First, I want to say that my B has liver disease, not kidney…but he is also supposed to be on a low protein diet. He was diagnosed at age 11...he is 15 now! The vet initially suggested Science Diet, and Senji would rather starve to death than eat that, but I digress. To get to the point, I cook for him. Usually boiled chicken or turkey, white meat or legs. The organ meat or red meat stresses his liver. I add rice and vegetables to the broth. He grew up eating mostly Pedigree, but they keep changing the formula. I put a little bit of dry dog food down and then the rice/meat mixture on top. If he doesn't eat the dry dog food, he tends to get runny stools. Throw in any vegetable you think your B will eat, such as carrots, green beans, zucchini, peas, etc. (No mushrooms or onions!)He also likes to eat scrambled egg, cottage cheese or yogurt. Occasionally, he'll eat some white fish or salmon too. His coat looks great and he still runs around like a pup!
Sometimes she eats good, sometimes not!
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Sahara drives me nuts sometimes, at times she hardly has any appetite. Just yesterday I tried to feed her before leaving for work. When I came home at 5:00 she still had not eaten, then later she did not eat either. Why do they sometimes just don't want to eat? Anyone ever have this problem? She ate fine this morning, little stinker!
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Sahara drives me nuts sometimes, at times she hardly has any appetite. Just yesterday I tried to feed her before leaving for work. When I came home at 5:00 she still had not eaten, then later she did not eat either. Why do they sometimes just don't want to eat? Anyone ever have this problem? She ate fine this morning, little stinker!
One thing I would do is not leave the food, if she doesn't eat it before you leave, take it away… it is much better when they have set times to eat.. and if they don't eat, it is taken away.
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IMO, unless she's having other issues, she'll eat when she's hungry. My Magnum seems to have that same behavior. I don't worry about it too much.
One piece of advice I got from a vet a long time ago (in response to this very type of situation with a different dog) is:
"Some dogs eat to live and some dogs live to eat."
Now, although it seems the majority of Basenjis are "live to eat" dogs, Magnum eats to live (unless it's a reward or a treat:D
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Well, she is back to eating better, I wonder if she is trying to eat just once a day. Will they sometimes do this? Anyways, she is healthy so I am not going to worry about it, she will eat when she is hungry that's for sure. I think she is one of those, "Eat To Live" dogs, never been a big eater.
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If she is healthly, I would not worry about it either…. you might, if you are feeding twice a day, cut the amount... until she cleans up what she wants... and yes they will eat when hungry as long as they are feeling OK.... the benefit to not free feeding (to anyone who is) is that when they stop eating usually there is something going on....
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I wanted Brando to at least have some breakfast, but he wouldn't eat a lot. So I tried to split it equal amounts and he would always leave some. Then I gave him a smaller amount in the morning and then larger at night and that was the right balance and he now eats both meals fully. You might just experiment to see what might work if you really want her to have two meals.
Also, I completely agree with Pat about controlled feeding. I think picky eaters then understand that if they want something to eat, they bettter get it now or they'll be waiting a long time. Ruby was REALLY picky until I switched food. Brando is still picky on occasion. Both have missed meals because they didn't eat within a set amount of time. One reason I really like controlled feeding is that if they are sick and not eating, you know it…also, it helps with controlled "output" as well.
