Question by XxKarToonxX: My dog won’t eat her food? I think she might not like it?
Kay, I know this is a long one, but if you’re a pet owner, I’m sure you’ll understand!

I have a Pekingese, she’s about 13 years old. It’s been a couple years that she’s being picky eater! I try to switch brands and flavors each time I buy her food, but she always ends up leaving half of it there! She always leave the light and dark brown bits of her dry dog food. I always end up throwing away the bits she won’t eat. Yesterday, she was out of food so I went to the store and bought her a bag of Kibble ‘n Bits Homestyle Chicken dog food. I got her one of the big bags; and when I got home and filled her bowl, she refused to eat it. I know for a fact that she was hungry because her bowl had been empty since I got home from school and my mom hadn’t noticed she was out of food. I was previously feeding her the same dog food but Homestyle Beef flavor and I thought I’d change it up for her. She hasn’t touched her dry food since yesterday and all she’s eaten is half a can of Pedigree Chopped Beef wet food…She’s actually also very picky about wet canned food too! I think Chopped Beef flavor is the only one she eats!

Here’s some other info about my dog:
- Other than human food, as far as I know, she doesn’t have allergies…although I think those Beggin’ Strips bacon treats are as bad as human food is for her!
- She’s had many different brands of dry dog foods before; mainly Purina, I think.
- I think she became a picky eater when we went on vacation to Mexico one year. I don’t know what kind of food we bought her there after she finished her dog food from home…that was years ago though, could that still have anything to do with this now?
- She doesn’t have any scheduled times to eat. Her food is there in her bowl, changed constantly, and covered when we know for a fact that she won’t be eating.
- She’s used to eating around others, her food and water bowls are near the kitchen, so privacy and distractions are generally not a problem for her.
- We don’t give her human food (she has “allergies” to that and her skin tends to like open up & can get infected…it’ll look like a really bad scrape, she’ll scratch at it a lot, and it really seems painful for her. She’s been given meds for this about 3 times already. One of her vets said that since she had it once, she’ll most likely keep getting it.)
- She does, however, always hang around the kitchen, especially when we’re cooking, to see what she can pick up. Or my little brother sometimes leaves things lying around. but this isn’t a constant problem.
- She has boiled chicken and boiled rice mixed together as a kind of special food. One time she got very sick (whole other long story) and nearly died. After she got better, the vet told us to give her boiled chicken and rice to encourage her to eat. But it’s really rare if she does eat this since my mom doesn’t make it for her too often. So i don’t think she’s distracted with that..

….I think that’s it…Again, I’m really sorry this is SO long but I’m really worried because she hasn’t eaten well in nearly 3 days! I appreciate all suggestions,,,as long as they’re not dumb. lol
Please and thanks!

Best answer:

Answer by Wakada
You may think it is bad for your dog to eat the same food for its entire life, but it is important for it to have a steady diet, so STOP buying different food each time you are at the store. Your dog is in its later years of life, make one last switch to a dog food for elderly dogs, it doesn’t need as much protein as it did earlier in life.

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Question by the sun will come out tomorrow: Dog in possible distress? Is there something the owners and their vet might be missing? Or refusing to see?
This dog is a playmate of my dog and she seems to have a lot of issues. I know the dog came from a Backyard Breeder and I don’t think the breeder ever even saw the father dog. She sent her female to be mated with this male. But my friends have learned a valuable lesson about bybs and puppymills through this dog. This dog though is maybe 1 or 2 years old I’d be surprised if she is any older and she is some sort of small breed. Poodle or Bichon Friese or Maltese or Westie. Its a little white dog, I’m not good at keeping those small breeds straight.

The dog when she is at play she can’t seem to keep up with the other dogs. She wears out in the first 10 minutes of play. The dog is constantly panting even when not at play. We are talking that this dog pants most of the day active or inactive. The dog chokes and coughs a lot when running and sometimes even more so when resting. I dog sat this dog last weekend and the dog in the middle of the night would wake up having severe coughing fits. I gave the dog her allergy medicine as instructed by the owner but it did nothing for the dog. The owner said she is being treated for some sort of allergies. She is on a very special diet due to allergies. So she has food and breathing allergies they say. She gets very nervous when left alone and so she is on some sort of sedative or anti anxiety medicine as well, the vet is treating her for some sort of anxiety. I had no idea the dog had this many problems but I keep seeing that something else isn’t right with this dog and I can’t put my finger on it.

