My puppy refuses to eat her food.

[Katrine]

Stella is now almost 5 months old. She's done very well with eating Acana Pacifica for the past 3 months or so. Yesterday early am she had upchucked water/foam (she had been at daycare the day before). All day she refused to eat the Acana so I fed her chicken and her regular treats. This morning she was a runny mess and she refuses to eat the Acana. Does anyone have any suggestions? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

It sounds like she may have an upset tummy. Do they give her any random treats at daycare?  I do not think this is the Acana.  I think it is just a little bug or she got into something. 

I have a chihuahua with the craziest digestion system.  When this happens to him, I give him a day to fast.  If it goes longer than a day, I take him to the vet. Just yesterday, I came home to runny poos.  However, he ate dinner and has been fine since.  See if Stella will eat tonight.

 

Is she drinking water?  Watch for dehydration (tacky, white colored gums are a telltale sign).  I would say take her in tomorrow if there is no improvement today.

[Leslie J]

Cocoa is very skinny and very picky.  I feed her mostly Orijen, which is similar to Acana.  I have to mix a little human food (or sometimes I mix in air-dried meat called Ziwi Peak) or she eats next to nothing.  I usually save a little meat from dinner and mix it in with the kibble, or I crumble a hard-boiled egg and mix it in.  It seems she doesn't need much- only enough to start her eating.  I'd say 90% of her food is the Orijen and 10% is the mixed in stuff.  Cocoa won't touch canned dog food (I can't blame her, it smells awful!) so that is not an option for us.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I agree with Allyson. This is not because of a problem with the Acana. Nausea + inappetance in a dog who was doing fine digestively is a sign of illness. The diarrhea may have been from the sudden dietary change (chicken) or it may be another sign of illness.

Make water and her regular food available to her and watch her water intake. Do not try to tempt her to eat. There are some digestive illnesses which can be made much worse that way.  If this continues, or she isn't drinking water, she needs to see a vet. You may also want to bring in a stool specimen beforehand to see if by chance she picked up a parasite, but that usually doesn'y cause inappetance and/or vomiting.

Has she recently gotten into anything or had any new foods? Any flea/tick/heartworm meds or vaccines within the last few days?

[Katrine]

Thanks all! Allyson, she's drinking a little bit of water but not as much as she used to before yesterday. I'll call the day care and ask about treats... 

Karen, before yesterday Stella hasn't had any new foods, only the acana, zukes and dried chicken jerky our pet store makes on site. She's been pretty much eating this for the past two weeks steady. She gets her flea/tick/heartworm meds next week. 

I am surprised that she will eat, but not the Acana. I'll do as you suggested and monitor her today. Thanks again!

[Anne G.]

Throwing up foam after being in daycare raised a red flag. If she is coughing she may have kennel cough. This happened with our pup. For us it seems like just when we find the perfect food combination, meaning Murphy is eating all meals, she'll get finicky and I need to find something else. I guess they get bored...

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I agree, it's possible she has bordatella, even if she's been vaccinated against it.

Some dogs will vomit bile first thing in the morning, but that's usually due to having an empty stomach, and those dogs will eat their food eagerly after that.

[Katrine]

Thanks again everyone, Stella was low key today, but she did manage to eat the Acana after we cut it up for her. I also fed her three teaspoons of pumpkin throughout the day. I think she's on the mend!