Problem Eater

[Lucy91]

Hi there!
My dog has become a problem eater over the past few months and I would appreciate anyone's advice. It started a few months ago when he become less interested in food. We put it down to the fact that he needed his teeth seeing to. He had a dental back in July last year and for a couple of weeks back on his normal food, (dry biscuits with a tin of meat, he won't eat biscuits on their own) his digestion was normal. But suddenly he had a bout of diarrhoea. Had him on bland food for a few days and he was fine then gradually went back to normal routine and it started again. In vet books I've got, his symptoms suggested he had hypermotility and bland food for a few days would be fine. This new routine went on for some time and we came to notice it was the biscuits he had that seemed to be the problem. The brand is Orlando Complete Chicken and he's been on this food for years without any problems. He's tried other complete biscuits and he seems to be intolerant of them too. We put him on a complementary biscuit and his poo instantly went back to normal. By October his appetite was back to normal and he was doing well. That hasn't lasted long as now he seems to have lost interest in food. He will eat tinned meat on it's own but with biscuits he turns his nose up. His teeth are fine, I've checked his poo and he's been wormed because I read worms can potentially start diarrhoea and even loss of appetite. He's a 12 year old ex-racing greyhound. He can't live on bland food and I'm worried he's not getting enough nutrients with being on a complementary diet he's now not eating. Can dogs be fed on just a wet food diet as this he seems to prefer. Are there any particular biscuit brands that suit a dog that is intolerant?
Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks, Lucy 

[Dottie]

Hello and welcome to the forum Lucy91. We have a thread on fussy eaters which might be useful - link. 

It sounds as if your elderly dog can’t cope with dry food. Wet food tends to be more aromatic and easier to digest so can be better for an elderly dog. It is complete so you could give that and no biscuit. Alternatives to biscuit would be cooked, mashed sweet potato, well cooked brown rice or oatmeal. If you prefer biscuit you could also consider soaking it and adding a little bone broth to tempt him. You can buy bone broth for dogs or make your own.  Adding suitable human food can be enormously tempting to dogs so might be worth considering. More information from Rodney Habib here.

[Tinyplanets]

Hello Lucy21 and welcome to the forum, I would agree with Dottie that a wet food may be more suitable than dry now. I have a friend who had a lurcher who developed some digestive issues when she was 13. I think she was given something similar to omeprazole for reflux which helped. She got quite fussy with her food and enjoyed lots of chicken and tuna. The danger is, it may make him more fussy if he has human food but it doesn't matter if you are happy to keep feeding  home cooked. There are companies that do balance cooked dinners such as we cook for dogs and butternut box but they tend to be more expensive than other foods.

[Rebecca Forrest]

I am in the process of moving my dog onto different dog, it is expensive, but worth it, it is a cooked food and my dog digests it better than butternut  as different dog does not contain lentils.
I hope that you can help your dog  with a new food.

[Dottie]

Lucy91 - possibly most fussy dogs would find fresh cooked food such as Butternut Box and Different Dog acceptable. However,  as Rebecca has said, it is expensive especially for a large dog. Arguably, a cheaper method of home feeding would be to use the We Cook for Dogs model where they provide the correct supplements and recipes, leaving the pet owner to purchase the ingredients and cook them.  One other possibility is to use Pure Pet Foods Vegi-Plus Mixer to which you just add water and your own protein source.

[Tinyplanets]

Yes apologies, I was getting mixed up between, different dog and we cook for dogs, when talking about companies producing fresh cooked food.

[Dottie]

Yes, We Cook for Dogs has a different business model. The company is quite innovative in that it assists the pet owner to safely cook their own dog food.

Lucy91 - have you decided how to proceed with this problem?

[Spanielowner]

I’m curious how many meals a day you feed.