Help!! Abby Won't Eat

[monik7]

For the last three days, my Shih-Tzu/Poodle Abby (3 1/2 yrs.) won't touch her usual food or treats. I'm getting worried and hope some of you might have some suggestions. For the last few months, both my dogs have had dry food with a couple teaspoons of wet food and a little water mixed in. They would bark and jump waiting while I fixed it, then would gobble it up. This week both are not as excited, but Krissi is still eating about 1/2 as much as usual. Abby barely touches hers. Nothing has changed as far as brands and favors. Also, I usually give them a few pieces of Pupperoni as a treat before bed which they both usually like. Krissi still eats hers, but Abby spits hers out. I ran my finger around both sides inside her mouth trying to see if it could be a tooth problem, but she made no negative reaction. The rest of her last three days have been normal and she's still been active on our daily walks. Her poop production was a lot less today, but I would expect that considering she hasn't eaten much.

Anyone have any suggestions?
Sandi

[avalen]

missing a meal won't hurt her, I'd be concerned if its been several meals though and seek the advice of a vet. Entice her
with a bite of hot dog maybe? Gracie (rip dear girl) used to go off feed on occasion too, she had a very upset tummy and the vet gave her a prescription that was similar to flagyl. Can't remember exactly what it was called. Hope Abby feels better soon.

[MandysMom]

My go to, until I figure out what's wrong has been baby food meat such as chicken. I have cats but the baby food meat would work for dogs too. I guess the main thing is to figure out what's wrong, a challenge since they don't talk our language. By chance is the food newly opened? I ask because there is a chance there is something wrong with it, thinking of all the recalls that have happened, our cat Kallie died almost exactly 3 weeks before announcement of the melamine poisoning a few years back and she was eating the food. I am much more careful to choose food only sourced in the US these days. It's suspicious that both are eating less, as you said even Krissi is eating only half. Watching to see what others say.who makes Pupperoni and where are they made and where are the ingredients from? Are they both drinking normal amount of water?
Hope your babies feel better soon.

[gingerK]

Sandi, you're not feeding Purina are you? I've heard on FB about dogs getting sick on some of the Purina chow. If she isn't eating soon, I'd see a vet. To go off her feed after you say she is a good eater, there's something going on there.

I went back and re-read your post, is it a new bag of food? Check it to make sure it's not moldy or has any odd smell. Also, you can go on http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/ to get info on recalls.

[monik7]

The dry food is Beneful Incredibites and we're using the second 1/2 of the medium-large bag (not the huge one). I agree that since Krissi is also eating less it's suspicious. I just tried to give Abby some of the Beneful wet food by itself. She ate it but not as much as I thought she would after not eating for 3 days. I guess I could buy a small bag of Beneful and see if that makes any difference. Pupperoni is "Made in the USA" and distributed by Big Heart Pet Brands in San Francisco. It's their Lean Beef Flavor, 90% fat free. Contains: meat by-products, soy grits, sugar, liver, beef, propylene glycol, salt, garlic powder, caramel color, natural smoke flavor, potassium sorbate (as preservative), sodium nitrate (color retention), Red 40, BHA (as preservative), onion extract.

If I were to change the dry food, I wouldn't know what to try as Krissi has been a notoriously poor eater and extremely picky in all of her 15 1/2 years.
Sandi

[MandysMom]

I googled Beneful and the reports are not good. Over 700 complaints to govt about sick animals.

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/pets/beneful.html

Myself I won't feed stuff like corn and propylene glycol to any animal.

Do some online research and I think you will change your mind about both food items. And I rarely trust vets on food because they are rewarded for selling you or convincing you to buy products. Fortunately I have a vet who appreciates my research and respects what I print to show her.
Velda

[gingerK]

Sandi, I'd make them some boiled chicken and rice or hamburger and rice and see if they want to eat that any better. And I agree with Velda, Beneful isn't the best brand of dog food. It's pretty pricey but Fromm is one of the best. Go on the website I posted and check out brands. If they were my dogs, I'd feel better taking them to a vet, but that's just me; I used to work for several vets so it's always my first thought.

[Joan]

Since it has been three days, I would take her to the vet. Has she been drinking her water? You don't want her to get dehydrated. I would try some chicken as well but if that doesn't work, take her to the vet.

[monik7]

I've made an appt. for 11:30 today (PST). Hopefully we can find out what's going on. I love my animals so much it just drains me when something like this happens. Hoping it will be easily solved.
Sandi

[Joan]

Let us know how it goes.

[Bethers]

Tapping my toes ... your appt should be long over. We are all nervous ninnies waiting to find out hopefully good news.

[monik7]

I just got back. Had to go grocery shopping for the dogs. Abby's temp was normal but she did have an ear infection which I was very surprised about. Krissi cleans Abby's ears every day so I expected the vet to say they were the cleanest ears she'd ever seen. So I have medicine for that. They did a blood test and will call me tomorrow with the results. She said to go the chicken and rice route so I'm making that now. I'm not so sure they're going to like it. They might just pick out the chicken. They also sent me home with 3 cans of special food for gastro-intestinal problems just in case they don't like the chicken and rice. So in about a half hour we'll try it and see how it goes. I threw out the Beneful dry food and returned the Beneful wet food. The vet hadn't heard anything about any problems with Beneful but did say she would check out her vet websites. Part of looking at the blood test will be checking for liver problems. I sure hope it's good news tomorrow.

I'll let you know how things go. Thanks for all the suggestions.
Sandi

Edit: Holy Moly!! You should all be commended for your chicken and rice recommendations. I only cooked up a cup of rice and one chicken breast thinking they probably wouldn't like it. They both ate it all and licked their bowls. Since the vet said to give them a cup and a half of the mixture and I felt I only had enough chicken to make them each a cup, I decided to offer them a little of the canned food they gave me. They both ate it, although Krissi seemed to like it a little better than Abby. I'm wondering if I'm going to have to feed them this going forward. Do some of you only feed your dogs chicken and rice?

[Queen]

Fingers crossed that it's just the ear issue and they'll be right as rain in no time.

[avalen]

glad they are eating and everyone will be alright very soon

[Bethers]

Chicken and rice all the time won't give them all the nutrients they need. But I've never known a dog who doesn't like it. Glad it worked and let's hope she just didn't like that bag of dog food combined with her ear infection, meant she refused to eat.