# Food recommendations for thin food-shy whippet pls



## Spyda (2 June 2011)

Our year old whippet bitch is very picky with her food. We've several dogs and she is the only one like this. The others eat with gusto, but she is the sort of dog that picks up one bit of kibble, wanders off and then come back numerous times to pick at what's in her bowl. Invariably she'll leave about half at the end of the day. To ensure she gets her ration, it means she either has to be segregated from the other dogs all day to allow her access to her dish, or else she is fed with them and only eats a very small amount before the others finish it for her. She will guard it, but inevitably someone will get it once her back is turned. If I just put the dish down twice a day when the other dogs are fed and keep the other dogs away, she still picks at one or two kibbles and leaves it. By the end of the week her pelvic bones are starting to show and I get concerned for her.

She's being fed Orijen dry food, although I've tried them on Acana this month (which she likes even less than the Orijen TBF). OH isn't keen for them to be put on cheap dry food or canned meat; it gives them gas and they produce huge revolting poops. Fair enough - he's the one who has to pick 'em up.

Any suggestions on what I could tempt Miss Fussy with. She'll probably eat about 50g of dry food a day, but that's her appetite limit. It's simply not enough to keep her looking well. HELP!


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## soloabe (2 June 2011)

I would keep her on the orijen because its a great food and it seems like she is just finiky like abe not that she doesn't like it.

I would mix in stuff.
Tuna
plain yogurt
The salmon mousse from fish4dogs.


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## ChesnutsRoasting (2 June 2011)

Raw tripe/rabbit pieces. I used to own a similiar sounding male whippet to yours. The only thing he would eat with gusto were the aforementioned!


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## Spyda (2 June 2011)

I find if I mix things in with the kibble she just licks whatever it is off or picks around taking out the bits she likes. But even then, she's real fussy. She doesn't like gravy or anything which makes the food too wet. And I threw the dogs some raw chicken meat last week - she was most unimpressed with that. Took a peice off, licked it a few times then wandered off leaving it. Bloody fussy dog 

She's always after the cats' dry food mind you. Wonder if a dog can live off cat food......? *wanders off scratching head*


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## paisley (2 June 2011)

If it helps, Fish4Dogs have the salmon mousse on offer this week- half price plus delivery! They also do salmon oil, which I havent tried, but other people recommend.

Mine the Fish4Dogs with some sardines or mackeral (in oil), Sainsburys tend to be the cheapest.

One thing that seems to have really helped when he started to fuss was feeding him outside where I cant see him- I must have been subconsciously thinking " will you just eat it you b****r!"


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## Oneofthepack (2 June 2011)

Sounds very like my whippet lurcher and I've put him on Burns puppy/toy dog small bite dry food and I mix it with a bit of Butchers tinned tripe mix or a bit of lamb Naturediet in a tray. I just mix it all up well so he can't pick the bits he likes out and he eats his bowl clean for the first time in years and he looks fab after just a couple of weeks


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## soloabe (2 June 2011)

How about raw mince?


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## Luci07 (2 June 2011)

It might not be "quite" the right thing to do but my staffie boy gets very fussy at times. As he has elbow displaysia he is fed hills j/d mobility with some liver biscuits and nature diet. Every now and then he decides he can't be bothered and he is not carrying any excess weight anyway - plus which the older bitch is waiting to wolf his down too. I have tried to wait it out for him but after nearly 3 days of not eating I tried some other options to get him to eat. 

So I melt a bit of butter, coat the biscuits in it and he then eats the whole lot up. I don't need to do it all the time just when his lordship decides that his food isn't worth bothering with. Logically I chose butter as iti has no additives but do appreciate that it has a high fat content, hence just a light coating!


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## doratheexplorer (3 June 2011)

I have tried all sorts with my whippet, she is most infuriating,, because somedas she will wolf down whats in front of her, and somedays take a lick and leave it!!

She is good on a raw diet - she loves tripe and she also loves oily fish, so maybe try some sardines in oil and see how you go, even if its mixed with the kibble!


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## g3mm4 (3 June 2011)

My elderly Whippet was very fussy when younger (he's getting a little senile now) and refused to eat dog food (biscuit or tinned) but he would eat cat food! I would feed him that for a day and then give him cooked chicken or mince with a small amount of biscuit. Also he will not eat in the morning only lunchtime, 6pm and 10pm!

