Dog Not Eating after Other Dog Died

I had litter mate Bouvier des Flandes (male and female). The male was put to sleep on October 27th, 2008 and the female has not eaten very much since then. When she does eat, she vomits it back up. I have tried just about everything I have read on the internet, except to get a new dog. Please help me. What can I do?

Edie

Answers:

Dog Not Eating after Other Dog Died

My Border Collie had a similar reaction after the death of my husband. Try feeding him while you eat and close to you. He is very sad and lonely and needs to feel close to someone. Maybe even go as far as to sit on the ground to eat and then lots of love and relaxing after. Dogs get depressed too. As a last resort for my dog I had my vet prescribe Zanex for a couple of months as my dog also developed anxiety problems. This helped a lot to. Best of luck. (12/01/2008)

By Sarah

Dog Not Eating after Other Dog Died

I had a similar problem when my female Chow died. Her pal our younger Golden Retriever would not eat anything or drink water out of their communal water bowls both inside and out. I tried different foods, but nothing worked and he would eat very little if at all.

I went to Petco and asked one of the workers there if they had any ideas of what to do. The girl suggested that I buy all new water and food dishes which I did and it worked. Sounds crazy, but it worked. (12/02/2008)

By Margaret

Dog Not Eating after Other Dog Died

We had the same experience. I have been hand feeding my dog for 10 months now. She has never gotten over the lose of her life time buddy. I sit in the floor and she eats out of my hand. (12/02/2008)

By Danialle

Dog Not Eating after Other Dog Died

Hand feeding and sitting with the dog are good ideas. However, you may want to take her to the vet to rule out any medical problem that happens to be coincidental to the loss of her companion. (12/02/2008)

By Maryeileen

Dog Not Eating after Other Dog Died

We experienced this problem too. What worked for our surviving dog was to feed her small amounts of real meat for a while. Then, we mixed the cooked beef/chicken in her dog food, and continued to have more dog food, less meat, until she was back on her normal diet.

Be patient, it takes a while. Your dog is truly grieving and who knows how long it might take for them to come around. Please talk to your vet, too. As mentioned above, there are medications to help during this period of adjustment.

(12/02/2008)

By KJ

Dog Not Eating after Other Dog Died

So sorry to hear about your loss. We also are going through the same kind of sadness, our Lab mix, Suzie, was put to sleep on Dec. 6 and her "brother", Toby, has been grieving, too. He didn't eat for several days, but is back to his usual diet now.

We put all of Suzie's dishes away, they ate separately. It's important to keep them on the same routine, but just know that they grieve, too. Toby is not the same dog and I know from previous experience he never will be after losing his sister. Be patient, feed him broth, baby food, poached chicken, canned dog food, whatever you can tempt him with.

But also do check with the vet. Our girl, who died, also quit eating and she was very ill with a tumor in her chest, so check out that part first. So sorry for you, it hurts a lot, I cry every day over my lost Suzie. (01/26/2009)

By Marcie