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    hotelguy26's Avatar
    hotelguy26 Posts: 1, Reputation: 1
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    #1

    Jan 29, 2008, 11:23 AM
    Bentley Won't Eat!
    Thank you in advance for your help. This is my first post so please bare with me.

    My little guy is a 2 and 1/4 year old Eskipoo (American Eskimo and Poodle mix) and for the past year or so he has been not eating. When we put the food down, he sniffs it and walks away. We started with dry food and when that didn't wor we moved to a wet/dry mix. At first he loved it, but for the past 2-3 months he hasn't even touched that. We've tried leaving food out, we've tried pulling it after 10-15 minutes and not giving him anything until his next meal. We've changed his food brands, we've also purchased those "sauces" that you pour on the dog food... nothing has worked.

    We also have a cat, and the only thing that Bentley DOES eat is the cats food. He scarfs it down whenever we are not looking. We've tried to not put it out, but our cat eats whenever she wants, so we need to keep it readily available for her. We can't put it on the counter or anything because she's getting old and can't get up there anymore. But now Bentley just sneaks off and eats it.

    We took him to the vet but even they couldn't thin of a solution. He is a fine weight and of perfect health. He's still very playful as well. I'm not as concerned with his health because the vet says everything is fine... its honestly more about the fact that it freaks me out that he's not eating, and we're literally throwing out bags and cans of dog food monthly. It's become an incredible expense.

    Can someone please help to get Bently back to eating his dry food?
    RubyPitbull's Avatar
    RubyPitbull Posts: 3,575, Reputation: 648
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    #2

    Jan 30, 2008, 05:37 AM
    Hotelguy, when you have anything tasty lying around within easy reach, dogs will eat it. It may very well be a dominance issue over your cat. Eating your cat's food is a way for your dog to let the cat know that he is above him in rank in the "pack" structure. As long as you leave the food within easy reach, there is no way to keep your dog from eating it if you can't watch him 24/7 and break him of this habit. You are going to have to find a balance here. I would suggest if you simply cannot place the cat's food out of reach of the dog, then you are going to have to put the cat on a feeding schedule. He may be old and it may take a week or so, but your cat will adjust to being fed at certain times of the day. Make sure the dog is not around when you feed the cat. And, once there isn't ANY food other than his own that is available for him, your dog will starting eating his own food. He may fuss for a few days and might refuse his food but he won't starve himself. If he is getting plenty of exercise, hunger will eventually break him down and he will eat it. You just have to stand your ground, pick up his dish after 15 minutes if he won't eat, and don't offer him anything else until his next feeding time.

    Regarding dog food, if your cat's food is primarily fish based, there are dog chows on the market that use fish (usually white fish) as the primary protein ingredient. Go to your local pet store and check out all the products. I would stick to a dry chow because it helps scrape the tartar off the teeth. You can start with pouring a little warm water on the chow to create a tempting odor.

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