My 2 1/2 year old silken is on a hunger strike. She's quite a picky eater anyway and often misses a meal, sometimes several meals and if anything at all different happens she won't eat. She's very lean, normal weight 15 - 16kg and now weighs 13.5. She hasn't voluntarily eaten anything since last Friday morning. Obviously she's been to the vets, she has a slight temperature and because she was in season a few weeks ago I asked them to scan her in case of pyometra. All looks normal and no other symptoms, she is drinking but not excessively. She has had blood taken, in house tests all fine. The vet has thoroughly checked her mouth, teeth and throat. She doesn't appear to be in pain at all. We've been for a walk this morning, she ran as normal but is slightly grumpier with the others in the car - don't touch me grumpy. Back for breakfast - raw tripe offered and refused but if I break tiny bits off and prise her mouth open and put them on her tongue she will swallow them. It's quite hard to prise her mouth open and I have to corner her and put her on a lead so it's not like she's playing me and wants this treatment. I've managed to get her to swallow about 1/4lb tripe this way before she started spitting it out and really fighting. This is the most she's eaten since last week. She's also swallowing 4 or 5 metacam sized syringes of lactol this way, that must only be about 20ml a few times a day but she is also drinking water herself. I've tried absolutely everything to tempt her to eat, finger feeding her, playing and treating, leaving her in a room with food, leaving food to steal off a table etc etc cream, pate (Marks and spencers finest!), all sorts of cooked, raw and tinned meat, toast and cheese, scrambled egg, chocoloate(!) all refused. I'm so worried about her, she's such a skinny little thing anyway and now I can feel every rib, shoulder bone etc. Anybody any ideas for tempting her to eat?

You've warmed the food, of course? And tried cat food?

yes, warmed lots of things, even warm cat food with melted cheese on top! Her favourite food is liver, so warm grilled liver - on its own, with cheese, cream, a tiny bit of grated chocolate - all refused :-(

Sounds like a phantom to me :-)

Yes,
progesterone can actually act as a depressant- all this could well be hormones and would account for the irritability too.

> Sounds like a phantom to me :-)

Me too. My little girl has just started eating again after over a month of starving herself and losing about 3 kilos. Try not to worry. They usually do get over it.

> My little girl has just started eating again after over a month of starving herself

Over a month!!!! :-( 

Thanks everyone, I think you're right it probably is hormonal although she isn't nesting or anything. Possibly I'm the problem,  I just can't leave her to starve :-(

One of mine starved herself for 2 days and I tried everything. On the 3rd day I fed the other dogs in front of her and I didn't offer her anything. The next morning same routine but she did try to sniff their bowls & by tea time she wanted to eat. I think that was a mild phantom.  I had a male dog who didn't eat for 3 weeks due to a neighbours bitch being in season and I resorted to giving him a Mars Bar in the end then his appetite returned.

It's such a worry when they won't eat, I've had my fair share of them. Have you tried her on Satin Balls ? there are various recipes for this on the web, it's fed raw, I tried it when I first got Ben and it did get him eating, it's also high in calories so she won't have to eat too much of it.

Yes thanks Celli I have tried them and she refused them :-(  Yesterday on our walk though she took 3 tiny bits of schmackos (maybe around 2cm all together), it was a great Christmas present. I know it's not enough to keep a sparrow alive but I'm viewing it as a good sign :-)

I know the feeling, the tiniest morsel is a bonus, it's so hard to not to get obsessive when they won't eat.

Since she's a sighthound couldn't you utilize that somehow ?, just thinking if she gets into excitable chase mode she might eat what she's caught, could you get her to chase some thrown chicken or other food ?

>Me too. My little girl has just started eating again after over a month of starving herself and losing about 3 kilos.

Blimey, there'd be nothing left of Hetty, she only weighs 6.5kg!! Luckily she's been eating properly for a few weeks now.

For Phantoms try EPO oil daily and Pulsitilla 30c dailiy