Stubborn dog or bad food?

[Adrianne]

Sometime last week our dog started leaving his food in his dish. He had diarrhea for about 2 days. It has now resolved. Today he has eaten nothing. Edited to add: He has gone from eating 4 cups a day to about 2.

 

He eats anything else we give him and seems to have no other symptoms. He is still as active and playful as ever.

 

Is he being stubborn about his food or is something wrong with the food? It is the same brand/type he has always eaten. It smells and looks normal. (I am not tasting it). If I put people food in with his food he eats it.

 

Some back ground information, he is the type of dog that eats ANYTHING. He goes outside and chews on wood, leaves, animal droppings, grass etc. He even eats the top matted algae in our pond with no side effects. He is a yellow lab who weighs about 60 pounds. He is up to date on shots, heartguard, and frontline.

 

Any advice?

[Kim in TN]

I would buy another bag of food and see if he eats it.

 

I really pay attention to my dogs and their eating since all of those dog food recalls. There were so many people that kept feeding their dogs the bad food even though their dogs were acting like they didn't like it.

 

I have a chocolate lab, labs are not usually picky eaters! :) If he's eating everything else, I'd get rid of the food.

[Perry]

I don't know, but I'd probably buy a new small bag of his regular food and see if he'll eat it.

[Jennifer3141]

We feed our animals a raw food diet so I know that's always fresh but if it were my dog and she had diarrhea for a couple of days and then no appetite, I'd take her to the vet.

 

Jen

[gandpsmommy]

We feed our animals a raw food diet so I know that's always fresh but if it were my dog and she had diarrhea for a couple of days and then no appetite, I'd take her to the vet.

 

Jen

 

I'm just curious about what you feed them. Is it veggies, meat?

[Adrianne]

 

I have a chocolate lab, labs are not usually picky eaters! :) If he's eating everything else, I'd get rid of the food.

 

Yes this is what makes me concerned about it. His is a great eater!

 

I think I'll buy a different bag of food and try that.

 

Thanks!

[Janet in Toronto]

We have a terrier that eats anything and was recently off his food (that is, he was off his morning kibble, but not the canned food he gets at night). I, too, thought there might be a problem with the food. It turned out that he had a puncture wound on his foot. He wasn't limping when he first stopped eating and we had no clue what was wrong as his behaviour seemed normal, but within a couple of days, it was very noticeable. He continued to eat the canned food but not the kibble. As soon as he and got some medical attention for his foot (minor surgery and antibiotics), he went back to his old eat-everything self. The kibble was fine.

[Mom to Aly]

I would buy something else--I don't know if you read about it, but Nutro recently took all their small bites lamb and rice, I think it was, off the shelves, and there were numerous cases of dogs dying from it, but they refused to do a recall. Things like that make me too nervous.

 

But something like that happened with our dog when she was little--she got sick from one food, and would never eat it again--I still don't know if it was that bag, or not, but she still won't touch it--I guess it is like us, you know, when you get sick and eat something, and can never look at it again?

 

Good luck!

[Tracey in TX]

I agree with above posters: test another bag of dog food. It might be spoiled or "off" in some way that isn't detectable but to the canine palate. Hope puppy is ok and his food aversion is soon rectified.

[tinag]

I would take the dog in to the vet. I just read about a man who had a cat doing the same thing and they suspect it has something to do with the food.

[newbie]

Our cats were having issues with their food, I switched to a more all natural brand.

 

Merrick pet food. They are doing so well, there coats are shiny and they are happy cats. We order online.

 

Jet

[Peela]

We switched to a raw food diet for our dog and she has been great. She also gets fed only about 6 times a week- she has a fast day. And only once a day. Never leave dog food out all the time- dogs nee their digestive tract to be completely empty regularly for good health. Ours has a tendency to pudge and she is thriving on this diet. At the moment she is having one chicken carcass a day, and some scraps every now and then. She sometimes has chicken wings or necks, or lamb bones.

Not having those commercial dog food farts is just wonderful :) ad its much easier to clean up the backyard too.

[TheLisa]

Last year one of my dogs stopped eating his dry, but would eat the canned/dry mix. And any table scraps. I thought he was being stubborn, too, and maybe overfed. Then he had some vomiting, then vomiting blood. After a $400 vet visit, it turns out he had pancreatitis. He got a bland diet, antibiotics and antacids.

 

While reading about pancreatitis, I learned that some of these dogs stop eating the dry but will keep eating the better-tasting stuff (which might not be so good for them). I can't remember if diarrhea is a symptom- I know the blood in the vomit was unusual, and we also think he got into something outside.

[Karen sn]

Sometime last week our dog started leaving his food in his dish. He had diarrhea for about 2 days. It has now resolved. Today he has eaten nothing. Edited to add: He has gone from eating 4 cups a day to about 2.

 

He eats anything else we give him and seems to have no other symptoms. He is still as active and playful as ever.

 

Is he being stubborn about his food or is something wrong with the food? It is the same brand/type he has always eaten. It smells and looks normal. (I am not tasting it). If I put people food in with his food he eats it.

 

Some back ground information, he is the type of dog that eats ANYTHING. He goes outside and chews on wood, leaves, animal droppings, grass etc. He even eats the top matted algae in our pond with no side effects. He is a yellow lab who weighs about 60 pounds. He is up to date on shots, heartguard, and frontline.

 

Any advice?

 

I wouldn't take the chance.

It could be nothing......but what if it were toxic with that mold that kills them? Is there corn in the dog food? What brand out of curiosity?

[Soph the vet]

Hi Adrianne,

Could be that your dog had a mild gastroenteritis from dietary indiscretion (garbage gut) or a virus or a bacteria or a protozoa (Giardia) that was self-limiting and he is now on the mend and his appetite should increase as the gut repairs itself over a few weeks. However, if his appetite does not increase I would check a fecal, get a new bag of food and go from there. I don't know how old he is but there are many things that can cause a dog to do what your dog is doing.

Does he drink from outside water sources, like a pond? Does he eat dead animals? Has he been around other dogs lately? Is he more lethargic than normal? Is he losing weight? These are all questions you will get at the vet to help narrow down the search. If he is older they may push for additional testing like bloodwork and a urinalysis to see if he had some metabolic disease causing inappetance.

Hope that helps.

Soph

[Tammyla]

:iagree:

 

I would buy another bag of food and see if he eats it.

 

I really pay attention to my dogs and their eating since all of those dog food recalls. There were so many people that kept feeding their dogs the bad food even though their dogs were acting like they didn't like it.

 

I have a chocolate lab, labs are not usually picky eaters! :) If he's eating everything else, I'd get rid of the food.

[StephanieZ]

Certainly you could have gotten a bad bag of food. We know this happens, even with the best foods. Since he's showing no other signs and still happily eats people food, I'd go ahead and try a new bag of food.

 

If it's a big name food, the store may exchange it for free. I know hills/science diet and royal canin and any other food we sell at the vet hospital have totally 100% guarantees. . . So, you can try to exchange it.

 

I'd try to get a bag of food from a different lot. Even if there are no lot numbers on the bags, you can use expiration date as a clue. If the two bags have different dates, they probably were made in different batches.

 

If your dog likes the new bag, case solved. I'd assume there was something funky about that bag. Maybe a mold or trace something or other that likely wasn't a health hazard but your dog just didn't like.

 

If your dog doesn't like the new bag. . . I'd schedule a vet appt just to be sure there's nothing else going on.