Need help with home cooked diet!
 

Sorry so long. Marcus Aurelius is the most picky eater ever!:( He doesn't want to eat anything. I force him to eat twice a day, but he doesn't like it. We've tried the following foods : hills puppy (oh I forgot to say that he is 6.5 months old), canidae, royal canine puppy, eukunuba puppy small breed, merrick wet, nutro max puppy, and a few more. It is a chore to get him to eat. With him being so small (2lbs 4oz), it's so important to get him to eat. We keep up with the nutri-cal so he never gets hypoglycemic (we had that problem when we first brought him home). I love him to death, but he worries me so much when he doesn't eat. Well I finally decided to try the home cook diet thinking he would like it more. It would be good for him and Bruiser too to have a home cooked diet. I bought Dr. Pitcarin's book for help and another doggy cookbook. We got home today and I started cooking up a storm. They had boiled chicken, white rice, and steamed green beans. Bruiser was in heaven and ate his up quicker than I have ever seen him eat. It was so cute!:p Marcus, however, did not eat one bite of it. I pulled out some of the chicken and tried to hand feed it (we have to hand feed everything to get him to eat anything), but he wouldn't touch it. He wouldn't eat any part of it. Do you all have any suggestions of things I could do to get him excited about eating home cooked food. I'm just confused because I've never seen a furbaby that doesn't want to eat people food. :confused: Thanks in advance for all of the help!

Wow, that is a problem. Have you discussed it with your vet? I hope someone come along with some advice.:)

i would definitly go to the vet with this to make sure it is not a health issue that is keeping him from eating. If it is not.. boy do you have a problem.... ok... can you try putting cheese on it? Layla will eat ANYTHING with cheese on it... what about things like yogurt or cottage cheese... apple sauce.. will he eat that??? does he like treats?? if he doens't like treats i would DEFINITLY be seeing a vet... if he does like treats.. you just have a pup who is playing games with you... there are days when layla is "sick" but she will eat treats.. lol.. i know she is just milking it :p what about fish... tuna.... berries... bananas... if you can get him to love ONE Of those things... we might be getting somehwere :) but i'd do the vet thing first.... go from there... then you at least know what you are dealing with :)
Good job with the homecooking.. you pup who eats no problem will really benefit from it!

Wow Marce I tell you, is like you are reading my mind:D :goodpost:

We are in constant contact with our vet. He is the "superstar" there and he gets preferential treatment due to his size and the problems we had with him when first got him. When he first came home, he stopped eating all together and almost died. He was just too tiny for his liver to work properly. He finally started eating (without me forcing it in a syringe down his throat) and made a full recovery. We just had the food talk last week and she suggested ekunuba just because it was the last thing we haven't tried. I don't want to make her sound like a bad vet for suggesting ekunuba (as she takes his health very serious and doesn't like the fact that they use by-products), but she just wants to find ANYTGHING the little guy will eat for more than two kibbles. She said if he didn't like that, we should go ahead and move to home cooked as we have been discussing that option for almost two months now. He is really healthy other than enjoying food. He loves his treats and he will always go for those, so I know that it's not a serious health problem. We've tried the cheese, yogurt, and cottage cheese- he will take one sniff and then point his little nose in the air. I know that he has me wrapped around his fingers and can "play" me like no other. Because he was so sick before, I will do anything to get him to eat and he knows it. Sometimes we have to make eating a game by throwing each piece on the floor one at a time so he can "hunt" his food. I just would love to see him chomp down like a little piggy!:p Thanks for all of the help!

well i think you definitly hit the nail on the head... if he is eating treats no problem.... then really... he's fine... how long have you gone saying to yourself.. if he is hungry he will eat.... a couple days?? i'd try that i guess... let him know YOU are in charge.. and as frickin cute as he is :p he is not in charge... if you are worried about blood sugar levels you can always use nutrical... has your vet suggested this?? i think it would be worth a shot because i think now you are really in a power struggle. But i feel for you... if Layla doesnt' eat ONE day.. i'm beside myself upset.. i can't imagine the stress this must be causing you.... good luck and keep us posted :)

great minds think a like :)

That little stinker, is he following in Marcel's paw steps? Same size, same frequent flyer status at the vet...oh my!

