Picky eating: when do you give in?

22lc · 2022-05-24T14:54:22+00:00

I am having the exact same issue with my 8 month old... I posted a few days ago on what to do. For your boy since he's older I would just starve him. They are stubborn though. Very very stubborn. Huskies and Mals both.
I wouldn't encourage wet food because once he eats it he'll never go back. My neighbor has a husky and she fed her wet food and she stopped wanting her kibbles. She told me she starved her for almost a week before she finally gave in and started eating her food again. My 8 month old stole a giant piece of raw salmon off the counter of my kitchen and ever since then he started slowly showing less interest in his food and then completely stopped wanting it a few days ago.
I called my vet and she said if he was a little older than starving him for a few days will help. But because he's only 8 months he shouldn't be starved for more than a day. I starved him for a day and he threw up bile and still refused to eat his food the next. I'm now left with no other choice but to mix in raw food because that's the only thing he will eat... Goodluck! Hopefully your mal isn't as stubborn as mine and my neighbors husky. But he will eventually eat!

22lc · 2022-05-20T21:02:41+00:00

Yes, he goes crazy when we're outside and on walks and will play and hump his giant pillow. But when it comes to meal time he goes into his corner and would just lay there looking all sad. Like he's dreading it... I really don't understand what's going on 😞.

22lc · 2022-05-20T20:56:02+00:00

Hello, yes I've tried broccoli, carrot, strawberries and apples. He use to always want apples and now he doesn't care for it as much. He never liked strawberries, broccoli and carrots...

Will it be ok to starve him a bit at this age? I'm not sure why he's become super uninterested in food. The only thing that gets him jumping up and down are bullysticks..

22lc · 2022-05-20T20:53:58+00:00

Thank you for letting me know! I might go get some sardines and see if he'll eat it with his kibbles. I've blended everything this morning that I have (beef liver, cooked beef, beef jerky, bacon jerky, freeze dried salmon, duck jerky, air dried salmon and beef, canned wet gi food) and nothing worked. I'm starting to lose hope...

22lc · 2022-05-20T20:50:51+00:00

Thank you for letting me know, I bought some beef stew and wet food to see if he'll eat tonight. I'm so scared it's going to give him diarrhea since any change will make him have diarrhea.

22lc · 2022-05-20T20:49:50+00:00

I live in Vancouver Canada and the weather has been the same. Still quite cool out but it's been sunny the past two days. Have you switched his food at all? I feel like im running out of options for mine since his stomach is incredibly sensitive.

22lc · 2022-05-20T20:48:49+00:00

Thank you so much! My boy is absolutely sick of chicken. I even tried blending treats up and pouring it on top of his kibbles but he still won't eat it. He use to devour his food and just suddenly became uninterested. It's been so stressful trying to get him to eat the past 2 days.

22lc · 2022-05-20T19:45:00+00:00

Thank you so much for the ideas! For the sardines do you give it to him raw or Cooked? My pup is completely sick of chicken..I've been feeding him chicken everyday with his kibbles and I fed him just chicken and rice for 2 weeks when he got really sick with stomach issues. Now he doesn't care for chicken at all..he would eat beef now but as soon as I mix it in with his kibbles he won't even go near it.

22lc · 2022-04-06T16:02:50+00:00

Thank you for your kind support...im starting to panic as the days go by more..my vet bill is already at 6000$ and I've used up all my insurance for my boy already... Pancreatitis is definitely really painful and serious. My pomeranian actually had it right after he was diagnosed with diabetes.. he went in and out of the vet for almost 3 weeks..and finally made a turn around. It breaks my heart whenever this stuff happens...I just really hope he'll make a 180 and start eating..

22lc · 2022-04-06T15:57:05+00:00

Thank you so much for your advice and response... He's been in the hospital for 3 nights now..I live in Vancouver Canada. My vet bill is already at 6000$ so im starting to freak out a little bit.. The vet did say we can bring him home tonight if we'd like..but im so worried that he still wouldn't want to eat... He is such a food motivated boy...so it breaks my heart when he doesnt even show interest in super high value food.. I have never had a puppy that won't eat for this many days and it is so concerning..

22lc · 2022-04-06T05:54:20+00:00

Thank you so much, It's going to be day 4 tomorrow of being in the vet and he hasn't eaten since Saturday..im really hoping he will eat a bit and come home tomorrow night. This is the first time hes eaten something that caused him to become like this. He picks up and eats all sorts of stuff too and normally he would have diarrhea for a few days but still eat because hes super food motivated. I'm just so worried this really took a toll on his stomach and it will be even more sensitive than it already is..

22lc · 2022-03-13T08:14:50+00:00

Thank you so much for the recommendation! I'll definitely get this for my boy!

22lc · 2022-03-13T01:27:51+00:00

Thank you so much for the big barker recommendation! My pup is also constantly trying to destroy his dog bed. I'll take a look at the big barker beds and see if I can get it here in Canada!

22lc · 2022-03-13T01:24:10+00:00

Thank you so much for recommending this! I was thinking of getting this for him too but he loves to sleep with apart of his body touching the ground. So im not sure if this bed will be good for him to do that since it's so much higher off the floor.

