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If you're worried about your pet's health, please speak to a vet or qualified professional.

Dog off his food?

4 replies

HicDraconis · 26/10/2014 21:09

We have a 2 year old lab/retriever cross who seems to be eating less and less.

We feed him 2 meals a day, dry food (Acana). As a puppy he ate OK but wasn't overly interested - he would sometimes not finish a meal (which we then took up) but he was a reasonable weight for his size (medium, around 11kg at a year which the vet said was fine).

Recently he started being less interested, would peck at breakfast but then eat his evening meal. Over the last week or so he's been pecking at both meals, occasionally eating most of one but more often than not just leaving it.

He's still full of energy, glossy coat, bright eyes, runs around happily on his walks, chases balls and our other dog (who is a lab/spoodle cross and would eat the house if we let her, nothing wrong with her appetite!). I am concerned that his eating pattern is tending towards less and less though. It's hard to see if he's losing weight as his coat is very curly and would hide it.

I was going to weigh him today and then again in a week or so to see if he is losing. I'm encouraged by the fact that he's still running around full of beans but concerned about his lack of appetite.

Should I take him to the vet? Should I keep an eye on it for another week and then take him if it doesn't pick up? Is it normal for a 2 year old dog to go off their food occasionally?

OP posts:
tabulahrasa · 27/10/2014 00:18

Is he unneutered? They can be pretty good at regulating their own intake/weight while entire.

HicDraconis · 27/10/2014 07:30

No, we had him neutered at around 18 months old - we'd just got our bitch puppy and we didn't want any accidents!

OP posts:
tabulahrasa · 27/10/2014 07:48

Oh well, there goes that theory, lol.

As it's not a sudden thing, I'd just weigh him and wait to see if he is losing weight or not, if it was me I mean.

HicDraconis · 27/10/2014 18:00

We mixed his evening feed with some offcuts from the beef roast and gravy which he pretty much inhaled! So either he's decided out of the blue that it doesn't taste good enough, or he likes it softer ... Toothache? Will keep an eye while he still seems ok in himself otherwise & hop straight to vet if he is losing weight or energy.

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