# First time pet owner - Kiki not eating her kibble. But she is very active.



## ilovekiki (Aug 12, 2020)

Hello Everyone.

I am a first time pet owner . We recently bought a 15 weeks Maltese .Her name is "Kiki" . She was diagonised with worms and the vet put her on antibiotics .
She is very active now but refuses to eat her kibble. The vet checked her again and she confirmed that she is healthy now. I changed the kibble that was given by her breeder .Initially she started eating a small amount of the new kibble.But does not show any interest now. These are the things i did to get back her appetite

1.Added chicken broth
2.Added rice
3.Added shredded chicken breast.
4.Warmed up the food.
5.Changed her bowls.
6.Hand fed her.
7.Changed the place of her feeding bowls.
8.Added wet food to her kibble.

The food I am using is ->* Heartland Gold Grain Free Puppy Dry Dog Food*
Nothing seems to be working. She loves to play and is very happy in general. Everyone in our family loves her so much and pamper her. Please help as I am very concerned that she is not able to eat at least 1/2 cup of food a day.
Her current weight is 3.8 pounds.

Thanks
Val.


----------



## Coster (Oct 26, 2015)

Hi Val, sorry to hear Kiki has worms. Sometimes worms can make a dog get lack of appetite too As they can get tummy pain from having worms. I am sure your vet put her on worm medicine to rid of them. Try to feed her wet food too. Maybe royal canin puppy food. Worms can increase a puppy appetite but it also can make them feel sick too. Maybe ask the vet for Pepcid ac to help the tummy pain. Worms will go away in time and puppy is probably healthy but Kiki needs time to get rid of those puppy bugs.. to feel better. Hope it goes away fast. Dee.


----------



## Snuggle's Mom (Jan 3, 2008)

First of all, I would want to make sure that the worms are completely out of her system. When we got our Laci last October, the Breeder assured us that she was dewormed. However, our Vet saw her 4 days later and actually gave us some to give her just to make sure that they were not in her anymore. Not sure about the food that you are feeding her as I have not heard of that Brand. Perhaps you might want to do a search on other appropriate dog foods that you can purchase in your area. There are quite a few different kinds out there.


----------



## Snuggle's Mom (Jan 3, 2008)

I just checked out the Food that you are feeding your little Puppy and saw that it is Fromm variety of dog Food which looks very good and is a reputable dog food.


----------



## Abella's Mommy (Mar 31, 2019)

Welcome to Spoiled Maltese! Kiki is adorably cute!
I too would encourage you to make sure her worms are gone and that she gets a clean bill of health from your vet.
After that I wouldn't be over concerned with her eating - you did say she's very active and playful. Check the feeding rate on the back of the package of your dog food. I'm wondering if the 1/2 cup a day you expect her to eat is too much for your small 3.8 lb fluff - not sure if your additional rice/chicken is included in the 1/2 cup or in addition to your 1/2 cup a day expectation. Abella weighs in at 7+ lbs and she gets 1/4 cup twice a day. Also, do not leave her food down all day. Have a set time to feed her and only leave her food down for a limited amount of time (maybe 10 minutes) - This will encourage her to eat when fed and not graze. Please keep us updated and definitely provide more pictures.
🐶 🐾🌻


----------



## zooeysmom (Aug 1, 2011)

I would try a few more food samples. None of my dogs liked Fromm either. And personally, I'm not a fan of grain-free foods. I also agree that 1/2 cup might be too much for such a little pup. So I'd try some other foods and I would stop bending over backwards to get her to eat or you're setting her up to be a super picky adult (just imagine having to go through this routine for up to 15 years!). I'm glad to hear she's feeling better, though! That's great news.


----------



## ilovekiki (Aug 12, 2020)

Thank you so much everyone. I will take her to the doc and get a fecal test done soon. The additional rice and chicken add up to 1 tea spoon.( Basically just bits and pieces) as a topper. 
I was going to ask the same - > for a 3 month old puppy, how much is she she supposed to eat on a daily basis(
( As my breeder said she would eat 1/4 cup a serving) Which was not very convincing. These puppies have tiny tummy and 1/4 cup per serving is a lot) 
So i am right now feeding 3 times a day and don't leave the food for free feeding. Zooeysmom is correct. I dont want my baby to be a picky eater for the rest of her life. So want all your valuable suggestions . 

Can i get some suggestions on good dry food for this baby?

Thanks
Val.


----------



## zooeysmom (Aug 1, 2011)

Val, I would _guess_ more like 1/8 cup three times per day. I guess that is almost 1/2 cup/day.


----------



## ilovekiki (Aug 12, 2020)

zooeysmom said:


> Val, I would _guess_ more like 1/8 cup three times per day. I guess that is almost 1/2 cup/day.


Thank you for checking.


----------



## ilovekiki (Aug 12, 2020)

Snuggle's Mom said:


> I just checked out the Food that you are feeding your little Puppy and saw that it is Fromm variety of dog Food which looks very good and is a reputable dog food.


Yes. I read a lot about Fromm brand and made a call.


----------



## ilovekiki (Aug 12, 2020)

Update: I had a fecal test done again and her results came out clean. I think i will have to wait for some more days to see her appetite kicking in. My vet bill for the first diagnosis was a huge one 
Could yo help me with getting a good pet insurance?
I also wanted to ask if the over the counter medication - Safe Guard dewormer is safe to use for malteses. Pic attached.- Safe-Guard Dog Dewormer

Thanks
Val.


