Dog not eating? It does not matter if you have adopted a dog recently or for the past many years, it is distressing when a pet does not eat anything. It is essential to know the proper reason behind such reasons for losing appetite in dogs. It is also necessary to determine why it has happened. It helps in providing the best treatment in such ways.
The foremost thing that you must remind is, how do you judge the appetite of your dog. If you feel concerned as your pet is not eating as per the guidelines of their food habits, then it is a serious concern. Many healthy dogs eat about 70% of the amount given on the food packaging.
When your dog does not eat anything properly, then it is known as anorexia. It is precisely different from the term referred to as anorexia nervosa, which is an eating disorder in human beings, whereas anorexia is a loss of appetite in dogs. Appetite loss of a dog can give a sign of some illness in your pet. Thus it is essential to seek care if you find some changes in the eating habits of your dog. Please respond to every nod your dog makes for food. If you have a Rottweiler dog then read about a healthy diet for your Rottweiler.
5 Reasons Why Your Dog Not Eating
As in people, dogs also have many reasons for not eating food on time. Well, dogs can live without food for a couple of days, with no adverse effects. However, please address such problems very early.
1 Illness
Illness is one of the common reasons your dog won’t eat. It is a sign of sickness if a dog does not eat anything, especially when you get symptoms regarding them. It does not always reflect that loss in the appetite of dogs is a serious issue, but it needs veterinary attention still. It is, however essential as it might give a sign of illness, even cancer.
2 Dental Disease
Something can cause irritation in the mouth of your dog. Thus it might not be taking a proper diet. Therefore it is essential to get him checked for a loose or broken tooth, severe gingivitis, or even for an oral tumor.
3 Recent Vaccination
Vaccinations are quickly available to cure some severe health problems caused to your dog. In the past many years, these injections have saved a lot of lives. But still, they have adverse effects on dog’s health. These effects can be minor and brief for a short interval of time, which includes loss of appetite temporarily.
4 Unfamiliar surroundings
It generally happens that your dog would have a good mood while being on a trip with you. But many animals do not get familiar surroundings while out of their house. They usually feel motion sickness and get nervous too. Thus they do not prefer eating on time with a proper appetite.
5 Behavior issues
It can be certain situations issues when you feed your dogs. The dogs turn to b picky, and thus, they do not feel comfortable while eating something. They feel weird moving around an aggressive dog or having a food bowl that is at an uncomfortable height. It is because of a decrease in appetite because of illness. Do not think that your dog is picky without any investigation.
How can you encourage your pet to eat?
The first duty is to feed food to your dogs on time with a regular schedule, primarily twice a day.
Make eating food to be a fun time for your dog. Let it keep playing with a toy to dispense food or giving a special reward to your pet for playing a trick.
Take a dog for a walk before feeding him.
Sonal is a Visual Artist and Social Media enthusiast. She is also a community manager of Picovico and enjoys writing and painting in her free time.