Teddy refuses to eat

[Cathy1]

I adopted Teddy around Jan. 23. He is around 14 yrs old. We were feeding him Royal Canin, but decided he didn't want that anymore. We have tried Science Diet, Wellness, Natural Choice, Iams, Pedigree, and even Ol'Roy but won't eat any of it. We started giving him our food and that was okay for about 3 days and now doesn't want it. But he will eat feces, his own or our other dogs. I am now cleaning up regularly and watching closely. We have spent $1100. on vet bills since we had him and they cannot determine what is wrong. The vet tech even took him home for 3 days and wouldn't eat for her either. We have been to 2 vets and neither one can find a problem with Teddy. He was 43 lbs 2 weeks ago and now weighs 36 lbs. Any suggestions? He will not eat hard food either, we have 3 bags here that he won't touch.

[BMDLuver]

When our Maggie Mae arrived.. she was on a hunger strike.. we went through a meriad of tests.. hospitalised her twice and couldn't find anything wrong either. She went back and forth to the vet three times for a few days at a time.. Finally the last round, she came home and slowly started to eat.. the vet finally decided that it was depression due to abandonment and that with us coming back for her each time she finally felt like part of the family. She was slow to eat anything the final round but we persisted with things like this combo: boiled rice, carrots, broccolli, hamburger, eggs and cottage cheese. Eventually we added healthy kibble and now she eats relatively well, maintains her body weight etc.. It may just be a case of depression from abandonment. Older dogs sometimes want to give up because they just don't understand where the heck their families went, no matter how awful they may have been. Just food for thought.

[coppperbelle]

I agree that he may be depressed. I recently had a 6 year old foster that would not eat more than a few pieces of kibble at a time. He was 124 pounds when I got him so I know he had been a big eater. I tried spreading sardine oil over his food and he would eat only the kibble with oil on it. It took him a few weeks but eventually he began eating although I would have to stand over him and tell him to eat.
Have you encouraged Teddy to eat and praise him when he does?

[Cathy1]

We always praise Teddy for everything, but what I don't understand is that he won't eat dog food at all and we tried chicken, beef,pork and he won't touch it, but he will eat feces. The vet doesn't understand it either. He is losing weight fast and he just seems to be giving up. I don't know what else to do for him. Also today my nephew was over and wanted a hotdog for lunch and Teddy grabbed it from him and left it in the floor. When my other dog Duke tries to eat, Teddy goes over and lays in front of the dish and won't let him eat. They do have separate dishes. If he tries to push Teddy away, he gets snapped at. He is becoming aggressive with Duke and I may have to remove him from the home. I don't want to give up on him, but he is starving himself. This is day 6 with no food. The vet says I can either keep trying or euthanize. It's a very hard decision, but I don't want him to suffer. The aggression and stopping Duke from eating started lastnight. I have them in seperate rooms because Teddy started snapping at him everytime he moves.

[coppperbelle]

I can understand your frustration and commend you for doing so much for this old guy. Have you tried canned food or baby food? When my old golden was ill and I wanted her to eat I would turn on the electric can opener and make a big deal of opening the can. She loved canned food and only got it on occasion but whenever she heard that can opener she would come running. As I said I would make a big deal of opening the can and putting it in her dish. It was a mind game but it worked.
Did the vet check his teeth and gums?
What kind of dog is he?

[Cathy1]

Teddy is a Border Collie. The only food he used to eat was canned. We tried baby food, all different canned dog food, canned salmon, tuna, even different soups and still won't eat. We tried chicken, beef, liver all sorts of meat. We tried mixing with different stuff. We also bought the raw diet from our local pet store and he won't touch that either. My husband just took him back to the vet. He drank 6 big bowls of water within 5 hours. We tried taking the water away and he howls real loud until he gets it. As far as I know he is deaf. He doesn't respond when we talk to him but will if another dog barks. This is his pic.