Gone off kibble ?

Nifty lives for food, pretty much anything that is comestible.
We even spent a fair amount of time experimenting systems to slow her down, especially during meal times.

For a couple of days now, she’s not throwing herself on her kibble but goes back to eat it after what seems like an eternity of having put it down (5-10 mins).

Kibble has not changed for weeks, open bags are the same and stored in same place.
I’ve tried to change/rewash her feed bowl and tried to put half on the floor but it does not enduce any extra interest.
I can’t think of anything that has changed in the routine the past month or so.
Oh, apart from having wormer (1st time milbemax, before I was giving Nexguard spectra) and using seresto collar a week ago.
Could they be the cause ?

I wouldn't have thought so. Why are you using the collar?

Maybe she's a little bored? You could try adding a raw egg, or half a can of sardines in oil?

Collar is because one of the cats is a real fleabag and OH thought Nifty might be carrying fleas. I don’t think so because I didn’t see anything but thought it could also be a trial to see if she tolerates the collar.

Well at least 3 times a week, we add something to kibble.
I don’t particularly want her getting fussy, she’s even turned her nose up on a biscuit she gets when she goes to toilet (and doesn’t eat it)

I know there's the point about not wanting a fussy dog but for me the other side of the coin is that I don't want to insist a dog eats something they're not keen on. If you only feed her table scraps by hand and she then refuses anything else, you've created a fussy dog. If you listen to your dog who is saying I'm not really into this, that no different to me listening to my husband saying he doesn't really like something.

Are we just talking a couple of days, literally just 2 or 3? If so, I would pop her bowl down, maybe with something smelly like fish added to it, then leave her. Don't worry, don't hover over her or keep checking, just leave her for 10 minutes to get on with it. If after that she's not eaten it, take the bowl away and try again later, again taking it away if she doesn't eat.

If that doesn't work and she's still off her food after a few more days, it might be worth a vet check to make sure all is well.

(And by the way... she probably doesn't need a biscuit for doing a wee any more)

Yes, it’s been 2 days or the past 4 meals.

Ok, will try that but don’t understand why she’s suddenly decided she’s not hungry for it
She does like additives (sardine, minced beef, grated cheese, boiled chicken, ham) in her kibble so will add tomorrow. We avoid eggs since the last vomiting issue, though it might not be related to the eggs.

If she really doesn’t like her kibble anymore, I don’t know what I can give her.
She gets half orijen fit & trim and half acana light & fit which I thought she was doing better on.
Half and half with the intention of finishing orijen and switching to full acana. She only gets about 60g of kibble, twice a day, I can feed a bit more acana

Biscuit is for not eating her poo and she can have one when she goes to wee quickly on command under torrential rain

Left only kibble down about half an hour, time to look after horses.
She hadn’t touched it.
Added a pinch of grated cheese and she wolfed the whole lot down.

Is it that she doesn’t like the taste or she’s very smart and wants additives in every meal ?

It could just be that she's gone off it.

It could be the smell, or the taste, or both! You could try drizzling some salmon oil over the food, but if you do that, don't leave it down too long or it may go off.

So are you transitioning between foods? If so, have you tried going back to just the Orijen to see if she eats that better? If it is the taste of the kibble and you do want to change, there are a various brands you can get through Amazon in France that might be worth looking at. They sell Applaws and Taste of the Wild that I've heard of, and a brand called True Instinct that I'm not familiar with but looks good.

If you need to add stuff, then maybe look at mixing some wet dog food (Applaws for example) or raw and make that her meal. What you don't want to do is wait for her to turn her nose up at her kibble, then give in and add something yummy or she may well learn to hold out for something better.

I don’t know if we can still talk of transition as she’s been eating half and half for about a month now.

Tonight I put each kibble in a seperate bowl and offered her both.
She very reluctantly picked alternatively in each, whilst I was close to her, so I don’t think it’s a taste thing.

However she has a smelly back end tonight. OH says it’s her glands but I don’t know. She might just be depressed ? She’s already done phantom pregnancies but obviously harder now that she’s been spayed.

She can have additive in her supper tomorrow and I’ll look into finding small cans/pouches of wet food to add from time to time. Or maybe look into small portions of BARF ...

Food for thought (for me at least)
Thanks for all of your ideas and suggestions

Amber does that sometimes. She doesn't like to immediately touch her kibble on some days. I just give her some vigorous exercise and then she wolfs it all down ... or i just add a spoonful of greek yogurt and some cool water to the kibble... That does the trick too.

Thanks for the suggestions

I’m currently experimenting adding a small can of food or barf to her kibble. She doesn’t seem to like salmon barf much but wolfed down her kibble with a wellness core tray for small dogs mixed in.

TBH I don’t really appreciate this new game but hey, it’s an extra challenge I suppose

Good. At least she's eating and you can put your mind at rest. Yes, it is a pain having to mix but it's a damn sight easier than having a dog that won't eat!

Yes, but to be completely truthful, Nifty is “well covered for winter” so I’m guessing a few skipped meals wouldn’t have too much negative effect

like pet, like owner ...

I may be over stepping. If so let me know. But if I had to guess, I say it is an allergy, or reaction the oils in the collar. Molly breaks out and yes even Soresto. Pills she just throws up even when I cut it in half, quarters and even into bits. It doesn’t seem to matter what the brand. A flea dip just make her sick for days. Really the only thing that seems to work is a Ultra-Sonic wand that supposedly drives fleas nut and jump off and breaks up any eggs. I am not really into gadgets, but if you are desperate enough you WILL consider the stupid. Thing is Molly never seems to have an issue with fleas, Zeus does and I think he could drink kerosene and not get sick. So I treat Zeus and no issue. Works for me. But whatever you use it really comes down to chemicals which is to some degree poisonous. Most really don’t have problems, some do some have issues with some. If what you used before ..worked then I’d go back to that. If not I’d talk to a Vet. Here in the US we have Pet Smart which has a vet and they are more than happy to recommend and advise. Even Vet Tech are more than capable. Dogs do slow down and eat less as they get older. Molly is a night prowler, Zeus eat during the day. I do the worse thing possible, food is normally available all the time. Plus they get treat sand mooch . they are pampered, spoiled and demanding. My wife created monsters. But I am not much better. Molly seems to over eat but Zeus just doesn’t eat if he isn’t hungry. He isn’t fat and solid as a brick, but Molly was pretty trim hen she was younger so I have made attempts to give her more exercise and limit her treat and eat better. I don’t want to alter her diet too much too fast.