Anorexic German Shepherd - Page 1

I was just wondering if anyone had any similar experiences:

I have a 2.5 year old female, Diego. The best way to describe her is "anorexic." I always had the theory that a dog wouldn't starve to death infront of a full dish, but Diego seems intent on proving me wrong. 

Diego is a 3 year old female who never filled out after puppyhood.

She does not have digestive difficulties and has received a clean bill of health from the vet. He said she is thin but healthy. Normal stools. No known medical ailements, never diagnosed with any. No worms. Good coat, bright eyes, decent muscle tone, moderate energy level. No behavioral problems. Average height. Will eat, but only likes 1 can of chow per day. Refuses to eat more than that. Shows no preference for brand/flavor, though she does eat a bit more enthusiasticaly if her food is warmed in the microwave first. Isn't motivated by people-food, but will occasionally nibble if offered scraps. Doesn't like treats.

I've never encountered such a reluctant eater before. When she was younger I thought she'd grow out of it. Now I'm thinking she probably won't.

Opps, just noticed I posted her age as 2.5, then as 3 years old.  She's midrange between the two, right about 30 months. Adult.

There was a long thread awhile ago called something like "Feed the damn dog."  Some gsd's, especially females, do starve themselves.  You need to face up to the need to supplement her food.  I have a female who was skeletal at 2.  I finally broke down and started adding 4 oz of chicken + tablespoon of cottage cheese (that keeps the Ca and P balanced) to one meal, and a can of Mighty Dog to the other meal.  She is now 4 1/2, 10 pounds heavier, and looks and feels great.

You might also need to learn how to stimulate her appetite: exercise, cold weather, cold swimming, being happy, affection (hand feeding) all help.

Silverbolt Prime, I have one who stayed that way the first three (3) years of her life, and she ate very well. Finally at her fourth year of age she began to put on weight and now has a very healthy (you cannot count all of her ribs anymore) appearance. She is very much within the size standard, and a cross between working- and show-lines. Yes, I also had her checked extensively as a youngster, but there was nothing wrong with her.

I do understand your concern, and I do know some dogs can be hesitant to eat even though they are healthy. I find that if I let one miss meals for a day or so that it does stimulate their appetite. I am not saying this is something that will work for you.

Good Luck,

Bob-O

I have found that Dyne does wonders to increasecalories and stimulate the appetite/I started using it on the pups because they just werent eating. I would put their food down, they would nibble and walk away, not just 1 but all of them. I tried food change, canned food change made sure they were parasite free, had stool samples taken for Cocci and Giardia and everything came up fine. I started giving them the Dyne and by that evening they were chowing at meal time, not aggresively but they ate. None of them are aggresive eaters.

Have you tried free feeding and just letting her graze? I think thats what the prob was with the pups, I kept dry down but it was an auto feeder and they were nibbling all day. Once I picked that up and started the Dyne there was a big difference.

Good luck with her. I think it is an old wives tale that a dog will not starve themselves with food in front of them, I have seen to many do it and just let the food sit and waste.

Therese

What kind of food are you feeding her?

If you are not already feeding a high quality food, you should switch that right away!

There are two good foods that both have high calorie content per cup, Innova has like 440 calories per cup, and there is another one from Solid Gold that has 480 calories per cup.  most foods I think average around 350 for kibble.

You can also try feeding her a raw diet, adn see if that helps to put some weight on her.

Good luck

as bucko suggested.......add some goodies to her diet.  do some experimenting to see what she likes.  maybe she just hates the dogfood you've been giving her.  you also might try soaking her dogfood in chicken broth.  i'll bet, if you're creative, you will come up with something and soon your dog will be looking forward to mealtime.

pjp

First off, thanks all for the ideas and suggestions. Very much appreciated.

Bucko and Ziegen -- I tried the goodies. She's not big on people food or dog treats. She snubs cheese, yogurt, chicken, steak (yes, even tried steak!)... I don't let her graze. If she hasn't picked at it within a few minutes I take it away, and offer again later. With the rest of the dogs, if I left it down, someone else would eat it. I tried hand feeding, and that worked... for a time. Now she doesn't buy in to it. I used to feed her with the rest of the pack on the other side of the glass patio door to see if she'd eat through the competition theory. That too worked... for a time. Now she eats with one of my males, for incentive, but if she doesn't engage I just save her meal for later.

She's the first dog I've had that I haven't been able to convince to eat with any regularity, and I've had some fellows with fussy habits in my years.

Diego seems to like the canned Pedigree glop more than anything else; which is ironic because I prefer to feed high quality foods like Royal Canin mixed with fresh meats and vegies. She doesn't eat raw food, and detests greens. I can usually get her to eat a can of Pedigree a day.

KariM -- I haven't tried Innova or Solid Gold yet. High calorie would be a good idea. Do you know if it comes in a canned variety?

I had a male that was very picky about eating till I gave him some Frozen Bill-Jac dog food. He would sit and eat the whole bowl . I fed him once in the morning and again in the evening. I would mix a good quality kibble with it and he put on some weight and is doing great. You have to keep it frozen, so we would take a bag out of the freezer every other day and keep it refridgerated until it was gone. If all else fails it's worth a try.........

I have seen innova in cans before, not sure if the calorie content is as high, I am not sure about solid gold.  Does she like rice?  Brown rice and chicken is healthy if you can get her to eat that.

I think the more you start to add all kinds of gravy and chicken stock the pickier the girl is going to get!  My girl was like that I was mixing all kinds of stuff in there and she was still being a primadonna!

Do you feed your dogs together?  One week of staying with my friend and her two males - who would eat Sasha's food in two seconds if she walked away - and she now eats like a champ!!!  We require our dogs to all eat together in the kitchen, they have to watch for a few seconds while their food sits on the floor and then they are released to eat.  Sasha started eating really great after I picked her up, and then when I brought Jager home she was never picky again!!

One thing you probably already know...Pedigree is just junk, I prefer a bigmac over a salad anyday, but it's also just junk and fillers!  Have you read what is in that stuff?  It's terrible!

Good luck!