Most dog owners feel concerned when dogs devour their meals even before the bowl hits the floor. Well, that is one of the major characteristics of carnivores right from ancient times, and several products have been developed to slow speedy eaters. However, there is no magic solution for a dog that won’t eat.

While it may be normal for a healthy dog to go a few hours without an appetite for food, dog owners should check if this is mild and will go away on their own. Sometimes when your dog refuses to eat, it may be a sign of a serious illness. So, in this post, we will be seeing the 7 most common reasons dogs won’t eat and how you can help.

7 Reasons Your Dog is Not Eating

#1: Stress

Stress is one of the things that can cause your pup to lose an appetite for food. This can come in a variety of ways – even in the most insignificant way. For instance, moving your dog’s feeding dish from the laundry room to the kitchen may impact on its appetite because he will now be exposed to new sights, smells, and sounds.

In addition, your dog might also become stressed because you are stressed too. Remember, dogs are highly intuitive, so they can be picking up on your own stress, causing them to stop eating.

#2: Overfeeding

If you are the type that falls easily for your foodie dog and fills the bowl every time, you may not be helping such a dog. Dogs that have food around throughout the day tend to consume more calories. This can create a high level of satiety in the dog even till the next mealtime.

So instead of giving your dog more food than necessary, you can work with us to help you determine how much food is appropriate for the dog – indications on the food bags may not be the best, specifically for your dog. When you know how much food your pup is supposed to eat daily, based on his size, age, weight, and activity level, then you can create a daily routine to make sure he only gets that much.

#3: Recent vaccination or medication

If your dog is just being vaccinated, you shouldn’t bother too much that he is not eating. Poor appetite might last as long as 48 hours after vaccination. So, if after a day or two, your dog recovers without any serious side effects like swelling face, convulsion, or difficulty breathing, you don’t have to bother going back to the vet.

Also, if you notice your dog stops eating after a new medication was administered, you can stop the drug and let us know about it. Certain medications may make dogs lose their appetite or make them extremely sleepy.

#4: Too many treats

Just like the way snacking can make you eat less at dinner, it can also cause your dog not to eat as much as necessary. A few treats throughout the day may not sound like a big deal, but those calories can add up and affect your dog’s appetite.

#5: Picky behavior

It is not uncommon to see some dogs become very picky with food. They want to enjoy a certain type of food or treat. If your dog will prefer to take some treats instead of its regular food, you will need to work on that. Make her take a balanced, high-quality diet and stick to it rather than indulging her picky habit.

However, there may be some factors that contribute to dogs’ “pickiness”. If you recently changed the dog’s food, feeding bowl, daily routine, etc that can impact on the dog’s eating behavior.

#6: Dental pain

Sore teeth and gum can prevent anyone from eating. The same things also go for dogs. Your pups might stop eating because of dental disease. Some dogs do have a level of periodontal disease once they are three years old. This can easily be detected when you notice your dog is only chewing on side of the mouth when trying to eat.

You can also look out for such signs as the dog eating her food whole instead of chewing, swollen gums, bad breath, a brown or yellow plague on the teeth. When you notice these signs, let us know so we can recommend what you should do to help.

#7: Illness

Some illnesses might be the reason your dog won’t eat. The inability to eat might just be a sign of something serious happening within their bodies. So, in addition to the loss of appetite, check for other symptoms like diarrhea, vomiting, lethargy, etc. you can also talk to your vet about this.

Some common illnesses that can make your dog stop eating include gastritis, pancreatitis, inflammatory conditions, poisoning, kidney disease, liver disease, parvovirus and certain cancers.

 

Your Dog Won’t Eat? This is How to Help.

Cut back on treats

If you notice overfeeding or too much treat could be the likely reason for your dog not eating, do something about it. Reduce the amount of treats you give throughout the day.

Create a feeding routine for your dog

Creating a feeding routine for your dogs can also stimulate their appetite and make them eat more. Instead of dumping the food at once and filling her bowl once a day, break it down into small portions and give them several times in the day.

Create a peaceful environment during mealtime

If you have many dogs in the house, consider creating separate eating areas for each of them. This will reduce competition and encourage smaller or weaker pups to eat. A noisy and distracting environment can also affect the way dogs eat.

Speak to our vets

If you notice any other symptoms together with its loss of appetite, you should let us know immediately to know what’s actually wrong with the dog.

Switch to natural food

It is no brainer that some dogs love to eat natural foods more than they do dry foods. So choose healthy natural food and let your dog enjoy his meals once again. You can choose from the various healthy, fresh dog foods in our store to keep your dog going again.

Stimulate your dog’s appetite with CBD oil

This is another great way to get your dog eating again after noticing a loss in appetite. You may have heard how medicinal marijuana helped human patients reduce pain and nausea during chemotherapy. These people also recorded an increase in appetite at this time. CBD oil is a form of cannabis devoid of THC which causes the highness experienced with marijuana.

Vondi’s CBD oil is THC-free and delivers the same benefits as marijuana. Plus, it is much safer for dogs. It doesn’t produce any psychoactive effects as marijuana does. Apart from helping to alleviate anxiety, reduce nausea, and inflammation, which can all contribute to increased appetite, the CBD oil also has a special way of stimulating appetite in dogs – enhancing the production of appetite-stimulating hormones.

Two hormones are responsible for controlling canine appetite – leptin and ghrelin. These two hormones help a dog know when it’s time to eat and when they are full and should stop eating. By interacting with the receptors in the hypothalamus, CBD oil helps to regulate the production of these two hormones, hence helping to normalize feelings of hunger and satiety.