Maya is not eating enough

[BasenjiMaya]

Maya will be 12 weeks old on Saturday. We have changed around her food trying to find a good fit. Right now we are on Evo. She is only eating around 1/2 cup of food per day. Are some Basenji puppies like that and they only graze? Could her teeth be bothering her? We're worried about her. Any info you could help me out with would be appreciated.

[mauigirl]

She needs to be eating at least twice that, growing as much as she is right now. Have you tried mixing in a teaspoon of canned food? Also, is she eating an Evo puppy food? As far as protein levels, Evo is on the high end for sure. We feed it to ours but we waited until our boy was over a year to start him on it. Before that he was on Innova puppy.
There is some concern about puppy kidneys handling that much (40%) protein.
Do you free feed? You might want to experiment with a fixed feeding schedule and see what works best for you. I think it brings a sense of urgency to meal time. You will find a lot of discussion about free feeding or not on this forum.
Good luck!

Edit: I just visited Naturapet.com and it looks like Evo doesn't make a puppy food. Oh and FYI the protein and puppies concern is something I read on dogfoodanalysis.com. I haven't done much research to back that up. Does anyone else know about that?

[agilebasenji]

My 12 year old boy eats almost 1/2 cup of Evo twice a day, usually, but not every day. He weighs about 28 pounds and looks great. Does Maya look too thin? It is possible her teeth are bothering her, does her breath smell really bad?
Also try the muttloaf:
http://www.maryshouse.us/Recipes.htm
My pups get a spoon full of that with the evening meal.

[tanza]

It takes a while to develop good eating habits… and many times when they start to lose their baby teeth they will go off their food and if she is going on 12 wks, she could be starting to cut molars. Remember unless they are sick they will NOT starve themselves.. IMO, you need to be consistant in offering food.. either they eat or they don't.... no babying them.. they have X amount of time or it is taken away. As far as "grazing".. that is the reason I feed them in crates... no opportunity to graze....

[renaultf1]

My pup Liyah (12 weeks old today) eats a 1.5 cups per day…she is a very good eater and very food motivated in general so far. I would second what mauigirl girl said about controlled feeding and giving a limited time to eat...it adds urgency to eating their meal. My girl eats in her crate and gets 10 minutes and it is taken away...haven't come close to having to take it away yet though :D:D:D.

I'm glad someone is asking a question about feeding because I'm wondering about how you know if your pup is the proper weight or is getting fat. Do you measure it the same way you do an adult...feel the ribs...they all look so round at this age that I'm wondering how the experienced puppy people keep an eye on weight.

I'm also curious about the concerns with higher protein foods for pups...Orijen makes a puppy food, but it is high protein. After I get back from my business trip in 2 weeks, I had planned on changing her to Orijen, but I was wondering about the protein level. I think I read Arlene (who has been posting pics of her litter this year) is feeding Orijen puppy.

[tanza]

IMO, I like to see baby puppies a little on the fat side (only up to 5/6 months)… just in case they were to get sick.. they have a little extra... I feel the same about elders.

You do measure the same as with an adult.. but again, you have to keep in mind that they are growing/changing all the time.. so one day they might look tall and skinny, the next day, plain fat... gggg.

To me the most important thing is to build good eating habits... my boy OJ never ate well until he was 3yrs old... he was always on the thin, thin side... but I never gave in... he lived to 17yrs 3 months

[renaultf1]

Thanks Pat…Today Liyah looks fat...yesterday she looked fine. I'm looking at her this morning thinking, how did that happen...but I can feel her ribs. :D:D:D

[tanza]

@renaultf1:

Thanks Pat…Today Liyah looks fat...yesterday she looked fine. I'm looking at her this morning thinking, how did that happen...but I can feel her ribs. :D:D:D

Sounds to me like she is doing just fine….

[Maya]

There are too many Mayas on this site, i saw the title and thought it was one i'd done lol!!

I have the opposite problem with my Maya, she is a little piggie, eats everything in site, and has learned how to get IN (yes, literally!) the "dog-proof" bin to get leftovers lol I've even been sending pics to her breeders asking if she is too fat as im paranoid lol I have her on a bit of a diet now…

I feed Maya a mostly raw diet, but she has a meal a day of dry complete puppy food. She eats anything, but LOVES the raw. If you're trying to get your Maya more interested in eating then i'd buy some cheap mince or chicken and cook that for her, i bet she'd eat that no problems