Help!My mom's dog won't eat!

gothicangel69 · Sep 20, 2007

All of a sudden, my mother's dog won't eat her dog food. My mother recently started a new day of food,and she was eating it fine until this morning. She'll run up to her food dish like she's starving, sniff the food, then turn away. You can tell she's really hungry. She usually woofs the food right down, but it took her all day to eat her breakfast. And for supper, we had to give her cat food (which she ate at once) I checked the expiration date, and its good until July 08.
I'm wondering if maybe there's something wrong with the food. My mother said it smells a little different. I told her that if the dog won't eat it, then there's probably something wrong with the food, since she's never done that before.
Can dogs sense if there's something wrong with their food.
She's eating MediCal Vegetarian Dry Food.

catsarebetter · Sep 20, 2007

I've heard that they can't tell, but it seems to me that I've had dogs that have been able to sense it or smell something "off" about it. Has she tried feeding her something else? If your mom isn't opposed to it, you may try something non-vegetarian. It may be that the dog needs something meat based for dietary reasons and is missing whatever that key protein or mineral or what have you.

It does sound more like there's something wrong with that particular bag... try cooking some homemade ground beef (boiled) with boiled rice.. don't fry it, but boil it.. it's usually pretty good for getting them to eat again and is fairly easy on their stomach.

Also, has she checked her mouth and teeth to see if there's any obvious problems?

gothicangel69 · Sep 20, 2007

She's eating everything else we give her, just not her dog food. She's been on the same type for a little while now, and has never once refused to eat it before.
We've had to feed her cat food this evening until we can get to the store and get something else.
I told my mother that she should take the bag back and get a new one. If she eats the new bag, then there was something wrong with this bag. What do you think??

catsarebetter · Sep 20, 2007

Yeah, sounds like it. You may just want to switch to something else for awhile. I believe there are other veggie dog diets out there, but I couldn't honestly tell you which ones (if that's a key factor in what she gets fed). I'm really kind of funny about foods after the recalls, though.

sharky · Sep 20, 2007

the best veggie dog food IMHO is Natural balence ( no wheat corn or soy ) ....

Dogs do sorta fast... so a dog not eating for 24hours is NOT an emergency ....

Why is the dog eating veggie food???

gothicangel69 · Sep 20, 2007

My mother has her on the vegetarian diet since she's tried every other vet food to try to get her dog to lose weight. She's suckered into vet food, convinced that its the best stuff out there. I've been trying to beat into her that there are better foods out there, but its taking forever. I finally managed to convince her to buy some holistic food for my sister's cat. It wasn't the best stuff, but it had no corn, wheat, or by-products. She's not giving in on the dog food yet though.

mom of 4 · Sep 20, 2007

Toss the dog food.
Going without food for 24 hours won't kill a dog, but we get concerned if our crew misses two meals in a row.

Diet for Vomiting or Diarrhea or Poor Appetite
1\tpound\thamburger; boiled, drained
1\tcup\tuncooked rice; cooked
2\twhole\teggs, hard boiled, shelled
2\ttablespoons\tkaro syrup, light
After vomiting stops, may start on water and ice as tolerated.
Give oral meds as ordered.
May substitute skinless chicken for hamburger. Shred meat/chicken. It is critical to drain the fat off, so boiling the meat is recommended.
Cook the rice according to directions on the box. One cup of uncooked rice will make approximately 3 cups cooked rice.
Mix all the prepared ingredients and refrigerate. Warm before feeding. Feeding small amoounts, more frequently is recommended.

To get Ben to lose some weight, we hold back a 1/4 cup of his regular food to use as treats. He's gone from 105 to 90 lbs - a tough 15 lbs.

catsarebetter · Sep 20, 2007

The other thing to help a dog lose weight, or to get the dog a better workout during his "walks" is to get him a backpack and put weights in it. The weights (and you can use bottles of water), shouldn't equal more than 10 percent of his total weight. This extra load basically makes a 10 minute walk the equivalent of a 20 minute one. From what I understand, though, they should be getting about an hour of walk time in per day. I have to admit we didn't do it with our dog.

sharky · Sep 20, 2007

Silly ??? has the dog had blood work to rule out issues with wt>??

capt_jordi · Sep 23, 2007

Molly takes her spells where she will barely eat, and then all the sudden she will start woofing her food down again. She's always done that, dont know why...
Another idea to help the dog lose weight is see about a doggy daycare if you can afford it. They will get a chance to run and play and get a lot more exercise! We have had a few dogs lose weight since they started coming to camp regularly.
Good luck with the puppy!

2dogmom · Sep 25, 2007

Originally Posted by Mom of 4

Toss the dog food.
Going without food for 24 hours won't kill a dog, but we get concerned if our crew misses two meals in a row.

Diet for Vomiting or Diarrhea or Poor Appetite
1\tpound\thamburger; boiled, drained
1\tcup\tuncooked rice; cooked
2\twhole\teggs, hard boiled, shelled
2\ttablespoons\tkaro syrup, light
After vomiting stops, may start on water and ice as tolerated.
Give oral meds as ordered.
May substitute skinless chicken for hamburger. Shred meat/chicken. It is critical to drain the fat off, so boiling the meat is recommended.
Cook the rice according to directions on the box. One cup of uncooked rice will make approximately 3 cups cooked rice.
Mix all the prepared ingredients and refrigerate. Warm before feeding. Feeding small amoounts, more frequently is recommended.

To get Ben to lose some weight, we hold back a 1/4 cup of his regular food to use as treats. He's gone from 105 to 90 lbs - a tough 15 lbs.

How much exercise is this doggy getting?

Help!My mom's dog won't eat!

gothicangel69

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catsarebetter

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gothicangel69

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catsarebetter

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sharky

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gothicangel69

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mom of 4

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catsarebetter

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sharky

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