Now, as I said, he is 16 and senile and will eat almost anything including Ceaser dog food. He also has a prebioti called Viyo (I think) which helps with his appetite.


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## BigRed (3 June 2011)

I am on whippet #7 and also have a small whippet/JR lurcher.  Because I always have several dogs, they tend to eat competetively, so they are not fussy, however some of my whippets have been tubby and some very lean.  If she is a small whippet she isn't going to be able to eat large volumes and just like a child, if she thinks you are making a fuss over eating, she will just get more fussy.  I have found very few of them will refuse raw minced tripe, which you can buy frozen in blocks, it stinks to high heaven, but I have never known a dog refuse to eat it.  It seems the more it stinks, the more they like it.  I would also try raw minced beef, and also breast of lamb, which are very cheap.  They are super fattening and mine have never refused them.  I also feed the small tins of sardines in oil.  Mine also like pasta.

But, as i say, my fastest whippet often looked a fraction too lean, but it was her natural weight, she was not a pig.  The two I have now, you can easily feel their ribs and the little lurcher, you can easily see her hip bones.  She is a running machine and has a good appetitie, but does not pig herself.  They have a bowl of dried food always down, for them to graze on.


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## Hedwards (3 June 2011)

I had similar issues with my JRT (I know a completely different breed - but may be able to help) - thankfully since having doglet number 2 her pickyness has ended and she wolfs any food down with the best of them.

However for a while i had her on the DUCK raw diet, before dog number 2 came along - until that point she would pick at her food, never finishing it. She really seemed to love the 'DUCK' food and looked really good on it too.

In the end freezer space meant i had to find an alternative to Duck, and she went onto Arden Grange 'Mini' - which she did eat a bit better - I think the small kibble helped.
Now have her and the other doglet on Skinners field and trial - so far so good!


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## Spyda (3 June 2011)

Thanks everyone. A few ideas there to try. She looks really well in her coat (I already use Salmon oil for the dogs, cats and ferrets) and is lively and happy. She just resembles an RSPCA case unless I keep a very beady eye on her consumption. I notice our lurcher Spider is looking rather um.... "well" ATM so I'm guessing I know who's guilty of sneaking the extra food 

I'd be happy to feed her a cooked meat diet (she's not keen on raw) if I could keep things simple and still supply all her nutritional needs. How much would a 10kg whippet need in terms of calories per day? Anyone know? Mine already get the odd PetTab vitamin tablet but not all that regularly.


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## Oneofthepack (3 June 2011)

Spyda said:



			I'd be happy to feed her a cooked meat diet (she's not keen on raw) if I could keep things simple and still supply all her nutritional needs. QUOTE]

I found it's really hard to work out a complete diet yourself. Lots on here feed raw so I went to a nutritionist and got all the gen to make my old lady a homemade diet and a 6 weeks later she was practically bald! I know people who feed raw say it's easy but I couldn't do it. I guess it's the same for doing a cooked meat diet
		
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## soloabe (3 June 2011)

It is much harder to put together a cooked diet than a raw one.

Abe wasn't interested in raw for about the first 2 weeks until he got the hang of it.


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## KarynK (4 June 2011)

It is much harder to formulate a cooked diet as many of the nutrients are lost in the cooking process so you have to factor all that in as well as what do you replace bone content with.  Raw basically weekly if you chuck them mostly chicken carcasses the odd lamb rib and some offal and fish you have a balanced diet!

I would start with minced chicken or turkey, Birdy meat has a lot better nutrient levels in it for dogs than that from big animals.  Lamb comes second and then Pork and beef. If she likes this then start cooking a bit of it and mix the raw in.  

You can introduce things like liver and lamb in the same way, if she takes to it you can then try the odd chicken wing, sometimes they simply do not know what to do with it, with one of mine who had been kibble fed for years, I had to show her what to do with a chicken leg! 

Supermarket chicken wings would be best as they are from young birds with soft bones and if that is all she will eat then stick with it, if not you could try something like stewing steak, whole it makes them chew and massages the gums, it also cleans teeth but not as well as bone.  Or you could try getting rabbit, a whole one if you are up to taking an axe to it that would probably be 5 or 6 meals for her and see if she would like that??  You can flash fry chicken bits but they should never be in the pan for more than a couple of seconds or the bone cooks and they become dangerous!

