Not Interested In Eating His Food!

[Mmasco]

Hi Everyone,
I have a tri-colored Basenji named Brody who is 9 months old. The sire is CH DJAKOMBA's RAVEN ROCKET MAN and DAM APEX SEVEN OF DJAKOMBA.

I started him on Candiae all life stages dog food (from breeder) when he was 3 months but by 7 months he didn't seem interested. When I switched him to Nutro chicken and brown rice he loved it. Devoured it in seconds and no issues. Here we are 2 months later and he is totally not into Nutro any longer. Will smell it, walk away, come back to eat a few kibble bits and leave it. Adding water has helped but he will never finish it. I will give him 20 minutes to eat and take it away..BUT then the bile throw-up happens because hes hungry. Dinner time he seems to eat better but NOT great (or close to where we were a couple months ago).

I've tried Merrick and Natural balance even looking at potatoes and meats and limited ingredients and same results. I even went back to Nutro (lamb) and still not interested.

I am just at a loss as now breakfast and dinner has become a nightmare. Even tried some mix-in turkey and pumpkin ingredients to make it look appetizing. His dinner looks better than mine some nights.. LOL.. Still fussy!

Anyone have a great kibble their basenji loves who have run into my struggles?

HELP!!!!

[Zande]

Talk to Doris in the first place. You need to go back to your breeder for initial advice. I don't know enough about available foods in your country but your breeder does, and she knows the pups.

[Rocky1]

Why don't you try raw.
I use Instinct Raw Beef.
My dogs goggle it up and all are in good weight.
I'm not in favor of kibble.

[elbrant]

doodle gets a portion of whatever the family is eating for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Not table scraps. If I make chicken fajitas, doodle gets some (unseasoned) chicken and veggies, before everything is mixed together and heavily seasoned. She never ignores a call to eat!

[Bill T]

I'm having the same problem, I mix in chopped meat, cheese and bone broth but he totally ignores kibble. I know everyone says 'go raw' or some sort of rice dish, but as he is a puppy I want him to eat some nutritionally balanced kibble along with his food. He also prefers to eat after a hike, not right when he gets up (but will throw up if he doesnt eat early).

[Alex]

My two senior basenjis have had food challenges since they were little. It's always been a struggle and they had pretty regular bouts of refusing to eat, itching and diarrhea from us switching the food or some food ingredients. We tried a lot of foods recommended on this forum, including home-cooked meals.

For many years we ended up settling on Acana Regionals Grasslands which is recommended by some here, is grain free and has mostly natural ingredients. It was the best food by far for our basenjis out of everything we tried. It is pretty high on protein so may not be the best for senior dogs.

Over the last year, we switched to Dr. Harvey's Canine Health Miracle Dog Food, Human Grade Dehydrated Base Mix for Dogs with Organic Whole Grains and Vegetables + ground turkey and coconut oil. It's been working great, they both enjoy it, are active, their weight is normal, and no more upset stomachs. I usually premake a batch for a week for both. 4.5 cups of Dr. Harveys dry mix + 2.6lbs of ground turkey (cooked, buy in bulk) + 3tbsps coconut oil (costco). Keep it in the refrigerator for a week.

[Bill T]

@alex

Your dogs eat better than I do!

[Alex]

@bill-t sometimes I sneak in a taste, while making it.

[Mmasco]

Got Brody's blood work back and there is some concerns here.. Contacted our breeder but curious if anyone has any insight on these numbers. Hemoglobin has bee in the 9's since Nov 2020 (I compared a vet visit records against recent results).

[Mmasco]

@tanza curious if you've run into this ever? Talked to my breeder (bloodline/siblings are good) and we just need to leave it to the doctors. Unfortunately my first vet said, allergies but I did not feel good about that diagnosis. He's at the hospital now getting another blood test/ stool. Gums were very white which is concerning me and still very sleepy/lethargic..

[eeeefarm]

Did the disinterest in food start shortly after any vaccinations he received? Pale gums and the hemoglobin values suggest anemia. Hopefully the further tests will give you a better idea of what is going on.

[Mmasco]

Update.. His new blood results are event worst with his RBC count nearing blood transfusion levels. They are watching him incase he destabilizes. He seemed in very good spirts leaving him and even ate this morning (chicken and rice) as I've moved him off any kibble.

The very picky eater thing started a month or so ago and anemia signs always seemed present (shivering ect) but not to this level .. No recent vaccination that triggered this... I honestly thought it was the food! They are keeping him overnight and will be doing a scan and more analysis on his RBC. 8 months young and he doesn't deserve this

[eeeefarm]

Very sorry you are having to deal with this, even tougher with a young dog as you expect them to be healthy. Do you live anywhere where ticks are prevalent? They can cause all kinds of problems depending on the type. I asked about vaccinations as Lepto shots have been known to trigger immune mediated hemolytic anemia.

[Mmasco]

His new blood work report is even worst in 3 days
Just curious if anyone ever ran into this one! His WBC is up but no clue how all of this correlates. UGH

[Mmasco]

@eeeefarm We did hike a bit in the woods but not in tall grass or anything like that. I also checked him afterwards (easy with the shorter hair). Im lost. Hate that I am not with him in the hospital

[tanza]

@mmasco said in Not Interested In Eating His Food!:

@tanza curious if you've run into this ever? Talked to my breeder (bloodline/siblings are good) and we just need to leave it to the doctors. Unfortunately my first vet said, allergies but I did not feel good about that diagnosis. He's at the hospital now getting another blood test/ stool. Gums were very white which is concerning me and still very sleepy/lethargic..

mmasco: I have not in all the years in the breed had this issue, I have had poor eaters in the past as puppies but they grew out of it with age and by age 4 (of course by that time he was finished in the show ring) but the only thing that I can relate this to is as a 5 month old he got a dog show virus from my girl that was on doggy day care with her breeder after she broke her leg.... she was uneffected but he was really ill for quite a while. Blood work was never this bad, however. Is this now with a different vet than the one that said it was food allergies? And maybe you need to see a specialist?

[eeeefarm]

Has your vet mentioned immune mediated hemolytic anemia? Usually if the cause can't be identified and remedied corticosteroids are used to calm down the immune system.

[Mmasco]

@tanza He's at a hospital with a few specialists/pathologists. This is what was itemized for me.. Unsure what else to request. Looking back at blood work from Nov 2020 (when he was 9 wks) he had a lower hemoglobin and RBC count ... obviously nothing as severe as now. Yes, I moved him to the hospital; I was very concerned that a. they never initially told me how bad his blood test was until I requested it (because something didn't feel right) and b. that vet seemed unfazed by the first readings to just suggest allergies!! I'm glad I read the report to take him this morning.. Who knows what could have happened next

[Mmasco]

@eeeefarm I am leaning towards hemolytic anemia based on google searching and mapping his blood word results.. but I just don't know which is the most frustrating part of the waiting game

[eeeefarm]

@Mmasco, my thoughts are with you. Never an easy time when they are sick. Hang in there, hopefully they will find the problem and start on getting him well!