Extremely thin Doxie

[TainaPR]

Hi...in the owner of a one year old female Doxie. Taina is refusing to eat her kibble even after food changes vitamin B shots deworming and Nutrical 3 times a day. While she has always been on the thinn side her refusing yo eat has caused quite alot of weight loss. She is always looking for table food even though we do not give her any. I am looking for ways to get her back on her food and put some weight on her. Ive heard about satin balls? Im desperately seeking any tips. Ive even gone as far as feeding Eukanuba which she ate for a bit.

[AllisonPitbullLvr]

Has she had bloodwork done?

[JustaLilBitaLuck]

Originally Posted by TainaPR

Hi...in the owner of a one year old female Doxie. Taina is refusing to eat her kibble even after food changes vitamin B shots deworming and Nutrical 3 times a day. While she has always been on the thinn side her refusing yo eat has caused quite alot of weight loss. She is always looking for table food even though we do not give her any. I am looking for ways to get her back on her food and put some weight on her. Ive heard about satin balls? Im desperately seeking any tips. Ive even gone as far as feeding Eukanuba which she ate for a bit.

Have you tried anything other than kibble? Canned food, dehydrated, or premade raw? Some dogs (like mine) are just not a fan of kibble, and need something a little tastier. With a smaller dog, it wouldn't be expensive to feed canned or raw, especially if you were mixing it with kibble. Weruva, Lotus, and Stella & Chewy's freeze-dried seem to be popular.

I cannot stress variety enough when dealing with picky dogs. You need to switch things up constantly, so they get used to eating new things and so they don't get bored with eating.

ETA: I second having bloodwork done, to rule out any possibility of health issues.

[MericoX]

How long have you had her? How long has her not eating been going on for?

[SizzleDog]

How are her poops? Color/consistency etc. Whenever I hear of super skinny dogs now, my mind goes to EPI.

[TainaPR]

How are her poops? Color/consistency etc. Whenever I hear of super skinny dogs now, my mind goes to EPI.

Her poops are about the same as always (firm, small and darkish but not too dark) She's been pooping quite a bit less since her hunger strike.

How long have you had her? How long has her not eating been going on for?

I've had her since she was 6 weeks old more or less. She's now nearly a year old.

While she has always been a tadbit picky this is taking things to extreme. I believe it all started nearly two months ago. We purchased a bag of Wilderness (I think...its from the Blue Buffalo line) and about halfway through the bag went bad for some odd reason. She completely refused to eat and had a horrible bout of diarreah from the small amount she did eat.

We bought her a small bag of Eukanuba Naturals Lamb and Rice as it was a bit of an emergency and our regular pet shop was closed. She went through the bag absolutely fine and I decided to keep her on this brand. Even though its not the best at least she was eating again.

But her second bag of food she has refused to touch it.

*Her bloodwork came back good. She just doesnt want kibble but would kill for a piece of chicken LOL. The NutriCal has been getting her to eat a bit but half a cup will last her 2-3 DAYS.

Is there any good quality canned food sold at PetsMart? Im in Puerto Rico and this is about the only place I know that sells decent food. Ive also seen these food rolls there (but was hesitant to buy as I was unsure of quality)

Thanks!

[Romy]

Do you have Petcos too?

Natural Balance is sometimes carried in the big box stores and is decent. It's not as good of a value for your money as some other premium brands, but when your selection is limited it does the job. Their canned foods come in a huge variety of protein sources and flavors too. Duck, turkey, chicken, venison, bison, beef, lamb, etc.

Good luck with her. We had great success with satin balls when my borzoi went through an ultra lean spell. I substituted the Life cereal with one that didn't have as much sugar though.

[Kilter]

You should look into raw for her, as it might be a better quality food that you can work with. You can pick up meaty bones where you shop for your own food, supplement with some egg, yogurt and so on depending on what's around. If you can get a whole chicken, cut it up into meal sized chunks and feed, not too hard and for a little dog not bad in price.

[babymomma]

My yorkie went through a phase where she refused to eat. I went to the pet store and bought good quality canned food to mix with her dry food. Since the cans were so large and go bad so quickly because the smaller dogs dont eat it fast enough, what i used to do was put the food in an icecube tray and freeze it. I would thaw out a cube twice a day and mix it with 1/4 cup of dry food and mix it well so she couldnt just pick around the dry food to eat the wet. We had alot of success.

[JessLough]

Out of curiosity, can you explain her condition when you say "extremely thin"? Is her spine stucking right out? Can you see all her ribs?