Why is my active dog not eating her food but still acting healthy?

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Frynse. Is she eating anything at all? For example, will she eat treats or people food, but just not her dog food? In this case, she could be getting picky and holding out for tastier treats. If she is not eating at all though, this is worrisome. She is a small dog and her blood sugar can drop too low of she goes extended periods without food. It is always a good idea to check blood work to ensure there is not an underlying disease causing her change in appetite. I hope this information helps!

Hi. I would recommend trying a different high quality food to explore if there is one she may like better. Science diet, royal canin, Iams, and Purina are the top quality brands. I would also make sure she has had a full exam, especially of mouth, and labwork, as well as a fecal sample test just to be sure there isn't another obvious cause of decreased appeitie.

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! If this is a new thing that Lucy doesn't want to eat then I would have her looked at by your Vet. I am glad she still is active and wants to play. You can try sitting with her and not engaging in play until after she eats. You can try adding warm water to her dry food to make it more appealing or even add a tablespoon of wet food with water and mix it together. Medical conditions like: viral gastroenteritis but I would expect vomiting, diarrhea and lethargy; foreign body but again would expect vomiting and lethargy, irritable bowel, Addison's disease, intestinal parasites. My guess is that it is behavioral or underlying intestinal allergies (inflammatory bowel disease). I hope this helps and if there are any other symptoms or details please repost or sign up for a consult!

Hi, has anything changed in the environment ? For example is the weather hotter than previously ? Does she still have same access to food and resources and outside (if going outside)? If nothing has changed there is the possibility that she is feeling under the weather and I would recommend to have her checked over.

I am sorry to hear Scully isn't eating well on her own. It is hard to say what is going on with Scully without knowing more details. Some dogs may get picky about their food and wait for their owners to put something tasty on top of their normal food. Some dogs refuse to eat if their stomach is upset. I would want to make sure there isn't something going on internally with Scully. She could have some gastrointestinal issues that are causing her to not feel well and not want to eat, like intestinal parasites. I would recommend you take her to your vet to be evaluated. In the mean time, you could try a bland diet, like boiled chicken and rice, as that is easily digested and easy on the stomach. I also like probiotics for dogs as this can help restore the balance of intestinal bacteria and often can entice dogs to eat as many of the canine ones are flavored. I hope Scully is back to her normal self and normal meal routine very soon!

A dog may stop eating for a wide variety of reasons, some of which are due to medical conditions and others that may be more behavioral. Medical problems such as gastrointestinal viruses, intestinal obstructions, parasites, or kidney disease, among other conditions, can lead to this problem. Other dogs may become disinterested in their food and may prefer a different flavor of food, or the taste of the food may have changed due to the container in which it is stored. If your dog is still active and playful, you can try to tempt them to eat with a bland diet of boiled white meat chicken and white rice for a few days before gradually transitioning back to either their original diet or to a new food. (Any time you change diets, be sure to do so gradually by mixing the old and new foods together over 5-7 days.) If this is unsuccessful or if your dog is lethargic, vomiting, or having diarrhea, a visit to the veterinarian is in order. The veterinarian will be able to perform a physical exam as well as any necessary diagnostic tests to try to get to the bottom of this issue so that proper treatment can be started.

I am sorry to hear that Camila is not eating and I can see why you are concerned as am I. It is great that she is acting normal and playful but as most dogs are very food motivated a decreased appetite is their way of telling us they don't feel like themselves. Decreased appetite is unfortunately a very common symptom for many different problems, some more serious then others. It can be from something going on with the GI tract itself or any other body system (other organs). Is there anything she could have eaten that she was not supposed to (got in to the trash, chewed up toys)? What I would recommend is that Camila have a visit to a veterinarian for an examination. More than likely they will also want to check some lab work to look at her organ function and potentially take some x-rays. Based on these results they may prescribe some medication or may recommend additional testing to investigate her decreased appetite further. I hope she is feeling better soon and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!