Pickey about food-AGAIN!
 

Okay, so I thought I'd found a food that Hot Rod and Maggie liked. Well, he's gotten tired of Natural Balance Rolls now. Maggie eats a little better than he does; she will eat when she's hungry where as he will go for 2 days without. *Sigh*.

He seems to like "gravy" on his food. What I mean is the juices from foods,not gravy with the flour added or anything like that. I've tried adding a few shredded pieces of chicken/fish and cheese and the little buggers will eat that out of their food and leave everything else.

I was looking at "vitagravy" at petsmart. Has anyone tried that? Or does anyone have any suggestions? Help!

Could you blend their food with some chicken in it? That way they can't pick it out? Have you tried canned food? Did you try mixing it with cottage cheese or mashed potato? That has got to be frustrating. :( I know so many people like the, "They won't let themselves starve, so don't worry about it" thing but some dogs will only eat enough to stay alive and that just is not healthy.

I had just bought a couple of cans of Blue and he turned his nose up at it, Maggie ate some of it. Yes, I've mixed potatoes, sweet potatoes, cottage cheese, yogurt with the food.

This morning I processed pet botanicals roll with rotissarie chicken and a little bit of the gravy. Snubbed, then I put a few pieces of shredded chicken-they at that up but left the food. Then I put a few pieces of shredded cheese and chopped it up with a fork and mixed it well. That seemed to work as they ate a bit more of the food but didn't finish their portion...which was not a big one at that. :(

He must be eating something as he poos 2x a day!

I agree. I cook up chicken thighs and blend just the meat, no skin or fat or juices, and mix canned, dry and water. I store it in the fridge and heat it in the microwave(stir well) before feeding. If I run out or in a pinch, I've used chicken or turkey baby food instead of cooked chicken.
Sometimes I use stinky cat food too, just not too much!

I was doing this also until he stopped eating this. I even used the baby food carrots and mixed it with his food. He at this for awhile and got tired of it.

It seems that 3/4 days is his limit. The NB rolls seemed to be the food that he liked the longest.

I know that a lot of the problem is me as I treat him after dinner with a zukes sized piece of food from our dinner. I try to give cooked carrots mainly since I used them as treats at other times too.

Have you ever fed them raw (pre-made like Nature's Variety or Primal)? I wonder how they would like that?

What about Merricks, I know that you can add a little water and it makes its own gravy??? Its supposed to be a great food!!!

I haven't tried raw as I am afraid of the protein-not that I know very much about it. I should ask the vet about this. He didn't like Evo dry though...didn't want anything to do with it. Is that similar?

They seemed to like Merrick's but started licking their paws when they were on it. :(

I am using eagle brand hollistic, it really works for us!! I think they will send you a sample , its a great food, she also like solid gold wee bits.. have you tried either, my dog is the pickiest eater, just like my skinkids:eek:

Maybe he's getting too many treats during the day??? And if he knows he's getting a piece of your dinner, he may be waiting for that. He sounds very smart!

If you must feed him your food, save it and mix it in with his food. Keep the food he lasted the longest with, rotate the goodies you add to it. For example: Chicken BF x 2 days, Stinky cat food x 2 days, Veal BF X 2 days, Turkey BF X 2 days, Beef BF X 2 days That way he's getting a different flavor and should keep his interest longer.

I believe most veges are carbs and fiber. Fiber can make you feel full, fast. You may want to limit fiber type foods to see if his appetite increases.

I've never fed Evo so I don't know much about it. It is a very good quality food that is grain free and high protein. Do you or your vet have specific concerns about protein? The advantage to the pre-made raw (if you were to try it and they liked it) is that it's already balanced for their nutritional needs. I'd be concerned about this if the picky eating continues long-term, causing them not to get all they need from their food.

I am kind of afraid of the raw diet only because of reading about the protein levels. I should probably find out from the vet if it might be worth trying it at least. I also read a lot of others on hear really like it.
I don't know if it is anywhere the same or anything but I did try to give him/them Evo dry. He didn't want anything to do with it and Maggie ate a serving of it one day and never touched it again.

I've not tried either. I will try and get samples of the eagle, thanks. Sollid Gold doesn't send any samples out.

I do treat when we come in from a walk, but it is a very small treat...the size of a zukes. And if I do give a zukes treat, I split the treat in half and that's what they get. I thought the same thing so I have actually been phasing out treats over the past several weeks. He had surgery the end of March and was starting to gain weight from lack of physical activity so I've cut back quite a bit.

I will try to do the 2x day with different foods. That may be my option for the time being. I'm trying to find some type of liquid that he likes so it will soak into his food. I've mashed the NB roll up with chicken broth and he ate it for a few days. I don't think he cared for plain broth all that much though so I've got to add some flavorings to it. lol. I've even tried mashed potatoes with chicken broth making it a soupy consistency and puting over his food...the little booger sucked it off! and spit out the floor!:eek:

I had heard that they should eat after "we" eat but that's not a viable solution as hubby gets home later than I would like to feed them.

I'm not into Royal Canin but some of their foods tend to be very palatable and it is better than malnutrition. You could also homecook.

He was on Royal Canin when we brought him home and had severe itchiness and dry skin. Once we switched him over to innova it cleared up. A while ago I happen to give him some of another puppies food which was purina and ceasar...he liked it.

I had talked to my vet about homecooking at one point and she has a nutrionist if I should decide to go that route.

Did someone say raw??? :)
 

Hello!! Just read through the thread and wanted to chime in to hopefully help your Hotty Rod!!! How sad, you must be so worried and not to mention exhausted!!! I feed Nature's Variety Raw as well as Evo and no, they are not the same. Evo is a dry kibble, which you already know of that does have high protein and is grainfree.

