How to Get a Sick Dog to Eat

Video Transcript

"Let's talk about how to get a sick dog to eat. The first thing you need to know is are there any dietary restrictions? Check with your veterinary clinic. What is the diagnosis, why is the dog not eating? After that if there are no dietary restrictions then sick dogs typically are not eating because they either do not feel very good, they are not tasting things or smelling things very well and so improving taste and smell is the first thing to do. One way to do that is to use a canned food and also taking that canned food and warming it up. Warmth or microwaving food just for a small amount of time can increase the smell and palatability and so canned food does a great job, by adding that to the regular food or using canned food alone. Another way is by enhancing the food by flavor. Some companies make flavor enhancers that you can place on top of the food both liquids and powders that increase the smell and palatability as well and so those can work very well but check with your veterinary clinic first. Another way is to use a good old method of using boiled chicken and white rice. When those are warm those smell very good to a lot of dogs. When dogs are sick that is also a bland diet that is easy on the GI system and makes it a little bit easier to tolerate. Using the broth in boiling that chicken also can be a flavor enhancer on the food but make sure first that there are no dietary restrictions from your veterinary clinic. If they are vomiting you want to withhold food anyway and talk to your clinic."