How long can a dog go without eating? This is the sort of question which a dog owner will never want to ask himself. Still, some dogs are not taken seriously by their owners, and their owners don’t pay attention to their needs either they are hungry or not, infect there are such situations when pet dogs are wobbling around desperately for food. So, this is a serious question which should be answered.
In this article, we will find out the answer to this question and why dogs don’t eat food? and all the factors related to it.
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How long can a dog go without eating?
Dogs are different than each other in a thousand ways. That’s why it is challenging to determine how long a dog can survive without eating. Vets treat these cases according to the breed and physical changes.
According to the vets, a healthy dog can survive from three to five days without eating food. Those dogs who are underweight, old, sick, or very young may not survive for the same amount of days and will need a lot of vet’s care to survive for three to five days.
In the same way, dogs who are pregnant will need more vet care and food sooner than a regular dog.
The question which arises here is why my dog is not eating? Let’s find out.
Why is my dog not eating food?
There can be several reasons which can cause a dog not to eat food. The list of reasons is so long, but we will share a few.
Medical Problems:
One of the crucial reasons your dog refuses food is medical concerns, which indicated that there is something wrong with your dog’s health. A lot of health issues can trigger food refusal for your dog. The list is long. We will share a few of these problems.
- An upset stomach.
- Infections (Bacterial, Viral, Fungal).
- Dental problems.
- Pain in the body.
- Allergy.
- Host-parasite in the body.
- Cancer
- Organ failure.
These are the medical problems that can probably cause a food refusal problem for your dog. However, there can be other reasons for this problem, so there is no need to worry about it.
Mental health problems:
Mental health problems can also be critical to your dog’s problem. It includes issues like depression, anxiety, and stress. These problems can cause your dog to stop eating food. This phenomenon is not something new.
Even in humans, this problem exists. Humans lose their appetite when they are going through difficulties like stress and depression. However, these problems are treatable in dogs.
You have to find what is causing them these problems, and then make the appropriate changes to treat it.
These problems are usually caused by loud noises, changes in the environment, crowded areas, and noise by any construction site near your house.
Medications:
A lot of medication or some specific medication can cause your dog to lose appetite and make him feel drowsy. The loss in appetite will ultimately affect the interest in his food.
To solve this problem, it is best to contact the vet. Contacting the vet will help solve the problem of loss in appetite, but the vet will also change the prescription of your dog to make it optimized.
Schedule of eating:
In humans, it is not often seen that we eat a heavy meal straight up as we wake up early in the morning. In the same way, dogs have time-related issues while eating.
Dogs often wait until the evening to eat food. Whatever you offer them and whenever you offer them, they will wait until evening to eat food. This cause appetite issue as we provide them on our timing where they barely taste it.
We consider it as a medical issue. If this is happening with your dog, feel the change in schedule for feeding your dog.
Change in food:
Changing in the food can be a reason for the loss in the appetite of a dog that may stop your dog from eating food. This problem is widespread in dogs, and it is not a tricky problem to address.
Many dogs overcome this problem after some time, but the best way is to make changes in the food gradually.
What to do when you realize your dog is not eating?
When you realize that your dog is not eating food, you should plan something to treat your dog.
Keep calm:
We should always remember that it is too common in dogs to refuse from eating. If your dog is acting normally and shows no symptoms of illness, it is not a big problem that your dog is not eating food, so you should not panic and keep yourself calm.
Determine why your dog is not eating:
You should carefully examine your dog and try to determine why your dog is not eating.
If you successfully determine why your dog is not eating, try to resolve the problem by yourself.
Contact with a vet:
If your dog is not eating for forty-eight hours and you think it is not normal and your dog shows signs of illness contact with a vet. This plan includes when you suspect there is something wrong with your dog’s health, and it is not a usual refusal of food.
This plan is a perfect solution for your dog when you realize that your dog is not eating.
We have also discussed how to tackle these issues and what to do when your dog is not eating. I hope this article will be helpful to you. Please give us your feedback in the comment section.
