Hi

I have a 9 month old Siberian Husky bitch, i have had her about 2 weeks now, this being her third home since she was a puppy, but definatley her last!! I have had a sibe before but a male and i had no problems with him eating what-so-ever. She seems to be underweight, her pins are showing at the back. I have tried her on the food her previous owner had her on and she only ever ate a few mouth fulls, this morning i offered her some chicken wings, which she seems to love but she only ate 2, the third she just carried to her bed and put it next to her. I cant seem to get her to eat a proper meal, her previous owner said she has always been fussy and quite a lean dog. She is drinking ok and is still enjoying going out for her walks although she is sleeping alot through the day and last night she slept by my bed and never left my side. Any advice would be appreciated. Im a very worried husky owner. I have no papers for her so i dont know anything about her family history i.e with illnesses etc. Obviously if it continues and she loses more weight she will be straight off to the vets.

She is probably wondering how long she is going to be there before she is off again and needs to settle in it can take up to a month. Try her on some fresh tripe if you can get it. I find Forthglade is a good make. Sometimes it is worth putting up with the smell if it gets them eating.  My friend had a litter of puppies who would not eat and when I suggest the tripe they never looked back. if you can get her to eat that then soak some puppy meal and mix in when you have got her eating OK then gradually if you want to use a complete food start changing the mixer for that.  I hope this might be of some help.

Our own HuskyGal is a wealth of knowledge on feeding and caring for sibes. She's not always able to catch up on posts so you could try sending her a private message (PM) My only thought is - is she entire or has she been spayed? If entire she could be coming into her first season and that can put some bitches off their food.

Good luck to you and your girl.

I always find some grated cheese on top of food helps them eat, and also lamb is good for putting weight on dogs, we also feed pork pies to keep weight on, if they have decided to be picky, my bitch had a phantom ,and stopped eating, all except pies, and cheese, and goats milk!!

Probably best speaking to someone with the breed.

Good luck!!

Hello Blaze,
A warm welcome to CD! Good to see another Sibe owner :) (there are a few of us on here)

> Im a very worried husky owner.

Please don't be!!! You'r girl is displaying typical Sibe behaviour :)
It is very common for adult Siberians to go for days sometimes without food. From its Ancestors in harsh conditions the Siberian of today remains a very natural breed (By that I mean close to nature) The Siberian tends to only eat as is needed, and many are 'grazers' (Many are Gannets!) But things like seasons (In bitches, but also our males can go off food at a whiff of in heat bitch) stress, excercise levels, climate etc etc.. can influence the Sibes conservation of food.

> chicken wings, which she seems to love but she only ate 2, the third she just carried to her bed and put it next to her

Here you'r girl is displaying classic Siberian 'natural' instinct..she is using (eating) only what she needs and is saving the excess (for in a harsh artic winter you dont know where the next meal may come from or when...regardless of wether your in the artic or manchester,London..scunthrorpe ;) )

Please dont panic... its very natural and she will not starve herself. :)

Why is she doing it?
Very likely she is slightly discombobulated at a new environment,surroundings, routine and people in her new home.
My lad came to me 4 years ago via breed rescue (he was 1.5 yrs at the time) and he did exactly the same didnt eat for about 3 days and followed me round like a little lost lamb... he is now an International criminal mastermind, very independent, full of vigour and eats like a malamute!!!! (;))
He still has his moments of being my little shadow... usually when he senses any disahrmony he is my weather vain.. he tells me before I realise if I am ill or upset :)

Please dont tinker with her food just yet.. give her a couple of weeks still to settle in and get used to everything else that she has to adjust to :) try to lessen the amount of change she has to adapt to in one go.

Depending on what her breeding is (which sadly we dont know) it may well be perfectly normal for her to be on the lean side) forgive me if you know this already but we have 3 'types' of Siberian: the standard, the american show and the racing. (dogs from the lines that favour the 'racing' type are very lean and 'whippety') so this *may* be her norm?

The sleeping during the day (alot!) again is very typical of some sibes..but also it is natural if she is worn out from a little stress and adjusting to a new life.
All this will pass :) Sibes if anythng are amazing at adjusting.

I would advise if you havent already to take her to the vets to get an 'M.O.T' done especially if little is known of her background health wise. Sibes are a reletively healthy breed but Epilepsy, PRA and hereditary/Juevenile catartacts are tops of the pops for our breed oh and Hypothyroidism. So good to have her given the once over.

Hope this helps!
Look forward to seeing a piccy of her :-D
Liv x

(postscript: can I ask what it was she was being fed on? Private message me if you prefer)

hi thanks for the advice. She was still being sick and had lost alot of weight so she went off to the vets last night. She gave her some anti sickness tabets and a jab, also wormer incase, even tho i was told she was up to date with these. The vet is hoping she will start to eat but i offered some cooked chicken at lunchtime and she gagged at the smell, she is sleeping an awful lot but still drinking. The vet thinks it may be food poisoning down to the raw diet i started her on, i feel awful. Got to give the vet a call in the morning with an update but she maight need to go back for more tests.

here is a pic of her before she got poorly, as you can see she is still very boney. hope this works.

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e66/carrie1dave/blaze.jpg

Lots of people feed their dogs raw chicken etc with out giving their dogs food poisoning, so don't feel awful about it. A lot of vets don't agree with feeding a raw diet.

As huskygal said it's really common for sibes to be fussy eaters, but it sounds like she's picked up a bug. I would make sure she's getting plenty of fluids and offer her some boiled chicken and rice after she's stopped being sick. It may be a few days before she feels well enough to eat it though.

Once she's well enough I would gradually switch her on to a good quality food. Sibes tend to eat less than you'd expect and poor quality food or overfeeding can cause upset stomachs.

It's hard to tell from the photo what her weight is like exactly, but from the looks of her she won't carry much weight.

Hope she's feeling better soon.

Hi Blaze!

Sorry Just realised from your second post (want mentioned in your first post) That she was being sick! My post wasnt too relevant in that case.
How's things now?? How did the tests go?
Hope all is well x Keep us posted

Liv x

Hi, try her on some BIO yogurt, which is great for stabilising a poorly gut, gets good bacteria in there and they usually find it very appetising. Hope she gets better soon! (Make sure it's a BIO yogurt, not ordinary yogurt)

A few drops of Colloidal Silver in the water bowl sorts out my two's dodgy tums.  I have the opposite problem, mine will eat until they pop but Foxy does get a runny bum, funnily enough bio yoghurt does it - amongst others.

Huskypup where do you get your colloidal silver from hun please? Ta x

Newfs,

Best place, service and advice I've found (used her for quite some time now good couple of years) Is Brenda from BritBarf her site Ag4all I've linked to.

HTH (She's fab)

(You can also get it from the Hight St. In Holland&Barrett)

Owww fank u! XXX ;-)

Hi
Just to let you know that Blaze is back to her normal self and eating well. We never found out what it was unforunately. Thanks for all your replies

Awww glad blaze is back to normal. It was possibly just that she was settling into the new environment. Good luck with her - she's a gorgeous girl. I look forward to chatting all things sibe with you, I've got two at the moment :)