I need advice on chewie's eating.
 

I finally gave in and relinquished control of the feedings to my husband, because he isn't as soft as I am. It's because I can't spend my life running around because Ms. Picky doesn't want *THAT* food today. I would have continued, but it's causing a lot of issues. She's locked into a who will out stubborn the other with husband. I know she only needs 1/4 of a cup at feedings. She gets frequent snacks by me during the day and eats twice a day. Yesterday at her "daycare" she flatly refused any and all food until she got too hungry. With me, she'll stay hungry until I give in. She's so hungry she's scavenging. I have nutri-cal on hand, but I need advice, or at least a virtual hug. Trainer said I have to do this, but It's hard to watch.

Oh- and yes, boiled hamburger (boiled chicken makes her a little sick, it's been more than once) and parmesan cheese, all tried. Nutri-paste/cal/ whatever it's called from the vet I THOUGHT I had but, I used the last of it the other day, which is no biggie, I can get it from the vet in the morning. She will eat things slathered in that, but, husband insists that she needs to eat her food- and the food we give her.

You know you can get NutriCal at any pet store and Amazon etc...right? You don't have to get it at the Vet or anything.

As for meals, what exactly are you feeding and what have you tried..? And what are her restrictions due to health?

Her tummy seems to get upset at acidic, fattening, or anything not mild. We are restricted to eggs, nilla wafers, cheerios, and peanut butter for snacks. For food, I/d or fromms they'd prefer- unless i make the medical boiled diet. For example- vet has cleared eggs. She loves eggs. But, if I make her one over easy, she'll be uncomfy and not uncomfy with scrambled eggs. I only give her 1/4 of the egg. She loves them so much that I feel that a little bit will get her more than the three times a week rec for cooked eggs. Once a week I give her greek yogurt. This all agrees with her little tummy. Fromms she loves as well, only dry. She's so playful and fast, I'm very hesitant to give it to her dry. She gets upset that I make her rest, so it causes a bad circle. Hubby thinks that she should have it dry if she wants it. he says if she likes the paste, give it to her. He's the only person in the house that can ignore her begging. She really has my number. I admit it.

I do know about the nutri-cal at petsmart. Amazon once sent me brand name (Kenra, so It's not pet stuff but still) that was fake. It's why now am leery and again, asking for any reccs you have on sellers/stores that provide it. :) I don't like the one at pet smart. It's not as nutritious as the one the doc gives me, and it's more expensive. I'm always up for switching to a different one, so I'm not saying I won't take suggestions. I know she'd love the beef flavor, for instance.

As for what I've tried, oh boy. Raw diet- vet flipped her lid on that, so that's a no no. She adored it, too. I went through all of the major "premium" brands. some in wet. She won't eat Royal Canin- that's from the meds from her Giardia and her pancreatitis bout. I know people who don't own these little guys roll their eyes, but I know you know how smart they are. We believe she likes the taste, but has a bad association with it. I might try it again in a few months. Science diet. That food you get wet, Grandma's kitchen or something- it's not in front of me. Merriks- dry and wet (heh, pancreatitis) heck, Ann, a lot. She loved her noodles, rice, couscous, and boiled hamburger/bison. then, of course, she stopped. But, instead of being "sick" she was begging for MY food. Her doggie play pack sits under the table and occasionally will put paws on the "Mom" knee. Chewie now does the same thing. She's sure hungry. She just won't eat any dog food whatsoever. I had to follow her around the house for 20 minutes this evening, as DH was out. It took her that long to, begrudgingly, eat half of the 1/4 of a cup I had ready. Not more than 20 minutes later she was begging for yogurtland!!!! Doggie day care knows her, and assured me she ate with gusto after she found out they wouldn't give in. Ive tried parmesan, cottage cheese, yogurt (greek) or boiled meat to sprinkle over the food in small quantities, and she eats them. Only 3 days at a time-then wants OUR food.

I would not be slathering her food in nutrical that's not what it's for. Have you looked into something like balance it where you can home cook for her with one of their recipes and use their supplement? Human food should only make up 10% of their diet and the rest should be dog food. If you give them to much human food they are not going to eat their dog food I mean why would they. Have you tried adding some coconut oil? Or maybe soaking the food in hot water and then draining to make it soft? I have found most picky eaters LOVE Royal Canin.

