Puppy Not Eating

[mblab]

Hi everyone! You may have seen me introduce Zoe to YT. Well her eating issues have just continued. She didn't really eat when she first came home, we thought it was simply the move and all of that. I supplemented with some nutrical just in case. The vet wanted me to add canned food and NOT give her any nutrical, not unless she actually shows signs of hypoglycemia. I'm not a fan of canned food at all, so we added some water to her kibble to make it softer. That helped but she's still not eating much. Today she ate 1/2 of her breakfast at 11am (she was too sleepy until then) and maybe 10-20 kibbles since then (lunch, and just now). After speaking to her breeder, we're both really concerned about her not eating and her getting hypoglycemic real quick. She also said the one of first signs is a puppy being really tired. Well Zoe sleeps A LOT, but I'm not sure if it's excessive.

So we're off to the pet store to get some canned food, I'll do anything to get her to eat, even if that's giving her canned food. My question is this: do I get her the canned version of her puppy food (if they have it) or do I get her any brand of puppy canned food? And would it make a difference?

Thanks!
-Vicky

[Ellie May]

You can probably choose any brand of canned you want.
Canned is fine to give and some people prefer it over kibble.
Have you tried bonless lean white meat chicken? Mashed potatoes?

[mblab]

We tried her puppy food's version of canned food, she did not like it. She ate almost none of it, when we mixed it with her kibble. I did add some boiled chicken in to her kibble and she ate all of the chicken! She ate a few of the kibble pieces (maybe by accident) but all the same, she ate with a veracity/eagerness she hasn't shown before! Tomorrow morning I'm going to boil some more chicken and also pour in a bit of the broth to soften the kibbles a bit and see how that goes.

My boyfriend thinks she might not like her kibble, even though it's what the breeder fed her. I'm not sure but that might make sense... Also food for thought, the breeder put down one bowl for the litter and refilled it when it was empty, so it's plausible that her sister ate most of the food and Zoe's never been a huge food person...

It seems like 2 steps backward with every step forward. Any other ideas?

Thanks for any and all input!!!
-Vicky

[Pix]

How old is your puppy ?
My Pix is 3 months old and home for 3 days only, and I've been through the same until yesterday. She wasn't eating much, boiled chiken, wet or dry food, and I am supplementing with Nutracal. After the check up with the vet, she told me to try Science Diet Puppy small bites, and that made all the difference. The last 24 hours she is eating plenty on her own, and doing just great. She also recommended to start her on dry food if she will take it, to help with teething.

[Ellie May]

You could try sloooooowly switching to another kibble but if she doesn't like the next one you may just end up having to get tough and making her eat the new one. I really prefer to see a dog enjoy what they eat. If she enjoys homecooked, that would be one option.

You could mix one ounce of chicken with 88 grams brown rice, pasta, peas or sweet potato and 60 grams cooked mixed veggies (carrots, squash, celery, bell peppers...) and 1 tsp. canola or olive oil and see how she likes that. You would have to supplement if you do it for an extended period of time and the recipe would have to be balanced for a pup.

While some people will say to get tough and make them eat kibble, I think she is a bit young for that. Have you tried mixing plain yogurt in her kibble or low fat, low sodium cottage cheese or mashed potato?

[mblab]

Originally Posted by Pix

How old is your puppy ?
My Pix is 3 months old and home for 3 days only, and I've been through the same until yesterday. She wasn't eating much, boiled chiken, wet or dry food, and I am supplementing with Nutracal. After the check up with the vet, she told me to try Science Diet Puppy small bites, and that made all the difference. The last 24 hours she is eating plenty on her own, and doing just great. She also recommended to start her on dry food if she will take it, to help with teething.

Zoe is 3 months/12 weeks also! And the ironic bit is that my vet recommended science diet, even gave us a sample bag of it.

Originally Posted by Ellie May

You could try sloooooowly switching to another kibble but if she doesn't like the next one you may just end up having to get tough and making her eat the new one. I really prefer to see a dog enjoy what they eat. If she enjoys homecooked, that would be one option.

You could mix one ounce of chicken with 88 grams brown rice, pasta, peas or sweet potato and 60 grams cooked mixed veggies (carrots, squash, celery, bell peppers...) and 1 tsp. canola or olive oil and see how she likes that. You would have to supplement if you do it for an extended period of time and the recipe would have to be balanced for a pup.

While some people will say to get tough and make them eat kibble, I think she is a bit young for that. Have you tried mixing plain yogurt in her kibble or low fat, low sodium cottage cheese or mashed potato?

