VERY worried about my little guy :(

[janetcerdas]

Hi guys,
Gucci, my 5 month old puppy hasn't been eating and drinking as much as he usually does for the past three days. It started after we vacuumed the living room before yesterday in the afternoon. He gets scared VERY easily and shakes whenever he is stressed. The noise that the vacuum made stressed him out. He was panting and shaking a lot, so I put him in his crate. When I put his food in his bowl he sniffed it and walked away. That made me concerned right away because he LOVES food.. he always attacks his bowl before I even put it down and it seems like he's never full enough. He's never walked away from his food like that. I feed him four times a day, and yesterday he only ate twice, and only out of my hand. He was however drinking a lot, and he was going potty a lot. He didn't seem lethargic or anything like that.. he just kept sniffing his food and walking away from it. Today he's only ate once ! I've been giving him nutri-cal the last few days, but I basically have to force it in his mouth. I took him to the dog park yesterday and he was as playful as usual.. running around and chasing the other puppies. Today however he seems a little more "lazy" than usual. He hasn't played with his toys once, and he's barely ate anything. He ate in the morning, at around 11:00 am, but after that nothing. I've tried canned food and he doesn't seem to like it. He sniff it and runs away. I gave him cheese and that was the only thing he seemed to like. He was crying when I wouldn't give him more, but I wasn't sure if I was giving him too much so stopped. He's been sleeping most of the day.
My vet wasn't in today so I couldn't take him. I have an appointment for tomorrow afternoon, but I wanted to know if there was anything I could do until then. Maybe he's not even as sick as I'm making it seem, but I just can't stand the thought of anything bad happening to him. Could the vacuum really have stressed him out that much ? :S

Another thing, he was scratching his ear a lot last week, so I took him to the vet to see if he might have an ear infection or ear mites. Gucci was moving too much so the vet couldn't tell if it was ear mites or not, but he gave medication to treat both ear mites and an infection. I've been giving him the drops for about 10 days now. I don't know if this might have anything to do with his loss of appetite.

I also switched his food from Royal Canin Babydog 30 to Royal Canin mini puppy 33. This was about a week and a half ago. But I'm certain that I switched it over the right way. At first I only put about 25% of the new one, and as the week progress I put 75% and then 100% of the new food. He hasn't gotten sick and his poop has been the same.

Ahhhhh I'm so frustrated, I can't get him to eat ANYTHING but cheese !

I will be VERY VERY grateful for any advice given.

Thank you !

[lillymae]

Smell in his ears he could have an ear infection. You shouldn't give him too much cheese. Boil some chicken and see if he will eat it.

[janetcerdas]

I just realized that there's about a dozen spelling mistakes in there, sorry !

[janetcerdas]

Originally Posted by lillymae

Smell in his ears he could have an ear infection. You shouldn't give him too much cheese. Boil some chicken and see if he will eat it.

I've smelt his ears several times, they don't smell bad. I have tried boiling some chicken too. He doesn't eat it, but thank you for your help

[lillymae]

Why did you change his food ? puppies should be on puppy food till 1 yr old. Also maybe he's teething and his mouth hurts.

[ladyjane]

If you keep giving him cheese every time he refuses dog food, then he will never eat the dog food.

Take him to the vet for a check up...if he is not ill, then I suggest putting his food down for 10 minutes. If he does not eat, pick it up. Later on, put it down again. He will finally get the message as long as you do not cave in and give him cheese!

Of course, you do not want him to get hypoglycemic....so keep an eye on him. I really think that if you just keep giving him his food and nothing else he will learn to eat it when it is given to him.

[Maximo]

I don't think stress over the vacuum would last that long. As Lillymae suggested, hold off on the cheese. I wouldn't feed any cheese because it could cause constipation and will discourage eating regular food in general.

I think your appointment with the vet is wise.

[Dracosmom]

I have never had that problem with my yorkies but i got a naked dog (chinese crested) for my valentine gift, and every time we would vacuum she would shake so bad she would start to throwing up and would not eat for days, i dont know if its the same but my vet told me to give her some time and try to give her stuff like cooked chicken or some thing that had a strong smell to it, after about 3 days she calm down enough to start eating so now i have my husband take her out side to walk or just to play in the yard when i vacuum the house, so may be he just needs some time but still take him to the vet and let me know what your said about this problem. I would love to have a second opium or third lol

[janetcerdas]

Originally Posted by lillymae

Why did you change his food ? puppies should be on puppy food till 1 yr old. Also maybe he's teething and his mouth hurts.

"MINI Babydog 30
Puppy Food for Small-Breed Dogs (up to 20 lbs. at adulthood) from Weaning to 8 Weeks of Age"

That's why. He's 5 months old, so the next one after that is "MINI Puppy 33
Puppy Food for Small-Breed Dogs (up to 20 lbs. at adulthood) from 2 to 10 Months of Age" which is what I switched him over to

[janetcerdas]

Originally Posted by lillymae

Why did you change his food ? puppies should be on puppy food till 1 yr old. Also maybe he's teething and his mouth hurts.

"MINI Babydog 30
Puppy Food for Small-Breed Dogs (up to 20 lbs. at adulthood) from Weaning to 8 Weeks of Age"

That's why. He's 5 months old now, so the next one after that is "MINI Puppy 33
Puppy Food for Small-Breed Dogs (up to 20 lbs. at adulthood) from 2 to 10 Months of Age" which is what I switched him over to

[Dracosmom]

I would have never though that some one else would have about the same issues that my little starlite has, she is getting better as she gets a little older but oh yea my vet told me about this vitamin drop that from the maker of nutri-cal its made for little puppies its called Puppy Drops vitamin supplement with liver & Iron (Tomlyn) it may help to i love nutri-cal but some times its a little paste but this liquid made it easy for her. just a thought

[lillymae]

Originally Posted by janetcerdas

"MINI Babydog 30
Puppy Food for Small-Breed Dogs (up to 20 lbs. at adulthood) from Weaning to 8 Weeks of Age"

That's why. He's 5 months old now, so the next one after that is "MINI Puppy 33
Puppy Food for Small-Breed Dogs (up to 20 lbs. at adulthood) from 2 to 10 Months of Age" which is what I switched him over to

Gotcha, Well Hmmmm then maybe it is his teeth.

[ladyjane]

Or maybe he is just holding out for cheese!

[lillymae]

Originally Posted by ladyjane

Or maybe he is just holding out for cheese!

Lol, could be but I think he stopped eating his food before she fed the cheese. Why I'm thinking his teeth .

[AbbysMom08]

So sorry you are having a problem with your little guy.
Sorry I don't have any advise for you as I've not had this experience.
Please let us know what the vet has to say.