That's great about the games! I'm hoping it keeps up and she starts enjoying meal time.
Since she's into games would she be interested in a kong or a puzzle cube type thing? You could put kibbles in it, or pate, or whatever and maybe that would keep her interested?
Strider eats hardly enough to keep his weight on and sometimes goes for days refusing food even though he's healthy. One thing we realized is his bowl was an uncomfortable shape for his snout. In order to eat his nose had to be mashed into the food. Putting it in a saucer made a HUGE different in how much he ate.
Does she like wet food at all? For the house sitter situation maybe you could could pick up 20 different brands and flavors, so each meal can be a bit different. It'd probably be good to have some nutrical on hand in case she does refuse her food and start to get hypoglycemic, and have a little write-up with the symptoms for the sitter to go off of.
Last, we had a trick that worked pretty well on Strider. It was called, "Maaaaagic Graaaavy". You have to say it all drawn out, and like you're in awe of it's awesomeness.
Basically you get a spoon, and reverently run a trickle of warm water from the tap into it. You put on a big show, like you're really anticipating the awesome power of this magic gravy from the tap. Then you bring it to your nose and make a big show of smelling it, and tasting it. And finally eat it making "MMM, oh man! So good!" sounds.
Then you refill the spoon and ask the dog if they want some maaaaagic graaaaavy (at this point Strider is practically levitating with joy). Make a big show of sprinkling it on the kibble. Somehow, he gets so amped up over it he inhales the kibble without realizing it was just water on top. I can't overuse it with him or he'll figure it out, but it generally works in a pinch. Moxiecollies taught me that trick, it worked on one of her starving picky eaters.
Good luck! It's so hard when they won't eat.
Oh man, one last thing. I had an anorexic iguana for a looong time. He did have kidney issues, so that was part of it. Anyway, he'd go off his food completely in the winter. Three different vets diagnosed him with depression, and seasonal affective disorder. Usually taking him for car rides and outings in public perked him up and he would start eating again. Sometimes though, I just had to feed him junk or face losing him. Several times chocolate chip cookies brought him back from the brink of death when he'd given up all reason to live. Sometimes you just have to do whatever you can to get food into them. Is it possible the problem is emotional? I'm not sure what you could do to help her overcome it if it is.
Since she's into games would she be interested in a kong or a puzzle cube type thing? You could put kibbles in it, or pate, or whatever and maybe that would keep her interested?
Strider eats hardly enough to keep his weight on and sometimes goes for days refusing food even though he's healthy. One thing we realized is his bowl was an uncomfortable shape for his snout. In order to eat his nose had to be mashed into the food. Putting it in a saucer made a HUGE different in how much he ate.
Does she like wet food at all? For the house sitter situation maybe you could could pick up 20 different brands and flavors, so each meal can be a bit different. It'd probably be good to have some nutrical on hand in case she does refuse her food and start to get hypoglycemic, and have a little write-up with the symptoms for the sitter to go off of.
Last, we had a trick that worked pretty well on Strider. It was called, "Maaaaagic Graaaavy". You have to say it all drawn out, and like you're in awe of it's awesomeness.
Basically you get a spoon, and reverently run a trickle of warm water from the tap into it. You put on a big show, like you're really anticipating the awesome power of this magic gravy from the tap. Then you bring it to your nose and make a big show of smelling it, and tasting it. And finally eat it making "MMM, oh man! So good!" sounds.
Then you refill the spoon and ask the dog if they want some maaaaagic graaaaavy (at this point Strider is practically levitating with joy). Make a big show of sprinkling it on the kibble. Somehow, he gets so amped up over it he inhales the kibble without realizing it was just water on top. I can't overuse it with him or he'll figure it out, but it generally works in a pinch. Moxiecollies taught me that trick, it worked on one of her starving picky eaters.
Good luck! It's so hard when they won't eat.
Oh man, one last thing. I had an anorexic iguana for a looong time. He did have kidney issues, so that was part of it. Anyway, he'd go off his food completely in the winter. Three different vets diagnosed him with depression, and seasonal affective disorder. Usually taking him for car rides and outings in public perked him up and he would start eating again. Sometimes though, I just had to feed him junk or face losing him. Several times chocolate chip cookies brought him back from the brink of death when he'd given up all reason to live. Sometimes you just have to do whatever you can to get food into them. Is it possible the problem is emotional? I'm not sure what you could do to help her overcome it if it is.
