Bubba is losing interest in his food. :/

[Lyn]

Bubba's bout with colitis has pretty much cleared up. No more grumbly upset tummy and his poop is about back to normal. BUT he seems to be losing interest in the Canidae. This morning he refused the usual toppings (rice, pumpkin or oatmeal) I even tried adding all 3. Because of the colitis I can't add anything greasy right now (found that out the hard way yesterday) and he won't eat ground up veggies. I really don't want to have to 'dress up' his food in order to get him to eat, but he's needs to keep his weight up. I took sooo long to find a food that works for him, he used to love it and now just turns his nose up at it. 

What really ticked me off is that I opened a sample bag of Natural Balance and he horked it right up. 

So I don't know what to do? If I try switching him to another kibble he's more than likely going to end up with loose stool/diarrhea issue again. But if he keeps refusing the Canidae he's going to be skin and bones again.

Is this just a stage or what? I swear he loves to frustrate me. LOL

[jabear]

Having a super picky eater myself I have two pieces of advice.

1. Stick it out and hope that he regains interest in his food sooner than later.

2. Try the Natural Balance for a bit. It is a good food too and the change might do him some good. For Bear, we have gone through many, many, many different foods until we found his favorite brand- Eagle Pack. This is the first food he's ever eaten and actually loved.  Although there are times when he simply isn't hungry and doesn't eat anything but the toppings, he usually eats his entire bowl.

[Lyn]

Stella your not harsh or uncaring at all. He probably does have me trained and I do go into freaky panic mode.

The hunger strike did first start when Mia got here, but then the colitis started and he went days on only a cup or 2 of food. Then he'd eat the entire bowl, then leave half. Now today he's refusing it all together.

I know he is hungry because he will sit and stare and drool and beg if I'm eating something, but if I put his food down he's like Pfffttt and walks away.

Thanks all.. I guess I'll try not to worry and stick it out for now.

[BarkleysMum]

We have a picky eater in Anna as well, and what we have discovered is that she likes a bit of variety every few days.  I guess that's a problem with colitis - but our vet has a gastro friendly food that we keep in the cupboard and mix up every few days when Anna goes on a hunger strike.  It's the only food we've found (and that the vet says) you can do a complete switch without messing up the system.

Good luck.  It's so hard for me to understand that they will indeed eat when they are hungry.  The other thing I find so hard to do is no treats unless the supper gets eaten, but that's a rule in our house here (for dogs and kids!!! lol)

[sc.trojans]

We have a picky eater in Anna as well, and what we have discovered is that she likes a bit of variety every few days. 

Great call!  I strongly believe this is usually the answer.  I am not sure how we got to a place where we expect any species to want to eat the same thing, day in and day out their entire life.  I wouldn't!  My dogs are no different and they simply get tired of things and they eat something different in every meal of the week.

Given the health challenges, I recognize the sensitivity of changing foods and finding one that works.  But I do believe that you can find a few foods that work well and rotate these without incident if you keep building health in your boy.  Remember that a healthy dog, just like a healthy person, should be able to eat many things so the more you work to solve the root problem, the more capable his system will be to eating different foods.

Good luck!

[Lyn]

Very true! I would get tired of the same thing day after day too. Hubby is worried that I would be creating a more picky eater if I gave into him.

But Bubba's digestive issue have improved greatly over the last 6 months. The kibble he's eating now (Canidae) he could not eat previously. Since he was doing so well I was afraid to screw up that 'balance' by adding in anything out of the norm. There was one other kibble he could eat (Eagle Pack fish and oatmeal) he wasn't maintaining weight on it but just for flavor as a topper it might do the trick.

Yes.. one day and I'm caving. I'm so weak. hahahaha