11 month old Shiba Inu won't eat
 

He hasn't eaten in 3 days. He still drinks water, and we took him to the park and he played great (it was as if nothing was wrong). He ate treats that a lady gave him. He will eat pure chicken breast if I put it into tiny bits and handfeed it to him, but I can't do that forever. It isn't good for him to only eat that.

He won't touch his regular food (gastro food from the vet, he has a sensitive stomach), he isn't losing weight, but he has less energy (I assume from the lack of food).

I am really confused. Is there a chance he could be teething at 11 months? I don't know what to do now.

I am taking him to the vet in the morning if he still won't eat, I was hoping someone had any advice/ideas until then.

Have you tried adding anything to his gastro kibble to entice him? A little bit of warm water, broth or sprinkled cheese might help...

Thanks Macomom. I blended his kibble with a chicken breast in the food processor (near a grainy paste!) and he ate about 1/2 cup worth. I think he might be having a sore tooth or gum, some top teeth coming in late???

Yes possibly. Will he let you look at his mouth to investigate? He may also just be getting picky about his gastro food...
Keep us informed.

What do his stools look like, shibamom?

[QUOTE=hazelrunpack;858289]What do his stools look like, shibamom?[/QUOTE]

Not good at all. He has only had 1-2 bowel movements since Thursday, and it is somewhat liquidy & gel-like, which is what it used to be like before his gastro-sensitive food. He was only eating chicken breast (2 whole breasts) since Thursday, so I'm not suprised he has the bad poos again.

Right before he stopped eating, he had normal solid poos.

Definitely will need that vet visit, with a stool sample. Sounds like he's maybe picked up a touch of something...or his gut is inflamed again. Does the vet think something like food allergies or inflammatory bowel syndrome is to blame for his 'sensitive stomach'?

Watch for tarry stools...if his stools become black and tarry-looking, it's an emergency and you'll need to get him in right away.

Thanks hazel, he will be heading into the vet, his appt is in 2 hours. I'm not sure what the stomach issue was, my husband brought him in a long time ago for it and to be honest, I really wasn't sure of the details, other than "sensitive stomach!". Poor little baby is just curled up on the couch. He didn't get a walk yesterday (on purpose) other than some potty breaks, and he is still sleeping. This is so unlike him, he is normally bouncing off the walls by 9am if he hasn't been to the dog park:cry:

Good luck at the vet, shibamom! :goodvibes: I hope they can figure out what's ailing the little tyke. It's worrisome when they're sick :grouphug:

Thanks Macomom and hazel!

It was...........
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.
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Food boredom and an upset belly! LOL! Thank goodness.

Since he is on a special gastro diet, he is not able to eat anything else (like table scraps, special treats, or other types of foods), so she gave us a different gastro formula and he ate about 1/2 cup of it when I warmed it. It also sounds like he ate something he shouldn't have (I caught him rolling in a dead bird so I suspect he bit a chunk of it - or someone at the park gave him a treat when mommy or daddy wasn't looking :eek: - my fault). I also have a little droplet medicine for him to kill any bacteria lingering in the belly.

Thanks :)

Our guys have had some upset tummies from stuff they find and eat, too :eeew:

Hope he's feeling back to normal soon! :goodvibes:

Glad to hear your little guy will be okay. :thumbs up

About the gastro food from the vet ....I am presuming it is either Medi-Cal or Hill's brand and both of those have poor quality ingredients especially the protein sources.

I would slowly switch him over to one of the formulas from California Natural ....

[url]http://www.naturapet.com/brands/california-natural.asp[/url]

Thanks guys, it wasn't as simple as I had hoped.

Simba seemed to be doing after his vet visit, but by 5pm, he had liquid water diarrhea every 3 hours (after the first time, there wasn't even a hint of poo, just spraying water). It's now 11pm and he's done it every 2-3 hours. He's drinking water right after and now pigging out on some food, but I'm calling the vet ASAP in the morning (he is drinking water still) and getting him re-examined. I might also go to a 2nd opinion (this is not his regular vet, who is on holidays).

It's going to be a long night but now I'm really worried :sick::sad:

Sorry to hear about the setback but glad that he is drinking water. Good luck at the vet tomorrow .....hopefully some metronidazole will get his system back to normal. :fingerscr :goodvibes:

Thanks rainbow :) I'm up again, 01:27am, I think this is gonna be a long night :) Luckily he is a smart boy and just jumps on me to get me out of bed to take hi.:eek:

I'm really worried about him, he's thrown up 3x now (his treats that he scarfed down at 1030pm because he hasnt eaten properly in days) at 0430hrs. Poor baby, I'm upset that this was attributed to tummy troubles??? I don't think this is tummy troubles. Perhaps he got some sort of food poisoning.

