# Extremely frustrated with fiona!!!



## MsFiona (Jun 5, 2010)

A little bit of back story. When I first got Fiona (10 months ago & she's 1 year old) she was on royal canin dry kibble for chihuahuas. about 5 months ago, she got fussy and stopped eating that. I got worried because I really think she gets hypoglycemic, so I bought cesar fillet mignon wet and started feeding her that. At first she loved it, but then little by little she stopped eating that too. 

I'm the kind of person that is always worried she isn't eating enough. I don't know why, that's just me. I have this fear that when her food sits there for a day without being touched she will eventually get weaker & weaker and then not be able to eat and get very sick and end up at the vet. I really do think she gets low blood sugar (sluggish, lethargic, etc when her food sits for 24+ hours). Okay, anyway.. soher food started sitting and I said screw this and cooked her up a stew (chicken broth, chicken, peas, carrots, celery, and brown rice)... she absolutely went nuts for it.. loved it! But I was told on here that it's not adequate for her nutrition wise and lacks vitamins and minerals. So I went to a health food store and bought Halo wet food spot's stew and I was sooo excited when I found that. The ingredients looked great, no fillers, blahblah. A little pricey, but at this point i didn't even care. So she's been on that for about a week. At first she wouldn't touch it, but the first week I added a minuscule amount of my chicken concoction to entise her. Each day I put less & less of my chicken stew in (this whole time she's been gobbling up her whole plate at both feedings daily). Yesterday was the day when none of my chicken concoction was added to the halo and guess what? SHE WOULDN'T TOUCH IT. Her damn food sat there for over 24 hours and she's eaten absolutely nothing. I am so frustrated. We are leaving for a long trip in 7 days and I have to have this squared away because I need to purchase her food before we go (it won't be sold there). Any ideas?? What is her deal! I bought nutrical for the trip just incase... should i add some nutrical to her food to make her eat it ? any suggestions are appreciated 

Just wanted to add.. she is a TINY little thing. maybe 4 lbs at the most soaking wet!


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## woodard2009 (Aug 4, 2010)

I bought Midgie the Ceasers & she got sick on it. Found out it's all fat & grease (no good). Maybe try Ziwipeak or THK. Sounds like she's being a picky eater. Try putting a little chicken broth in the food again & see if she'll eat it. If she does, she's trying to be a picky eater. If she doesn't eat it this time, you might want to have her checked out & see if she might be sick. What makes you think she's hypo? You can give her a little honey on your finger. She's so cute!! These little ones can be really stubborn so you have to figure out if she's just being stubborn or if there's really something wrong.


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## xxtarafiedxx (Sep 10, 2010)

Peanut was a very picky eater from the start. He was also on the Royal Canin when we first got him, but the vet had us switch over to the Science Diet. He picks at the hard food all day, but we give him a tiny bit of the soft kind as well, which he goes crazy. My grandma use to make gravy for her dog's and dribble a little on their food so that they would eat it. Everyone says not to give your dog human food, but a tiny bit to get them to eat won't hurt. We give Peanut goldfish crackers to train him [the baby size] and Cookie gets cheese. But I reccomend the Science Diet brand, or just tiny bits of human food [human food only if she's had it before].


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## flippedstars (Dec 16, 2009)

Picky eaters are made, not born. That being said, I understand your concern w/ hypoglycemia but she's not a baby anymore, most grow this out by 16 weeks of age. 4 lbs is a good healthy size for a chi. You need to pick a food, stick with it, and stop worrying. Try Orijen or Acana. I have a picky eater smaller than yours but if she decides she doesn't want one of her meals she is choosing to skip her meal...she's never skipped more than 1 or 2 meals.

Are you feeding at set times or just leaving food down? Put the food down for 15 minutes 2-3 times a day, then pick it up. Don't fuss over her or even pay attention to if she's eating or not, let her do her thing...she will "get" soon that that's her opportunity to eat. No tablescraps or other treats til you have her eating well again. 

You can buy some babyfood at the healthfood store that is chicken or turkey but MAKE SURE to READ THE INGREDIENTS -- it should ONLY have chicken or turkey as the ingredient, NO corn or onion, these can kill her. Mix a small spoonful in thoroughly w/ her kibble to make it more appetizing, you can slowly wean her off of this later, but it might not be a bad thing to get her started.

