[GramercyLily]

Over the last several weeks, we had transitioned Lily from Innova to EVO. During this transition, Lily had giardia (again - along with all of the other dogs in our neighborhood!) and the vet put her on metradinazole and instructed us to feed her Science Diet W/D for several days and then a mix of W/D and EVO. The vet recommended W/D because it is low residue and easy to digest, but told us to get Lily back on track with her regular diet after she was well again. We noticed that Lily seemed to love the canned wet W/D even though it looked disgusting to us.

Fast forward to this weekend. Lily had been back to EVO (1 cup am, 1 cup pm) for several days, and yet decided on Saturday that she just wasn't that interested in the food so I took it away unfinished. The same thing happened Sat night and Sun morning. She was, however, still hungry and looked for us to feed her chicken from the fridge or treats (staring up at her treat jar for many minutes at a time). She quite simply did not want the dry EVO.

So, I caved and bought a few cans of wet EVO to mix with her dry food yesterday. She gobbled down her dinner (1/2 can wet + 1/2 cup dry). Same thing this morning.

Is she just being a brat by not wanting dry food? Should we consider changing her food again? Any other suggestions?

Thanks in advance

 

[Ranger]

Hmmm, what kind of Evo is she on? Ranger's been getting the red meat and he's going nuts over it. I sometimes add extras to it, like a raw egg a few times a week or tuna/salmon juice from the can to make it even more delicious.

My old border collie was never interested in his food, no matter what we fed him, from the time we rescued him at 3 yrs til he was 11 yrs old. Once he hit 11, we realized his teeth were bugging him (and probably had been most of his life, despite the vet saying nothing) so we started adding wet food and making it half and half. THAT got him eating his food! He went from being a free-feeder to gobbling up his meals (most of the time) under ten minutes. We added wet for the next four years until he passed away this January.

Is there a reason you don't want to keep adding the wet? What if it's just a few tablespoons mixed in with the rest of the kibble so it's mushy and smells more appetizing?

Sorry I'm not much help...Ranger would eat the tablecloth if I'd let him!

 

[jwemt81]

She has you very well trained. The last thing you want to do is change her food again. Constantly changing foods can, and almost always does, result in a dog who is very picky eater. She has learned that if she doesn't eat her plain dry food, she gets other yummy things. It's time for a bit of tough love. Stop adding wet food and don't give her any treats whatsoever. Healthy dogs will not allow themselves to starve. Put her dry food down (with nothing added to it) for 15-20 minutes. If she doesn't eat, pick it up and offer it to her again later. She will eventually realize that is all she is going to be offered and should start eating. If she goes more than 3-4 days without eating, then I would suspect an underlying problem and it would be a good idea to contact your vet.

 

[Goldilocks]

Did she ever turn her nose up at the Innova plain dry? Maybe she doesn't care for EVO. I think she would be in the minority of dogs if this is the case but it's possible. I personally would buy a small bag of Innova and see if her appetite returns. If it does, stick to what she likes. Was there a reason you switched?

 

[Sunrise]

OK, I'll admit I am going against the conventional advice, but if your dog won't eat the food you feed, exactly what good is it doing either of you?

Lily needs to eat - if she is not eating she is not getting nutrition. If she is not sick, and she is not eating change her food. If she is sick and is not eating feed her something like chicken and rice until she is well enough for her kibble.

Off my hobby horse now .. btw; I feed raw since I had a severely allergic dog who did just fine once I fed him raw so I am biased. He would go days on end without eating kibble then throw up what he did manage to get down; I tried many brands - then went to home cooked then to raw. My point is I let his needs guide what I fed him.

Good luck

 

[GramercyLily]

Thanks to all for your responses. I agree with all of you - that Lily has me well trained ("mom, I want more raw chicken not kibble!") and that she needs a bit of tough love. Her appetite is very good, her energy is great (she is just 2, so she is still very active), but she has me and my husband wrapped around her little paw.

Up until Saturday, she was eating her EVO quickly - sometimes too quickly. We had to stop her a few times and make her take a break. But we have been giving her some extras (like the wet food/ chicken/ etc.) with her kibble, so she may have been just being a brat when she was stuck with dry food only.

I think we are going to go with just a few spoonfuls of the EVO wet on top of her kibble and ease up on the treats like dehydrated meat until she is 100% back on track.

 

[RedDogs]

It might be possible she has a taste aversion to it.... like the time I got REALLY sick after eating a certain food...even though the food is not what caused me to be sick, 10 years later I still won't eat it and the thought makes me fell nauseous. As she's eating it with prompting... maybe that's not the case.

If you are feeding all meals through food toys or training that can increase interest in food. Maybe cut back for a few days on the amount. She might be getting more calories than she needs. Or she might just not be feeling 100% now and the super interesting smell of other foods is enough to prompt her to eat but her regular kibble is not.