bad eating pattern

[GoldenCollie]

Meg is a healthy 1 year old bitch. Sinse i brought her home as a pup, shes never been a big eater. She won't eat treats, and even as a pup would consistently miss meals and just refuse to eat some days.

I read a few BC books, and some stuff online before i got her, and knew that somtimes BC could have tendancys not to be huge eaters, and so i wasn't all to concerned, as she was staying a healthy weight, and obviously just eating what she felt she needed.

 

However, it is now that i am becoming concerned. I'll give you the whole picture, as i think i know what may be the cause, but i'm unsure of how to deal with it.

 

Last week, On 3rd December, myself and the dogs were in a car crash. I was in my car, on my way to the park with both dogs - to get to this particular park, we have to go down a hill. As we turned the corner in the car to go down it, there was lots of ice all over the road, car spun out of control, and smashed head first into a sign post, because of the force of the impact the signpost came crashing out of the ground, smashing on to of my bonnet. Because it was going downhill the whole time- it was terrifying and the car continiously just speeded up as we were spinning which made it all feel even worse! - and Meg the BC in particular was in bits. She was absolutely terrified, and even after getting out of the car, she was seriously in shock. Considering the accident was so bad that the whole car was a total write-off, we were lucky we all came out of the car relatively unharmed. I came off worst, but it was an absolute MIRICAL that both my dogs were not hurt, apart from shock of course! (Thank god i go overboard on all the old duvets/pillows etc that i stuff into the back of the car boot for my dogs to be comfy!! - This time, it saved both their lifes!) The only thing i could think of after getting out the car was the dogs! I just didn't care about myself! But then who does in those situations! I started crying because i just couldn't believe they were okay after what happened.

 

Anyway, sinse then, her eating habits have went terribly downhill. She won't eat breakfast or dinner. She won't eat anything infact. I went to the pet store to maybe try her on a different brand, to temp her to even eat a little... Nope.. won't even touch it. I bought her some raw - Chicken wings/legs etc... She will pick-up the chicken legs or any other raw meat i give her and bring it into the garden and burry it, or will put it in her crate and hide it under her bed but won't actually eat it.

I'm begining to get a little worried now. The only thing i think shes actually ate is peices of toast which i managed to get her to eat, but it was still reluctently on her part.

I know the car accident probably has a big part to play in this, but i don't know what to do now. She's all fine - medically she is fine too (She has been seen)... Also 3 days ago my mum came round and we took them both out in my mums car, to see how they would be after the accident. My Lab was absolutely fine, but Meg was shaking in the back for about 10 minutes before settling down. When we arrived at the park, she was absolutely fine and after her walk in the park, she raced back to the car and hopped in with no problems atall. So all-in-all, she's fine about cars again now, no lasting scars when it comes to jumping in or out of cars which is a blessing!

But despite this, her eating is still terrible. She still isn't eating breakfast or dinner, and will eat nothing in-between that i offer her. (My other dog - The labrador - is eating normally... but then something would definitely have to be wrong if a greedy labrador missed a meal! hehe )

Please does anyone have any advice? x

[Pat W.]

Wow! I am very glad to hear that all came out okay. Have you talked to your vet about Meg not eating? Is she eating at all? I would try a little clear broth and thats it nothing else for a day or two and very gradually add some boiled chicken or rice then pour a small amouth of kibble if she progresses.

[juliepoudrier]

I'm glad eveyone is okay. One thing to consider, just in general, is that maybe you are offering her too much food--that is, if you're trying to feed her two and three times a day or more, she's just not going to eat it. Try switching her to one or two meals a day. Offer it to her for 15-20 minutes and if she doesn't eat it pick it up. I'm sort of thinking that the whole eating thing has become a really big deal (to both of you) and it's possible that she's picking up your stress over it, and that's just exacerbating the problem. If there's a food she used to eat consistently, offer her that. Don't buy into the whole game of trying to tempt her with a gazillion different things. If she's physically healthy, she'll eat when she's ready. In the meantime, try to stop worrying about it. It's possible the accident did set her off her feed, but as she was apparently a picky eater to start with and it's possible she's just taking it to a bit more of an extreme in reaction to both the stress of the accident and your stress over the not eating issue.

 

FWIW, I have one picky eater. Never in my life have I had a dog that was like this (the rest are like vacuum cleaners). I ended up buying several small bags of different brands of dog foods and kept trying till I found one she would eat consistently. I also discovered that she loves venison, so she gets that with some regularity (cooked ground venison with her kibble, and raw venison as her second meal of the day). She's pretty small, and she's the only one of my dogs I feed twice a day. But she still skips meals when she's stressed or for no apparent reason. I no longer let it bother me.

 

J.

[Shoofly]

I wonder if maybe she cracked a tooth or something. Will she eat something soft like boiled chicken and rice?