Last Updated on 12/09/2024 by Aapt Dubey
How to Get Your Dog to Eat Dog Food Again? – Canines who suffer from certain diseases keep on refusing food intake. However, if we stop giving the pet food only because he denied it, the dog’s health will worsen.
That is why how to get your dog to eat dog food again has become one of the most asked questions among dog owners nowadays.
Why do dogs stop eating?
- Health problems: Digestive issues, systemic infections, kidney failure, pain
- Poor quality food: Not enough nutrients makes your dog feel unfulfilled
- Bad habits: Getting table scraps makes regular dog food seem less appealing
How to Encourage Your Dog to Eat Again
- Switch their food: Try a different brand with a higher nutritional value.
- Make homemade meals: Simple recipes like boiled chicken and rice can be tempting and healthy.
- Stop the scraps: No more table food, so they learn to rely on their dog food.
- Create a feeding schedule: Consistent mealtimes encourage regular eating.
- Flavour boost: Add yummy, safe ingredients like boneless meat or fresh fruit.
- Vet visit: If nothing works, a vet checkup is crucial to rule out underlying health issues.
Key Takeaways
- A sudden loss of appetite in dogs can indicate illness, so do not ignore it.
- Simple changes like better food or stricter routines can make a big difference.
- Patience and understanding are important when helping your dog regain healthy eating habits.
Everything that will be helpful to you in making your dog eat food again will be discussed in this article. So please continue to read the article to get detailed information about it.
Why Do Dogs Avoid Food?
Dogs used to refuse dog food intake for many reasons, to give a clear vision to the dog owners about why their canine used to do so. The reasons behind this are discussed below.
- Health Issues
Most of the time, health issues are the probable reason a canine is used to refuse food intake. The diseases which are responsible for the food-refusing behaviour of dogs are
- Digestive Problems
The pet’s stomach often gets affected by digestive issues when the toxicity of the enzymes gets high due to poor quality foods or the pathogenic bacteria inside the stomach that has reached through the food passage.
Digestive issues can be treated by visiting a vet, which can be the ultimate solution for making your canine eat dog food again.
- Systemic Infections
Sometimes, when the canine suffers from systemic infections like any rash, which causes pain, and a ruptured cyst, which distresses him, it stops the canine from eating food.
This happens because the pain caused by the infections and cysts mentally tortures the canine as sometimes it becomes intolerable, so the canine refuses to take food.
- Kidney Failure
Dogs suffering from Kidney failure or kidney-related issues stop eating because, at that time, the canine feels anaemic as very few red blood cells are produced. Dogs usually feel nauseous when they suffer from severe kidney disease, which is the most probable reason they used to do so.
Changing the food might be a good option in this case as the canine needs some IV fluids while suffering from kidney-related issues to filter out the waste products from the kidney, which are causing nausea.
These are the topmost reasons a dog stops eating dog food, but there can be many other health issues that you can easily determine by having a vet check-up on your canine.
- Poor Quality of the Food
The quality of dog food can be one of the most significant reasons why the canine refuses food. Sometimes, the food we give to the dog does not provide sufficient nutrients to the body of the canine, as the percentage of nutrients in the food product is low.
Just like human used to feel weak when they consume alcohol and sugar in very high amounts, similarly, when the dog keeps on eating non-nutritional food for a long time, their body begins to lack the essential micronutrients and refuse to eat that food as the stomach slowly loses the capability of digesting the foods.
So similarly, as humans need food to stay healthy and fit, good quality food is also necessary for dogs to stay energetic.
- Bad Habits
Most of the time, dog owners feed their dogs from their plates during meals, making them lose interest in their food. Dogs often find human food like meat, vegetables, and rice more tempting than dog food.
So when they get a continuous meal from the plate of their owner, they get a habit of eating human food and, as a result, refuse to eat dog food. Thus, it is suggested that dog owners strictly avoid feeding the canine from their plates and always feed the canine in their bowls.
This is the topmost reason the canines keep refusing to eat dog food. So, if you are looking for why your dog refuses food intake, take appropriate steps. Then, you can go with the steps mentioned above.
How to Get Your Dog to Eat Dog Food Again?
Above, we have discussed why the canine stops eating dog food. To give an ultimate solution to this problem, we have developed some steps following which you can again make your canine eat dog food. The steps that needed to be followed are discussed below.
- Switch Pet’s Diet
You have noticed that the food you provide to your dog needs to contain sufficient nutrients, and your canine is also refusing to eat that food.
In this case, switching the canine diet is the best option to make your dog eat food again.
For this, all you have to do is choose another food brand and compare the nutritional levels of both food products.
You can also compare calories and other factors depending on what nutritional level will be the best for your dog and start feeding that new food product you have chosen.
- Make Your Canine’s Treat at Home
Sometimes, switching the diet and choosing the food product of the best nutritional level also does not work for the canine, as the taste of the food might be better according to your dog’s taste.
In this case, making dog food at home can work wonders for making the pet eat again. One of the most effective meals you can make for your canine is boiled chicken with rice.
All you have to do is cut the chicken into pieces, boil it by sprinkling some salt, and serve it to your canine by mixing it with some rice.
Chickens are not only healthy but can also fulfil the requirements of nutrients of the canine’s body, which is preferred.
- Stop Giving Food Scraps
As mentioned, feeding the dog from the table is the most significant reason the dog stops eating dog food.
To solve this problem, you can only avoid feeding the pet from your table. If you regularly avoid feeding your dog from your plate for some days, the dog will eventually start eating his food out of hunger.
You should notice that for some days, the dog only eats the dog food. This can be ensured by keeping him at home all the time.
This is necessary because sometimes the neighbours also feed them. Their intention is not bad, but it can still interrupt the routine you are following for your canine.
- A Proper Schedule for the Meal
As you stop giving food scraps to your dog, the next thing you can do to encourage the canine to eat is set a proper schedule for the dog’s meals.
Usually, feeding the dog three times a day at an appropriate time can lead to the well-maintained health of your canine.
To do this, all you can do is, for the first few days, encourage your dog to eat food as per the scheduled time by calling him and staying with him while he eats the food. Then, make it a practice for the canine by continuously repeating the process for 12 to 13 days.
Ensure that that once the dog eats the food, it is left empty and clean until the next round. This will help develop the canine’s interest in food.
- Make the Food More Delicious
Making the food more delicious than usual can work wonders in developing the dog’s interest. Suppose you add some fresh fruits and freshly boiled chicken or some pieces of boneless meat to the blunt-tasting food of the canine.
In that case, you will notice how the canine will start eating the dog food regularly by getting attracted by the delicious taste you add to its food with some extra ingredients.
- Visit a Vet in Serious Cases
All the above discussed are steps you can follow while your dog’s refusing behaviour is normal.
However, suppose there is a health issue responsible for this behaviour of the canine-like inflammation of the organs, digestive issues, cancer, failure of the organs, and systemic infections. In that case, a rapid vet visit becomes very necessary.
The vet is the one who will be able to detect the disease behind the poor health condition of the dog and will provide appropriate medicines to get it treated.
Therefore, it is always suggested that the dog owner visit a vet when the canine starts to refuse food to identify if there is any serious health issue behind it.
By now, it is understandable that dogs refuse to have their food when they are sick. Hence, it will not be easier for a dog owner to make them eat again.
However, if you follow how to get your dog to eat dog food again, your fur friends will start consuming their assigned food.
