# hunger strike - how long before I give in and really worry?



## galaxie (Dec 1, 2009)

Little 7 month old Roscoe has decided that his food is no good. And by his food, I mean any dog food. 

The last time he ate a full meal was Wednesday night, he ate a couple bites of food yesterday morning but NOTHING since. We took away his bully sticks because he was just chowing down on them instead of eating. We tried two types of new food, which was the last meal that he gobbled up until it was all gone. He has been totally disinterested in any food since!

I think he's just trying to manipulate us into adding some extra goodies to his meals, but we don't want to give in.

So - how long before I should start to worry? How long before we should give in? The vet said 24 hours and then we should give in and give him something, but I don't want to!! Because then he will never eat the food he is SUPPOSED to!!!

I don't want him to get hypoglycemic, so I think we are going to give him some nutrical for now.


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## mintchip (Apr 19, 2007)

*Breakfast-*Put it down for 20 minutes and then take it away.............
Sorry Roscoe no treats in between meals
*Dinner- *Put it down for 20 minutes and then take it away......


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## Pixiesmom (Jul 31, 2008)

My mom's tzu does this also. My mother panics every time and plays right into her hand.
They are clever little dogs!


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## hav2 (Feb 26, 2010)

Did he perhaps get something yummier than his dog food? like some people food? I don't know what to tell you, other than try not to give him lots of goodies, because he will definitely start expecting it. Then he will always hold out for something better. As far as how long you should wait, I don't know, I always worry as soon as one of mine turns their nose up at meal time. My one Shih Tzu, Harry, when he was little he used to do this every now and then, and we would go crazy trying to find the next acceptable dog food. The kicker was, every time he would go to long with out a meal, his stomach acids would build up and then he would vomit yellow bile. Eventually as he gotten older, we got him on routine meals with a good dog food and now he gets some treats at lunch, and right before bed, so his tummy acids don't build up.


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## mellowbo (Aug 12, 2007)

Vinny and Lulu went 3 days before they threw up bile and started eating. At that time I had decided Evo was good for them and finally decided they were going to eat it. I had tried everything before that. 
(Now Innova has been bought out by P&G and I wouldn't feed it to them.)
About 8 months ago I switched to Nature's Variety raw. I put it down in the AM and PM. When I first started it they weren't so sure, so I picked it up and offered it at dinner. Now they all 3 eat when I put it down or they know they don't eat at all.
Honestly, you have to just train yourself to be tough. These little buggers will drive you nuts!


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## Luciledodd (Sep 5, 2009)

Rosie went 2 and a half days without eating and then vomited up everything; but it cured her. Now she eats or doesn't I don't worry about it. dogs will not starve themselves, they will eat when they are hungrey enough. As an aside, I wonder how many of us that have little children worry about what they eat. I know that all my grandchildren have trained their parents to junk food and no veggies--that is because they gave in and fed them what they liked. But a starving child will eat anything and so will you dog.


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## Beamer (Jan 29, 2007)

Natalie,

Give raw a try! I bet Roscoe will eat it up!!

Ryan


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## CapotesMom (Apr 3, 2007)

Capote and Taylor free feed; they don't get anything else aside from a small treat here and there. If they don't eat the food it'll sit there until they do. Sooner or later they get hungry and the food disappears though. I never gave into food antics...so I never had to do the dog food juggle. Capote was born and raised on Pro Plan and that's what they still eat today. Taylor came from the Humane society; she'll eat whatever's there. 

...though there have been times I've needed Capote to eat faster so I'd add in a lil bit of shredded cheese for whatever reason, but that's about as good as his food has ever gotten.


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## clare (Feb 6, 2010)

Yes I agree with Mindy,somtimes a little of what they fancy mixed well in with the boring stuff! mind you Dizzie is very good at fishing the goodies out without touching the rest! although we don't have a problem with his eating.


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## Posh's Mom (Dec 20, 2007)

posh was a very picky eater.

emphasis on "was."

we brought her home at six months old, and her breeder who had kept her "in the running" as her next show dog told us that posh was her first finicky eater who "demanded" a bit of wet food mixed in with her dry kibble.

so, of course, we mixed in some high quality wet food- either merrick's canne or nature's variety canned in with her kibble, which at that time was fromm's. we eventually switched to nature's variety instinct, because it was grain free, and finally to EVO. seemed like every second meal or so she would go on a hunger strike, with the wet food added. these would last three days sometimes, which meant i had offered her six feedings.

meanwhile, my heart was breaking, she is such a little thing, but i tried to remain strong and i would take her food away after fifteen minutes and try again with the SAME food. eventually, she would eat it all.

sometimes i caved and put some cooked egg or cheese or yogurt over her food...but this would only work for one or two meals and then all of sudden she would be saying "got anything better?"

so, from info i got here, i started putting her food on a plate instead of in a bowl and putting a little warm water over the food, to make it like a gravy.

this really worked the best for us.

when i left for japan last summer my dh decided he didn't want to deal with the canned food and the gravy and all that, so he started giving her just her dog food. guess what? she now cleans her plate EVERY meal and she is only receiving her dry kibble, as is.

so, roscoe is most likely fine and doesn't even need the nutracal. no animal will starve itself and he knows his needs better than we do. stay strong sister, i know it's hard.

just in case your wondering, i am now transitioning to Fromm's kibble because EVO's parent company, Natura, has been sold to Proctor and Gamble. I don't trust Proctor and Gamble to keep the quality of the kibble or the standards of Natura...which is a bummer. So, I've bought a bag of Fromm's and have mixed it with the EVO. She is still "cleaning her plate" which is actually now a bowl....