----------



## zooeysmom (Aug 1, 2011)

Hi Val, Very good news on the clean fecal! Safe Guard looks safe, but I've never used it. I would definitely ask your vet no matter what advice you get on the forum on medications. Always better to err on the safe side. 

I used to have Zooey and one of my poodles on PetPlan and they were great. Back then, PetPlan was the gold standard, but these days there are many good companies, and hopefully others will share their experiences with them.


----------



## ilovekiki (Aug 12, 2020)

zooeysmom said:


> Hi Val, Very good news on the clean fecal! Safe Guard looks safe, but I've never used it. I would definitely ask your vet no matter what advice you get on the forum on medications. Always better to err on the safe side.
> 
> I used to have Zooey and one of my poodles on PetPlan and they were great. Back then, PetPlan was the gold standard, but these days there are many good companies, and hopefully others will share their experiences with them.


Thank you Elizebeth. 

Can i know how old is Zooey.


----------



## zooeysmom (Aug 1, 2011)

Yes, she is 13


----------



## ilovekiki (Aug 12, 2020)

zooeysmom said:


> Yes, she is 13


Aww - so cute - I guess thats the beauty of Maltese. Zooey is 13 years yet she looks like 13 months baby.


----------



## zooeysmom (Aug 1, 2011)

Well, these pictures are a few years old LOL But she still does look like a puppy when I give her a puppy clip! And she gets moments of spunk where she runs around like a pup.


----------



## Happinesstogo (Oct 17, 2015)

Abella's Mommy said:


> Welcome to Spoiled Maltese! Kiki is adorably cute!
> I too would encourage you to make sure her worms are gone and that she gets a clean bill of health from your vet.
> After that I wouldn't be over concerned with her eating - you did say she's very active and playful. Check the feeding rate on the back of the package of your dog food. I'm wondering if the 1/2 cup a day you expect her to eat is too much for your small 3.8 lb fluff - not sure if your additional rice/chicken is included in the 1/2 cup or in addition to your 1/2 cup a day expectation. Abella weighs in at 7+ lbs and she gets 1/4 cup twice a day. Also, do not leave her food down all day. Have a set time to feed her and only leave her food down for a limited amount of time (maybe 10 minutes) - This will encourage her to eat when fed and not graze. Please keep us updated and definitely provide more pictures.
> 🐶 🐾🌻


Oh, gee, my vet told me Whisper weighs too much. He's almost 8 lbs. He was very underweight till a he was about a year and a half when he reached almost 5 lbs. Vet said he needed to be 6 1/2 to 7 lbs.

Kept trying different foods so he would eat. Was very happy when he finally ate. So on the last visit two months ago when the vets said he weighed too much, I was flabbergasted. I asked the vet how much to give him and he didn't tell me an amount. Just said to give him less. So I've been feeding Whisper about a 1/2 cup of wet and dry combined, 2X a day, with probiotic and fish oil in the am. Oh...and he gets human food treats while training. Obviously, I've been overfeeding him. Geesh!

Thank you. I'm going to take out a 1/4 measuring cup and be more careful in the future. 

Lainie


----------



## Snuggle's Mom (Jan 3, 2008)

Chrissy gets 1/4 2x's a day and weighs a bit over 7 lbs. I noticed that you feed Whisper 1/2 2x's a day and perhaps you might need to cut that down a bit since she has been gaining weight.


----------



## Dixie's Mama (Mar 19, 2008)

ilovekiki said:


> Thank you so much everyone. I will take her to the doc and get a fecal test done soon. The additional rice and chicken add up to 1 tea spoon.( Basically just bits and pieces) as a topper.
> I was going to ask the same - > for a 3 month old puppy, how much is she she supposed to eat on a daily basis(
> ( As my breeder said she would eat 1/4 cup a serving) Which was not very convincing. These puppies have tiny tummy and 1/4 cup per serving is a lot)
> So i am right now feeding 3 times a day and don't leave the food for free feeding. Zooeysmom is correct. I dont want my baby to be a picky eater for the rest of her life. So want all your valuable suggestions .
> ...


When we had our first Maltese puppy 12 years ago our Vet told me not to go by the feeding amount given on the package or can. He said the Dog food companies want our Dogs to eat a lot so we will need to buy more food! 😳
So I always go by what our Vet says.


----------



## Happinesstogo (Oct 17, 2015)

Snuggle's Mom said:


> Chrissy gets 1/4 2x's a day and weighs a bit over 7 lbs. I noticed that you feed Whisper 1/2 2x's a day and perhaps you might need to cut that down a bit since she has been gaining weight.


Following your advice I did cut him down to 1/4 cup twice a day. Sure hope that works for him. 

Really appreciate your good advice. 

Lainie


----------



## Luckymommy (Apr 18, 2021)

ilovekiki said:


> Hello Everyone.
> 
> I am a first time pet owner . We recently bought a 15 weeks Maltese .Her name is "Kiki" . She was diagonised with worms and the vet put her on antibiotics .
> She is very active now but refuses to eat her kibble. The vet checked her again and she confirmed that she is healthy now. I changed the kibble that was given by her breeder .Initially she started eating a small amount of the new kibble.But does not show any interest now. These are the things i did to get back her appetite
> ...


My 12 mo ols maltese.bichon is picky too. This morning he is eating cut up chicken breast cut up small and purina puppy food I borrowed. I have to remember at 11.9 lbs, they dont require much. Try freeze dried and whatever he eats is enough. Also use kong for his own dry Nutrisource and also when walking. throw it out and have him get it. Sounds dumb but that works best.


----------

