Puppy not eating.

Dr. Marie replied:

This is a tough question to answer as I won't have a 100% for sure answer but I can give you a few ideas.

My first question is whether or not he is neutered. If not, then it could be hormones that are affecting his appetite. If there is a female dog in heat within miles of your house, the desire to breed can be so strong that it can stress a dog out to the point where it causes them to not eat.

Next, how old is your bag of food? If you have a brand new bag it is possible that there is a problem with the food. If it's near the end of the bag it's possible that the food has nonvisible mold in it. Does he eat the chicken willingly? If he will eat the chicken and not the food then it's worthwhile to try him with a new bag of food or a different brand and see what happens.

If this continues then the next step would be to get some blood tests done to make sure that there is no sort of underlying disease like a kidney problem or a liver problem. These are not common in young dogs but can happen, for example, if a toxin is ingested.

And if that doesn't turn anything up then some xrays may be necessary. The symptoms are not exactly typical of a foreign object but it's possible. Puppies can very easily eat things that they should not. You would usually expect vomiting, but not always.

It is also possible that he is just maturing. If he is done the bulk of his growing then he may have a reduced appetite. But, it sounds like this is a little more drastic than that. Plus, at 7 months he should still have some growing to do.

The shedding could very well be normal for this time of year, or it could be indicative of an underlying problem. Unfortunately there is no way to say for certain why it is happening.

I wish I could give you an exact answer, but hopefully this helps.

Dr. Marie.


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Dr. Marie replied:

Who knows! :)

If there is something wrong then you will find that his appetite starts to decline again after a couple of days on the new food. If this happens I would ask your vet to run some bloodwork and maybe xrays.