Maybe some of these guys just need to settle into their age, she turned three yesterday and I think we finally have a consistent eater.


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## SMARTY (Apr 19, 2007)

Unless Roscoe is sick he will eat, I've never know a dog to starve on purpose. He may want to wait for something better but just keep giving him what you want him to eat and in time he will.

Smarty and Galen both tried to turn their noses up at the food I was giving. Finally I said EVO is it, eat or starve and guess what, they eat.

My son has his story of his Rottweilers. One day he was at the store buying a well know dog food and someone said “my dogs won’t eat that” and my son said ‘mine didn’t either for the first week but for the last 5 years they have loved it.”


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## HavaneseSoon (Nov 4, 2008)

We got Jack and now I do not worry about food consumption. Meals are gone within 4 minutes or so, if not, they are taken up and I know they will eat better on the next meal. 

They still get maybe one or two small treats for behaving when called in from the outside. Water is out all the time.


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## KSC (Aug 6, 2009)

I think a teensy sprinkle of parmesan on that kibble can help. Kipling gets a very tiny bit and he's all for it. We feed him NOW and he's gotten over picky pants behaviour. He gets it both with and without parmesan..depends on our mood really. But it's quite true when he got a taste of yummier things - a little this and a little that - he waited for something better for a while...hard to resist these little guys....


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## Anne Streeter (Apr 14, 2009)

Luci is doing splendidly on Kirkland (Costco) kibble. I give her 70 grams a day - half in the morning. If she ignores it, I pick it up at noon and add it to her dinner with a little water - yummy gravy. Recently, I started saving the liquid from water packed tuna and putting just a teaspoon over it and mixing it in. This is instead of the water so it is basically dry thus good for her teeth. She loves it! So do I! Her weight is holding at 10 pounds.


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## galaxie (Dec 1, 2009)

Success! He gave in. Took a couple of bites last night, but today we are staying with family in Tampa, we had a little lunch party for Tim's brother's graduation. We put his food down while everyone else was nibbling on the appetizers, and Roscoe ate just about a full serving of the Orijen. Seems like he likes it better than the Evo, good thing because once P&G fully takes over I won't feel good about feeding him Evo anymore.

He hasn't ever had any human food other than cheese, yogurt, and canned pumpkin. We used to put the pumpkin and yogurt in his food, but it has been staining his muzzle a lot, and honestly I'd rather him just eat the dry food as is. Seems to be working, cross my fingers!


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## leena365 (Sep 17, 2009)

I am also having the same problem with my two. They have bully sticks and now have become finicky eaters. I do give them treats mid day but I think this is spoiling their appetite. I also am guilty of topping their kibble, canned, and raw with a bit of shredded cheese. Maybe I should take away the bully sticks and treats I give mid day and stop all table scraps totally....


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## Thumper (Feb 18, 2007)

Gucci is a really picky eater, always has been..always will be! I have committed to a routine and stick with it, though. The longest she'll go without eating is 2 days and then when she's hungry the next morning she'll fuss at me until she's fed.

I really don't think they would starve themselves into danger, they are wired for survival and will eat when they know they need it. But me? I've stuck to my guns for 2 days and that's the longest she has gone. I guess I like to think she isn't being stubborn she just has a bellyache or watching her girlish figure instead of an eating disorder . lol


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## galaxie (Dec 1, 2009)

Blargh. I spoke too soon. He has been taking a couple of bites and then leaving the rest - I think he's eating just enough to keep his belly from growling. I even tried the suggestion of sprinkling just a tiny bit of parmesan cheese on top to entice him...well the little bugger picked up each individual piece, licked the cheese off, then spat out the kibble on the floor! *sigh*


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## KSC (Aug 6, 2009)

galaxie said:


> Blargh. I spoke too soon. He has been taking a couple of bites and then leaving the rest - I think he's eating just enough to keep his belly from growling. I even tried the suggestion of sprinkling just a tiny bit of parmesan cheese on top to entice him...well the little bugger picked up each individual piece, licked the cheese off, then spat out the kibble on the floor! *sigh*


Oy....must admit...I laughed when I read this...smarty pants that Roscoe!


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## galaxie (Dec 1, 2009)

Sylvia, it was pretty funny. I KNEW he was going to do it, but I gave him the benefit of the doubt. He showed me! LOL

He's actually eating his food now. I think after a week he's finally realizing that nothing better is coming along!!


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## KSC (Aug 6, 2009)

Good boy Roscoe! See? The food wasn't that bad after all!


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## Carefulove (Mar 20, 2009)

Bumi eats Raw, but if at any time I give him a taste of anything from the table, he won't eat for a day. 
However, he has days that even without trying anything else, he just doesn't want to eat his breakfast or dinner. I don't really sweat it, whenever he gets hungry enough, he will eat what I put in front of him.

I wouldn't worry much if he spends one day with a bite or two. Now if he goes more than that, then I would look into it. Also, you need to check if he is acting normal or you see him acting a bit different as if something was bothering him. Has he pooped?, etc...


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