Appetite Dilemma

[BraSo]

Hi Everyone,
I adopted a male EB who is 1yr 8mos old. He's been with us for almost four months now. I am having problems with his appetite. He barely eat his dry food and would sometimes not finish his raw food. He could only eat at least 5 medium sized meatballs in one sitting. And at times, he only eat once a day.
He’s been to the vet 3 times, all protocol tests were made and everything is normal. X-rays, organ test and scan has been done. Everything is normal.

He has been given LCVit vitamins (3ml/day) and also adding prescription diet A/D to his meals. After every visit to the vet, he gets to eat a little bit more (but not much) but after 2 — 3 days, he is back to his old appetite again.

Here’s what we have tried:
Stopped giving him food or treats a day or two in order to become hungry — did not succeed
Gradually changed dry food from holistic, royal canine to acana chicken — did not succeed
Hard boiled egg treat — did not even touch em
Raw chicken with veggies — had some good feeding for 2 days then back to his old ways
Raw beef with wheat bran, egg yolk, flaxseed, carrots — this is the one he eats but not much
*barf meal are made as meatballs since he does not touch them when its scattered on his pan*
*also tried cooking the chicken and beef but did not even bother touching them*

He weighs 22kg (48.4lbs). When we got him, he was 21kg (46lbs). He is very active, very healthy, has no skin problems and not shedding as much. His stool is normal. Urine is normal. He is not dehydrated and drinks water on the normal level. He walks about 15-20 minutes in the morning and early evening.

Seeing his siblings, he is the only one who is a bit skinny compared to them all.

I highly appreciate if anyone can give me some advice or workaround to improve his appetite. TIA

Regards,
Braso

 

[ddnene]

to EBN!!! I'm so sorry to hear about your baby, have you tried adding some warm water or broth to his kibble? I don't feed a raw diet to my dogs, so I'm going to tag some experts on that subject… I hope you can figure this dilemma out soon!!!

 

[RiiSi]

Hi and welcome to EBN. That sounds just like my Usko when he was younger. We switched completely to raw food when he about 7 months old. He strated eating a little bit better, but still there were foods that he refused to eat. He liked that his meat was in pieces, he would not touch anything minced, exept if I had made meat balls from the mince...and I did...He got something different every day. There was a time when he mostly had just chicken, tongue, turkey and pork all in chunks. I think it was better to give him what he would eat and supplement the vitamins, than let him starve next to kibble, all vitamins included, that he would not touch.

When we got another bully when he was two years old and gradually started eating more and getting more interested about food to the point that today he will clean his and his "brothers" bowl too.

 

[schimpfy]

have you tested for food allergies? have you had him eat with competition there / another dog ? what does the vet say about it ? Perhaps he needs more time to adjust to the changes. Hope you find out can see your truly in love with him.
My boy is allergic to chicken and will not eat more than a second mouth full

 

[BraSo]

to EBN!!! I'm so sorry to hear about your baby, have you tried adding some warm water or broth to his kibble? I don't feed a raw diet to my dogs, so I'm going to tag some experts on that subject… I hope you can figure this dilemma out soon!!!

Thanks for the welcome. Yes, we have tried adding broth to his kibble. Tried chicken, beef and even pork. He just goes near his pan, smells it then walks away

Hi and welcome to EBN. That sounds just like my Usko when he was younger. We switched completely to raw food when he about 7 months old. He strated eating a little bit better, but still there were foods that he refused to eat. He liked that his meat was in pieces, he would not touch anything minced, exept if I had made meat balls from the mince...and I did...He got something different every day. There was a time when he mostly had just chicken, tongue, turkey and pork all in chunks. I think it was better to give him what he would eat and supplement the vitamins, than let him starve next to kibble, all vitamins included, that he would not touch.

When we got another bully when he was two years old and gradually started eating more and getting more interested about food to the point that today he will clean his and his "brothers" bowl too.

Thanks for the suggestion. I just bought some chunks today and will try to slowly introduce it to him and see how it goes.

have you tested for food allergies? have you had him eat with competition there / another dog ? what does the vet say about it ? Perhaps he needs more time to adjust to the changes. Hope you find out can see your truly in love with him.
My boy is allergic to chicken and will not eat more than a second mouth full

We do not have another dog but im strongly considering getting a female companion for him. The only consistent meal he eats is the beef balls. Vet made some allergy test/s and results were all normal. His skin is healthy. Clear from allergies or hot spots, but is shedding. Though not that much of shedding. The last vet injected him with multivitamins but doesnt seem to work. The 2 vets we consulted said that some dogs are picky eaters or in cases of young adult males, the need to mate.




One pet supplies store suggested to give him remeron as appetite stimulant and supplement with bully max. When i did my research, both are quite scary to use and the bully max might have an effect on his skin due to grain content.

 

[2BullyMama]

You have received great advice from the gang... I hope something works out.

Our Nitschke was alot like this till we found out he was allergic to rice and dairy--- removed those from food and he ate each meal without hesitation