/5 little ones.

[SheSellsSeashellsByTheSeashore]

both female dogs i have both start acting strangely before the bleeding of there season starts. for one that does include lack of apetite.

[combustiblelemon]

Spandex, I left out the rice because I thought the steaming/poaching sounded silly enough. I'm really glad it's not just me

I agree with Moosemama though. Regular mealtimes (possibly 2 a day rather than one) are the way to go, and it could set up future eating problems if you try too hard. She's drinking and sleeping a lot, so she will not really need much in the way of food.

[SpandexIsMyEnemy]

see my vet always says to give them little and often if their tummys are sore. as it's 'lighter' and easier going on them.

guess it's like us if we're poorly we only have a bit of bland toast, and then try another little bit a few hours later iycwim.

[moosemama]

Spandex, would agree with your vet if it was a gastro sort of thing. But in all likelihood its not really her tummy that's sore, its probably more like period pains and that plus the hormonal upset is making her not 'feel like' eating.

Absolutely, if your dog has has a tummy upset, withholding food for a few hours then going onto regular smaller 'gentle' meals is the way to go.

At her age she should be on 2, or possibly 3 meals a day, depending on the feeding schedule the breeder recommended. Offering her something this regularly should be fine.

I feel so sorry for her, with the memory of my morning sickness still looming large I totally sympathise with how she's feeling. Men and male dogs really don't know how lucky they are.

[hollyandnoah]

Thank you all. I just made her some scrambled egg. She is at the moment taking a mouthful and going to her bed to finish it before going for another one.. but she is eating it!!

[moosemama]

Great, glad she's decided to eat something.

My dogs are all in a strop today as DH is stripping the quarry tiles in the kitchen so they are all in the living room with me to keep them out of his way. (Fence needs mending couldn't leave them outside.) They are lying around making huffing noises, looking all pathetic and making 'big eyes' at me!

I on the other hand am wasting spending a guilt free afternoon with my feet up mumsnetting on the laptop whilst attempting to ignore their sad little faces.

[hollyandnoah]

aww moosemama. Dog huffs are so funny i think.. My old dog used to throw himself in his bed and huff while looking right at you.. like he was actually huffing at me!

She ate most of it. I made her 2 eggs, there is less than half a bowl left but she's away to sleep.

poor thing!

[moonmother]

Does sound like her first season, one thing just to keep an eye on though.

My old dog acted like this just before her season, but after her seasons she'd have phantom pregnancies, she'd produce milk, carry her tots about like puppies etc.

Best thing is to have her neutered as it stops the phantom pregnancies, at twice a year they started to get a bit much.

Glad shes eaten tho

[moosemama]

Did you take the bowl up?

[hollyandnoah]

up where? lol i put the rest in the bin.. if that's what you mean? lol

[moosemama]

Agree moonmother.

Its an emotive debate I know, spaying and neutering, but I always get my bitches spayed, its stops them having to go through all that hormonal upheaval, having phantom pregnancies and can prevent mammary tumours and pyometra (which is life threatening and requires emergency treatment - went through that with our first rescue bitch and wouldn't wish it on anyone).