dog will only eat cat food? frustrating!

[lilmizlayla]

my daughter gave me her yorkie/maltese mix. she is a year old..and a very picky eater. she will not touch dog food. i have tried every brand..cheap..expensive....dry..soft.....nothing.. but she will eat meow mix I have for my cats..anyone experience this? she is really tiny...no more than 4 pounds. she will eat people food..but my husband insists on not feeding her from the table, but I am afraid for her to lose weight. any suggestions?

[Ravenlost]

No suggestions, but my sister had a beagle that would only eat cat food. He lived to be a very old dog.

[DaniR1968]

I had a Pekingese that would only eat cat food or purina canned food and he wanted a different flavor every day. I did humor him to a point but also figured out he wouldn't starve himself and would give in and eat if I didn't give in.

[Maura]

Start with a real good kibble. Go outside with her and run around a bit. When she pees or poops, immediately praise and give treat (the kibble). Run her through her paces, sit, down, come, whatever she knows and use the kibble for treats. Sometimes this fools them into thinking it is something special. If she still opposes the kibble, put a little tiny dab of something on it that she likes.

If you are free feeding, go to feeding two or three times a day, and add a little water to the dish. If she accepts raw meat I would try feeding her raw. Absolutely give her NO food or treats except for training rewards or meals.

[ladycat]

The dog I grew up with, Trixie, would go hungry rather than eat dog food. She would ONLY eat cat food. This worried my mother so she asked the vet about it. He said she would do fine on cat food. Trixie lived well into her teens.

[lilmizlayla]

Thank you all for your responses!!!! I have read elsewhere that a dog can have kidney problems from eating only cat food, so I am relieved to read that there were other dogs that lived on it..and survived!
I simply cant starve her to force her..I think she would prefer to starve..she is that stubborn!

[akane]

Cheap cat food is coated in all sorts of crap to get the cats to eat it since it has such a small amount of actual meat in it and cats are quite picky about such things. It attracts dogs to for that reason but it's about like the difference between homemade cherry pie with cherries and store bought cherry pie with artificial cherry goo. It might taste good but it's even less healthy and very little of it is actually cherry. I wouldn't even feed a cat on meow mix much less a dog unless it was a starving stray I had no money for and no one would take but even then I haul them to the shelter instead and let them decide if they can care for them, rehome them, or pts. Cheap stuff like that often shortens the lifespan of the cat and causes urinary tract, dental, and other health problems. A diet of table scraps would probably be healthier.

Very few dogs will starve themselves to the point of health issues unlike cats. Most dogs can be converted to a good kibble just by giving them no options. Dogs and cats are designed to go days without food and suffer no ill effects unlike people who are designed to eat at least 3 and preferably 5 or so small meals a day. Most people end up feeling bad for the animal long before it even notices it's very hungry. I say most dogs where other people say all dogs because I do have one of those few that would starve herself to health problems if not content with her food. She caused growth problems as a puppy unless I bought her stuff like evo and timberwolf organics and she goes through several week long kibble strikes where she loses 10-15lbs quite often no matter what you feed her. Even canned food and canned meat. She requires a certain amount of raw to avoid food strikes.

[KrisD]

Okay I am going to be a little harsh here. if she were your child say a toddler and your toddler decided to only eat cupcakes would you allow it? Absolutely not right? meowmix is garbage to start with and akane is right there is hardly and real food in it. I would much rather she eats good quality human food to Meow mix. If you need to use dry dog food then try it with a tiny bit of gravy or something.
I have a second hand chihuahua and she would give me the stink eye if i didn't give her the food she wanted. she probably went close to a week with out eating because of it. Food was offered but she refused, then she decided she was hungry and ate all of it. My dogs eat raw and this little dog thought that was disgusting. Now when her bowl hits the floor she inhales it.
You are the human, be the leader of her pack. Just because she is cute and tiny doesn't mean she is not a dog. Treat her like a dog.

[lasergrl]

A healthy dog will not starve itself to death. Meal feed her three times a day. Leave the food down for 10 minutes then pick it up. Do it over and over and over and over. Eventually she will learn she cant manipulate you. She will learn that food is not always available and she better eat when offered. She will eat it eventually. Be strong and in charge. Use a good nutrient dense food so she gets the most of her meals. Do not tenpt her with yummy things on top. She has learned well enough that she can get her way so she will learn to eat whats offered.

[dixieland]

Originally Posted by lilmizlayla

my daughter gave me her yorkie/maltese mix. she is a year old..and a very picky eater. she will not touch dog food. i have tried every brand..cheap..expensive....dry..soft.....nothing.. but she will eat meow mix I have for my cats..anyone experience this? she is really tiny...no more than 4 pounds. she will eat people food..but my husband insists on not feeding her from the table, but I am afraid for her to lose weight. any suggestions?

Don,t do that. I did my poodle like that. She wouldn,t eat anything else,I thought. I fed her that for a pretty goodtime. Her kidneys shut down. The cat food has HIGH protein.Dogs don,t neede that.Igry she will.