Saturday, February 14, 2015

Some Reasons Why Your Dog May Stop Eating

When your dog stops eating it can be quite distressing. What perhaps can be more distressing is the myriad of reasons why they might stop eating.  
Sickness
Sometimes it is hard to believe that our typically happy and energetic dog can get sick but it can happen. Just like us, your pup can get a cold or even the flu. Two things you can do to keep your dog healthy are to feed them a balanced and nutritious diet and give them their NuVet Plus. When the immune system is healthy, your pet is healthy!
Depression
Like people, dogs too can become depressed too. When this occurs it is not uncommon for them to eat less or stop eating all together. If you can uncover the source of your pup’s depression then you can usually work to resolve their poor appetite. Extra walks and plenty of playtime with their human family can often help to ease the depression resulting in their eating normally again. If you are concerned, it is probably time to visit your vet.
Change In Diet or Time to Change the Diet
Changing your dog’s food can also affect your dog's appetite. If your pooch is used to eating canned or soft dog food and you decide to switch them to dry dog food, you might find they resistant to the change, resulting in an abandoned food dish.  Transitioning your dog gradually by mixing canned food with dry food can help. On a weekly basis simply add less of the canned food to the dry food until your pup is on an entirely dry food diet.
Can also be Time to Change their Diet
Take the Healthy Pet Challenge 

Mouth Pain
It is not uncommon for dogs to experience tooth and mouth pain. A poor diet, age and sickness are all factors that can affect your dog’s mouth. Pain caused by a damaged tooth, a mouth sore and even periodontal disease can certainly deter your furry friend from eating even their most favorite treat. Among some signs to look for, are bad breath, plaque and even sneezing, swollen gums, red gums, bleeding loss or falling out teeth.
 Add these to your dog's health plan
Ingestion of a Toxic Substance
Even the most observant dog owner can’t watch their pooch every second of every day. How many times have you turned your back only to find that they have quickly snatched up that chocolate candy you left on the table? What is perhaps more worrisome is that things that are completely innocuous to humans can by quite poisonous to a dog. Grapes and chocolate are two foods that dogs should avoid. Also, Xylitol, a sugar substitute that is becoming more commonly used in the United States can have deadly consequences to dogs even when ingested in small doses.  If you think your dog has been poisoned, call your vet immediately!

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