[Chris S]

I have a 9 yr. old Cavalier. I can’t seem to find any dog food that he likes. I’ve tried most of the 5 star dry foods & he walks away from all of them. I’ve tried some hand packed can foods. He seem to take a liking to a couple of those, but that didn’t last long. I really prefer not to make any food myself as I wouldn’t know what to put into it.

I was hoping someone here had dealt with the same problem & was wondering if they found a solution.

Thanks!

[anonymous]

Poor appetite is often a red flag, a sign that something may be medically wrong with the dog.
I would take him to the vet for a checkup and lab work, plus, whatever else your vet thinks is indicated. Once you diagnose what is wrong with him (or rule out), you can decide with the guidance of your vet what food would be best. Your dog is a senior, therefore vulnerable to all kinds of conditions that may be treatable. At the least, your vet should be able to advise you as how to keep him comfortable.
Do you want to eat when you don’t feel well? Didn’t think so.
PS: If your dog has had a full checkup within the last 6 months, just a call to the vet for advice may be helpful….
BTW those freeze dried liver treats and such may be high in fat and sodium, discuss with your vet.

[Kristen L]

I agree to first get medical check. If all is well, try the honest kitchen. It’s dehydrated base mix. You just wet it and you get all your minerals and vitamins that they need, then add your own protein. You don’t have to worry about missing anything. And they have provide the feeding guidelines.

[Susan]

Hi I don’t know about a vet check my boy has IBD & Acid Reflux when he had a vet check vet said he’s fine all bloods came back good, it wasn’t until I said I want an Endoscope & Biopsies done on his stomach that we got results & same when vet looked in his stomach everything look great until I got the results from the biopsies…
Do you cook for yourself?? then just peel an extra potato or sweet potato add some extra veggies & with the protein I bake rissoles buy a lean ground human mince & add 1 whisked egg & some cut up parsley & make small balls & bake on baking tray, have a look at “Balance It” https://secure.balanceit.com/ Balance It will balance his meal very easy…

He may not like dry kibble or like my boy the kibble might make him feel sick & bloated after eating it or it may have been to high in fat, high in protein & gives him acid reflux, if we ate a dry high fat biscuit I know I would get acid reflux & feel like crap so I’d do the same & as soon as I smelt the dry kibble I’d feel sick…

He’s 9yrs old as we age we don’t make as much hydrochloric acid in our stomachs no more so the food especially a dry kibble would just sit in the stomach & take a while to digest.. google Hypochlorhydria, its lack of sufficient stomach acid..

I’d try & feed a cooked or wet tin food but the money you pay for 1 wet tin you can buy
some nice fresh mince & make small meals & freeze them, I bet his eyes will lite up when he here’s the micro wave warming his meal for dinner up, my cat & dog come running when they hear the micro wave going..

[Mary N]

I agree that you must check this with the vet. There can be so many different issues causing a poor appetite in dogs.
Just check these out:
http://pets.webmd.com/dogs/guide/dog-not-eating-possible-causes-and-appetite-solutions

And I assure you that the list goes on and on. Do the blood work and check out what might be a problem.

Also if it turns out that everything is well, which I hope it will, then you can try some things to amplify the smell of the dog’s food.

Like adding homemade food. I see that you wouldn’t want to cook it yourself, but you can make a bunch and add just a little bit to your dog’s bowl every day. That might work.

Also, make sure that your dog is tired enough and he will eat better.

Still, you can’t do much without the vet visit. If there is some health problem involved you would only be making it worse by exercising your dog of feeding it homemade mix.

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