My dog refuses to eat unless I add something to her kibble — is this a problem?
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lucia_m·7 days·821 views
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Maya (6-year-old Golden, 65 lbs) has started refusing her kibble unless I add something to it. It started with a little rotisserie chicken when she was sick, and now she won't touch plain kibble.
I've tried going cold turkey and she'll just skip meals for 12-18 hours until I cave. She's not losing weight and seems otherwise fine. Am I creating a monster or is adding toppers actually fine nutritionally? And if it's not fine, how do I break this habit without a standoff that lasts 3 days?
2 replies
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dr_yamadaVET· 7 days
You've created a picky eater and the only way back is the cold turkey standoff — healthy dogs don't starve themselves. Put the food down for 15-20 minutes, take it up, try again at the next meal. Most dogs break in 1-3 days. That said, if adding a small amount of topper isn't causing nutritional imbalance (keeping toppers to under 10% of daily calories), it's not harmful. A bit of plain canned food, low-sodium broth, or a cooked egg is fine. The issue is rotisserie chicken which is often heavily salted — switch to plain cooked chicken or a proper topper if you want to maintain the habit cleanly.
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rescue_sam· 7 days
We went through this with our mutt. The 15-minutes-then-remove approach felt cruel but it worked in 2 days. A healthy dog will eat. What also helped was rotating between two different kibbles so nothing became boring — and now a small spoonful of plain pumpkin on top which he loves and is actually good for digestion.
