[Miss Thunder]

So last week we brought home my 15 year old Chihuahua that I've had since I was a child.

We started feeding her this all-natural senior food that was very expensive and smelled very good. She ate it for about two or three days and then stopped. We mixed in wet food, and she ate it. Then when we went to mix in wet food again, she wouldn't eat it. We started mixing in boiled hamburger and white rice (vet advised - said it was easy on her belly). She ate it. Then the next time we mixed it in, she picked out the rice and hamburger and didn't eat the kibble.

Easy solution - she doesn't like the food. Alright, so today we went back to the store and bought her some of the Caesar kibble. August has always LOVED the stuff. She wouldn't eat it. We mixed in hamburger, she picks it out.

I don't know what to do. My boyfriend keeps saying just leave it until she eats it, but she will literally starve herself until she gets diarhea and ill. I don't know how to show her it tastes good!!

I don't want to put her back on the other stuff my parents had her on - it was cheap, nothing really in it and made her REALLY sick. She would vomit every day. Now she doesn't.

Any ideas?! I'm getting tired of spending a lot of money for her not to eat it!! Am I going to be stuck cooking her rice and boiled hamburger for the rest of her days?!

[Miss Thunder]

Any suggestions???

[sorrell]

My dog would eat it if I put olive oil on it, or sprinkled it lightly with cheese powder and oil. Don't know if that will hurt her digestive system, but he did well on it.

[imjustjoking22]

I would have to agree with your boyfriend and say leave it until she eats it.

If she is still spry at her age, can you take her out for a nice walk and work up an appetite?

Once you start adding little things and having to hand-feed and stuff it only goes downhill from there- I saw it many times working with vets that dogs would then only eat with certain biscuits crushed and added, etc etc.

*but* I have tried coconut oil on top of the dog food and my dogs love it- they will eat it even if not interested in the food otherwise.

[arabians207]

My dog wouldn't eat his food.. now we give him greenbeans (canned, unsalted if we have them) with every meal.. it wont eat it without them now, lol. I usually give him just a few.

We started that cause the vet suggested it

[cowgirlek7]

I would make sure she eats, need to remember with little dogs they have little stomachs and can be really picky.
My girl get wet dog food twice a day then free choice to kibble and I think she gets small dog iams. We found this solution worked the best as she wouldn't eat enough kibble to stay healthy otherwise.

[Narmowen]

Sprinkle a little bit of parmesan cheese on it.

If that doesn't work, feed her a supplement of Nupro (just google it). It's a liver-flavored supplement that can be made into gravy. I've never had a dog refuse that.

[Miss Thunder]

Well we dont want to give her wet food because it rots her teeth. And she has AMAZING teeth right now.

We saw this spray on IAMs gravy in the store, might look into that.
Crossing fingers she starts to eat, I'm scared she'll starve

[cowgirlek7]

Originally Posted by Miss Thunder

Well we dont want to give her wet food because it rots her teeth. And she has AMAZING teeth right now.

We saw this spray on IAMs gravy in the store, might look into that.
Crossing fingers she starts to eat, I'm scared she'll starve

My dog is 7 I believe and she has awesome teeth, no decay, if you dog is already 15, her teeth are not going to rot overnight. I believe it is a breeding problem and not a food problem, my dog also always has stuff to chew on that helps clean teeth and keep them strong just like raw hides etc...
I would be more worried about her eating enough then her teeth rotting at 15 years old right now.