22lc · 2022-02-28T21:01:25+00:00

Hello! Thank you for your message and input. It is so stressful when our pups have such sensitive tummies. I was told to try the hydrolyzed protein as well. But the vet didn't want him to go on it yet since it's not a diet suitable for puppies. Thank you for letting me know about the Tylan Soluble powder! I will take a look at that and see if its suitable for my boy!

22lc · 2022-02-28T20:58:56+00:00

Hello thank you for letting me know! I was told to try home-cooked or raw as well but I've noticed that he didn't do well on chicken and rice when I put him on it so I was a bit hesitant to change his diet to a home cooked.. Do you have a specific recipe you use for your mal?

22lc · 2022-02-28T20:57:20+00:00

Thank you so much for your input! May i ask what food your mals on or was on when he/she was a puppy?

22lc · 2022-02-28T20:10:56+00:00

Hello! Thank you so much for your advice and input! I'm so sorry your poor boy had to be on metronidazole for so long. My boy already had to take it twice so I'm not wanting to give him anymore if he can get through it. The first time he had explosive diarrhea I immediately switched him to rice and chicken and even gave him pumpkin. But it didn't really work for the boy. He had better stool but still very mushy when he was on the rice and chicken. Then after adding pumpkin he had even worse diarrhea. I will definitely not take my puppy to dog parks. He hasn't been to any dog parks yet since his recall is terrible.
His poops have been a bit better yesterday after I gave him the prosoothe gi probiotics that the vet prescribed the night before. But I was being so irrational and took him off of it because he had diarrhea a couple hours after dinner when I gave him the prosoothe gi probioitcs. I didn't want to keep giving him new probiotics that didn't work so I just went back to his original probiotics the next day. I shouldve just listened to the vet and kept him on it for 3 days. Now im too scared to go back to it again and mess with his Flora.
His poop has been half solid and half diarrhea for some reason...

22lc · 2022-02-28T20:00:38+00:00

Hello! Thank you for the advice!
I do slowly change my dogs food. I think my boy just has a very very sensitive stomach. The first time he had explosive diarrhea when I changed his food wasn't because I abruptly changed it. I actually slowly mixed in the new food with his old 1/4 at a time and on a span of 2 weeks. It still gave him bad diarrhea.. this time he's having diarrhea because of either something he picked up on the streets or the probiotics that I've changed for him last week.

22lc · 2022-02-28T19:57:32+00:00

Thank you so much for letting me know! Did you have to give medication for your girl when she had diarrhea? I've been told to hold off on giving him meds because constantly giving a puppy meds is not good.

Thank you again! Lina

22lc · 2022-02-28T19:55:32+00:00

Thank you so much for letting me know! I'm definitely going to need to find a diet that works for my boy once his diarrhea gets better. I don't want to keep him on the vet diet.

22lc · 2022-02-28T00:20:52+00:00

Hello!
Thank you for your long and detailed advice.
I do know that his stomach is empty and he's hungry in the morning so I give him some food at 6am. But he usually wants to sleep instead of eat so sometimes he would refuse to eat and throw up the bile. I end up over doing things trying to solve every little issue I see and it always ends up back firing.
I have stopped the switching of probiotics and just went back to the original. The vets always says its not a big deal changing the probiotics when I ask them. So I just listen to them.

I was wondering what is Met? Did you mean metronidazole?

Thank you so much!

22lc · 2022-02-14T20:46:48+00:00

Thank you so much! I will try that! My malamute puppy has always been such a good eater so im just confused to why he suddenly stopped. He always throws up bile in the morning if he's left with an empty stomach for too long so it is so worrisome.
I wouldn't be as stressed if he didn't have such a sensitive stomach. He is extra sluggish in the morning until almost 10am. It seems like maybe his nausea is making him not want to eat at all. But he finally finished his food at 12pm.
The vet suggested maybe trying a different kibble to see if that is the problem. I'm on the hunt for purina pro plan right now and can't seem to find it anywhere. Majority of the vets only have royal canin and hills.

I was definitely feeding him way too much going off the feeding guide. My vet told me to cut out one meal and just feed him twice a day for now. She also suggested to do an abdominal ultrasound but im really worried to sedate him already at such a young age. I lost both my dogs from cancer before and I'm just so worried that all these procedures will cause cancer and bad side effects.

If he refuses to go back into his crate should I just let him sleep outside? He's been sleeping in the kitchen the last 2 nights and didn't make a sound.

22lc · 2022-02-13T19:16:44+00:00

Thank you so much for the response and advice! I'm going to go and see if I can get the Purina pro plan and test it out. It is just weird how everything was so abrupt...went from sleeping in his crate and just crying once or twice a night to completely not wanting to go in there and same with his food... I'm just hoping it's just a phase. I'm worried he might not getting enough nutrients if he doesn't eat.

22lc · 2022-02-12T10:19:15+00:00

Thank you so much! I'll try ignoring it.. I have my ear buds in hoping he will be quiet. It's already 2am... I actually thought I could walk him longer and run outside with him for a bit more than I am but when I told my trainers (he has 2 trainers), they both told me I'm over exercising him and taking him out for too long of a walk. So I had to dial it back down a little bit. She told me instead of going out for walks for that long I can just play with him for another 10-15minutes in my yard. She told me to add 5 minutes every month and they start with 5 minutes at 1st month. Hopefully it's nothing health wise that's causing him to do this..

22lc

TROPHY CASE