Well, if he is okay w/ dairy - I've found that sprinkling parmesan (the flaky kind in the can) on food was a miracle when I was home cooking; Parmesan has a strong smell - and I think dogs eat first w/ their nose, so they tend to love that strong, pungent, cheesy smell.

If you want to try yet another kibble - have you thought about Orijen? It is notorious for tasting fabulous - and it is such a great kibble; higher in protein, which is good. Nature's Variety (where I get the raw medallions) also has some great looking kibbles. Or, have you considered trying raw?

I hope you find something for this little guy - I can completely relate how scary it can be with this little guys and their health. Marcel, btw, is doing fabulous on raw and he highly recommends it to Mr. Marcus Aurelius.

:yeahthat: :goodpost:

I think he is trying to follow in Marcel's footsteps, he might have a "man crush". LOL. We will have to try to parmesan later today to see that will do the trick. I think we will give it a few more days trying the home cook diet. Orijen will be the next kibble we will try if this doesn't work out. We do keep up with our nutri-cal in between his stubborn feedings. I don't know much about the raw diet except that it has rave reviews. Is it something that you buy that is ready to serve, or do you go to the store to get fresh meat? Thanks everyone!

The easiest way is buy raw pre made.... and then when you get better at it you can prepare your own. Nature's Variety is the brand we will be trying whenever i get around to it :p

What did you mean when you said that he was too tiny for his liver to function properly? How did they determine this?

At the time he was around 14 weeks old and was 1lb 4oz. He would eat food when we forced it down. His blood sugar was a roller coaster having blood drawn 3x a day to check it. It would skyrocket and then it would plumet. He wasn't keeping his blood sugar up after he ate as if the food was just helping for a few minuets and then dropping again. They tested him for everything under the sun and it all came back negative. The final diagnosis was that he was so tiny that his liver just wasn't working right yet. He's so much better now!:p

The best way is prey model, but I'm still educating myself on that route (lots of threads on it). So, I use Nature's Variety Raw Medallions (or patties) - Wy gets 3 per day, Marcel gets 2 per day. VERY easy.

What I really love about it is that I don't have to feed such high "volume" as I did w/ homecooking. Since raw is more nutrient dense, it works so much better for little Marcel. The boys are LOVING it and Wylie's fur is just silken and luxurious after 3 weeks!

I have never heard a vet say that unless he suspected liver problems...Did they do a bile acid test?? If not, then I would have it done just to be sure there's no MVD before starting the raw diet...

She was worried that there might be a liver problem so she did a bile acid test and it came back good. Thanks for all of the help. :)

Good!! Sounds like your vet is on top of things!

Thanks, she really is. He is with her today as he was throwing up all last night.:( We are taking the transition into homecooked slow as to not upset his tummy. He had all kibble yesterday, so I have no idea why he got sick last night and this morning. I'll post an update when I find out something.

Aww, I hope ur baby is doing ok today. Sarge used to worry me sick when he was so little. Now hes a fat lump at 3 lbs...lol. I toyed with homecooking too, but I still use kibble. Sarge gets kibble and eggs for breakfast, kibble only for lunch, and homecooking for dinner- usually chicken and whole grain pasta. HE LOVES PASTA. He sleeps alot better with a heavy belly of warm dinner. :D He didn't care for rice for some reason. I think cheese is the best trick of all. Anything with cheese or gravy is practically irresistable. I also use jarred baby food (chicken or beef) if he is being finniky. Hope all goes well!

I just brought Marcus home from the vets and he is back to normal. He didn't get sick any more and isn't running a fever. She said he just had an upset tummy and gave him some meds for the next few days just to make sure he doesn't get sick again. She thinks we will be doing great on homecooking and prescribed boiled chicken and white rice for the next few days (which is what I was feeding him anyways:p ).

SgtPeppersMommy- Wow he is a "fat lump" at 3 lbs LOL! We will have to try the pasta and gravy trick when his tummy settles down, thanks! Btw your Sarge is a cutie patootie!;)