Home cooked wouldn't really be the preferred option but if it winds up being that then that's what it'll be. For now, I want to see how chicken, chicken broth, and plain water (and combinations of the above) go. If I can get her to eat her normal food with those than that's great. If she won't then we'll try the next step.

Though to be honest I'm not thrilled she's eating Eukinuba (there's certainly better brands/foods) but it was what she had been eating her whole life. If she needs to switch than I'll be glad to try another (better) food. But again, I'm so hesitant to try to switch foods with her right now. She's barely eating so changing, even slowly, is bound to mess her up and I'd hate to do that.

So for now, here's hoping the chicken will do the trick. And in the mean time, as she still struggles to eat enough, I'm going to supplement with nutrical at night.

Till the morning,
Vicky

[normagertz]

Hi, My Yorkie puppy turned 3 months on August 21st and she is also not eating well although she has steadily gained weight. She was eating Eukinuba also when I got her. She likes the taste of it but I don't want her to stay on that food. It seems the only dry food she is favoring. Have been feeding her "Innova" for puppies canned food and the only way she ends up eating it is if I hand feed her. It is frustrating to say the least. Went to a store where they carry the best dog foods. They gave me many sample bags so we could see if she would eat any of them aside from the Eukinuba she seems to like. So far, am not having luck! Don't want to have a picky eater and want her to be able to eat dry food whenever. It is certainly frustrating. Someone mentioned Science Diet to me also but that is one I haven't tried yet.

Beware of changing her diet rapidly. A breeder associated with the AKC suggested I cook chicken liver for her and put a teaspoon of it on her dry food. Guess what happened next--you guessed it--She still has loose stools and it has been 4 days!

If you find anything that really works, let me know. Of course she loves chicken but eats it out of the dish and leaves the kibbles there.

Norma

[Hansch99]

We've struggled with this, so I know how hard it can be. I'd do some research, find a good kibble, and give that to your dog exclusively (with a transition period).

There are two reasons why I'd exclusively give your dog one kind of food: one is behavioral, the other is nutritional. In my experience, Yorkies are very opportunistic and will exploit every opportunity they are given. I know Yorkies are picky eaters and sometimes it *seems* like they'd rather starve than eat food they don't like. However, all but the worst cases will eventually eat the food you lay down for them when they realize that is all that's available. This is just one of many examples where it's good to set the tone for what is acceptable behavior for your dog and not cave in.

From a nutritional point of view, if you stray too far from giving your dog good kibble (i.e., supplementing with homecooking or nutrical), you may be doing more harm than good even if the dog is eating a lot. Kibble is engineered to provide a precise and optimum balance of nutrients. Too much protein, for instance, can be tough on the liver, which is why adult dog foods cut out the proteing when dogs are out of their growing stage. Giving your dog kibble exclusively may mean that it eats less in the short term, but in the long run, your dog will likely get used to it, will eat what it needs, and will have a balanced diet.

If you're more stubborn than your dog, ultimately your dog will be better for it.

[mblab]

This is really hard on me. I'm trying everything I can and trying to get all the info I can. She barely ate this morning, the chicken and chicken broth did very little for her. Ugh!

Everyone I ask says something different, I'm not sure what to do. My Mom's friend with lots of experience with Yorkies said this is normal and the nutrical will balance her diet out until she de-stresses enough to eat. I'm hesitant to make any drastic changes to her diet, for fear of upsetting her stomach and then she'll never want to eat! That and I don't want to create a monster who will only eat certain things and will be a pain for the rest of her life.

I'm trying to balance what's best for her now and what's logical too. So I called her vet and let's see what the vet says....

-Vicky

P.S. If the vet recommends totally switching foods (with a transition, however that'd be with her non eating...) what's a really good kibble to switch to (for puppies)???

[katelin]

have you tried chicken baby food (meat only) mixed with a little white or brown rice? My puppies love this baby food. Then gradually add a little kibble to it. the main thing right now is to get some consistent nutrition into her. Worry about a permanent diet once you get her stabilized and eating consistently.

I would be careful about relying on Nutri-Cal. Using it to tide her over at night might be okay, but I'd try to get her onto real food during the day.

I don't know how small she is, but if she is very tiny you could try putting her kibble into the blender and make it smaller and almost powdery. Our puppies really like to lick this (don't wet it) and the adult dogs like it too. Gradually we increased the chunkiness of the kibble until they were on straight kibble.

Best wishes to you and your baby.

[mblab]

Thanks for all of the ideas!

I just heard from the vet and she said to try mixing nutrical with her kibble. The vet isn't as concerned about her becoming hypogylcemic (if I'm giving her nutrical at night) but that she isn't getting the proper nutrients.