She needs the paste. 3-5 times a week, and it's for these situations. Especially since she refuses to eat until we find what she wants that day. Because she does this, she lost one of the two pounds we needed her to gain. I use it to keep her sugar from crashing.

The medically approved boiled diet is from my vet, and it consists of quite a few items. I only stick to three veggies- not all 3 at once- just the ones we tried and her stomach was fine with. when I make her batches. It's quite an undertaking to make, and when I DID make a huge batch to freeze, she decided she was done with that particular food.

She came to us on royal canin. We had her on yorkshire formula, after the mini kibbles she stopped wanting. The yorkshire formula was the very first time we discovered something wasn't right. It gave her nasty gas, that even shocked the vet- it was loud, then she got really backed up. So when we switched back, she wouldn't eat it. Then we tried the alternate version of I/D and no, that wasn't even a nibble. I'm seeing that a lot of them don't like the taste of that one.

Yes. She's had water in her food forever. Fromms, the only dog food besides I/D that has been cleared- I'll look into healthy pet jk!-she flatly refuses to eat it with any water. Nor parmesan cheese, and I'm almost desperate enough to use the paste to entice her to eat it, as she's not very happy I'm not giving her anything else any more. She's very, very, stubborn and she's not too happy right now. The paste at this point is a necessity while dh out-stubborns her. Coconut oil is a good suggestion, and she loves it. It might do the trick to get her to try it. Last night consisted of me following her around with the I/d food. for 20 minutes. While she huffed that all the doors were closed and stairs closed off- and daughter blocking her from hiding under the table.

As for the treats, I'm going to stick with the little peanut butter on her cheerios in the kong treat, or some nilla wafers. I don't like seeing her vomit when I introduce any other treat, with the exception of Wiley's buck clucks.

Ann, I almost want to tell the vet where to shove it and go back to the raw diet. :(. she always ate that. Makes me sad. It didn't even make her sick.

I love piper's little face!!! Such a doll! Thank you! I sure need that virtual hug and loves from pipe! :)

The boiled diet is fine for a limited amount of time but not as their main diet unless you use a supplement. How old is she? After a like 5 or 6 months they shouldn't need the nutrical and even if not eating should be able to keep their sugar normal unless sick. The issues with nutrical is you MUST follow it with protein or then can crash from the sugar going up and then down. Their are prescription Royal Canin diets maybe they would have one that would fit your pup. Mine is on the hpypo allergenic one for small breeds, she has IBD. Have you tried making a game out of the food? Like putting it in a treat dispensing toy or puzzle. Have you tried wet food?

With the boiled diet, it is from the medical vet association book. It is a medical recipe, approved as long term food. I have to put additives from the pet store, and it's basically exactly like an I/D food. It isn't your boiled diet that you're thinking of. It's homemade dog food for sensitive stomachs.

She won't eat royal canin. That is why we give her the I/D. It's the same thing, just not canin, science diet. It is wet food. Canned. Fromms is the Kibble.

Nutrical paste is given to her either on boiled hamburger, or another form of something with protein. I have only given her the paste without anything else when she was spayed. I need you to understand that I'm in constant contact with my vet on her tummy issues. I know about not giving her a bone, although I'm confident that ann wouldn't suggest something if it was bad, and also how to use the paste. I don't use that just to use it. 3-5 times a week is what the vet wants, and I was given several approved foods to use it with, because they are aware of how picky she is. I take her off of it when she's eating, and then faithfully call the vet and say, she's doing it again, and then she laughs and says little stinker and then we wait for her to stop again. Chewie will eat boiled hamburger and bison until the cows come home. That's the problem. JUST that. Nothing else. Yes, we make it a game. :) When she will eat the homemade food, I always have a little bit of it without the other stuff in it. She will watch me eat mine, then I say now your's. It's the only thing that's humorous about this, because She expects hubby to do it at his feeding time.

