My senior dog won't eat and is scared of our new puppy. Help!

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I understand your concern. The symptoms Maya are displaying are very non-specific and there could be many reasons. She could simply be moping because of the new puppy. But there could be a medical reason: lyme disease, metabolic diseases (liver/kidney), viral infections, fever, foreign body ingestion or cancer. Watch her closely for any changes like vomiting, diarrhea, coughing, limping, etc. Try adding boiled chicken or hamburger to her dog food to tempt her to eat. Try taking her outside for her favorite activity with out the puppy-a nice walk, swim in the creek, dog park or play ball. See if that cheers her up! I hope this helps and good luck!

A new puppy in the house is likely stressful for Hannah. This may need to be a tough love situation where you start by mixing a bit of wet food with Hannah's kibble and gradually cut back on the amount of wet food used. You can also try soaking her kibble in warm water for 5-10 minutes prior to feeding. She will eat eventually and it will not be catastrophic if she goes a day without eating. Since this is likely quite stressful for her, you can try using a calming pheromone collar or diffuser (Adaptil is one example). Best of luck!

Adding a new dog into the house can be stressful for the existing dog, and that could be a reason why he is less interested in food. Having a puppy is time consuming, and you may accidentally be paying more attention to the puppy than Grizzly. I would recommend making sure you have special one on one time with Grizzly, and see if that helps with his stress. There could also be a medical reason behind him being less interested in his food, such as a dental problem. Due to that, I do recommend taking him into your vet for a health check just to be sure there isn't a medical reason behind this sudden disinterest in food.

Lulu would not be aware of any contagious disease risks and many older dogs are unwilling and unsure of socializing with active, energetic puppies and take to time, up to a month, to fully adjust. Be sure to make time with Lulu on her own as you did before the puppy and try to introduce them after active play session when the puppy is more tired. Keep the puppy away from Lulus bed, toys and food bowls and keep him in separate room unless directly supervised to prevent friction and conflict

Poor Luna! Is she underweight? If not, I wouldn't be overly stressed about how much she is eating. Also some dogs are simply scared of eating from dog bowls. I would just feed her from the floor or in a paper plate. If she is underweight, I would talk to your vet about doing a GI panel. It is a blood test that checks for Vitamin B12, folate, and two different pancreatic enzymes. Sometimes this will guide the vet to what she may be deficient in and once you fix that, their appetite will increase. You could also talk to them about just putting her on an appetite stimulant if you want to try a more conservative method first. Finally, if all of this is normal, I would consider finding a holistic veterinarian who specializes in acupuncture and Chinese herbs. There are some great things with alternative medicine to help with appetite. I hope this helps!

Hi, it seems the question may have posted several times by accident. For your reference, here's the answer that was posted a few minutes ago: Hello, and thanks for your question on Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. You are right to be concerned - appetite is an important way that our pets can show us how they're feeling, and when a dog doesn't eat, it is often a sign of sickness. However, sometimes dogs will eat less when they're stressed, such as when their owners travel and they're staying in a new environment. I recommend mixing a small amount of cooked rice and lowfat chicken breast in with Poopetta's food - if she cannot be enticed to eat that, then I recommend having her seen by a vet to make sure there isn't something more serious going on. Hope this helps!

If only Rubie could talk! I recommend to have Rubie examined by the veterinarian today. new behavior like this could indicate low blood sugar or liver problems causing ammonia levels to build up in the blood stream. Best to play it safe and rule out a medical cause. I hope this gets figured out quickly and please feel free to post any additional questions.