Zoe's 2.5 pounds (small but not tiny tiny) and has eaten this food her entire life. I can only image how stressed she is from moving away from home to live with us, a new place, new people, new routines, and no puppies around to play with all the time. I've got to image that's why she's not eating, it makes sense but it's still upsetting. But also a bit frustrating is that I don't know if she simply isn't a big eater and that's contributing to it. The breeder gave one bowl of food to her and her sister (and another puppy that was with them sometimes). It's totally possible her sister ate most of the food, but I just don't know if that's the truth or not. It's certainly a thought (that'd make sense).

The Eukanuba says for a 3 pound 3 month old she should eat 3/4 cup over the course of one day. Over 3 meals that'd be 1/4 a cup each meal. She's not eating anything close to that amount of food, even on a good day!

I was only giving her nutrical at night, if she didn't eat much, trying to give her as much of a chance to eat real food during the day as I could. She's not dependent on it (nutrical). It's hard to explain I guess. She'll eat other things, she just doesn't eat a lot of whatever I give her. (Except the canned food, she took one or two bites and was done!) So if/when I tried to get her to eat the kibble by itself, she'd probably eat a few pieces of it. If I added water she'd probably eat a few pieces. If I add chicken she'll probably eat a little of that. It's not that she won't eat ANYTHING, it's just that she won't eat very much of things, especially the most important food, her kibble!

The breeder had suggested boiled chicken, brown rice (cooked in the chicken broth/liquid from cooking the chicken), and baby food chicken. I've tried the boiled chicken and chicken broth. The vet recommended canned food, we tried that and she was not interested at all. I'll try the chicken with her kibble again when she wakes up from her nap. If that doesn't work than I'm trying mixing nutrical with her food. If that doesn't work I may try baby food chicken. My biggest concern with that is that she won't be getting the necessary balanced nutrition she needs. I guess time and Zoe will only tell...

[mom2reds]

I had the same problem with my new puppy although she is just 9 weeks old and we have had her for a week and three days she would not eat the eukanuba puppy food that her breeder had her on. We went through all of the same stuff you are doing last week finally yesterday I got some samples of the natures variety praire Kibble the chicken and brown rice and she loved it I mixed it with her old food and she left the old kibble and picked out and eat the new kibble and she wanted more which I was afraid to give her I don't want to upset her digestive system. I know that you can go to the website Nature's Variety and you can read all about the different food choices that they have.
I hope that you find something that your baby likes soon.

Good Luck
Tess

[mblab]

Hello all! Just got off the phone with a friend of my Dad's who has had Yorkies for years, she's bred and had has like 12 over her life. She said that Zoe isn't eating because she's traumatized from the move and that she needs smaller bites than the kibble is and that she still needs milk. She suggested grinding the kibbles in the food processor and then adding a few tablespoons of puppy milk in her food.

Any thoughts on this?

[kalina82]

i haven't read all of this but i just wanted to let you know what can happen if you put her on home cooked chicken and rice diet.

i rescued a 3 month old malnurished poodle puppy with two broken elbows, a curved (possibly broken earlier) tibia and a horrible luxating patella in her left hind. She basically had mushy bones because her previous owners were only giving her beef and rice, with a few pieces of kibble. I'm not saying this could happen to all puppies but it did with mine. THe lack of a good puppy food resulted in really soft breakable bones. Since i've had her she has been on a premium puppy kibble and has filled out nicely.

If your puppy doesn't like the food your giving her i would try another premium puppy food like innova, wellness, canidae, nature's variety, california natural, solid gold. i prefer wellness and solid gold for puppies.

[Ellie May]

Originally Posted by kalina82

i haven't read all of this but i just wanted to let you know what can happen if you put her on home cooked chicken and rice diet.

i rescued a 3 month old malnurished poodle puppy with two broken elbows, a curved (possibly broken earlier) tibia and a horrible luxating patella in her left hind. She basically had mushy bones because her previous owners were only giving her beef and rice, with a few pieces of kibble. I'm not saying this could happen to all puppies but it did with mine. THe lack of a good puppy food resulted in really soft breakable bones. Since i've had her she has been on a premium puppy kibble and has filled out nicely.

If your puppy doesn't like the food your giving her i would try another premium puppy food like innova, wellness, canidae, nature's variety, california natural, solid gold. i prefer wellness and solid gold for puppies.

Exactly.
Homecooking is just fine BUT it has to be balanced with vitamins and minerals added if you are going to feed it for an extended period or there will be problems.



I'm not sure about giving a Yorkie puppy milk if they have already been weaned. You could ask this in the breeder's section though. It is sort of surprising that she won't eat the canned food.