still not eating....?

Question

me and my dog has had this battle for months now. i had my dog on table food, she got real sick from it. had liver problems. her vet says she is now 90% better. but im having so much trouble getting her to eat dog food. she has lost so much weight and she looks awful. sometimes she will nibble at it, other times she will walk past it 100 times a day and not eat. her energy level is low and i know its cause shes not eating like she wants to. someone please tell me what i can do to get her to eat, what can i try. is there any human foods i can give her with her dog food to help? im really at my wits end and when i look at her i grieve for her. anyone please help?

many of u wanted to know wat kind of food i was giving her, i have been trying nutro. i wouldnt give her a cheap brand. and she HAS been to the vet, that is why she is off the table food. i have tried everything, gravy, water, canned food with and without gravy, this has been going on for 2 months. there are some new ideas i noticed that i will try. is egg whites okay for a dog?

Answer 1

I GUARANTEE this will work. Put a couple of tablespoons of Canola oil or other cooking oil on the dry food and she will yum it down! Vegetable oil is good for her, too!

Answer 2

Have you tried gravy train? You can gradually decrease the amount of liquid you add as your dog begins to eat it.

Also think about the presentation. When you gave your dog table food did you feed them while you were sitting at the table, or did you put your plate down? Try mimicking the presentation of the food you give your dog.

Gravy might be a way to make it more appealing, but only if it mimicks what you've already given them. Ask your vet for opinongs about what foods would be ok before you add them back to your dog's diet. You don't want to backtrack!

Answer 3

If your dog eats dry dog food try mixing a little (just a few bites worth) of canned dog food and some warm water to make a gravy. My dog loves this. When I first started doing this it was just after my older dog died and the younger one was a bit depressed. I wanted to give him a "treat" but didn't want to give him human food. This worked well and I've been doing it ever since.

Answer 4

There are quite a few supplements on the market now to entice a dog to its hard food. First, make sure you are feeding a premium food after all those table scraps (Nutro, Royal Canin, Pro-plan, ect). There is a supplement that is like a gravy called Nutri-cal (available at your pet store) that may entice her if you spread it over her food. There are also milks & gravies formulated to finicky dogs that have loads of protein in them. They mix well, too.

You can give your dog very bland foods to mix with her kibble. Try ground hamburger (no salt added, plus get lean) put in there. If she will eat any veggies (remember dont add salt or butter or anything) that is ok, too. You may have to have a weening process to get her soley on her dog food.

Good luck to you!

Answer 5

Well I'm glad she's almost better but table food is SOOO bad for dogs! They can't digest most of it and some things are poisonous. Chocolate and caffeine can kill her, and grapes and onions can make her very sick. Try some white plain rice with some boiled chicken breast or hamburger. Slowly add more and more dog food each day. IAMS makes a gravy that you can pou over the dog food to make it taste better, and my dogs love it. Good luck!

Answer 6

You can try giving her different kinds of doggie treats that is flavored from BBQ to lots of other kinds of flavor. There are also human foods that you can give, but you must not add any oil or other flavor for it. You can give her chicken, white or brown rice, some vegetables even like broccoli (my dogs love that). Chicken is great because it is very easy for dogs to digest. You can boil the chicken and vegetable. Don't have to add in flavors since it already has flavors in it.

How about buying canned dog foods? Or that sealed one by Pedigree. It contains meat, vegetables, and even rice in it. Try that and mix it up with the dog food. Put a little bit only since you want her to start eating dog food again.

Answer 7

I so know where you are coming from, my Maltese X silky terrier is exactly the same!
He became sick after reacting to his yearly vaccination then stopped eating dog food all together. For 2 weeks he did not touch anything we even had to give him water off a teaspoon. Slowly he began eating, but would not touch dog food.
Now, nearly 1 year later he has eaten his first dish of dog food. Our vet said if he won't eat that, give him people food. His regular diet is chicken thigh fillet or beef mince, cooked he will NOT touch raw food. He adores sweet potato, will do anything for that. Likes pumpkin, carrot and potato also. We give him rice or pasta in with his veggies, and sometimes as a treat (I know it's bad) I give him some cheese or sour cream on his veggies and he just goes nuts for that.

We slowly started introducing dog food, but he can leave it for 3 days or just walks right past it. We then started putting the bowl next to his food, or placing some on his plate. And YAY, first dish of dog food has finally been eaten.

It's hard, but expensive so just persist. Veggies and meat with rice or pasta are great, just work out what your dog likes give her real food and then slowly introduce pet food again.

Good luck, worked for me but patience is a virtue. If you must use people food, go organic to eliminate pesticides and preservatives.

Answer 8

I've been through that before. I think when the dog doesn't eat, there might be something wrong that you don't know about. My dog accidently licked our carpet after we had just got it cleaned and got blisters on his tongue. I didn't know he had the blisters until I took him to the vet for not eating. He just stopped eating, so I got some wet dog food and added water so its sort of like a liquid and fed it to him with a turkey baster thing. You should take her to the vet to be on the safe side, but until then, I think you should try to feed her by, I know this sounds bad, but kind of force feed her by putting food in her mouth. Usually when a dog is sick, they don't eat, but they need calories and vitamins to get better. I hope your dog gets better.

Answer 9

I have a small house dog someone put out rat poison, and she got in it one day while we were outside. She almost died. When i brought her home from the hospital she wouldn't eat anything. I scrambled her an egg with just a little bit of veg. oil. She ate just a little bit of that for a few days. She still didn't eat like she should. So I tried baby food and she loved it!! especially the kind with meats in it. Maybe you could mix a little bit of that in with your other food. Good luck

Answer 10

wish you had said what brand of dog food you feed - if its any from grocery or wal mart it is low quality and not going to help your dog at all because the dog is eating mostly filler - like by-products which is beaks feet and feathers... soy and corn are other fillers used in cheap foods (and in some costly crappy ones too)

RICE is the only people food you can give without costing you a fortune or hurting your dog - chicken is next...

switch her to better food and put it in the microwave for 10 seconds to bring out the natural oils so it smells yummy - you can also put garlic on dog food so it smells more yummy to them (and will help get rid of fleas too)

Answer 11

My cat was vomiting after eating table food, and my vet put her on Hill's Prescription bland diet (a special brand you have to get from the vet). After a week or so of only this food, it straightened her out. A lot of human foods (ie, onion) can do a lot of damage or kill your pet. No more table food for Sparky! It may be cheaper, but paying vet bills and cleaning up diarrea and vomit aren't worth it. I learned that.