I need help please. I have a king charles cavalier spaniel that refuses to eat. He is eight months old. We are on day three with out eating. He has had every test know to mankind over the past week and all are normal. He was last force fed three days ago and he is still not eating on his own. The last decision by his internal medicine vet and his regualer vet is to try and let him eat on his own. He has not eaten and I do not know how long dogs can go with out eating. I need help with how to get him to eat. Does anyone have any ideas?

Stay in touch with your vet. They have seen the dog and are highly trained. At 8 months he is nearly done growing, and may need less food. Read through the sticky at https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/dogs/i...tml#post254171 where I discuss struggling through with a Shepherd that wouldn't eat. Evaluate him as explained in the one link in the sticky. Since the vets aren't finding anything wrong, it may be as simple as feeding a little less.

Calibroom Feeding your Golden This is probably one of the best articles that I have read on feeding your dog. I really think that you should take the time to read it at least twice, as it is full of information. I am assuming the person that owns this Woodhaven labs wrote it. Here is another site. In the 3rd paragraph you will find The ASPCA feeding guidelines and the types of foods they deem appropriate for dogs/puppies. ASPCA: Dog Care However, I would caution you to speak to your vet before you make any changes in your dogs diet. Your dog, yourself and your vet will have to come to terms on how you should be feeding and what you should be feeding and how much. I know how heart wrenching it is to see your dog not enjoy eating. I hope the sites I have listed help you out. Good luck

Here is a sampling of some of the discussions of different eating ideas. If you go to search at the top of the page and type in a few different phrases, picky eater, dog won't eat, raw food, gsd not eating etc... you will find different discussions on people having problems with their dogs eating or not eating as well. Keep in mind that this is a touchy topic and don't let the different views scare you off. People on here love dogs and sometimes get in huge disagreements on how they should be feed, treated etc...
Below is part of a thread , with advice from a pitbull breeder






Jul 27, 2006, 06:39 AM #5 Report Inappropriate Post
Jennapbt
Junior Member



Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 129
Well, I'm glad that you found out what his allergy is. Only thing I can say is that try to find a better quality food then Authority. Their ingredients and percentages arnt very good. Especially if you have a pit bull, which is a working breed, with a high metabolism. I feed my pit bulls Purina One. Used to feed them Purina Pro Plan, they did fine on both but I looked at the ingredients and same they were nearly the same and Purina One is cheaper. My dogs seemed to do better on Purina One. I like purina because their first ingredient is either Beef or chicken. I feed the adults regular adult chicken or beef, and the puppies puppy formula of course. You don't HAVE to switch, it's optional, I mean if he does well on the food then stick with it. Just in the next few months watch his health. As in, his weight, his energy level, his gums, his teeth and coat. There is a big controversy on dog food on which is the best. A vet will of course push Science diet because they are in close ties with the company. Granted there is nothing wrong w/ some of the science diet food products. If a dog has a health issue that can be treated by simply switching food majority of the time it works. PERSONALLY speaking, I know dogs need certain things in their diet. For a healthy dog I don't see the point in feeding a "prescription" diet. So if your looking for a good high quality food the main things you need to look for in the ingredients are: lists the first 2 ingredients as an animal protein, high in carbs, high in amino acids, and fats. If you are unsure about the food you are feeding supplement with natural foods, you can feed raw meat, mixing raw eggs in the diet, mixing yogurt in, and raw vegetables are all great natural supplements, plus they love it! Hopefully that helps and your guy does well. I've done tons of research on proper dog diets just for the fact that I breed dogs, so if you have any questions feel free to ask.
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Robinette Kennel

It is very easy to find whatever nonsense you want on the net as I have repeatedly mentioned. Much of it is paid for by those selling alternative diets. Yes there is good money in that. Look at all the banner ads here. Somebody is paying for them hoping to profit those they dupe with their profound junk science. Many people don't even understand what constitutes real proof of anything. Real knowledge of the benefits of any feeding regime come from long term feeding trials such as that behind the link on evaluating dog' weight I frequently direct people to, LongLiveYourDog.com - Life Span Study - Rate Your Dog

Time after time I have asked Bushg and others to direct me to some real proof to back their opinions. I have yet to get any. There actually are right and wrong ways to feed a dog. All opinions are not equal. What are my opinions based on?

