Hi,

I have briefly mentioned on other topics, but want to go more in depth......My Irish Setter is not a regular eater, some days she will eat all I give her and others won't touch it.

She is 20 months old, and every time she starts to fill out a little she then doesn't eat for a couple of days and weight drops very quickly, literally she looks too slim again in 2 or 3 days. Took her to ringcraft class for first time last night, I honestly think some people thought that I just don't feed her well or enough (one comment was, oh your other dog isn't underweight).

She is fed 28% protein (dry), skinners hypoallergenic puppy food with one of or a couple of the following:
Nature diet 12% (wet) puppy
Minced tripe
Heart chunks
Egg
White fish
pilchards
Beef mince
Milk (full fat) - I know a lot of dogs are lactose intolerant, but she doesn't show any signs of not getting on with it
Very finely chopped veggies (raw)
Bread (not v often)

As I have been writing this she has just polished off a whole bowl (probably about 5/6 cooking measure cups) of the biscuits and minced tripe with a little veg. It is a lot for her to eat at once, probably too much, but I am trying to get her on 3 meals a day. She was offered breakfast (same mix) and ate half, wouldn't eat anything at lunch. I am offering her the meals but I can't make her eat them.

I am giving her a chicken wing at lunch but today didn't defrost in time. Can she have them frozen or partly frozen?? But quite often she will just look at and then at my other dog and back to the bowl as if to say 'yes, what would you like me to do with that?!'

Anything else anyone recommend to feed? She is fed near my other dog which sometimes encourages her to eat it. Jaz does not steal food from her, I am with them all day so I know exactly who has eaten what.

Any ideas?

Oops forgot to say, she does a lot of exercise as you can imagine with her breed, she loves to run.

She is also wearing a coat pretty much constantly at moment, as I think that way whatever she eats more of it will be going to put weight on rather than keeping her warm.

Hi Jo, this is such a common theme with Irish Setters. They do put us through the mill don't they!

I'm going to advise you to do the impossible. Try not to fret about the lack of eating, it will sort it'self out. It would seem that her intake is enough to keep her flying about like a paper kite, so she's getting enough energy from what little she is taking, and at 20 months she is full grown, just needing to mature.

Somebody I know spent a fortune at the vet, investigating his Irish Setter bitch with this problem, all to no avail, everthing came back normal, he was hand feeding her, yes I mean he was making little food balls and popping them into her throat and rubbing her neck till she swallowed. She even had exploratory surgery!!!

The bitch is now 4 years old and a perfectly normal weight.

Be strong,
regards, Dawn R.

> I am giving her a chicken wing at lunch but today didn't defrost in time. Can she have them frozen or partly frozen??

Yes she can and some dogs actually prefer them a bit icy.  If she's enthusiastic about wings try her on necks, or portions with more meat such as quarters, thighs and drumsticks.  Turkey drumsticks are huge - and pretty cheap - and are great for dogs that really enjoy bony meals.

I've been through that with my picky princess, it took ages to find something she will eat, and even then it's just a slow munching, she doesn't dive in like a normal spaniel at all! Thank goodness Lottie is a greedy pig, I couldn't go through the stress Hetty has been any time soon! :-D She's still on the lean side but hopefully she will keep it on now.

I had this with our Gordon Setter too, she is now 6 and some days she eats, some days she doesn't eat breakfast but will eat tea, other days the other way round. We just let her get on with it now - our only problem is that when she doesn't eat it our bernese is more than happy to wolf it down so we have to lift it if it is left uneaten or she will be the size of a horse!

We do exactly as Dawn says and we just don't fret - she is healthy and fit and a good weight - we know she isn't ill as she will wolf down the cats food at any opportunity!

Ours wears a coat all winter too - even indoors :-D When we got her first coat she got it on for a walk and then it was removed when she got home. We later found her in her bed snuggled into the coat so now we leave it on (our house isn't very warm during the day) and just take it off when the central heating is on :-0