Lab not eating?

[redhooks]

I have a year and half old lab that is skipping meals lately, she got a thorn in her eye earlier this fall. We normally feed 2 cups Nutro in the AM and 2 cups in the PM. She skipped the last 3 meals and I'm getting worried. It seems she has gunk in her eyes in regularly the morning, at first I thought it was normal but now I am thinking she may have an eye infection, could that have an affect on appetite? Wife just thinks she is moody but it's my forst dog and am wondering if this is normal.

redhooks

[jigging-matt]

If your dog does have an infection or is sick, it would definitely effect his appetite. Did you take her in after she got the thorn in her eye? I have had dogs that will skip a meal here and there, kind of regulating their own diet, but if she is a steady eater and has all of the sudden missed three in a row, I personally would take her to the Vet. Better to be safe. Hope it all goes well.

[redhooks]

Thanks jigging-matt, yea we brought her in had the thorn removed afterwards we had some antibioticgel to put in her eyes and then started noticing the buildup of eye gunk in the mornings. I assumed it was normal for dogs and didn't think much of it. But every couple weeks or so she skips meals. This week she skipped 3 meals and finally ate mondays dinner sometime last night. Prolly best off heading to a vet.

[mr walleye]

That seem like a lot of food for that dog. I have a 2 year old female lab and she gets 1.5 cups in the morn and 1.5 in the eve.

and about every other month I have to cut that back a little or she gets a little fat. I would take her in just to be safe infections can get bad real quick. also did they put her on oral antibiotics? they can effect her appetite also.

[SlamNFish]

Food needs to be adjusted to the activity of the dog.

Sorry to hear your dog got sick. It sounds like she is getting better if she ate. But definitly goe to the vet better safe then sorry. A blood test is pretty cheap.

[redhooks]

We had her at 2 cups/day and then 3 and she was still skinny, vet suggested 4 cups and she normally has no problems wolfing that down and would even eat a 2nd meal if one of us forgot. We're going to the vet today just to be safe.

[SlamNFish]

Good Luck Red, I hope your dog turns out well!

Keep us posted on how she is doing?

[SDbowhunter]

I have noticed my dogs eating habits will change with the weather. If it gets really cold he wont eat much for a day or two. If it warms up substantially he wont eat for a day or two. His eating allways goes back to normal after the weather holds out for a little while. But you know your dog better than I do its better to be safe then sorry.

[SSSTaxidermy]

I had somewhat of a similar situation...However I was able to find out what was going on myself...But had simular concerns. I've got a 5, soon to be 6 yr old daughter that loves to spoil our lab..And every now an then, she would share misc snacks and dinner plate items. When my back was turned.

I was too wondering...What is going on here...How come Gunner isn't eating? Low and behold I find this all out. My lab was either #1 - Full from all the junk food or #2 - holding out for the treats. #3) could have had an upset stomach due to the change in her normal diet.

Once my lab realized her dream eating world came to an end, she got hungry and returned back to her normal eating pattern. So if you have kids, maybe investigate that route.

[MikeYager - Suzuki]

My dog quit eating when she was in pain for a situation that took a long time to diagnose. Take it seriously if you know tht is not normal behavior.

[redhooks]

Thanks-it's just the wife and I so ne extra treats slipped in and she's off and on for eating, we have an appointment for tomorrow and i'll rest easy after haveing some simple tests done.

redhooks

[SSSTaxidermy]

Good Luck Hooks. Hope all turns out well...Keep us posted!

[redhooks]

She was running a marginal temp at 103 and is put on flagil for a week to see if it may help w/ digestion. I also paid to have a blood test done-either she's just a tempermental lab going through a phase or maybe there is something physically wrong cuz 2 days into the flagil and she's still not eating so I'm hoping something will turn up that will give me some piece of mind.

redhooks

[redhooks]

It's been awhile but here's an update- Blood tests came up inconclusive so we gave her a cycle of flagil thinking it may be a parasite of some sort. Still not much improvement in diet and energy so we started feeding her a homemade mix of boiled burger, eggs and rice. She started to come back around and we switched food to see if we could get something easier on her stomach. Apparently everything worked out and she eats fine now so we figured that she had a parasite that we finally shook loose. Just this week my wife found an article about a bad batch of NUTRO Lamb and Rice that had been giving dogs stomach issues/nurological problems and even death, that's the stuff she was eating.

redhooks