Why would a dog this young have so many problems running and playing, especially when the weather isn’t hot. Why would this dog constantly pant? Why would this dog wake up coughing at all hours of the night and start coughing really hard when she is at play? And when you pick her up her heart always feels like it is trying to beat right out of her chest.

I’m thinking something is wrong and they and the vet haven’t caught it or something like that?

Could something else be wrong? What does it sound like? I just can’t put my finger on it but I think this dog needs to be checked out further.
What should I say to the owners? I know something else isn’t right with their dog. I’m to watch her again this weekend. They are possibly moving out of state, job interview and they are going back down there to house hunt. I just can’t let this dog move away possible really sick and not say anything

Best answer:

Answer by mauveme49
You could suggest they get another vet to give them a second opinion. Other than that there is not alot you can do.

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Question by pattil: My dog has a rash…any help with ideas what might be causing it?
My 6 year old Brittany Spaniel has had a strange rash on his belly and inside of his thighs. He does have terrible allergies to fleas, certain foods, etc. We did an extensive food allergy testing when he was a year old and he’s on a diet I cook for him…no grains, only fish and a few other ingredients. We don’t use chemicals in our house or on him (no flea treatments or dog soaps, just sulfate free all natural soaps). He did have a flea on him about a month and a half ago while we were out of town and got a bite that caused a slight rash with itching. That healed up but this “rash” is different. It looks like chicken pox. At first I thot ring worm, but it’s not that. It looks like what an ant bite looks like on a human, but there’s about 20 of them. I can’t figure out what’s causing it. The vet says just put him on prednisone and antibiotics. I did do the antibiotics but not the predisone. There’s no itching or discomfort at all from these bumps/rash. Any ideas?
I chose not to do the prednisone because I want to find the source first…I’m all for the steriods as I know it can help, but I’d like to know the cause first

Best answer:

Answer by Omega
If you dog just had a shot just recently he might be allergic to that. Many dogs have been having allergic reactions to shots. Also it seems like you dog is allergic to many things so he might have gone outside and rubbed against the grass or a plant that made him react. Have you changed something like your shampoo, body spray or lotions?Or he might have eaten something. My dog had something like that but he got it when we cleaned our carpets. Hope it clears up well.

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Question by Jessica: Can my other dogs catch what might be mange on the puppy I rescued?
I’m not sure if it is mange yet.. I am going to schedule an appointment with a veterinarian. Her skin is getting bare and is red on her feet, legs, under her neck and around her mouth. I don’t know if she has an allergy or if it is what I hope it isn’t.. (her brother isn’t showing any problems).. I have a lab mix in the house as well….

Best answer:

Answer by ladystang
yes

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Question by christy_7148: Please help, I think my vet might be wrong, what’s wrong with my Golden Retriever? Please read.?
Vet says its allergies. She scratches herself and then it turns into a staph infection on her skin. Sometimes it seems that she gets little skin infections without even over-scratching. She doesnt have fleas.

Last night we took her to the vet because the entire left side of her face from under her ear down to her chin was wet, and through her fur I could see that the skin was just raw. Bright pink/red and draining. The doc said something about a “hot spot” and that its still allergies, and gave her antibiotics. It was so bad that they had to shave the fur and now she just sits with her head tilted because it hurts for even her ear to touch it. She also had some eye drainage, wont play or eat a lot.

Theres another dog in the house (my sister’s dog), and they play-fight very rough. Its a yellow lab puppy (almost the size of my golden) thats out of control, and they bite and scratch. The vet said no, but is it possible that she got this from playing so rough?
She never did any testing… she just looks at it and says “yeah thats what it looks like”. Im not saying that shes definitely wrong, but I just want some reassurance before I get her in for a 2nd opinion.

Best answer:

Answer by lexie <3
im not sure. maybe you should take her to a better vet/ search the local vet clinics. you might have to travel a little ways but it would be worth it to get your dog the proper medical attention. this sounds nothing like allergies to me…

-alexis <3

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