Dogs love to eat. I would argue that it is their favorite thing. I once had a dog that would eat so quickly and with such ferocity that he would frequently cause himself to vomit. This otherwise lovely animal would then shake a bit after horking the food up, then lie down for a bit and then eat the food again. This is disgusting but dogs have very different standards for cuisine than we do, that is for sure.
It can be a bit alarming when all of a sudden your fur-baby loses interest not just in the boring kibbles but also in other foods that would normally drive them to be staring at you the entire time you are eating yours.
It can be a cause for alarm, but in many situations it is nothing to get worked up about.
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I think that every dog owner goes through this situation at some point or another, and since our babies can't talk to us to tell us what is wrong, we tend to worry about it a lot. I know that I do at least. The good news is that most of the time it isn't anything serious and once it becomes that way it will be a lot more evident than simply a loss of appetite.
One thing that can change a dog's desire to consume is a change in environment. Unlike humans, dogs are generally made very uneasy by changes in environment, and much prefer the "same old same old." While you might be really enthusiastic about taking your dog to a new dog park, this might actually stress the dog out. We have to keep in mind that our 4-legged friends are privy to a much wider array of senses than we are and there could be something as unnoticeable as another dominant dog nearby that is making your dog very nervous simply by its presence. Sometimes this trauma might seem insignificant to us, but to a dog it can have a lasting effect, even hours or days later. This can be a big part of the reason why dogs won't eat. The good news is they tend to get over it quite quickly.
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Your dog also might not be eating because it did eat something a bit too aggressively and now has some sort of dental problem. Most pet owners don't check their dog's teeth very frequently and in many situations where you think it could be something internal, it turns out that it is just a sore in the mouth or a hurt tooth. Dogs teeth are far more robust than humans, so if this is the case you will probably be able to tell simply by noticing if your dog is licking its chops more frequently than they normally would. They avoid eating for the same reason that you would avoid eating if you just had some dental work done... because it hurts.
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Recent vaccination is also a cause of loss of appetite. Vaccinations are very important for dogs, and the benefits far outweigh the downsides but one of the side-effects that is unavoidable is that with this long-lasting medicine now running through the dog's body, it has other impacts as well... one of the most common of which is loss of appetite. This normally passes after a few days.
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The most common cause of loss of interest in food is an illness and don't freak out when I say this. Just like you might have a bad tummy every now and then and not know how it could happen, the same thing happens to your dog from time to time. Almost always this is not a cause for alarm because just like your bad tummy, a few days of sparse eating and probably drinking a lot of water, your body's natural defenses eliminate the problem. The dog's system does exactly the same thing.
Diagnosis
Most websites will tell you to take your dog to the vet if the above happens but for many people, even an organization like our own which specializes in looking after dogs that are probably in much worse shape than your house floofter, we don't have the finances to do this every time there is a tiny problem.
The best way to determine if your dog might have more serious problems is to check their poo. That's right, make a turd inspection. Look for signs of abnormality such as worms (serious problem) and also discoloration, red being the worst in most cases. If the poo is badly discolored (specifically if it has red in it) or has parasites, going to the doctor is probably important at this point. These situations normally indicate something the dog's body is not capable of taking care of on its own.
In almost any other situation however, it isn't anything to get worked up about. The technique we use most frequently is to keep some "premium" wet dog food on hand for any dog that is refusing kibbles. Most of the time they all of a sudden totally forget that they were finicky eaters as soon as this is introduced.
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I think people just need to understand they have feeling's and emotions just like us and things can upset them too, great lessons here.
Very well written !tip 2
I am a vet myself and unfortunately its true that visiting a vet to diagnose cases of lost appetite is not always an affordable option for pet owners. Loss of appetite is one of the very common early symptoms of many pathological conditions that require further investigation and lab tests until you reach any final conclusions.
Observing our pets daily routine is rather important, as it may help us identify the actual cause of their lost appetite, in the first place. A significant piece of information, even for a vet that could limit the number of tests needed, speed up the diagnoses process and subsequently reduce the cost of the examination.
Many vets nowadays use telemedicine for preliminary diagnoses in order to identify the urgency of the incident and the magnitude of the problem. They can even provide a treatment plan, for cases that they can draw safe conclusions through a remote diagnoses. Telemedicine is a service offered at much more affordable rates than walking in a veterinary clinic. An option for pet owners to consider, if they feel uncertain of how to handle a case of lost appetite and they want to avoid putting the health of their fur-babies at stake.
This is great that people are starting to do this. Thanks for the detailed information as well and for the reblog.
oh wow. I didn't know this. This is a fantastic development. Back when I had a dog in college I was faced with the fact that if i went to the doc at all, it was going to cost me around $100 only to be told there was nothing wrong with the dog. If this can be a lot less expensive it would be a very welcome development for me. I hope they do it for humans too.
They idea of telemedicine in vet clinics initially started from human clinics and doctors and is evolving day by day. In my clinic for instance all of the pet owners have access to their pets' records through an android app and through the same app they can send us messages with attachments such as photos and videos.
I know that prices differ significantly from place to place but telemedicine should always be a much more affordable option for pet owners. By providing more affordable services for pre-diagnoses and even for dealing with simple cases, could allow more pet owners with a lower budget to seek for professional medical advise so their pets can eventually have a better health care overall.
This happened to both my dogs last week. Was a little concerned when the Labrador wouldn't eat as she is a total guts. She could probably survive for weeks with the fat stored on her. The vet says it is a thyroid issue but I believe it is because she steal food for the other animals all the time.
The non eating only lasted two days and all back to normal so have no clue as it was with both of them.Maybe they are just too damned fussy as we make a special gravy for them and it possibly wasn't up to their standards this time around.
I had a friend in college whose dog would absolutely refuse to eat dog food. It would do so while its stomach was growling right in front of us. I was told that the dog would totally ignore the food all day long and would normally polish it off right before bed on a daily basis. It wasn't temporary, this dog just really didn't like dog food. The owner wasn't heartless, he tried a lot of different brands but there was just something about the stuff that ol doge wasn't into. I don't think this ever changed either.
I have a friend here in town who has this massive American Pit that looks like he could devour an entire bag of Pedigree in 4 gulps. It is quite humorous to see how fickle he is about what he will eat. His owner put the food out at the same time each day and tried using various methods to get it to eat that he read about on the internet such as taking the food away after a certain amount of time. The dog would eventually eat but it just seemed like a rather joyless process for him. He also didn't like "Sweeties" (the name his owner has for treats) and would pop them in his mouth, and then drop them on the ground at which point one of his huskies would come by and gobble it up.
It's amazing to me that this animal maintains his massive size given how completely turned off by food it tends to be.
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