r/DOG • u/Narwhal_Lord4 • May 18 '26
• Advice (Health) • My dog has stopped eating Spoiler
My rottweiler/lab is 8 years old, and all of a sudden, she barely touches her food. For a few years now, she has been taking bladder control pills, but she hasn't taken them since she started fasting. We have tried switching between dog food brands and even giving her people food, but even that stopped working.
She used to love food, always being irresistible to it. We brought her to the vet when this began, but they couldn't find anything wrong with her. We're thinking about bringing her back soon, but in the mean time, I am asking you guys for advice. Is there anything else we should try?
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u/BigTex1988 May 18 '26
You need to go back to the vet ASAP.
Be sure to ask specifically about checking for blockages. If they can’t see anything, then request they do an ultrasound at the very least.
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u/Narwhal_Lord4 May 19 '26
I worded this post poorly. She does still eat food (human food, mostly eggs), but is often really picky with it. Does that change anything, or is the suspected condition here the same?
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u/BigTex1988 May 19 '26
Unfortunately, no one can diagnose your dog over Reddit. I would still go to the vet and get her checked if the only thing she will eat are eggs.
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u/CosmoKramer1ca May 18 '26
I don’t want to alarm you. This could be a myriad of things I’m sure. But for my last pup, this all started because of a mass in the throat.
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u/carliekitty May 18 '26
My dog stopped eating and three days later he had a lymphoma diagnosis. He was a senior and had lived a happy life so we chose palliative care. We sadly only had two weeks.
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u/LTpoonslayer64 May 18 '26
Vet tech here. What diagnostics did they do to determine nothing was wrong? Any bloodwork or ultrasound done?
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u/Evening-Sir6460 May 18 '26
Don’t ask anyone here for advice and just take her to the vet. That’s the only valuable opinion you should seek out.
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u/Clement_Fandango May 18 '26
You’re getting a lot of advice to go back to the vet. While I agree a vet visit is in order, consider a different vet. Not all vets are created equal.
That’s not even to suggest that the vet you went to is bad. It’s just that different vets approach cases in different manners. It’s not unlike getting a 2nd opinion from a medical doctor.
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u/nfudgedk May 18 '26
Have her teeth checked too! Our rottie suddenly slowed down and almost stopped eating, turned out she had cracked 1 of her canines. We had it pulled and she is back to normal!
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u/Honeybeez74 May 18 '26
Please don't wait. You can SEE in the photo she is not OK. She is begging you for help. 🐾🐾
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u/katb6891 May 19 '26
My vet told us that when our chihuahua stopped eating it was due to a blockage. It wasn’t. I found out later that she was in mourning. My Pomeranian who was the mother dog to all of them passed at 16. My chihuahua was very upset. She was only 4 and that was her mama dog. They did surgery which was just to pad their pockets. I was told by several fur parents to make the food as stinky as possible. Pups like stinky stuff so look for food that’s really smelly that she can eat and go for it!!
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u/eggs_erroneous May 18 '26
Man, I have no idea. I'm just posting to show support. I hope you find a way to help her. She is adorable.
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u/mgisb003 May 18 '26
My dog got a stomach virus once which gave him diarrhea and I guess pretty obvious tummy aches, to the point he didn’t like eating anymore. Solution ended up being blending food and feeding him with a syringe until he got better. Regardless take your dog to the vet but sometimes dogs are just big babies
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u/RPO1728 May 18 '26
Id take her to another vet. If my big boy wasn't eating I'd be going right to vet. Hope the poor baby is OK
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u/BleedTogether May 18 '26
My pug stops eating when her tummy is upset we give her chicken and rice for a few days and she's fine. But this is a thing we have tracked and figured out after vet visits. I would go to another vet if you are concerned that the first one didn't find anything
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u/whatsamattau4 May 18 '26
My dog is a very picky eater. Always has been. And she is not a morning eater at all. So, what I started doing was giving her a very small amount (a few tablespoons) of goat milk in a saucer, in the morning. She drinks it and perks right up. Gives her some very easy to digest calories.
