Will she eat it if you mix some of the canned food in? The prescription foods aren't too palatable, maybe try mixing in some low sodium broth or meat based baby food to make it taste better.
Update on Mandy (sad day at vet)
It has been a few days since the day at the vets. Mandy ate lots of carbs and some canned Hills food. Of course that is good. On Tuesday I went to vet and got a 5lb. bag of the food (IAMs). She wanted none of it. So, now what !! The canned food would take 3 cans a day at $7-$8. Hills only sells it in a case of 12, so that would only last 4 days. So, on Wednesday, I decided to take her out and spend sometime outdoors like we always had done before. I put some of this dry food in my pocket and I would give her some from my hand and then she will eat it. I got all 4 cups down her during the day. She just won't eat it from her dish or anywhere else !! I am lost now on how to get her to JUST eat it like normal food. She doesn't want it with watering it down. My stubborn Mandy. She has to have it. We just can not afford the canned food. Any suggestions will be appreciated. She is truly trying and in every other way seems to be doing somewhat better. Please keep her in your prayers.
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what about adding something in with it? Like green beans. Maybe that would intrigue her enough since it is new?
I'm sorry you're going through this. Will she eat from your hand anywhere? Try holding you hand over her food bowl and drop a few pieces while she's eating. Hopefully she'll go after the ones that fell in the bowl. You might be able to slowly ween her this way. As the others have mentioned, you can try doctoring her food, but it sounds like she's pretty adamant about what she wants. Maybe you can contact the food company and ask about bulk ordering, explain your situation and see if they would be willing to work with you.
I've found if you add canned food to the kibble and then microwave it for 24-30 seconds when you stir it the canned food thins a lot and really really sticks to the kibble. If she likes the canned, this might be a good way of getting the kibble into her. Even with a freshly opened room temperature can it makes it think out and evenly disperse better if you microwave it.
I don't know if this will help, but I have a friend with a sick dog who he has to do the following in order for her to eat the Rx food:
He either tops her food with some canned & mixes it into the kibble, or
Grinds the kibble in a blender (or bullet grinder) until it's coffee ground consistency and then mixes that with a bit of warm water. In the beginning, he mixed it to a consistency where he could roll it into balls in order to feed it to her by hand and then slowly began to add extra water until it was creamy in her dish. Now she eats it that way regularly and it's no longer quite as hard to get her to eat it.
Hope this helps...
-Trids
He either tops her food with some canned & mixes it into the kibble, or
Grinds the kibble in a blender (or bullet grinder) until it's coffee ground consistency and then mixes that with a bit of warm water. In the beginning, he mixed it to a consistency where he could roll it into balls in order to feed it to her by hand and then slowly began to add extra water until it was creamy in her dish. Now she eats it that way regularly and it's no longer quite as hard to get her to eat it.
Hope this helps...
-Trids
It has been a few days since the day at the vets. Mandy ate lots of carbs and some canned Hills food. Of course that is good. On Tuesday I went to vet and got a 5lb. bag of the food (IAMs). She wanted none of it. So, now what !! The canned food would take 3 cans a day at $7-$8. Hills only sells it in a case of 12, so that would only last 4 days. So, on Wednesday, I decided to take her out and spend sometime outdoors like we always had done before. I put some of this dry food in my pocket and I would give her some from my hand and then she will eat it. I got all 4 cups down her during the day. She just won't eat it from her dish or anywhere else !! I am lost now on how to get her to JUST eat it like normal food. She doesn't want it with watering it down. My stubborn Mandy. She has to have it. We just can not afford the canned food. Any suggestions will be appreciated. She is truly trying and in every other way seems to be doing somewhat better. Please keep her in your prayers.
When Tasha wouldn't eat her new food we added green beans or mixed canned food in. Eventually she ate the dry food. Good Luck with Mandy. Hope she ishe is feeling better soon.
Thanks for all the suggestions. I will give them a try.
My old guy has been switched to Science Diet W/D after his recent bout with pacreatitis. He LOVES the canned food, but it $2.00 per can so I bought the dry science diet W/D at petsmart(cheaper than the vet, but you need the prescription) and I mix 1/2 can with a cup of dry. He gets this twice a day and eats that very well. I leave some dry in his dish just in case he wants a bite during the day, but he seldom eats it. This cuts the cost down pretty well.
If Mandy eats it well at 50% canned you could try mixing it 1/3 canned to a cup or more of dry and see how that goes.
It probably would work better if I microwaved the canned food, but I just mix it up with my hand.:uhoh:
If Mandy eats it well at 50% canned you could try mixing it 1/3 canned to a cup or more of dry and see how that goes.
It probably would work better if I microwaved the canned food, but I just mix it up with my hand.:uhoh:
I "acquired" a Maltese a couple of years ago. She was about 7 years old and she had "issues" so the owner gave her up. She had been used to eating canned food all of her life and I only had goldens and rarely gave them canned. He teeth were about to rot out of her head. I started trying to feed her our dry dog food and she wanted no part of it. I spoke to my vet and she said, "she won't starve herself, as long as she is healthy feed her the dry food" I would put it down for her and if she didn't eat it, I would pick it back up and try again in the afternoon. If she didn't eat it then, pick it up and try again the next morning. Long story short, she didn't starve herself. She ate when she was hungry and is doing great now. She had her teeth cleaned and luckily only lost 4. She still eats dry food and she actually looks forward to it. I take in rescues too and have had this problem with them on occasion only because most of the time I have no clue what they are used to. This has worked for them also. I know that this sounds heartless but I really do believe that the dry is much better for them than the canned. IMO canned does tend to rot their teeth. I think it is much like giving a child the choice between an oreo cookie or vegetables. Which do you think they would choose? In the case of a dog with no teeth, (yes we rescued on of those too) then I recommend soft or canned. For an older dog, or a dog that I think is afraid to eat, (got one of those too) I usually mix some grated cheddar cheese in their food.
I missed the back story on this. Has she been sick? Is she just being picky?
Would it be harmful to leave it in her dish until she gets good and hungry. It sounds like she's okay with the food because she took it out of your hand. Might she be happier if you elevated her dish? Maybe putting her head down is hard for her?
Good luck. I hope you find an answer you all can live with. :smooch:
Would it be harmful to leave it in her dish until she gets good and hungry. It sounds like she's okay with the food because she took it out of your hand. Might she be happier if you elevated her dish? Maybe putting her head down is hard for her?
Good luck. I hope you find an answer you all can live with. :smooch:
Good suggestions - hope one of them works for you.
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