I just worry about dogs getting the right supplements that's all. My aunt had a home cooked diet her vet said was ok without any supplements and she wasn't getting what she needed and ended up losing 5 molars at 3 years old. One of the biggest things I worry about with vets giving to much nutritional advise is they only study a little about nutrition so I always recommend a vet nutritionist. I can't wait to go over nutrition in my classes but it's not till spring that we will do that. I didn't say anything about bones in this post there was another where you made it sound like you boiled the bone and then gave it to her that was just misunderstanding which is easy to do online. I'm sorry that it seems your getting frustrated with me I'm just trying help. My girl has IBD and I tried every food before she was diagnosed and she would still vommit and have diarrhea. It was the third time we went in for fluids my vet said I think it IBD and we went on special food. She was and is picky, like had to change foods all the time and the only one that she would keep eating was the Royal Canin but it started to seem to cause issues after awhile. She's been on the prescription food for two years and never got tired of it which seems crazy to me lol. She takes meds that if she doesn't eat with she will get an upset tummy so we give a small amount of boiled chicken with. Sometimes she goes through the I'm not going to eat days less now then she used to. I get picky lol. I really just care not trying to be a brat or anything.

Ava was our picky eater so as a pup I made her food in smaller 3 day batches so she had variety. She likes roast beef and sweet potatoes the best. Added cottage cheese and cooked carrots on top plus Brewers yeast for nutrition. I read what makes up a good homemade dog food and steered her meals in that direction. Then came Emma who eats anything. Ava watched Emma eating her meals and out of the blue started eating regular dog food.
This wasn't the best thing to do when we got Max but if he didn't eat I put his food on a spoon and he always finished his plate. He outgrew that too watching his sisters eat.

These little ones can be such stinkers. The problem is they know how to work us to get what they want. I'm thoroughly convinced of this;) Who can get passed those cute little innocent faces. I had the same problem with Peanut in the beginning. I tried so many foods and would try to entice him to eat. Worried myself sick when he wouldn't and had my vet basically on speed dial. When I had Peanut neutered at about 1 year old, I had to withhold the food and water in the evening before his surgery. When I picked him up that afternoon, The vet recommended only small amounts of water until the following day. Well let me tell you, by the next morning, that little stinker was more than happy to eat his food. My vet and a forum member here had repeatedly told me that he would eat when he got hungry and I was just making matters worse by switching foods and trying to entice him to eat. He has been on the same food now for about a year and is doing well. Infrequently, he will turn his nose up at his food. I just pick it up and try again a few hours later. No special enticements. This was really hard for me to do at first but it's getting easier and I don't worry quite so much now. He is at a good solid weight now. I think it also helped getting a second little one, Bizzie. She is such a good eater. (In fact I have to have her on weight control food) I think in my case. it was sort like how you are with your first child and being able to relax a little with the second one. Sorry for the book. Just wanted to say, I hope it gets better for you so you won't have to worry so much and can relax and enjoy your baby girl. She's a real cutie pie!

I answered you. I swear I did. I don't get it!!! It's probably the zillion tabs I have up. :/.

It's hard to convey tone on an internet. I don't think you're being a brat at all. Chewie has teeth issues already. Her dam and sire produce offspring with teeth issues. Although it's hard to watch her chomp on her bone the way she does, I know she's doing it to dislodge food, so I let her. I hold her bone (bully stick or lambs ear... want to clarifiy!) for her. It's our bonding time. she cuddles next to me, her ears back like a bunny rabbit. I pepper her back with kisses, massage her little hips, and she closes her eyes in bliss. Every morning. She will roll over after and play. She'll huff and leave if I even attempt to look at that demon ipad of mine.

I've been observing her, and when you told me about your little one having tummy issues, I really hope you can give me some advice. I see the vet, but today TERRIFIED me. Her stomach was so loud today. She had mild food, cheerios for snacks yesterday and also mild food, with the additives, and her two vitamins. Nothing else. Not even people food- meaning no nilla wafers, either. All of the sudden, she did the play bow, backed into the corner, and trembled and pointed. I picked her up, and my poor baby. She was in pain. I'm the ONLY person she'll let her guard down for. She smacked her lips and gulped, a classic sign of nausea. She didn't even do a warning growl twice and then her usual snap snap for my daughter approaching me in my arms. 10 minutes later (or thereabouts) she did a huge sigh, all her muscles relaxed, and she melted in my arms. Her first order of business was to resource guard, which told me she was feeling better. This is not the first time it's happened. I KNOW it's from needing to eat more times in a day, but because her tummy is upset, she won't eat and then gets sick from not eating, making it continue the cycle.

My 8 mounth old pup won't let me touch my iPad lol he climbs up me and wedges him self between me and the iPad. Have you talked to your vet about using Pepcid? I use it with my girl when her tummy seems to be upset and it works wonders.