Strange behaviour sometimes when eating

[Neil Todd]

Hi All,

         Shea is 20 months old now and I have noticed some odd behaviour he presents occasionally whilst eating. He will begin munching and I will sit in the lounge, then all of a sudden he will come into the room and try to get as close to me as he can whilst arching his back and hunching a bit almost like he has pain in his tummy but he is not making any sounds of distress, I will rub his tummy and call him back through were he will give himself a shake and be fine, sometimes carry on eating other times not. This happened last night and this morning, it does not happen all the time only every now and then.

 

Am wondering if anyone has any ideas on what it could be?

[Mary Davies]

Are you feeding his food completely dry, it could be getting stuck in his throat. All dry food should be fed with a moistener on it ie milk, water, gravy etc.

 

I read a few years ago somone had left their youngster ( not a setter) eating his dinner only to return to find him choking,

poor dog died. I always tell my puppy owners not to feed dry food to them, it is not a natural diet, in the wild food would not be dry, it would consist of stomach contents etc.

 

Hope this helps. Mary

[Val Martin]

Perhaps he is eating too fast.  If the previous mouthful has not had time to leave his throat before the next mouthful then he may be walking away from his food and approaching you because he feels uncomfortable because of the congestion in his throat.

I would stay with him while he eats to see if it is the food or the way he is eating it that is causing the problem.  

If he is a fast eater, throw his food (if it's dry food of course) across the floor rather than feeding it in a dish. This means he can't eat mouthfuls at a time and the food will be less likely to congest in his throat.

All my dogs are fed dry food at mealtimes (they lots of veggies and leftovers at other times) and they have no problems eating it. I do however feed them their food raised off the floor and sometimes scattered.

He may of course also be using feeding time as a way of getting a bit of extra attention when he feels like it!

[Gail Lamb]

Val,

I agree with your post!!  My 1st bitch used to eat so quick it would choke her, I scattered food across the floor in small quantities to make her slow down, after a period of time she realised no one was going to remove her food and she slowed.  I also give my IRWS carrotts, broccoli & cabbage with their meals that has been through the blender...moistens the food and good for their insides I hope :-)

[eva ciechonska]

I also agree.  I had a dog who used to do this, not while he was eating but whenever he was given a chew which he was afraid would be taken off him by one of the others.  Food goes to the stomach by peristalsis and can get impacted when woolfed down to fast.  It soon eases.  It can happen to us.

Keeping the food moist is a good idea.

[Linda Baldry]

Hi this sounds like a dog who could possibly bloat at some time or other, if you go to GlobalSpan.net Bloat in Dogs, you will be able to read about bloat and its possible causes and treatment, you will notice that they do not advise soaking or adding water to dry food, but adding some raw meat, which is how I feed my dogs. I have had previous experience of bloating in Irish setters, so understand the symptoms only too well, hope this helps, regards Linda.

[eva ciechonska]

Hi Linda,  the dog I had never bloated and lived to a ripe old age but he did get what amounted to indigestion occasionally.

I don't soak my food either and feed meat with it like you do but I know of many who do soak because they want to know what size the kibble can swell to before they feed it to their dogs. 

[Linda Baldry]

Hi Eva, yes I have known dogs that are uncomfortable after eating and feel like they are bloating, the best thing I find is to get them up on their front legs or you can even do it with them standing beside you and bang them gently on the side near the shoulder or on the front of the chest, this usually results in an almighty burp, problem solved, like you say just indigestion usually from eating too quickly, what I have got now is a special bowl with all mounds in it, it is specifically designed to slow the dog down while eating and is recommended for preventing bloat, so far so good, it certainly works with Jet, catch you soon x Linda ( Richmond)

[Fran Griffin]

He is in pain. You need to consult a vet.

[Neil Todd]

Linda- This wont be after eating  it usually during and have not noticed him wolfing his food too much. This is not a regular occurrence and happens only now and then. Fed him last night with  boiled veg in his kibble and no problems. There is no bloat in the lines although I know this is no reassurance that it wont happen we are very careful timing his feeds, not less than two hours before or one hour after his exercise time. He is on good food (Burns). Am wondering if maybe he is swallowing too much in one go and it's getting stuck a little before going down and then he's fine.

 

Fran- He has had loose stools for a couple of days so we are going to have him on chicken and rice for a couple of days and then take him to see vet if no improvement.

[Val Martin]

Burns kibble is very small, you could try changing him to a food with larger sized pieces.

At the moment mine are are on James Wellbeloved cereal free and the kibble is large. My dogs have to crunch each piece individually.

Add some live natural probiotic yoghurt to his food, it's great for upset stomachs. 

I would try this first before going to the vets if he is behaving normally in all other ways.

[Sherry Miller]

We used an angel food cake pan here to slow our Molly down when she first came home as she was a terrible gobbler of food. ( Large clean stones in bottom of her feeding dish would also work)  Within two weeks she had slowed down to the point that her regular feeding bowl was back in use and we have had no issues since with gobbling .  Now if someone can solve the messy water bowl problem she will be perfect........:)

 

 

 

 

[Sherry Miller]

Sue you described an Irish shower perfectly!!! she also makes a wonderful kitchen floor waterer......just have not seen any flowers growing after she waters it.  Who ever invents a keep it in the bowl water bowl will make a million bucks!