Why is my teething puppy refusing to eat?
Teething pain makes chewing kibble uncomfortable, leading puppies to dramatically cut their food intake and occasionally throw up bile on empty stomachs. This sudden drop in eating leaves them picking at meals and turning down breakfast and dinner entirely.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1Taking the food away after 20 minutes
- 2Increasing exercise to stimulate appetite
- 3Sprinkling bone broth powder on food
- 4Hand feeding as a game or tossing pieces across the floor
- 5Changing food flavors or trying wet food
- 6Adding chicken broth and wet food to the kibble
- 7Switching kibble flavors and ratios
- 8waiting until the morning to consult a vet
- 9keeping the kitten calm and leaving out wet food
- 10calling an emergency vet for advice on whether to wait
- 11hand feeding
- 12using a mental feeder game
- 13feeding from the floor
- 14putting food in an egg carton, plastic bottle, or cardboard box
- 15Trying wet food, dry food, and mixtures of both
- 16Adding cheese to the food
- 17Mashing dry food into a powder
- 18Freezing wet food into icicle pops
- 19Giving bones and dental sticks
- 20leaving the bowl out for grazing
- 21using food toppers or powdered add-ins
- 22adding warm water to the kibble
- 23picking up the bowl after 15 to 20 minutes
- 24putting food in a puzzle or rolling ball toy
- 25Switching to different brands or specific flavors
- 26Mixing in little warm water to make the food smell stronger
In their words
Unedited, most upvoted first, each linked to the thread it came from.
“My current issue is the kitten is showing no signs of appetite.”source ↗
“She puked up some thick white goop about 30 minutes ago.”source ↗
“She has not eaten or tried drinking yet.”source ↗
“I have a 7 month old english cocker spaniel and she just refuses food early in the morning.”source ↗
“She's eating less than 200g of kibble per day, sometimes less than 100 and I'm so concerned.”source ↗
“There have been days where she's eaten only 20g in an entire day and ended up throwing up bile.”source ↗
“Now he just will not eat. Like at all.”source ↗
“He simply won’t eat.”source ↗
“We’ve tried wet food, dry food, a mix of both, throwing cheese on it, yesterday we got to the point of mashing the dry food into a powder and he like ate that for a bit and then barely ate the rest of the day.”source ↗
“We are not only extremely worried but also frustrated because he just won’t even try.”source ↗
“We’re just worried because when he refuses to eat for a longer time he will throw up :(.”source ↗
“Ours is a very temperamental eater, she often turns her nose up at breakfast and dinner if served when she’s not in the mood.”source ↗
“The issue we have is her eating.”source ↗
“It seems like our girl will drinks the broth and the wet food but pretty much leaves the majority of the kibble.”source ↗
“So my 16 weeks old aussie doesn't eat from her bowl, when she arrived she was devouring her food in seconds she was running to her pen to eat, now she just doesn't care, we tried to put it outside, it didn't help, she will accept hand feed or eating from this mental feeder game or the floor, but if its in the bowl, she rather throw up bile than eating from it, we changed her bowl but nothing”source ↗
“For those who've been through a picky puppy phase, what actually worked?”source ↗
“Our pup is almost 11 months now and he went through a phase. We give him kibble and sometimes will throw some toppers on but when he was refusing we’d just leave it and eventually he’d eat it when he got hungry.”source ↗
“Ever since switching to PPP he has HATED his food. It is a night and day difference.”source ↗
“my pug was same way, never touched PPP.”source ↗
“Same — my boy hated PPP.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 4Why does my toddler refuse to eat anything I cook?
- 4Why does my puppy lie down and refuse to walk on a leash?
- 2Why does my kid come home from school with a full lunch?
- 2Why does my dog freeze and refuse to move when he sees other dogs?
- 3Why won't my baby nap anywhere except being held?
- 25Why does my dog refuse to potty outside?