I have an almost 3 year old mixed breed named Kosi who has what appears to be acid reflux. his primary symptoms are discomfort (he canāt sit still) and vomiting of bile ā this is particularly the case if he doesnāt eat for more than 8 hours. If I feed him meals throughout the day ā particularly one at 8 or 9 pm ā right before bed ā he is fine. The problem is he is SO picky! he will gobble food up for 2 days or so and then completely turn his nose up at it. I have a rotation of foods I use, but nothing really tempts him.
Generally speaking he refuses to eat any and all wet (canned) foods, and will refuse his kibble if there is a single drop of water mixed into it. He also refuses any of the freeze-dried foods on the market. The kibble he eats most consistently is Taste of the Wild wetlands formula. I rotate with other TOTW formulas and used to rotate with a few other brands, but at this point he refuses all of them.
He refuses any food that has any oil or āpalate enhancerā added to it. He doesnāt like cheese or most other people food (heāll accept ham, chicken, or turkey in small quantities, he refuses all tuna or other fish), in fact the only dog treat he will eat are old fashioned milk bones (which makes my other dog happy ā she gets all the fun organic jerky chews!)
I cook for my other dog (sheās 11, with different issues), and Kosi sometimes will eat her food (mix of rice, meat, veggies, etc), but the last two days has turned his nose up at it. my vet has also suggested a bland diet to use on occasion ā again heāll eat it once or twice and then turn up his nose at it for a week or more.
he has mouth issues from an injury as a tiny puppy, so sometimes he seems scared of chewing his kibble (and he chews each piece 10 times), Iāve tried small sized kibble, which he liked the first time I offered, then refused ever since. Again, he refuses wet foods or softened kibble. Iāve actually thrown out a bowl of kibble mixed with expensive Evengerās canned rabbit (which he liked one time), and offered him a bowl of plain dry kibble, which he ate.
The problem with all of this, is that it is very difficult to keep him fed often enough to keep away the acid reflux symptoms! For example, last night he ate his evening meal, but this morning he decided he didnāt want the kibble, or the rice mixture, or anything else I offered. Several hours later, as I write this, I can tell heās actually hungry and would likely eat his ānormalā kibble, but heās refusing to eat his food, because his stomach hurtsā¦ which just makes him cranky. Heās also built very skinny. heās active, and his coat is shiny, but if he goes a day without food, you can see all his ribs.
I canāt leave food out for him to pick at all day, as my other dog is a corgi mix (read stomach on legs) and would gobble it all up as soon as Kosi wanders off.
Iām at my wits end!! Any suggestions?
16 hours, 39 minutes ago
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