The raw I feed is a frozen, pre-made raw which you store in the freezer and defrost overnight and serve cold or room temp. They come in medallion sizes, so not much measuring is required. It is raw meat which is wet to the touch, so nothing like kibble at all. I can tell you, my Snickers was a pickybutt until the raw came along and now he is as happy as can be. If you go to the Nature's Variety website to try it (Welcome to Nature's Variety | Nature's Variety) you can register for a buy one get one coupon, or you can find a store near you and just get 1 bag and see if Hot Rod will like it. I feed it in the morning so I know Snickers has some food in his belly all day. HE JUMPS UP FOR IT!! Then we feed the Evo from 3pm onward (free feed.) Snickers LOVES the chicken raw. Alot of people worry about the bacteria etc, but it's too easy, we love it. Snickers does amazing on the high protein, but I understand your concern. Sadly, not many vet's are for raw for many reasons. They just don't know about it and some people say that it keeps vet bills down so vet's don't recommend, but I'm not sure about that.....I can tell you Snickers' teeth, breathe, agility, energy, coat, and look amazing!!!

Good luck to you!!!! I hope you find something he will eat consistently!!

Have you tried Merricks? Merricks kibbles are coated with gravy so if u add a little warm water on it, it turns the kibble into a gravy.

I know how u feel. My Maddie is very picky too. I found that adding water to the kibble sometimes works.

Good luck!!!!

Thanks for clearing it up for me. I didn't know what it was exactly. I guess I should talk with my vet and see what she thinks. She was the one that actually told me that they do not need to have dry kibble so long as I watch their dental. I have been trying to brush at least 3x a week although that didn't happen during his recovery period from surgery (6-7 weeks) Now it's like starting all over and getting him used to it again.

Yes, I did try it and they did eat it for a short while so I got a couple of the other flavors (small sample bags for $1.99). Unfortunately they started licking their paws while they were on it. :(

Well tonight I gave them the ground up stuff from the morning with a bit of shredded cheddar in it. Maggie ate a bit of it as she was soooo hungry. Hot Rod picked the cheese out and ate a couple of bites of it.

I then squeeze some fish oil from a capsule on the food and the little booger gobbled it up! I had been giving it to them a while ago (per the vet) and he got tired of it so I stopped. I'm going to keep this up and see how long this will last. I've got almost 2 full rolls of the lamb and beef flavored NB Rolls in the freezer so I'm hoping that this will help with him eating it! Keep your fingers crossed for me.

I appreciate everyone's suggestions!:)

Is he still over his normal weight? I've come to the conclusion that Thor is just a naturally skinny dog. I would like him to be slightly heavier; I can easily feel his hip bones and the vertebrae between them. Sometimes when I'm feeding him richer food that usual (like rice with chicken for an upset tummy), he will bulk up slightly, but it doesn't last. I wonder if Hot Rod is just returning to his natural set weight point?

Thor will suck on his kibble and then spit it out too. :)

Also, not to alarm you, but I've heard that poor appetite can be a sign of liver shunt... they realize that the food is causing their distress and stop eating it. Any chance that could be it?

I feel I have lived your story but its all in the past for me. Dax never ate good until I started feeding a raw diet..its not all protein unless you feed prey model it has vegetables in it too. you can try a premade mix or I use a mix called dr harveys canine good health...you pour warm water over it let it sit for ten minutes then mix protein (meat, eggs, cottage cheese, or yogurt) plus a few drops of olive oil. Dax dances for his supper every night and laps it up in a matter of minutes. he loves it and I know what im feeding him is fresh and not full of preserves.

you dont know how comforting it is to come across this thread as i have a7month old puppy that has given me heart ache from day1 because he wont eat. He likes food for a few days and he wont eat them again. I am also looking for a solution and maybe save myself from gray hair:rolleyes: Princeton weighs 4.5 lbs. and i feed him merrick dry and wet. I am now putting parmesian cheese on top as a new solution but he also just licks it off and spits out the food:eek: hypoglycemia is one of main concerns when he doesnt eat so i am considering trying the Natures Variety? or one of those premade raw foods. Should I be seeking out a vet's advice before trying the raw food? (raw is my last option)

You should consult your vet if you feel the need...but most vets will discourage a raw diet in my opinion #1 because they want you to buy whatever food they sell, and #2 its healthier for the dog so you will be using less vet care (i have personally seen this with my Dax)...I used to have him at vet every couple of months now only for shots or checks. I suggest you do research..lots of it.. and talk to others who feed raw it could be the best thing to ever happen to your dog.

Well, at his last visit I asked the vet if he should lose some weight and she said maybe a couple of ounces. Doesn't sound like a lot but he's tiny...4 lbs. I think he was 4.2 or 3 then. Well, I think we lost some as you could see the curve between his ribs and hips. While he was recouperating he rounded out a bit. Last week I took him to get his nails done and he was 4.2 so I think he's losing again. He is very muscular.

I don't think he's having any eating issues as he comes running when I call him, he'll sniff and turn his nose up.

Thanks, sounds like I need to do a lot of research on raw as I always thought it was mainly protein. There are no issues about his health, I had just seen some cons on feeding a high protein diet and shyed away from it.

Yeah, I did the parmesan cheese sprinkle until they got tired of that. They've graduated to shredded cheddar cheese. We give them their pills in cheese. I plan on asking my vet before switching.

I really appreciate your input. I still think that I am going to talk with my vet. I really like her and she's very straightforward.

I definitely need to learn more about raw so I can figure out what questions to ask. As I said , the only info I have on it is what I've read on here.

How much does Dax weigh and how old is he? Hot Rod is 21 mos and Maggie is 1 year.