Malaysia Veterinary Forum (Archive)

Naruto · Joined: 12 Mar 2008 Posts: 4

My partner and I have tried him with loads of different brands of dog food, dried and tinned, he goes through phases of eating fine for a few days then not at all for days, when he's not eating he is hungry but won't touch his food. We've tried leaving his food for 15mins then taking it away to teach him to eat at those times but that hasn't worked. What do we do?

filet0fish · Joined: 13 Jul 2007 Posts: 30 Location: Pee Jay

hi Naruto, Huskies are well known for being picky eaters. in fact, the more you change their diet, the pickier they are. this is how they think... "if i don't touch this food, they'll give me something better".

i would suggest not changing his food now. stick to one brand (whichever brand that you have now). if he doesn't touch his food, take it away after 30 minutes. he won't get his food then. leave him with lots of water if he doesn't want to eat. do the same the next day. if he doesn't touch his food again, take it away after 30 minutes.

these buggers can go without food for more than 3 days. when he is too hungry, whatever you give him, he'll eat.

also, the trick is not to give him his treats as well. if he doesn't eat, water is all he will get.

the other thing is, the older they get, the lesser they eat. if you're feeding him 2 or 3 times a day, you might want to cut it down to 1 or 2 times a day. Huskies in general eat 1/2 the amount of food compared to other breeds which are the same size.

our girls went 4 days without food because i treated them to salmon fish + kibbles for Kosmos (my big girl) birthday. after 4 days, they gave in. wullop everything on the bowl.

but REMEMBER, lots of water.

good luck!

acsyen · Joined: 10 Jan 2008 Posts: 94

Exactly right.. Dun pamper your dog.. They can survive without eating for few days just make sure there's plenty of water.. Dun give in or feel kesian to them or you'll be facing a problem for the rest of your doggies's life..

Naruto · Joined: 12 Mar 2008 Posts: 4

filet o fish thank for the advise

but now my husky eat 3 day once i really dont know what to do ? :cry:

how many time you feed your dog ?

filet0fish · Joined: 13 Jul 2007 Posts: 30 Location: Pee Jay

Naruto, my girls are fed once a day now, now that they're already 1.5 years old. and ever since the episode of not eating for 4 days, they finish every one of their meals now. and because both the girls are spayed, they've not really missed any meals since. we have to control the amount of food they take now to make sure that they are not over weight.

because you have pampered your Husky too much prior to this. so your dog is playing hardball with you.
you have to be hard-headed yourself. but remember, plenty of water and no treats! he cannot be pampered too much when it comes to his meals. hang in there!

good luck.

Dr HanMRCVS · Joined: 07 Jun 2006 Posts: 566 Location: Johor Bahru

i think a complete blood test and biochemistry can help us find out if theres anything wrong? we do that quite regularly just to screen the health of an animal.

filet0fish · Joined: 13 Jul 2007 Posts: 30 Location: Pee Jay

Naruto, how is your Husky doing?

Naruto · Joined: 12 Mar 2008 Posts: 4

Hi filet0fish
:( still 2 day eat once ... :(
now i have a new problem my female husky 7 month on heat
she started on heat 29 january 08 but the blood wont stop untill now
i ask the vet he say notting he can do :? i also pening
any advise ? for me guys

filet0fish · Joined: 13 Jul 2007 Posts: 30 Location: Pee Jay

can you bring your dog to another vet for second opinion?

when a bitch is on heat, usually, her bleeding period will end in 7 - 9 days. the max i've read is 14 days of bleeding. then they will be ready to be mated and conceive puppies.

it has been way too long for bleeding. you MUST bring her to another vet for second opinion. it could be other internal bleeding rather than her heat!

perhaps that is why she is not eating right! something is wrong.

i cannot stress this enough... BRING HER TO ANOTHER VET FOR SECOND OPINION!

Dr csh · Joined: 21 Jan 2006 Posts: 427

So, I think the fact that your bitch is in heat for 2 months may have contributed to her inappetence. Bloodwork is a good idea.

I do disagree about the a bunch of things but then again, I have not seen the bitch so maybe I am just wrong.

The number of days that a bitch can bleed..... where did you get the maximum day? I agree that most bleeding last between 1-2 weeks but there are tons of examples of bitches that bleed for much more than that. It is abnormal but not I don't think it is internal bleeding. It certainly could be and the uterus has been reported as a site of hemorrhage for clotting disorders or rodenticide poisoning.... however, the fact that this has been going on for 2 months makes me put this a little lower down on the differential list.

It is also not true that we cannot do anything...... we can do diagnostics and if it is the right condition, we can actually give drugs to help and then there is always the option of spay.

filet0fish · Joined: 13 Jul 2007 Posts: 30 Location: Pee Jay

my bad, according to this article, it says the Proestrus stage has an average of 9 days of bloody discharge prior to the Estrus stage, with a maximum of 17 days.

also, read this, which says average of 3 - 15 days of bloody discharge before the Estrus stage. however, it does not advice the maximum days for certain cases.

according to Pet Education, it gives a different average of 5 - 9 days of Proestrus stage.

whatever it is, none of the articles gave advice of more than 2 months of bloody discharge. so it is still best if you go to another vet! if your current says "i can't help", please go get 2nd & 3rd opinions. there is only so much one can read from the internet when your dog's health is in question.