I have a 11 month old Bullmastiff. She never seems interested in food, unless it is ours! We have tried everything from dry food to mixing dry food with meat, fish, tripe, gravy etc... We have also tried putting her food down for 5 mins and if she has not touched it, to take it away. Everything will work in the short term ie, a week or even just a day.

I think it is affecting her, She is underweight, you can see her ribs. She sleeps a lot, lathargic etc.. The vet says its just her age, some puppies are like that, she will grow out of it. At this rate she won't grow at all.

Does anybody have any advice for me, as I would really appreciate it.

Thankyou...

change your vet? she should not be like that at 11 months she should be full of it running about active some thing is not right so she needs to be checked by a good vet, and you are correct if she isn't eating then she can't grow or have any goodness to keep her fit, the only time my Bullmastiffs go off there food is if they are ill, give cottage cheese/live yogurt/goats milk this will give her some goodness until you know what is wrong.

hi philippa just curious as to how much exercise shes getting as this to a certain degree goes hand in hand with diet and can help build up a appetite and as corsogirl said i woudlnt go by what the vet is saying,is she also up to date with worming programme,i always use 2 vets when not sure costs more but worth it. good luck and health allround.

Thankyou for responding.

She (Phoebi) gets regular walks but after 15-20 minutes she ready to collapse. So she has one 15-20 mins walk a day. I think she should cope with more, but with her eating irregular and not alot, Im not surprised!!

She is upto date with the worming programme etc.

I feed her twice a day,morning and teatime. Most of the time she will either only have one meal per day instead of two or nothing at all or maybe quarter to half of each meal.

She has also had a lot of problems with diorrea. The Vet said that was to do with eating irregular. I wonder if it is to do with what I feed her also. Should I change her diet? I feed her (I try to feed her) on Dry complete with tripe or meatballs or tuna or gravy etc... She will not eat Dry food on its own. I tried, she starved her self for a week. I think she is a very fussy eater and has got us round her finger.

The problem is though she turns her nose up to vertually everything. My Mum gave her a cooked Pork Hock joint, she has had one before and loved it, but now turns her nose up at it. AAHHHHH!!!!!!!

Any response welcome

Hi,
Has the vet run blood tests?

No. The vet has not offered anything like that. Why blood tests?

With that lack of energy she could be anaemic, which can have many causes.... I gather her heart and lung function have been checked as well?

The vet has checked her over, ie checked her breathing and heart rate.

HI PHILIPA ASSUMING SHE IS HEALTHY IVE HAD SIMILAR PROBLEMS WITH BOXERS NOT ONLY FUSSY BUT THE WRONG FOOD WOULD CAUSE RUNS,WHEN I HAD MOTHER AND SON THE SON WOULD NOT EAT UNTIL MOTHER BEGAN FIRST THE MUM FROM PUP I HAD TO TEASE BY MAKING HER THINK I WAS GOING TO EAT IT,THE RUNS I FOUND QUITE ALOT SUFFERED DIAHOREA WITH PLATE FOOD BUT GOT IT SORTED WITH PED CHUM PUPPY DRY AND TINNED MIXED,NOT SAYING ITS THE BEST BUT WHATEVER WORKS THE STOMACHS I FOUND IN MINE AND OTHERS GET BETTER AT ABSORBING WHEN OUT OF PUPPYHOOD,MAYBE ITS TO DO WITH THE LINES THEY WERE BRED FROM GET BACK IN TOUCH WITH BREEDER FOR HIS ADVICE ALSO A GOOD BREEDER SOMETIMES KEEPS NAMES,ADDRESSES OF PEOPLE WHO THEYVE SOLD TO TRY TO GET THERE ADDRESSES TO SEE HOW HER BRO+SIS ARE DOING AS HIS DOGS COULDVE BEEN FINE FROM PUPS BUT WHAT THEY PRODUCE IS DIFFERENT I PUT IT DOWN TO EXTRA WEAK STOMACHS SO TRY KEEPING IT BALANCED DAILY UNTIL SHES MATURED MORE INTERNALLY AND TEASE HER ABIT LIKE TRYING TO ENCOURAGE A BABY TO EAT AND STAY BY HER SIDE TIL SHES FINISHED ENCOURAGING HER WHEN SHE IS EATING AND PRAISING WHEN SHES FINISHED.LOL BUT ITS WHAT WORKED FOR ME KEEP US DATED ON HER PROGRESS. GOOD LUCK AND HEALTH ALLROUND

didnt realise i was writing with caps lock on sorry my mistake.

Thankyou edcase, Ill try that. Shes also just gone trhough a phanthom pregnancy which she suffered bad which hasnt helped matters. Tonight for her tea she had her bisquits and warm meatballs with gravy, She LICKED THE BOWL CLEAN AND WANTED MORE. This is the problem, she will have something once and love it, try it again and walks away. I think Im just going to have to keep it varied but balanced and hopefully she will sort her self out. Ill keep u posted.

I presume edcase that your boxer is now a nice healthy plump good eating dog. lol?