Is it possible for dogs to have an eating disorder?

Question

Serious answers only Please!!!!!
My Beagle is 13 mos. old and she has had feeding/eating "issues" since we have had her. She absolutely hates any and all commercial dog foods. No matter what I try to do to jazz it up and make it more tasty, she snubs it. She is even picky about people food. I could set a big juicy steak in front of her and there is a better than 80% chance she would turn her little nose up at it. I've never seen a dog like this, all the other dogs I've had were always ravenous., doesn't like any of the usual dog treats either, except for the occassional MILKBONE biscuit. We have even tried the holding out til she got hungry enuf with the dog food, didn't work,thought she was gonna starve!There is no rhyme or reason! She is perfectly healthy, we were just at the vets a couple weeks ago. Anyone have any ideas or advice? NOTE: this is not 1 of those situations that has been caused by dog owners:) We have tried everything we know to get her to eat a good quality dog food

My Beagle doesn't have worms or anything like that and No its not caused by good intentioned owners. She does eat..but is super picky. She does have nasal and respiratory allergies, and does seem to eat better in the winter. Could nasal congestion put her off her feed? Or allergies just zap her appetite?

Answer 1

My Beagle is going to be 5 years old next month and she's had eating problems since she was about 4 months old. We tried many different kinds of food and she turned up her nose at pretty much all of them. She'd reluctantly eat a little after a day or so and I knew it was just because she was literally starving. What finally started us in the right direction was....prescription dog food.... specifically "ID" dog food the bland dog food that is the equal to dry white toast to humans. For some reason she loved this food. The vet figures that she was either allergic to or had such a sensitive stomach that she just couldn't handle higher fat dog food. As she got older, she was able to and would eat more things including Eukanuba maintenance dog food, which she seems to like. Beagles are very neurotic dogs.....they can be thrown off by the littlest thing. My Beagle will be fine for weeks and then all of a sudden I'll look at her and know she's going thru another cycle of stomach/eating problems. I can tell just by looking at her when its time to pull out the ID dog food again for a couple of weeks. I've found that often it happens after something changes in our house....we have company over, I'm gone longer than normal in the afternoon...the people next door have people working on their house... apparently she does not like any changes at all to her "routine" or she becomes anorexic again and we have to start all over. Talk to your vet......

Answer 2

I wouldn't worry too much. My beagle was the same way as a pup. Try to make it a game. You can always go to your local pet store and get a Kong ball, which take a while to fill, but are completely worth it. If she won't roll it for the food at first, try playing with it while its empty, then fill it up. You could also throw a piece at a time in the air for her. It may also be the food. If you have changed it recently, that could be an effect. Also, if you've used a shock collar on food aggression, the dog also will associate the shock with whatever their looking at-the food.
Just give it time. My dog was just like that and now he's the opposite. You may be feeding her too much. A few of my dog's favorites are tuna fish oil (the water with the canned tuned) and peanut butter. Good Luck!

Answer 3

my dog used to be like this, just try and feed him food that you havent already tried u said you even offered him human food maybe if you lock the dog in a room with only like a hot dog Wennie and some dog food see what happens over about 4-5 hours see if the dog has eaten if it still hasnt you might want to see the vet an animal that wont eat may have a serious problem that was just over looked a few weeks ago. good luck...

Answer 4

Dogs do not look at their food the same way that people do. They do not do well with change. You can train your puppy to eat what you want, you just have to be consistent. Choose a good, healthy puppy chow and put out a portion. Do Not give the puppy any other food, especially people food! It may take her a couple of days, but she will eat when she gets hungry. If after a week she has not eaten, she may have some digestive problems.

Answer 5

firstly ANY food from grocery store or Wal mart is CRAP (yes they say they are good but are CRAP - too much filler, not enough meat)
have you tried a PREMIUM or SUPER PREMIUM brand? one wiht CHICKEN MEAL or LAMB MEAL as first ingredient - rice second (NO filler like corn, wheat, by-products)

get a premium food - thing is with better foods the dogs dont get the addictive sugars and fats put in the cheap stuff to make them appealing so here is what you can do :
1 put the dry food into the mircowave for 10-15 seconds to bring out the meat oils to make food smell yummier
2 put garlic powder on the food (dogs love this - smelly food = yummy food to a dog)

generally speaking dogs wont starve themselves, and with the PREMIUM level foods you feed A LOT LESS since they are so much more digestable - less poops too...

good luck (stay away from buying dog food in grocery stores or wal marts)
milkbones are CRAP too just so you know (full of sugar and colored dyes which some dogs are allergic too)

Answer 6

When my dog was a pup she didn't like the dry hard cereal dog food. So we gave her the moist food in the can till that got too expensive. Then we switch to this moist and meaty dog food which she loves. Yes dogs can be picky like that. Just try different foods and talk with your vet. Get your dog some vitamins also,

Answer 7

Eating disorders and the like belong to humans-no such disorder is possible or exists in animals but good intentions of owner(s) can make animal finicky(spoiled) Bet you began by putting food in her bowl and the got worried if she didn't eat right away so kept giving until she ate what you put in front of her-any animal is smart enough to pick up on that for eventual will get what it wants. Go to a Pet Food store like Petsmart and get good quality dog food like Authority, Nutro etc check the ingredients and make sure it contains no BYPRODUCTS-will say Byproducts means that is not really chicken or beef or the meat but the waste parts of the animal-if chicken beaks,feet etc but foods like Authoiy have real chicken,beef etc-a dog is a meat eater so need it to be in its food. No animal will starve itself-put food in one dish,water in another or water dispenser and leave it-do not offer treats etc you may give treat AFTER she eats food you want her to eat check the food to make sure fresh -not moldy and if necessary change but still the same food and do not put anything on it. The dry dog food is actually better than canned for keeps their teeth in better shape-Can once in a wile offer can as treat but same food-Authority etc comes in canned, dry and dog treats. Good Luck and remember she will not starve-be strong .

Answer 8

Yes absolutely. I have had many cats and dogs, and it happens a lot with some pets. It might be the food. Try new foods. I know with my dog, when you try a new food, and they don't eat it, it means that they don't like it... so keep trying different dog foods (it may take many tries, and some times isn't cheap.). Trust me you will find a food that they like, but like i said before it will take some time. Also for the treats, if he likes the treats, keep giving them to him.

Answer 9

It is possible for a dog to get anything a human can get. So yes she could have an eating disorder or some other physical problem. I would talk to your vet and have a checkup. He may be able to give you a diet that she will eat. When our dog was having eating issues our vet gave us a diet that consisted of hamburger and rice.

Answer 10

if you have taken your pet to the vet and your pet is healthy id try vitamins, possible canned food with gravy. have your vet check for worms and other disorders. make sure food and water is available. or at least water. maybe place food down 2 or 3 times a day. your dog will eat. when you give table food they can sway away from dog foods.try gravy over the foods. check out more than one vet.