See how she goes, you can also buy mince with cartilage and bone in it from raw suppliers so that also might be an option if she takes to it.  It sounds like she doesn't need a huge amount so the raw option for her might be the answer.


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## quirky (4 June 2011)

I have an incredibly fussy Italian Greyhound and like you, worry when he doesn't eat because it doesn't take many missed meals for a skinny dog to look extremely poor.

I tried Fish4Dogs but he refused to touch it. I also tried Arden Grange and he turned his nose up at that too.

I fed him raw just so he would eat something but although I seemed to be giving him quite a lot to eat (for such a little dog), he was forever hungry. 
As I wasn't keen to continue raw, I tried Luath's and he loves it . The kibble doesn't seem to be as dense as other makes, so it isn't so hard going for him.
It isn't a cheap dog food but as it is one he will eat, we are sticking with it until he decides he no longer likes it .


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## Whippet 1 (4 June 2011)

I would suggest you get her teeth checked out by your vet and maybe also have a blood test done to rule out any medical issues, I would also try raw tripe with her food


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## Spyda (7 June 2011)

KarynK said:



			It is much harder to formulate a cooked diet as many of the nutrients are lost in the cooking process so you have to factor all that in as well as what do you replace bone content with.  Raw basically weekly if you chuck them mostly chicken carcasses the odd lamb rib and some offal and fish you have a balanced diet!

I would start with minced chicken or turkey, Birdy meat has a lot better nutrient levels in it for dogs than that from big animals.  Lamb comes second and then Pork and beef. If she likes this then start cooking a bit of it and mix the raw in.  

You can introduce things like liver and lamb in the same way, if she takes to it you can then try the odd chicken wing, sometimes they simply do not know what to do with it, with one of mine who had been kibble fed for years, I had to show her what to do with a chicken leg! 

Supermarket chicken wings would be best as they are from young birds with soft bones and if that is all she will eat then stick with it, if not you could try something like stewing steak, whole it makes them chew and massages the gums, it also cleans teeth but not as well as bone.  Or you could try getting rabbit, a whole one if you are up to taking an axe to it that would probably be 5 or 6 meals for her and see if she would like that??  You can flash fry chicken bits but they should never be in the pan for more than a couple of seconds or the bone cooks and they become dangerous!

See how she goes, you can also buy mince with cartilage and bone in it from raw suppliers so that also might be an option if she takes to it.  It sounds like she doesn't need a huge amount so the raw option for her might be the answer.
		
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How much would she be needing daily to meet her needs though? That's what I'm not sure about. Say, how many chicken wings if that's all she'd eat to start off with?


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## soloabe (7 June 2011)

2-3% of her body weight.


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## haycroft (7 June 2011)

maybe a vist to the vet to rule out teeth bloods etc
how tall is she and what weight is she..could you post a pic of her
eg my whippy is 19 1/2 inch and 24 lb the other 19 inch 25-26lb
depending on the breed lines as the racing one tend to be smaller and lighter showing more covered workings ones inbetween
you say you can see her pin bones..thats not too bad aslong she looks heathly and ful of energy and fit in her self..some dogs are more fussy than others sometimes we make them fussy by offering different food all the time,some people think whippets are too  thin and tend to fatten them up
maybe try her on 3-4 or even 5  smaller meals so she not overfaced with a larger bowl of food
scamble egg,sardines,mince,tripe goats milk
some just dont put much weight just like us(not me lol)
i never leave food now 24/7..if they dont eat it take up and try again next meal time
i use keeper mix as a conditioner from dorwest herbs


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## Spyda (8 June 2011)

Well here's a photo of her looking _really well_ - hence why I took a photo opportunity at the time! It's just to show her type and size and how I'd like to keep her looking all of the time.







She a smidge under 19" tall and weighs between 7.4 and 9.2kgs. In the photo she was 9.2kgs.

BTW: Thanks for the recommendations to try the Fish4Dogs Salmon Mousse. Got a bargain box delivered yesterday and mixed half a sachet into her portion of Orijen kibble (crushed a bit first to make it smaller to eat and easier to mix) and she wolfed it down at both ends of the day - and even LICKED the bowl clean.  Unheard of previously! Here's hoping she won't suddenly get 'fed up' with it down the line. *Fingers crossed*


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