My allergic dog won't eat homemade food. Should I switch to kibble?

Offer a canned food that has a strong odor. Warming it slightly, mixing in a teaspoon of baby food or mixing in water from a can of tuna may stimulate her appetite. A pheromone product such as Feliway spray or plug in diffuser may decrease any anxiety related to the move. An "allergy friendly" diet would be difficult to recommend without knowing everything your dog has allergies against. What you can do is discuss allergy testing and hydrolyzed diets with your veterinarian. Read ingredient labels for possible allergens.

Some dogs tend to be picky eaters and learn to wait to eat until tastier food is offered. I'd recommend seeing a veterinarian to rule out a medical problem that could be causing a decrease in appetite and make sure he is maintaining his weight. If everything checks out, it is okay to offer food and wait a day or even two - he'll eat when he's hungry!

Dogs are omnivores and can get enough nutrition from a balanced commercial vegetarian food. If you would like to try a meat diet, you could consider a novel protein diet. A novel protein is one that Buddy hasn't eaten before. You could consider venison, bison, fish or duck. Natural Balance makes a number of limited ingredient diets that you could consider. https://www.naturalbalanceinc.com/dog-formulas/special-category-limited-ingredient-diets Another option would be to try a hydrolyzed diet. Those would be prescription only and would be more expensive, but might be a good option as well. I am attaching a handout with more information about diet trials for food allergies below. https://veterinarypartner.vin.com/default.aspx?pid=19239&id=4952600 Good luck! I hope that was helpful. Thanks for using PetCoach.

Home prepared diets can be very difficult to balance long term and I strongly recommend a consult with a specialist nutritionist such as through tuft clinical nutrition unit in order to ensure he is receiving all of the trace elements, vitamins, minerals and energy he requires. In food sensitivities, a hydrolyzed diet such as royal canin hypoallergenic can be very effective also. Chicken and rice is a very bland and effective diet in the short to medium term but would need supplemental feeding in the long term

Oh no, that's not good that Mimi has stopped eating her food. It could be that she isn't feeling well or that she has a dental problem. A check up with the vet would be a good idea. Homemade diets are difficult to make to ensure that the dog's nutritional needs are met. I can give you links to two websites that provide homemade diet recipes for dogs. They are formulated by veterinary nutritionists so that you know they will be correctly formulated for her. I hope these help! https://secure.balanceit.com https://www.petdiets.com

Thats hard to say. Pets can have upset stomachs for many reasons. This can range from bacterial over growth, to parasites, to inflammatory bowel disease to kidney disease to even cancer. Without a physical exam and likely some basic diagnostics, its impossible to know the cause. Home made diets are not good long term unless they are formulated by a veterinary nutritionist. Otherwise the diets are often unbalanced which can result in problems if they are fed long term. At home you can try feeding her a bland diet of 25% boiled white meat chicken and 75% plain boiled what rice. Feed this for 1 week. Giving her probiotics during this time may also help. If she is not back to normal after 1 week, if she gets worse or if it returns, she needs to see her veterinarian. This diet is not balanced but it is fine to feed for this length of time. Gradually transition her back to her normal diet over 3-5 days. I hope this is helpful and please feel free to post any additional questions.

Royal canin makes other hypoallergenic diets such as rabbit and potato or Iams makes kangaroo and Oats. Purina and science diet have their share are hypoallergenic diets also it might be worth trying one of these and possibly rotating some so she does not get bored. Food allergy testing through blood is it very accurate, typically trial and error with food is more reliable