Coco won't eat! Help!
 

Coco is 8 weeks old...yes I know, too young etc, I've gotten scolded already... Anyway I'm having trouble getting her to eat. For the first two days I had her home she was eating very well. Three feelings a day. We use Fromm. Now yesterday and this morning she won't go near her food at all.

Tried wetting it slightly, no luck.

Tried warming it very slightly, no luck.

Hand feeding doesn't work either...so now I have the food out on a small plate, not a bowl, and just waiting for her to approach it on her own.

Ideas?

its so hard when they are super picky. i have to use wellness canned puppy food and mix with keylos hard puppy food to mix it up. she gets really bored. if your worried do you have anything on hand if you fear dehydration?? also you could try plain boiled chicken cut up very very small and mix that in with the kibble or veggies. where shes so young you might wanna check with your vet just to be sure. at this age things can go downhill fast. not trying to scare you...just being cautious. how long since she actually ate?

You may need to make a wet mixture up and just force her to eat. She has to eat...she doesn't have a choice. Don't wait on her to make a move. If she doesn't eat, she will go down fast...call your vet for advice ok?

It's important that you understand the symptoms of hypoglycemia. One of the symptoms is lack of appetite, it's like they get too hungry and they lose their appetite, that's why it's important to keep food out all the time. Their little tummies can't hold much so they have to eat frequently. You can rub a little white Karo syrup on her gums, or buy some Nutri-cal, which is essentially the same thing, corn syrup which is fast acting sugar that goes into the blood stream immediately. It’s important that they are given protein within 20 minutes of the corn syrup or they will have another episode of hypoglycemia. Also, is this puppy food? I always tell people not to switch foods from what the breeder was feeding for at least a month, it might cause intestinal problems. Toy Breed Hypoglycemia

You may want to mix it up with a little apple sauce.

I had the same problem, I got my pup when she was 10 weeks. She was the runt, and wasn't socialized by mom enough to learn to eat on her own. The breeders were feeding her from a jar lid, and since I had a litter of Mini Scnhauzer pups before, they said I could take her at that age. Hand feeding wasn't working well at my house, she would eat from a spoon, but not well. After she didn't eat for about 12 hrs, her blood sugar dropped and we had to go to the vet.
Anyhow, the vet said to use a syringe to feed her. They gave me one told me/ showed me how to water the food down and said to give her 4 to 5 ml every 4 hrs., along with .5 ml of karo syrup ( to keep her blood sugar up). I kept increasing the amount by 2 ml every 4 to 7 days if she seemed hungry before the time of the next feeding. At around 6 mo. she started eating some food on her own from a glad storage lid.
I still put about 1 tbls of kyro syrup in her water dish, just to keep her blood sugar up.
To feed her, I use 1 to 2 tablesppons of ground up Chicken Soup for the Puppy Lovers Soul in the lid, wet down with the water mix, and about 1 to 2 tablespoon of smashed up merricks canned food. ( The canned food I smashed up because the meat chunks were too big.) I also added water mix to the canned to make it like thick pancake mix. She liked it, but she wasn't ready to commit so I had to watch her, and if she didn't eat what was offered within 30 to 45 mins, I'd syringe feed her.

If she did eat on her own, I praised her and made a Huge deal out of it. It's taken awhile to get her here, but she's eating on her own finally. She's 7 mo.
Yorkiemom1 was a huge help when I was 1st going through this. The best thing she told me was to remember that my pup was too young to be taken from her mom, and I was now the mom. She also suggested using nutri-cal- a tube of vitamin rich paste- and Holistic Health Extension " Little Bites" for puppies... My girl eats this between meals like a snack, usually from my hand. Also, yorkiemom suggested getting nutra drops, a vitamin syrup that promotes eating (the little bites are coated in it). I used this in a syringe with the karo surup, like about .5 ml of each in the same syringe. Gradually I increased the amounts of both to 1.5 ml of each. She doesn't get those now, but if she seems sluggish ( like she was when her blood sugar was low) I give her some and she's fine.

Another helpful thing was getting samples from dog food companies. My girl is a fussy eater, and the samples saved me a ton of money. I didn't have to buy 10 lbs of food to find out she didn't like it :) And my neighbors dog now loves me too, because whatever mine didn't like, he got! LOL!

If you have any other questions, message me. I'm sure Yorkiemom would help you too if you have other questions.

Thanks for the advise all. I gave her all I had which was a few teaspoons of honey. Within about 20 minutes she perked back up. I've just got to figure out a way to get her to eat better!

That's a good sign that she's experiencing hypoglycemia.

Thanks nancy! She seems better, still sleepy and not a lot of energy but improving fast. This was a very scary experience

Honestly, get some karo syrup and nutri-cal just to have on hand for emergencys. My vet said it's best to have karo clear surup on hand for suggishness/ low blood sugar.

Eating on her own might take a few days, or a few months. If she's being fussy- get a few samples. Alot of companies will send them to you for free, all you have to do is email them and ask. Mine also didn't like certain dishes and bowls. She tolerates a plastic ziplock container lid... yes, she runs the show here! Try different plates and bowls if you can. (we tried at least 10)

I tried everything to get mine to eat on her own, she just refused. (My stubborn yorkie!) Try all suggestions, and use syringe feeding as a last resort. She has to eat to stay healthy. And tell your vet if she won't. They can suggest things too. :)

And, as said before, get her some protien (even if you have to force feed it) right now or this is going to happen again shortly. Karo syrup at the store is easy and cheap..go get some asap (after you get that protien in her). Keep it on hand. It will help you a lot :)

Has anyone tried using the glucose gel Or fast acting glucose stuff used by human diabetics?

Get an oral syringe and force feed her if you have to.
Add a little water to something like royal canin starter mousse, and give her about a teaspoon every 3 hours or so.
You can also try a bit of gerber strained chicken baby food. You can also ask your vet for a can of Hill's Science Diet A/D food.
She HAS to eat, and she can't be given the option of saying no.

Yep, she's too little to be stubborn :)

Hi and welcome to YT.

I haven't but maybe someone else will see this that has some experience...