Dog hasn’t eaten in weeks

[sprinkle]

@fliperacci901 My friend’s dog was like this, as was mine when she was on medicine. They both would still eat wet food though and eventually started eating their kibble again. We switched to taste of the wild for both of them.

 

[enwphysics]

@fliperacci901 Hand feed? Reward based like treats so it’s not so boring. My picky eater likes it when I throw the kibble around the room piece by piece so he can chase it.

Besides that, fs see a vet first. My first thought when a dog won’t eat is some kind of intestinal obstruction

 

[fliperacci901]

@enwphysics this has been a good way to get her some food! She'll just loose interest after 2-3 handfuls

 

[lisa42]

@fliperacci901 Mine was the same after I went away for a couple weeks. As the other comments said, vet said it was a vicious cycle that is hard to get out of. My dog was prescribed anti-acids to help with the bile throw up (he was too nauseous to eat and would throw up due to the empty stomach) and after about 3 months things went back to normal. Most stressful 3 months of my life! What worked for me was to hand feed him in his crate where he couldn’t escape me, make him do tricks before food so he would think it was a treat, and I mixed in chicken and broth into his kibble so it would be more appetizing. You might also want to try starting with chicken and rice and then phasing out the rice after a couple feedings.

 

[jorgeh]

@fliperacci901 I don't want to scare you but I will tell you what happened to my baby boy (9 years old) a few months ago. At first he started throwing up just bile in the night time. We did a lot of research and took him to the vet and we were hoping it was just Bilious vomiting syndrome or some sort of IBS. Some of the recommendations like feeding late at night seemed like they were helping and his vomiting got a little bit better. He had x-rays and bloodwork done and both were clean, in fact the vet said he had the best bloodwork he has seen for a 9 year old. Then the vomiting continued and he stopped eating. At first his normal kibble, and then his wet food, and we kept upping the ante and trying to give him something he would eat like cooked chicken, steak etc. As the days passed he stopped eating even those and wouldn't eat anything except some ice cream and the odd bite of something extra delicious. We kept taking him to the vet in the meantime multiple times. Eventually they did an ultrasound and found that his stomach lining was enlarged. So we got referred to a specialist where they did another ultrasound and a endoscopy and biopsy. They found he had stomach cancer. It wasn't a mass it was all around in his stomach lining and unfortunately for this type of cancer there was nothing they could do. All of this happened within a month.

If your dog hasn't had an ultrasound yet, that was the only thing that showed any signs of what was actually happening. And then the specialist and endoscopy with a biopsy was needed to finally give us an answer. I really hope this isn't the case with your dog, I am just giving you our story as it may help you find out what is going on.

 

[fliperacci901]

@jorgeh thank you for sharing your experience! Will give this input to my vet.

 

[f1shsauce]

@fliperacci901 Have you tried a little bit of chicken, rice & pure pumpkin? Gives them some nutrients & soothing to the digestive system

 

[sapiens]

@f1shsauce Yes! My dog is sensitive and picky. He gets mildly sick and then stops eating, or stressed, and stops eating, then, the nausea makes him not want to eat. Bad cycle is all. We always give him these bland foods to soothe his stomach and he loves it. Boiled chicken and the water mixed with rice and a bit of pumpkin, also some coconut oil.

 

[fliperacci901]

@sapiens will give it a try!!

 

[lynq]

@fliperacci901 I hope you get more answers for your fur baby. My dog had this same issue on and off for about a year and a half, and I discovered 3 things that may help.

First, I fed her smaller portions more frequently - same qty of food but spread over 3 mealtimes rather than 2.

Second, I ended up basically relying on chicken and rice wet food to help prompt her to eat. Either fully serving a bowl of it or topping her kibble with it, my thought was as long as she's eating it's OK if she has it a little more frequently than I'd like.

Third, I recently switched her kibble brand from Hill's Science Diet to Blue, and discovered that she didn't like the old kibble this whole time. Where I used to have to coax her to finish her food, she now inhales it all within a minute or two. Since I switched I haven't had to buy a single can of wet food since she's had no sick days (knock on wood).

 

[imagebeastmarkbeast]

@fliperacci901 Do a urine and blood test for sure, that’s what happened with my dog when her kidneys started failing.

 

[darcie]

@fliperacci901 All symptoms of inflammatory bowel disease… vets are often incredibly slow at diagnosing. Ask for endoscopy/ultrasound. Or trial hydrolysed food first.

 

[devilsadvocate]

@fliperacci901 My dog does this when her IBD is acting up. She wasnt diagnosed until she was 7, it took an Xray to see her intestines weren’t normal and an ultrasound to rule out cancer. My vet prescribed cerenia which seems to help her not feel so bad during her episodes and she eats with the addition of a little wet food mixed into her prescription kibble.

 

[fatalfantasy]

@fliperacci901 Quite honestly your dog sounds like mine as far as eating. My girl is a 15 year old beagle mix girl and she's on a renal diet of prescription food. We've tried 4 different flavors of one brand and are on a different brand now and she won't eat any of it, regardless of what we mix in with it. She's been doing this for a month +. She's lost weight because of how picky she is. She will eat some treats and chicken. So, we are giving her whatever she will eat because she needs to stop losing weight. And like you, our vet is really no help. So, since she is old, we are just going to give her what she wants, renal diet thrown out the window.

 

[renewed90]

@fliperacci901 Posted something really similar on the golden retriever sub about my boy. Everything turned out well with my lad but get a second opinion ASAP.

I was told to get an ultrasound and checks for things like parasites, check out my thread to see the advice I was given if you would like.

Hope everything works out well with your pup and wish you the best

 

[fliperacci901]

@renewed90 thank you so much! what ended up working for you pup?

 

[renewed90]

@fliperacci901 Happy cake day!

And honestly mate I took him to the ER vets and they did ultrasounds and tests for things like parasites but nothing shown. Then he apparently all of a sudden just perked up and then stated eating!

It's not worth the risk though, it could be nothing or it could be something. I knew that when he was at the doggy hospital if anything went wrong he was in the correct place

 

[waffleone3]

@renewed90 Tbh you did the right thing because if something was wrong and you waited too long you'd never forgive yourself!

 

[chuckm137]

@fliperacci901 You might also try going to boiled chicken/turkey and oatmeal/rice for a week or two. If she’s not eating due to nausea, bland food will be easier on her stomach

 

[porphyrioskafsokalivitos]

@fliperacci901 Can you add the topper back if it's working? My dog will throw up if he hasn't eaten and he often doesn't want to eat before dinner time, so that's been fun. I will put bacon on his food ang he'll sniff it and walk away in the morning.