Good luck this morning shibamom :fingerscr. Please don't forget to bring a stool sample to the vets with you.

Good luck, shibamom! Sorry you had such a bad night :grouphug:

If you [I]do[/I] go for a second opinion, you might consider asking your vet for a referral to a veterinary internist.

Thanks guys :) We are leaving in 10 minutes, I'll let you know! Might be a while, I want lots of tests done!

Well I'm back, without my baby boy, he lost 5.2lbs overnight in fluids alone (he was weighed yesterday at 30lbs, today at 24.8lbs), he went straight into the vet for an overnight visit, including fluids right away, blood work, even x rays to see what is going on in that belly.

Here he is in better times

:goodvibes::goodvibes::goodvibes: you must be worried sick :sad:

Hopefully if they can keep an eye on him all day they can figure out wth is going on and fix...fast!

:grouphug:

Beautiful pic btw...I am sure you'll be taking more healthy pics of him really really soon :fingerscr

Oh my, that is a lot of weight to lose in one day. I can only imagine how you must feel right now. :grouphug:

I hope the vet is able to find out quickly what the problem is and get him on the road to recovery. :pray: :fingerscr :goodvibes:

That is a cute pic of your handsome boy. :lovestruck:

Good luck and keep us updated. :fingerscr :goodvibes: :grouphug:

:grouphug:

I hope the fluids turned him around. Any word from the vet yet? :fingerscr

:goodvibes: for both of you!

Thanks for all the support :lovestruck:

We went to go see him last night at 6pm, he was hooked up to an IV inside the crate and had an E-collar (he is all about mischief), but he was happy & wagging. Of course, he was like that with the vet when he was seriously sick, too!

Last night was the first night we spent without him since we brought him home in February 2009. It was so hard! We spent the night looking at photos of him. I'm expecting a call from the vet this morning after 8am and we'll be getting him at 5pm if we are allowed to bring him home (I have to do a final exam today and don't dare to leave him alone in the house without supervision!).

:fingersc that he can come home today and the tests give you some answers!

And :goodvibes: for your test!!

Simba is back home (he spent overnight at vet and came home at 7pm).

He is not 100% and while he still refuses to eat his food (he only wants people food even though he is not allowed, and never has been!) and he still hasn't had a bowel movement, he is doing better.

He vomitted water 2x this morning (immediately after drinking). I called the vet and they said to raise his water dish and keep him from trying to drink too fast. He did drink after this and seems to be keeping it down.

Still isn't eating and I'm not happy with that, although he's never been into food that much and hasn't had much exercise (no more than 15-20 min walks, a couple times a day, until he starts feeling better).

He seems pretty depressed and wouldn't leave my side at night (he normally sleeps in his open crate but slept right by my head. He got upset when my husband left for work this morning and has been sad all day except for his walks :/

Sorry to hear that Simba is still not upto snuff. Did the Vet give you an exact idea as to what is going on?

I sure hope he gets back to his old self soon.

I was also wondering what the vet had to say? :confused:

How is Simba doing now? :fingerscr :goodvibes:

Hi guys & thanks for the well wishes :)

The vet said EVERYTHING came back normal, so no sign of disease or anything, only severe dehydration.

Since Simba goes (well, went) off-leash to the dog park everyday, the vet strongly suspects some kind of major food irritation, possibly from biting a chunk out of a dead bird (I caught him rolling on one the day before he started getting sick). With the severe vomiting and diarrhea, but no fever or any problems in his bloodwork, it is the most likely reason. Lots of nausea. He has a very, very sensitive stomach and what would have made most dogs just ill for a few days, made him REALLY sick.

He's doing a lot better today, he hasn't vomited since he came home last morning (pure water after he drank too fast), and he ate 1/3 cup of his dry kibble this morning. Most of all, he slept like a rock the past 2 days at night (he is usually up & down the bed into the crate, little night roamer), so his personality is perking up.

Plus, it started snowing today (Vancouver)! So he is excited!

Yep, eating a bird would certainly upset his tummy. Glad to hear that he is doing better and hopefully will be fully recovered soon. :goodvibes:

Hope he has fun in the snow .....we'd love to see some pics. :D



Also, as I mentioned before, I still think you should change his food to something with better ingredients. California Natural is formulated for dogs with sensitive tummies .....

[QUOTE=rainbow;858585]
About the gastro food from the vet ....I am presuming it is either Medi-Cal or Hill's brand and both of those have poor quality ingredients especially the protein sources.

I would slowly switch him over to one of the formulas from California Natural ....

[url]http://www.naturapet.com/brands/california-natural.asp[/url][/QUOTE]