change in eating habits..

MCaussade

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#1
I have 2 8 month old catahoula bulldogs who for the first 6 months of having them had an intense appetite, would eat their meals (3 times a day) in literally minutes... as of about a week ago their appetite has really subsided, not only do they not eat nearly as quickly, half the time they don't appear interested in eating their food at all... I called the vet to get his thoughts on this, he advised that it could just be a bad bag of dog food, so I bought a new one, same results...could this just be a phase of some sort?
 

Maxy24

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#2
May I ask what you are feeding? you may need to cut back the amount of food, by the way how much are you feeding them, or cut back to two meals just slightly larger. I'm no food expert though.
 

MCaussade

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#3
May I ask what you are feeding? you may need to cut back the amount of food, by the way how much are you feeding them, or cut back to two meals just slightly larger. I'm no food expert though.
they're 60-65 lbs or so each, been feeding them IAMS dry puppy food - 5-6 cups per day... 2 cups 3 times a day.... was thinking of maybe just feeding them twice a day.. it's just odd because up until about a week or so ago they had a crazy appetite, literally would eat each meal (2 cups or so) within like 5 minutes or less...
 

Love That Collie

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#4
Wow, they were still eating 3 times a day?

I have 2 large breed dogs and feed twice daily.
Chloe is now 7 1/2 months and she's cutting down this week I've noticed.
She eats 3 cups a day and just before she'd eat 5 cups if I'd let her. But Collies don't eat as much as people would think for their size either. I noticed in one of my dogs years before, he would eat MORE of a less nutrionally balanced dogfood and less of a better dog food.

When both of the two I now have were in their major growth spurts at around 4 to 6 months they ate VORACIOUSLY, like they were starving then it levels off more when they are approaching 8-9 months old. Bailey, (78 lbs) eats 4 cups a day and even then I have to sometimes coax him as eating just isn't high on his agenda except when Chloe starts walking over to see if she can have some of his, he's always been picky.. LOL..........But they are a great weight for their individual heights. I wouldn't worry about your pups not eating as much as usual right now unless they are eating like half or less than that of what they normally eat.
Chloe is less interested now than she was just a few weeks ago.
 

Zoom

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#5
They are probably leveling off of a growth spurt and don't need as much food. You could probably cut out that mid-day snack without much of a problem. They may also be more interestinged in a higher quality food...I suggest a quick look around the food forum for some ideas. You'd be amazed at the difference you will see in your dogs after just a few weeks on a better food. :)
 

MCaussade

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#6
thanks for the advice everyone... i'm going to cut down from feeding 3 times a day to 2... it seems like they're "hungry" about twice a day anyway... and if i cut out the lunch time eating they should be alright... they might not be eating like they were starving (as if they've never eaten before) but they're still eating, they're probably just levelling off...:)
 

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