Our puppy will not eat on her own...please help!

[mcu]

We have a 14 week old pup that came home to us three days ago. She refuses to eat. I have tried many things like different type of kibbles, yogurt, cottage cheese, etc...she just will not eat! I have to force feed her A/D canned food by opening her mouth and sticking it to her pallet, but she hates it....she just runs away. I am give her nutrical twice/day. She will drink water on her own and pees often. In the two full days she is here, she has pooped twice but she pees very often.

I need suggestions please! She is small at 20oz so I am worried about her falling behind.

She seems to have energy and will play for a few minutes but then all she wants to do is sleep. She does have great strength when trying to get away from me when I force feed her. Is this normal?

[tnpowell]

It took my baby a couple of days to get addjusted also. Yes it was normal for me. Keep an eye on them and get some nutra-cal. Try and give her some kibble from your hand and see if she eats it a little at a time. She is pooping and peeing that is a good sign. Have you taken her toa Vet visit yet. If not I would schedule one and address your concern with them. But again I had the same problem with my babies, it took them about a week. Good luck.

[Patti]

Try cesars wet food, ,most dogs will eat it. It's not something you would want to feed long term but just to get her to eat. Keep trying different things like chicken, bolied hamburger. Hope she starts eating soon.

[Tink's Mom]

Have you tried hand feeding her? Tink has lots of tummy troubles and I often sit on the floor next to her dish and feed her with my fingers. She will eat out of my hand just fine. It is time consuming and a little yucky, but if it gets food in her tum I'm happy to do it.

[livingdustmops]

Is it the same kibble the breeder had her on?

[mcu]

I've tried hand feeding her and spent hours trying new things. She just smells it and turns her head. Yes i've tried the same food the breeder had her on and i've tried two other brands.

Also how often should i be feeding her? is 1 teaspoon of A/D four times/day enough with nutri-cal twice/day? When is the best time to give the nutri-cal?

[Tink's Mom]

Bump - anyone have some help for this pup?

[Sunnie]

I would call the breeder and talk to her and see if she had the same problems. Try to use the same kibble her breeder had her on. You can put it in the blender and grind it up then add some canned chicken broth to it to make it easier to eat. Then leave it out for her, preferably in an ex-pen then let her be the one to go to it. She is still adjusting to being away from her litter so she just needs a little time.

[bjh]

I just went through this with a picky boy. I would be concerned with her getting hypoglycemia. I bought some plain canned pumpkin and mixed a little with a little baby food sweet potatoes and turkey with a few drops of Karo syrup added to that. Put it on your finger and put it in her mouth if she will not lick it off your finger. My little boy would get constipated and low blood sugar and this really helped him a lot. It is very important that she eats. Have you talked to the breeder? What food did the breeder have her on?

[cdawnfine]

Milo was that way when I brought hom home, I found a food he can;t resist, the Merrick canned grammys pot pie, now he eats the dry and I only use the wet when he is not feeling well

[mcu]

an hour after i posted, she amazingly seemed interested in kibbles. I put her in a playpen with our other chihuahua pup and she started going at it as if she never saw food before. She didn't eat so much, but he face was in the bowl for over 10 mins just taking some in her mouth and chewing/playing slowly. I was so happy. She went to sleep and she didnlt wake up for a good 4 hours. I had to wake her up. When I checked her gums, they were a whiteish/grey which looked like early sign of low sugar, from previous experience...something else possible? This worried me very much!

I gave her some nutrical and force fed her and her gums went back to pink within 30 mins or so. I don't want to let her sugar level drop, so I need advice asap please.

I've tried many different things. cheese, egg whites, baby food, etc. The only thing she tried was yogurt and that was like two licks and she lost interest.

Should I be giving nutrical 3 times/day instead of 2? Should I continue feeding her A/D canned food 4 times/day or should I do it every 4 hours?

[Patti]

When Cali was little and a poor eater prone to low sugar episodes I fed her every 3-4 hours even during the night. Does she seem to eat a little better when your other dog is around? Maybe try some wet food with the other dog with her. If she is getting signs of hypoglycemia she has to be eating frequently. Good luck.

[bjh]

You have to keep her blood sugar up or she won't want to eat. I have heard that Nutri-cal actually makes the hypoglycemia worse. Little male I have was about the same size of yours when he was having problems. He is a very active puppy and burns up a lot of calories. Here is what I did for him when he was younger:
7 a.m. - 1/2 dropper full of Pet Tinic, 1 teaspoon plain canned pumpkin mixed with a teaspoon of baby food sweet potatoes and turkey with a few drops of Karo syrup added to that. Put it on your finger and put it in her mouth if she will not lick it off your finger. She will not eat all of it but get her to eat as much as possible. Leave her dry food out so she can eat it when ever she wants, my baby liked it ground up so that is what I left out for him.

Through the day you have to watch her very closely. Watch her gums.

noon - karo syrup and water (my boy loved taking it out of a dropper)

5 p.m. - repeat 7 a.m. instructions

9:30 p.m. repeat 7 a.m. instructions

I did the above for about 3 or 4 months. About 1 month ago I bought some K9 BlueLite electrolyte solution from Revival Animal Health and started adding a little of that to his drinking water. He is now 6 months old and he is eating dry food and gaining weight but I still give him the special feedings at 7 a.m. and 9:30 p.m.

I hope you can get your little girl eating on her own. I know how stressful it is. I would recommend taking her to the vets and get some blood work done so you can rule out liver shunt.

[LunasMomma]

I had the same problem with Luna, she just wouldn't eat and we almost lost her Here's what I did and it worked! Great formula for hypoglycemia Also having the other doggie there will encourage her to eat more. After we got Izzy, Luna suddenly decided that she wasn't letting her new sister eat all the food

The Nutrical really seemed to make Luna worse, not to mention a sticky mess

[bjh]

Originally Posted by bjh

7 a.m. - 1/2 dropper full of Pet Tinic, 1 teaspoon plain canned pumpkin mixed with a teaspoon of baby food sweet potatoes and turkey with a few drops of Karo syrup added to that. Put it on your finger and put it in her mouth if she will not lick it off your finger. She will not eat all of it but get her to eat as much as possible. Leave her dry food out so she can eat it when ever she wants, my baby liked it ground up so that is what I left out for him.

Through the day you have to watch her very closely. Watch her gums.

noon - karo syrup and water (my boy loved taking it out of a dropper)

5 p.m. - repeat 7 a.m. instructions

9:30 p.m. repeat 7 a.m. instructions

I did the above for about 3 or 4 months. About 1 month ago I bought some K9 BlueLite electrolyte solution from Revival Animal Health and started adding a little of that to his drinking water. He is now 6 months old and he is eating dry food and gaining weight but I still give him the special feedings at 7 a.m. and 9:30 p.m.

I need to make a correction in the above post, the baby food was sweet potatoes and chicken, I don't know if they even make it with turkey, but I wanted to clarify that.

How is your little girl doing today? I hope she is doing better.