Not Eating please help!

Health topics and issues with Chow Chows.

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Kahlua
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Not Eating please help!

Post by Kahlua »

Hey guys, I know there's been a lot of threads on chows not eating and being picky... but after reading each and every individual thread I'm still not sure what's going on with my puppy. I'm hoping someone has gone through something similar to my situation and could perhaps provide some helpful information.

Basically, my puppy (Kahlua) is 6 months old. He is 40Ib (we weighed him at the Vet yesterday), but that's 2Ibs less than he weighed a week ago. I don't think it's normal for growing puppy chows to be losing weight. He has always been on and off about his eating, but recently he's pretty much stopped almost completely and won't eat more than a cup of kibbles a day. I have tried everything from feeding him wet food, to cooking rice/veg/boiled chicken/egg/chicken nuggets, I mean you name it... but he still won't eat. We took him to the Vet yesterday and found he had kennel cough, so now he is on antibiotics and cough suppressant... but his eating problem developed even before he showed any signs of being sick. We are suppose to give him the antibiotic with food, but it's hard when he won't eat anything. We also collected a fecal sample to give to the vet (and we should know the results tomorrow), and if it comes back negative we are going to do blood work. He is updated on all his shots, deworming, etc... I don't know what could be causing his lack of appetite. I mean... he's not just nibbling here and there, he actually refuses to eat. With all this being said, he is very active and runs around the house. He gets excited to go on walks, and always stands by the door wanting to go outside.

For awhile we were able to force him to eat by luring one of the cats in the room to eat his food (making him jealous), but he got smart and this doesn't work anymore. He is only energetic when we take him out on walks or when he's chasing the cats around the house.... I have a theory and I'm not sure if this is right or not... but I think he might be lonely? When he's happy... he use to eat when we put food in front of him. But I have a feeling he's been sad lately, he really loves being around other dogs and being outside... and whenever he's inside he seems sad. If all the results come back negative and blood works are good... is it okay to assume that he may not be eating because he's lonely?

Any input is appreciated. thanks!
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Pinoy51
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Re: Not Eating please help!

Post by Pinoy51 »

I hope you got the blood results already negative.
You're on the right track with your pup being emotional about food, and that's why he doesn't eat.
That is of course if any major sickness has been ruled out.
He most Ikely picked up you being stressed about the eating, which makes him worried too,
So rule no one behave normal calm assertive when you give him the food leave it with him for 10 minutes then remove it.
No talks, no hand feeding no fuzz.
Don't change the food every day, stick to the same food offer it twice or trice a day.
Offer plenty of water, do training offer treats. Is he interested in treats.
You can give him multi vitamines to stimulate the appetite.
But most important no anxiety or frustration during feeding time, just calm assertive energy.
Best regards
Pinoy51
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Re: Not Eating please help!

Post by Rory's Dad »

I completely agree with Pinoy. You definitely should have any vet results back by know. Hopefully not anything big.

You should not be changing food to try to suit his palette. Chow's have sensitive digestive systems. Sudden changes can result in not properly processing his food. If he has an upset stomach, he is not going to want to eat. Settle on either a quality kibble product designed for large breed puppies and stick with it, or go to a raw type diet and be consistent with that. He will need a fair amount of proteins in either choice, but you want to steer away from grains, fillers, and by-products.
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