Suppose you knew a breeder that bred hundreds of dogs a year, mostly Labs, Shepherds, and Goldens. They provided all the medical care for most of them the first year. At the end of it, they did a complete physical including hip X-rays on all of them. They then spent $35,000 training them before giving them away. They have a large data base of breeding records. Dogs with any physical or temperamental problems are unfit for the program and are a waste. Their well equipped clinic and vet staff are available for serious problems as long as the dog is working. When the dog is no longer able to work, it is replaced at again the $35,000 plus a large emotional upheaval for the person depending on the dog. They have experimented with different diets and exchanged data with other such breeders. Don't you think that what ever they are feeding is healthy and safe? What kinds of controlled studies do you have backing your choice of diet? How objective are the sources of your information? Is your dog's health, their top priority?

I have been raising puppies since 1991 for a large dog guide school that does exactly that. What do they feed? They instruct us to feed Pro Plan chicken and rice puppy chow until 4 months and then switch to adult Pro Plan chicken and rice. I know enough of the people with the trained dogs to know they continue the Pro Plan. The group I meet with monthly for training includes people that have raised puppies for 6 different service dog schools. Some of them are feeding other premium commercial chows including Iams and Eukanuba. Any dog owner wanting a healthy, long lived dog can make this regimen work, leaving more time to spend on the dog. It is also relatively economical.

The BARF diet is built on many fallacies, starting with the idea the chicken from the supermarket is similar to natural prey. Not so. At the processing plant, all the nutritious insides including the organ meats are removed. They are sold to the commercial dog food producers. Have you ever seen a predator eat a kill? What do they eat first? Right, all those nasty byproducts that go into the commercial dog food.

The AVMA condemns the BARF diet. And they are not concerned about contaminating you and your families food handling all that raw meat in your house. The FDA and the CDC are.

I would thank bushg and others not to keep posting the some old stuff I have pointed out doesn't have a shred of scientific proof supporting it.

I have been away and I am sorry I didn't see this post. bushg, Jenna's research is based upon finding the right balance for her working breed. Goldens are also a working/sporting breed. A King Charles Cavalier Spaniel is a toy breed and it's food requirements are vastly different. This particular one is having some sort of problem and I cannot stress enough that labman's response was the correct one. This issue really needs to be addressed with the vets who know the dog. Calibroom, if you feel that you are not receiving the appropriate attention from your vet, I would suggest finding another one. Unless your dog is overweight, the fact that he has flat out refused to eat for three days is a sign that something is wrong. KCC Spaniels are one of the breeds with the highest amount of health problems & genetic issues. They suffer from respiratory problems, heart disease, eye problems, ear problems. If the temperatures in your area have been extreme in any way, that could be affecting your dog's appetite. Extreme heat is very stressful on them. They really are a true lap dog and don't do well with a lot of physical activity or extreme weather conditions. If it is very hot where you live, you need to make sure that your dog isn't suffering from heat exhaustion. That will definitely affect the appetite. But, you really need to stay on top of your vet or find another one, to get to the bottom of what is going on, and to get suggestions on what foods you may supplement your dog's diet with to get him to start eating. Please don't wait on this, and please let us know how he is doing.

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Originally Posted by calibroom

I need help please. I have a king charles cavalier spaniel that refuses to eat. He is eight months old. We are on day three with out eating. He has had every test know to mankind over the past week and all are normal. He was last force fed three days ago and he is still not eating on his own. The last decision by his internal medicine vet and his regualer vet is to try and let him eat on his own. He has not eaten and I do not know how long dogs can go with out eating. I need help with how to get him to eat. Does anyone have any ideas?

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I truly empathize with you. I am also going through exactly the same problem with my husky/shepherd who is 6 years old. She hasn't eaten her food for almost three weeks now and we have been feeding her through a syringe into the side of her mouth to get some food into her. She has lost about 12 lbs and is looking so very thin. She also has had many tests and is going to a specialist tomorrow. Hopefully we can find out what is wrong soon. I am so worried about her. Please let us know how you are making out with your pooch.