7 month old Shih Tzu not interested in food

jolo

Hi,
As it says I have a little 7 month old Shih Tzu who isn't particularly interested in food. The last few weeks she's even eating less and less.

She's on James Wellbeloved Puppy Kibble since a week after we got her at 4 months. We switch between the Lamb and the Turkey variety but had very bad experience with the Duck(maybe just bad batch but I'm not really prepared to try again).

She's fed twice a day around 12 and 6. She never shows any interest when the food is going in the dish, goes over after a while to check it out but generally doesn't eat anything for about 10 minutes. I take away anything not eaten within 20 -30 minutes. But she's barely eating half the recommended daily amount. I haven't weighed her in a while. She was doing well but I feel now she's getting a little thin and her coat while in fairly good condition isn't particularly shiny.

I was wondering should I change the food. I don't want to swap around and make her fussy but I was thinking maybe some of the other brands feed less in quantity and maybe that'd suit her better? Maybe she's just got a smallish appetite and getting more nutrition in a smaller volume would suit her?

The vet near me stocks Burns and Hills. The Maxizoo that I go to(not very close) stocks most of the usual - Royal Canin, Black Angus etc and the brand Husse is available here with free delivery.

The Husse is very tempting. I recently met a beautiful young spaniel with the glossiest coat I've EVER seen on a dog and full of energy and she's fed on Hussse. I know that Burns and Husse recommend less volume than James WB.

We had a problem at the start with her eating her poo. This is much improved now but every week or so as the poos get harder she does it again, maybe only once or twice if we don't catch her in time and then goes back to ignoring it. I suspect she's self regulating as when she eats it (Uugh!) it softens the subsequent ones! Mad theory? But does this also mean that the food she's on isn't really suiting her? She does about 4 poos a day which I think is a lot. It's a lot better than the 8 or 9 she was doing when we got her but I thought it generally went down to about 2 a day.

I know it's time to start moving her up from puppy food too so I'm trying to decide where to go next. We're off on holidays on Friday for 2 weeks so she'll be staying on JWB while in the kennels but as soon as I come back I'd like to have a plan.

mymo

You could try another food, theres a few good ones.
Is she very active, got plenty of energy? Some of the feeding guides can be very generous, I feed about 2 thirds the recommended amount to one of mine and he's doing fine. If your pup is getting thin and you think losing condition try another food.
Husse will send a free sample if you call them, so you can see if it agrees with her, I have seen samples of Burns in shops too, as well as Royal canin from time to time.
I also got a sample of both Robbies and Luath(from land of holistic pets, they have a website) and both my dogs loved it, I'm thinking of trying it as I heard good things about it.
As for eating her poop, some pups will do that I heard that adding pineapple to the food stops it.

Royal canin do a small breed food I give to my Lhasa apso, she loves it(so does bigger dog if I don't watch him) and a breed specific one for shih tzu's.

CreedonsDogDayc

Hiya,

I've a one year old Shih Tzu that come's to daycare that I used to walk since he was a puppy.

He was awful for eating his poo too, and similar to your dog, would rarely eat his food and had no interest in it.

Over the last few weeks his owners changed him on to the royal canin sensitivity wet food with nuts and he devours it! Totally different dog, so maybe try that.

I sometimes think the shih tzus have a hard time with the nuts with their little mouths.

Niche market

Hi, I have a 3 year old shihtzu who isn't mad into his food either :mad: like today he still hasn't even eaten his breakfeast he's been like that since the day we got him and even though we vary his food and have bought every type on the market he still is VERY PICKY!! i know someone else who has a 12 year old shihtzu and he's the exact same, very fussy....

Damn their cutness!

tk123

Is she filling up on treats by any chance? I only give our guy 2 thirds the recommended amount because we do a lot of training with him and it's rewarded with treats. Our guy didn't take to JWB (had the runs), then was on RC but I switched him to Burns because it has less protein and less chemically stuff in it and he's thrived on it and he rarely has the runs like he did on RC.