If she continues to refuse to eat, don't offer her something else, but DO forcefeed her a dropperful (the kind you'd give medicine to a baby) of babyfood/chicken or turkey, and a gob of nutrical. This won't fill her up but WILL keep her from getting hypoglycemic if she's in danger of that. Do your best to not let her taste it, just shoot it down her throat, end of story. Don't make a big fuss over it.

Again, don't leave the food down all the time. That's not good. Offer small, manageable sized meals, too, about 1/8 cup (2 tablespoons) 2x a day for her.


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## Terri (Aug 21, 2009)

Yeah i agree, tough love is what is needed here or she will always be picky.
Defo dont give human food cause 1. it isnt healthy and 2. she will expect that and beg from you when you eat too.
When mine were being picky, (well Darla and Daisy, not Dillon he would eat poo if you put it down for him. lol) i would rub their bowls with cheese or chicken and that helped.
They love their food now though.
I have them on Acana, made by the same company that make Orijen.
There are lots of good quality kibble out there.

Dont go by what vets say too about food, they have very little knowledge on it and they get sponsored by all the crap they sell.

Hope you find something that suits, just keep at it. x


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## MsFiona (Jun 5, 2010)

Okay, so I got a food called chicken pot pie by the brand BLUE. I put it down and she ate it all up. It looks like a real good food, so i am STICKING WITH THIS. thanks for the suggestions. no more mr. nice guy over here. i'm done letting her be picky. this is the food she will have to eat and if she refuses, then too bad for her! she seems to like it, let's just hope it stays that way!! :foxes15:


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## Kaila (Nov 10, 2009)

I truthfully think she looks a normal weight, but it's hard to tell from pictures.

What I have to do sometimes with Teddy is put our other dog out of the room. Sometimes he gets so anxious about her standing near the food bowls that he won't go over at all. So first I remove Zoey because it makes him feel comfortable enough to eat.

If that alone won't do it, I sit on the floor with his bowl and a spoon and spoon feed him. I usually only have to do it once every few weeks. Once he eats a good sized meal it seems to spark his appetite. I only spoon feed wet food, though.

I feed Orijen kibble and Merrick canned food, by the way. Kibble is free fed, and Teddy gets 1/2 can of canned food a day. Whatever they don't eat is refrigerated. Orijen was rated the gold standard in dry dog food for the past two years, so you might want to consider switching to it if you can find it. It's roughly 70% meat and eggs, 30% fruits/veggies, and grain-free. It has added glucosamine and probiotics, too.

Occasionally I buy Gerber baby food in the meat flavors and feed it as a warm snack or over their wet food. (But check the ingredients for added salt, sugar, or preservatives.) You can also try a fish oil supplement. The one I buy comes in a hand-pump bottle specifically for dogs. The omega-3 fatty acids will be good for her hair and skin, plus it will add extra calories.

For emergencies, you should keep a bottle of karo syrup or NutriCal at home. Just rub some on the tongue, inside the lips, or the roof of the mouth when she hasn't eaten for more than 24 hours and is showing signs of hypoglycemia.

Is it possible that she's finding food elsewhere? Handouts from other family members, digging through trash, stealing from coffee tables, etc?


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## TLI (Sep 3, 2008)

Stick with one food until you change her eating habits. Don't add in anything. No treats, no table food, no nothing. Split her daily portion into 2 feedings. One morning, one evening. Leave it down for about 20 minutes, if she hasn't eaten it, take it up. She will eat, trust me. An animal will not starve itself. Don't worry about it so much, she can sense that too. Don't make any kind of fuss at meal times. Don't baby her, etc. Give her the food, she eats it, or Mommy takes it up and goes about her business as normal. Tough love will correct the problem. After she gets the hang of a correct way to eat, you can add in treats and such. But I wouldn't give her much of anything other than her food so you don't have to worry about her becoming picky again. If you think she seems sluggish, give her about a dime size squirt of honey. Don't rely on the Nutrical too much unless it's an emergency. She looks healthy to me. I don't see any bones showing. I think sometime us Mommies can create problems without realizing it. :wink: Those sweet faces can really get to us.


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## Kaila (Nov 10, 2009)

I prescribe to the "tough love" school of thought, but really tiny dogs make me hesitate. I have heard (though I'm not sure if it's true) that chihuahuas won't starve theselves to death, but they can die from hypoglycemia before they learn their lesson.

I would at least attempt to stimulate her appetite first. Warm up the food in the microwave so it smells more appetizing, eliminate distractions at meal time, and try to spoon feed her twice a day for 2 days. Keep the same food (don't change it) and set meal times. After those 2 days, she should be hungry enough to continue on her own with some tough love.


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