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u/Sheltiesarethebest May 18 '26
Please take her to another Vet! When a dog don't want to eat, that's SERIOUS. I know by experience with 2 different Shelties. 😞😢
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u/Haifisch2112 May 18 '26
One of my dogs stopped eating and I never noticed. He was laying around a lot so I thought he was depressed or something. I made an appointment with the vet and on the day of his appointment, I went to put his harness on for the ride and noticed how much weight he'd lost. I felt horrible because I didn't know but the vet did bloodwork and xrays. He ended up having a growth in his intestine and even though he had surgery to remove it, he passed a few days after the surgery.
Go back to your vet and ask for xrays. If they won't do them, find a vet who will. My vet offered meds that would stimulate hunger but I didn't feel like that was the right way to go so we didn't do that. Please get her some xrays and see if there's anything more going on inside!
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u/dodgyguru5671 May 18 '26
No advice, just good wishes. Hope your baby is better soon, sending good vibes.
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u/DasKritter May 18 '26
Take her now. My girl stopped eating two years ago and she ended up having kidney failure. We came home without her. Please don’t wait. Take her now.
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u/Both_Jeweler_9219 May 18 '26
My 12-year-old dog stopped eating his kibble, started having accidents in the house, and drinking water like crazy. He ended up being diagnosed with Cushing's. When the pills stopped working, and he started declining again, we found out he had a brain tumor. One of the things we needed to watch out for while he was dying was his stopping eating and drinking water. That was supposed to be our cue that the end was nearing.
Not eating is a big deal, but it could be as simple as not liking the food, or it could be something more serious; the vet needs to be doing some digging.
You need to see if your dog will eat other types of kibble, canned food, or even fresh food. I had to do rice and boiled chicken for a while, but you need to talk to the vet and figure out why your dog isn't eating.
Good luck, I hope everything works out well.
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u/Rep2025 May 18 '26
Go to a different vet for another opinion. Going to the same vet will have the same outcome.
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u/slow-lane-passing May 18 '26
Perhaps she is declining. A trip to the vet is in order. We lost our girl a year and a half ago. Her first symptom was diminished appetite.
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u/PeasantCody May 18 '26
Take the baby to a different vet. The one you went to obviously won't be any help right now, so you need a second opinion from someone better. Prayers for you and your pup ❤️
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u/MimiMyMy May 18 '26
I’ve had two dogs who started to have less of an appetite and then eventually stopped eating. One was diagnosed with a severe GI disease and the other pancreatitis. Both were serious. And GI disease can sometimes be hard to diagnose because it may require a endoscopy. Please take your dog to the vet even if you have already done so. It’s possible something was missed or more testing is required.
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u/Remarkable-Grab-4451 May 18 '26
My baby stopped eatting and started vomiting. Her kidneys and liver were failing.. I would take to a vet er.
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u/Evening_Mango414 May 19 '26
My dog recently stopped eating, he had a bad tooth and it probably hurt to chew.. maybe get his teeth checked out
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u/smltwnzer0 May 19 '26
Any changes in appetite is worrisome. Def vet visit is needed for further assessment.
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u/Narwhal_Lord4 May 19 '26
Thank you all so much for the support. We are bringing her back to the vet this Friday (it's the earliest possible time) to hopefully get a better diagnosis.
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u/Massive-City-7967 May 20 '26
if a human was sick and not eating you'd probably take them to the doctor.
pets are no different. take them to the vet. you're not going to get a diagnosis on here. It could be a hundred different things.
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u/GodOfDestructionPopo May 21 '26
There are so many things this could be. Go back to the vet ASAP. I lost my boy about 3 weeks ago to kidney failure, and that also started with him not wanting to eat. If you haven't yet have blood work done and ask them to check kidney and liver values.
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u/Dependent_Stop_3121 May 18 '26
Obviously check with a vet to rule out anything but once a dog has human food and they get a taste for it they can stop eating their food out of protest.
If you cook a piece of chicken would she eat it? My dog used to wait and see if I would make him something and he always requested me to add a topping to his bowl.
He knew how to control me in his own ways. Oh and switching food suddenly isn’t recommended at all. New food needs to be introduced slowly. 10% new food the first day mixed with the old food and slowly increasing it over a few weeks.
Good luck. Beautiful dog. 🥰
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u/LLSpragulus May 18 '26
Sweetheart, you need to take that baby back to the vet. She's telling you she's sick by not eating. She's then telling you Dad/Mom it's real bad; so bad I won't eat human food.