My Dog doesnt like any dog food and barely eats small amounts of cat food with...

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mercedes_baby_boo

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...the outdoor cats and ....? has pretty much stopped eating that too. He is a hound mix that a car dumped out of their door at the end of my drive last summer. He is very affectionate and very active with high energy. loves the cats and eats some of their food with them sometimes. I offered him all kinds of dog food imaginable in his kennel and he never eats it. when we let him out for exercise we have seen him eat dead rodents the cats have caught and tormented but not ate. we have also seen him eat horse manure out of the pasture and we know this is unhealthy so no comments needed on the manure or rodents. I am so frusterated I dont know how to get this dog to eat dog food. I have been so worried I have resorted to getting scraps from the butcher. He does eat that but I have no clue on whether this is sufficient for him to survive on. He has let himself loose so much weight before once back in mid oct that i really thought he would die. That time i resorted to putting baby food meats on his paws forcing him to clean himself to get anything in him as he wouldnt eat or drink. It worked and he recouped from that but the underlying problem has not been resolved. has anyone ever had a problem getting a dog to eat? my husband says the dog will eat when he is hungry but basing my opinion on what happened before with him getting so weak and loosing so much weight and could barely walk...i know that is not true. any serious advice is appreciated. ps i live in rural country now and am very familiar with all the vets in my area considering my horses and what not and lets just say if its not cattle needing shots dont ask... thats the situation with the vets. just a heads up there. thanks! ;)
I put his dog food in the kennel with him. he only had access to the cat food very minimally. So if I feed him the scraps from the butcher is it ok to feed it raw or do I have to cook it first? I have been cooking it mostly but he seems to like it either way. If this is what i need to do for him to eat I will continue it. I was just so unsure. He did loose weight again but since ive been feeding the butcher scraps since it was a last resort due to him refusing his dog food, he at least still has energy to run around the property unlike the last time he lost weight and could barely walk. well im going to research the suggestions given to me. Thank you so very very much, I really have good intentions to take care of all the animals that come to me and Im not up for loosing one now. ;)
I will try putting oil on the dog food. I put corn oil on my horses feed during times of needing the extra fat/nutrition.. it cant hurt and may solve the problem. Im not feeding any more baby foods. and he stopped eating the cat food already.. thats when i had to start the butchers scraps. I even bought hamburgar meat and cooked it for him lol. anyways will try oil in the dogfood in the am mealtime. hopefully it will do the trick.
 
your first step is to put the cat food up where he cant get it... if he has something that tastes better to eat, then he wont eat the dog food..



If he's eating raw scraps from the butcher with no problem, then why not check into raw feeding? A diet of raw meats is more than adequate if done properly.. its more natural than kibble! He does need a balance tho of raw meat, bones and organs for it to be an adequate diet. Why not check out some of the raw feeding and BARF groups on yahoo to get more information? He doesnt need the "best" cuts of meat to live off a raw diet, but he does need variety.. many raw feeders say that its sometimes cheaper to raw feed than kibble, if you do it right (scraps from the butcher, buy in bulk, get meat when its on sale and freeze it, etc).. since you live in a rural area too, you most likely know people who raise meat animals, you can probably offer to buy the "scraps" and organs from them when they take an animal to be butchered.


Id be careful using baby foods.. many of them contain onion powder.. onions are toxic to dogs.
 
wow that is some dog!
I hate to say it but he really needs to see a vet and you may have to go out of town to see one.
Cat food is not healthy for dogs...it is like candy to them!
I sure hope you figure this out...oh I just thought of something...have you tried to put oil on his dog food? You can use any oil you cook with used or not and mix it up like a gravy in his food...dogs love that!!! the oil won't hurt him either.
Good Luck!
 
Cat food is really bad for dogs. I agree with your husband, he will eat when he's hungry and he will eat enough to stop himself starving. Don't give him butcher's scraps as it's not a balanced diet - get him top-quality dog food from the vet's, or the supermarket if they keep it. That will contain all the nutrients he needs.

You could always take him to the vet and have him examined and weighed to see what they think (all vets will know something about dogs, even if it's not their speciality).

Also, watch out for him trying to eat the cats' poo. Most dogs will try this - they love cat food because it contains much more fat, and if they can't get it one way, they will try to get it another ;) Good luck and good onya for looking after him!
 
Both of the people who posted above me have good answers though I suggest you try the second one first. My dog had the same problem and some oil in the dog food made him start eating it. If you use the raw meat diet then you have to be careful of harmful bacteria.
 
You might find he will eat smelly foods, Sardines mixed with rice usually does the trick for my dog
I would also suggest that you get him checked out for diabetes because that could be why he stopped eating.
Try warming cat food and see if he will eat that.
Theres no harm in him eating cat food in the short term but to get the correct nutrients he needs a ballanced diet or add a dog vitimin suppliment to his food.
 
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