My puppy is not interested in food as much as before...?

Question

I have a 4 month old cocker spaniel. He is less interested in his food the last 3 or 4 days. He is active and peeing and pooping and overall seems fine. He did throw up some yellow liquid yesterday. Always before he could hardly wait to eat and gobbled it up right away. Now he just sniffs it and walks away and later eats it. I fed him this morning and he finally ate it. Now it's 7:00 p.m. and he doesn't seem interested in eating again. I feed him Iams puppy food and that's all I've ever given him. He gets no people food at all.
Is this just a phase? He does have an appt. with the vet on Monday, so I'm glad about that. I was just wondering if anyone has any thoughts on this.
It's just wierd that he was so excited to eat before and eat fast and now he can take it or leave it.

It actually has been hot here lately, but I have the air conditioner on and he is inside all day.

Answer 1

It it's hot where you are, that would affect his appetite. Just make sure he's drinking plenty of water and wait to find out what the vet says. It doesn't sound too serious if he seems fine otherwise.

Answer 2

Ohh don't seperate the mum from the pups,they need to be together until they are atleast 8 weeks old... As for the feeding,try a different puppy food and mix with puppy milk to create a mash.You then need to heat it up so its slightly warm (be careful not to overheat) then place it directly under their chins so they don't walk in their food. Dont stress too much if they don't start eating for another week or so,as long as mum is producing enough milk then it should be fine :) Goodluck

Answer 3

Stop leaving the food down for him to eat whenever. If he doesn't eat the food within 20 minutes of it being put down, pick it up. The fact that you leave it out for him tells him that he doesn't have to eat it now, he can eat it later.

Get him on a feeding schedule. If you do this, he will eat eagerly whenever you put his food down. If you teach him that if he doesn't eat when the food is in front of him, he doesn't eat at all until the next feed time, he will eat.

I know it may sound cruel, but you have to let your puppy know who is in control of his feeding. You tell him when he gets to eat.

As for the vomitting, the one time could just be an isolated event. If he does it more, then take him to a vet right away.

Answer 4

Keep a close eye on him. He could've eaten something when you weren't looking that's upsetting his stomach a little. He could be coming down with a virus. He could have parasites. As long as he doesn't continue to vomit or breaks with diarrhea, or becomes lethargic, you might be ok till Monday. If you're not sure, a trip to the emergency vet for a check up might be in order.

Answer 5

My spoiled mastiff (see him on mastiffs360.com) is 2 years old and I have changed his food at least 3 times over those 2 yrs when he became finicky. But, dogs will not starve themselves, so unless he is losing a lot of weight, do not worry about it. He will eat when he is hungry. Try smaller amounts for now.

Answer 6

I'm not a vet, and dont clame to be, nor do I have all the answers, but I know its a fact, dogs eat about half the amount when it gets hot. Other then that, hope you find out whats wrong!

Answer 7

Talk to a vet. If he hasn't really eaten and he threw up something yellow, definitely call the vet. If he lost his appetite and is usually ravenous, especially if you doubt that he got hurt or is sick from anything, that is usually the first sign that something is wrong with a dog. Please see the vet, and don't wait before things get worse.

Answer 8

Switch him to a higher quality dog food...

Iams Puppy food is full of fillers: Chicken, Corn Meal (FILLER), Chicken By-Product Meal (you don't even want to know what by products are!) , Ground Whole Grain Sorghum (FILLER), Fish Meal, Chicken Fat (Preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E), Dried Beet Pulp (FILLER) (Sugar Removed), Natural Chicken Flavor, Dried Egg Product, Fish Oil (Preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E), Brewers Dried Yeast (FILLER), Potassium Chloride, Salt, Choline Chloride, Minerals (Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Manganese Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Potassium Iodide, Cobalt Carbonate), Dicalcium Phosphate, DL-Methionine, Vitamins (Vitamin E Supplement, Ascorbic Acid, Vitamin A Acetate, Calcium Pantothenate, Biotin, Thiamine Mononitrate (Source of Vitamin B1), Vitamin B12 Supplement, Niacin, Riboflavin Supplement (Source of Vitamin B2), Inositol, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Source of Vitamin B6), Vitamin D3 Supplement, Folic Acid), Calcium Carbonate, Rosemary Extract

Evo:
Turkey, Chicken, Turkey Meal, Chicken Meal, Potatoes, Herring Meal, Chicken Fat, Natural Flavors, Egg, Apples, Tomatoes, Potassium Chloride, Carrots, Vitamins, Garlic, Cottage Cheese, Minerals, Alfalfa Sprouts, Ascorbic Acid, Dried Chicory Root, Direct-Fed Microbials, Vitamin E Supplement, Lecithin, Rosemary Extract


Personally, I feed my dogs a raw diet.

www.rawmeatybones.com
www.rawfed.com
www.rawlearning.com
www.rawfeddogs.net

Good luck.

Answer 9

♠reading your additional details; it doesnt really matter whether air conditioning or not, because i have 3 dogs of my own, and they tend 2 eat later, but they barely eat, they'll try 2 eat whenever they want, but its the heat, its summer,and dogs get hot, and barely like to eat much.♥

Answer 10

I would definately say something to the vet. It culd be his age and teh weather. Just make sure he has plenty of fluids.