# Picky Chi doesn't care about food



## NikkiNYC (Jun 1, 2013)

My chihuahua Edie is a very picky eater. When I first got her she was eating kibble as a puppy and she would eat fine. But she always seemed to know when to stop, she would usually leave a few pieces of kibble and move on. I switched her to raw a little over a year ago and she would eat stella & chewy, then I switched her to primal but she got too skinny and she is now eating stella & chewy again. A lot of times she will get in a weird mood where she just does not want to eat, and she has done this on both formulas of raw regardless of the kind of meat it is. I always switch what protein she eats after every bag so every two weeks or so she is getting something different but she is being very difficult lately. I have to really convince her to eat and I even praise her like crazy when she eats. It seems so strange to have to tell a dog "good job!" for eating.  A lot of times I will sprinkle some treats on top of her food and then she will eat, but not always. 
She's been to the vet and she is perfectly healthy. She is energetic and seems fine besides just not caring about food. She will eat treats, which is why I think she is just a picky eater but sometimes for treat she will even refuse them. 
She is a small dog, she weighed a solid 4 pounds for a while then she got down to almost 3.5 lbs on the primal, now she is back up to about 3.8 lbs and looks good but I wouldn't mind her getting up to 4 again because she is skinny. I don't know if this is just a small chi thing since she has a small stomach? Does anyone else have a chihuahua who is not very excited about eating? Anyone have tips on how I can get her to eat more/at all?


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## jan896 (Dec 9, 2009)

sometimes Kody won't eat..... and after a couple of days he tends to get sick... sooo.... I learned to 'Prime him like an old outside water pump" with a few small pieces of yummy cooked food, like chicken or steak... and then he will start eating his food.....


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## NikkiNYC (Jun 1, 2013)

That's funny you mention that because almost every morning I eat a fried egg for breakfast and Edie will be sleeping in her bed, then she hears me move and set my plate on the floor so she can eat a tiny bit of my egg (I usually leave her about 3-4 tiny pieces the size of a small finger nail) then she will run over lick the plate and then eat her breakfast. It's like she needs to "warm up" and remember that food is good. The past week or two though she will just eat the tiny egg pieces and ignore her food. I have given her a few tiny pieces of bacon crumbles (human food) on top of her food to coax her to eat which worked for a while but this morning she would not eat so I tried putting a few bacon pieces on top and she ate one small bite of food and then left the rest (including the bacon). It's frustrating because I can't leave raw meat out for her so I put her food in the fridge when I left for work this morning and she can't eat again until dinner.


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## Kismet (Jun 18, 2014)

Chad has days where he doesn't eat when he's on raw. It never lasts very long and if he hasn't eaten anything after 24hrs I would take him to the Vet but have never needed to do that. If he doesn't eat I just toss it out and give him fresh food at the next meal. Usually if he skipped breakfast and dinner, he'll eat breakfast the next day and the incident will be over for a few months until it happens again. Try not to stress, sometimes I think we can make meal times a but overwhelming with our desire for them to eat.


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## Melesine (Jul 7, 2014)

My Mimi has a history of doing the same. In fact I have a frantic thread on here in the raw forum from a few months ago when she was driving me crazy refusing food.


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## NikkiNYC (Jun 1, 2013)

I'm glad she's not the only chi who can be difficult! Luckily (if you want to call it that) when I came home from work she seemed a little off, kind of just wanted to lay in her bed and her tummy was gurgling and there was diarrhea on her puppy pad. She has a sensitive stomach and usually she just lays around for a day, makes some not so nice looking poop, doesn't eat and then the next day she is fine once it is out of her system. I don't know what gets into her because she hasn't eaten anything strange but who knows what kind of dust she eats off my floor...at least I know this is what she does and I'm not too worried where I think she needs the vet- I learned that the hard way after $200 and them telling me she's fine and just is sensitive! I guess I just have to cuddle her tonight and give her some bland food tomorrow!


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## pigeonsheep (Nov 8, 2008)

I've spent have a lot of $$ going from brand to brand for dex ever since I got him. Primal and orijen regional is what he's on right now and he does awesome. He also has some boiled chicken for dinner. He actually eats 3 meals a day but doesn't gain anything. My other pup KC who ever since she was spayed has gained weight very fast. She lovesssss food. Lol. What helped me get my picky boy to like what I give him is minimizing his treats.


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