Dog not eating after other dog died

doelani

We had to get our 13 year old dog PTS last Monday. First few days our 1 year old Yorkie although quieter than normal was eating ok. From Wednesday though has eaten practically nothin except a litte chicken and a few dog biscuits.:( except when out for walk he us lies about, he used to be a hyper dog, always looking attention when other dog here .

He never was a big eater but If he did not eat one day he would the next. He is drinking plenty of water still pooing once a day, although very little as little going in.

As well as other dog dieing we also bought Yorkie new bed new bowls and moved his sleepin place we now realise his was a mistake.

So last night we put him back to old sleeping place, got old bowls out of bin and put new ones away. He is going to vet on Monday morning to get checked over.

Is there anything else we can do ?

Youdontseeme

Dogs do grieve, give him a little time.

You could try something really tasty like hotdogs or sardines?

YDSM

lipsthefish

Hi there, we have just been through the same before Christmas, we had to have our old girl put to sleep and our yorkie x jrt wouldn't eat for a few days, we just kept tempting him with chicken or ham, we were very lucky that we were already due to get our new puppy and since then he has been fine.

vicx

Having had two yorkies in the past and two new yorkie pups now, I know how fussy they can be when it comes to feeding. They can go a day or two without proper meals and just eat snacks. You could try him on something tasty like chicken and add it in to his meal to see if his appetite picks up.

Your dog will be grieving the loss of his companion so he will be lost and down in the dumps. I have been through the same when I lost my first yorkie in 2007 then again when my second yorkie was PTS in my 2011, my king charles was very depressed - sadly she passed away 12 weeks later.

carefullycautious

I had exactly the same when I had to have my dog PTS. My female stopped eating and did grieve for a while. She also searched for him when out and about.

winterwhite11

carefullycautious wrote: »

I had exactly the same when I had to have my dog PTS. My female stopped eating and did grieve for a while. She also searched for him when out and about.

aww how sad.

i hope your dog is ok op

nonnatus

Oh it's just awful isn't it?

My Yorkie cross has refused food for 4 days last week. I literally didn't see her eat anything, although she was drinking fine, no temperature etc.
Well, I tried ALLSORTS to tempt her. My cupboards are a jumble of opened packets and boxes from Bovril to Farleys Rusks...

In the end, she showeda bit of interest in my daughters Weetabix with warm milk and sugar so we let her try it. The bowl was wolfed down in 5 seconds and I could've cried with relief! She did an enormous burp and looked at me as if to say "Yup, I'll have the same again please!"
Two days later she's back on dog food with her normal Gusto. She now follows daughter like a shadow at breakfast time though, hoping for a repeat

Just keep trying. Maybe offer warm water with a bit of bovril in to keep the fluids up?

mrdignity

There can be many reasons for this happening - grief is certainly one of them. Many owners describe their pets pining for the one that passed away and going off of their food as a result. It is also a big change in the household as they may have been subordinate to the dog that passed away and so their position in the pack has completely changed and that can be very unsettling. If it continues your vet can give them something otherwise you can purchase a DAP hormone diffuser as this often calms them after a stressful event (it works with fireworks too). It isn't an instant fix as it needs to build up over a couple of weeks and should be used in the place they sleep in.

I'm not saying this is a must-do thing as all pets and people cope differently but in my experience it can help for the surviving dog to see the one that has been put to sleep afterwards. I know it is too late on this occasion and sometimes just isn't possible but I have found it often reduces or even prevents pining (imagine if you went off without anyone knowing where you were going and never came home - how would they feel?). If your other dog had a prolonged illness then there is a school of thought that your yorkie will have picked up on their illness (some owners report a change in relationship between dogs when one has a serious illness like cancer - they are now even using dogs to try and detect cancer - medicaldetectiondogs.org.uk).

Finally, your emotions will be all over the place at the moment and as dogs are very intuitive your yorkie may be picking up on the stress you are going through and reacting accordingly. Again, there's often no quick fix to this - just be aware that you may need some TLC and a chance to recover from your loss too.

I have found that dogs are able to cope better than us so you may find that your yorkie starts eating again properly soon.

Take care & I'm sorry for your loss x

krlyr

I would maybe look at a DAP plugin/spray/collar to see if this helps. A vet trip can put your mind at ease - and even if the problem is a mental thing, i.e. grieving, it may have had a physical effect too. A dog that stops eating can get in a vicious circle, they stop eating, their empty stomach becomes acidic and then this causes nausea/a loss of appetite. One of my dogs had the latter problem and needed an anti-sickness jab and some antacid tablets to settle her tum, her appetite returned almost immediately.