# He's not eating much



## Jazztoon (May 27, 2010)

Our standard poodle (he's a bit over 1 year old) has never been a good eater. But, then again, he's my first dog, so maybe I don't know how much he's supposed to eat. But in the past three weeks or so, he may eat one cup of dry food or even less of wet per day on most days. Every other day, he'll eat what seems a more normal amount, but otherwise, he's a bit anorexic.

He was neutered a few weeks ago (he wasn't eating much before then, but less worrisome amounts). During the pre-op bloodwork, he tested positive for anaplasmosis (I believe that's what they called it) and we were given antibiotics for him to take twice per day for 30 days. Once he was on those, his appetite plummeted. He even went two full days without eating anything at all (except a little bit of beef I was able to give him). The vet said to stop the medication and he's been off it for a week, but is still eating very little. He MAYBE had one cup of dry food today.

I will be calling the vet tomorrow (she wanted to "wait and see" how things developed after antibiotics were cut off), but I'm looking for guidance.

Two factors that I wonder if are affecting him is that he's not getting much exercise at all .. we are still in below zero weather and have had ice and snow outdoors for weeks. The other factor is that, in order to get his antibiotics in, we gave in and had fed him some people food (cooked chicken without bones and vegetables, as well as some burgers, etc). I don't know if that has spoilt him. But we haven't done that since cutting out the meds and i just can't imagine a dog would starve himself waiting for human food.

Questions:

1. Can anaplasmosis cause this low appetite?
2. Would a poodle starve himself for days waiting for people food (in other words, being "picky"?
3. How much food would a dog his age and size (40 pounds) that's not getting tons of exercise need? 
4. What other factors should we be thinking about here? 
5. How bad is anaplasmosis?

p.s. he does appear hungry at times ... he'll go over looking for his food, sniff it and walk away from it.

Anyway, I'm worried about him and could use some help from people that know dogs and that know poodles and their needs/ habits. My vet has been very unhelpful (and I'm planning of switching, but need to handle this issue first).

Thank you for ANY help/ advice you could offer!!


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## JE-UK (Mar 10, 2010)

Poor guy! I don't know about anaplasmosis, but if the antibiotics have upset his system, he may just feel too ill to eat.

If it were me, I'd put him on the standard bland diet recommendation, boiled chicken & rice. He may be able to go back to kibble once he feels a bit better, but I think plain kibble is pretty boring. There are lots of healthy things you can mix in with it to make it more palatable: good human leftovers, cottage cheese, grated cheese, yoghurt, olive oil, sardines, etc.


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

According to what I have read, lack of appetite can be among the symptoms of anaplasmosis. Your vet may recommend a special, highly attractive and nutritive invalid food. I would agree with JE - chicken and rice, or minced beef and rice, are very useful standbys.


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## Feralpudel (Jun 28, 2010)

Is he taking doxycycline? My dog is a charter member of the clean plate club, but even his appetite was off when he was on doxy for a month for Lyme infection. So it could definitely be the antibiotic making things worse. 

I wouldn't assume that if you slip him a little chicken and rice or scrambled eggs that he'll escalate to demanding caviar. Especially until his appetite picks up, I would try some chicken and rice or something like that. You can also try a few spoonfuls of yogurt in his food to see if he likes that, as it will help restore the good guys in his gut the antibiotic wipes out.


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## Siskojan (Mar 13, 2011)

*The Daycare Cure*

Sisko was a slow & picky eater for his first 18 months and antibiotics (for giardiia) did not help. Last July he had to go to doggie daycare for a few days. On the first day he didn't eat before he went, and he wouldn't eat the food I took for him, however, he ate like a real hog when he came home and hasn't missed a meal since. It's like some switch got turned on. He is zonked out after daycare and is extra hungry and needs bigger portions.


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