When your dog won't finish their food: a calm checklist for Singapore pet parents

TLDR: See your vet if your dog refuses food for a day, or shows other signs such as vomiting, diarrhoea, tiredness, drooling or trouble chewing. If your dog is otherwise well and just leaves some of the bowl, work through seven checks first: treats and scraps, portion size, meal times, a calm spot, how fresh the food is, serving temperature, and changing one thing at a time. Then compare food types by smell, texture and moisture. Kibble, wet or gently cooked, air dried, freeze dried and raw foods all differ on those three, and no type is guaranteed to fix fussiness. This is general information, not veterinary advice.

Every pet parent in Singapore knows the bowl that comes back half full. Sometimes it is a passing mood, and sometimes it is worth a call to your vet. This post gives you a calm order to check things in, then a plain side by side of how the main types of dog food differ in smell, texture, moisture, serving and storage. It is not a ranking. Each type suits some dogs and some households, and none is the right or wrong answer.

First, when to call your vet

Appetite is one of the first things to change when a dog is not feeling well, so this comes before any change of food. Singapore's Animal & Veterinary Service (AVS) lists changes in appetite among the signs that need prompt veterinary attention (AVS, Caring for a dog). See your vet if:

• Your dog refuses food for a day.
• Eating less comes with other signs, such as vomiting, diarrhoea, tiredness or weakness, or a change in how much your dog drinks.
• Your dog walks up to the bowl and backs off, drops food, drools or struggles to chew.
• Weight is coming off over a few weeks.
• Your dog is a puppy, a senior, very small or has a health condition and goes off food. Ask your vet how long is too long to wait.

Only your vet can say whether health is behind it. If your vet has no concerns, the checklist below is a calm place to start.

A calm checklist: seven things to check first

Work through these in order. The first four cost nothing.

• 1. Count everything that goes in the bowl and around it. For three days, write down meals, treats, chews, table scraps and toppers. Veterinary nutritionists at Tufts University suggest that treats and extras stay within about 10% of daily calories, so the main meal still makes up most of the day (Tufts Petfoodology). A dog that has had plenty before dinner is not always a fussy dog.
• 2. Check the portion. Weigh the food and compare it with the feeding guide on the pack and your vet's advice, rather than scooping by eye. A bowl that suits a bigger or more active dog can look like a refusal on a calm day.
• 3. Set meal times. Many pet parents serve meals at fixed times, lift the bowl after 15 to 30 minutes and serve the next meal fresh when it is due, instead of leaving food down all day. It also makes it easier to see how much your dog really ate. Ask your vet first if your dog is a puppy, very small, a senior or has a health condition.
• 4. Pick a calm spot and a cooler time. Use the same place every day, away from other pets, visitors and noise, and try not to hover over the bowl. Hot afternoons can take the edge off appetite for some dogs, so try the morning or after the evening walk, with fresh water down.
• 5. Check the food is fresh. Smell opened food. A dog's sense of smell is far stronger than ours, so a bag that has sat open in a humid flat can smell different to your dog before it does to you. This applies to every dry food, from kibble to air dried and freeze dried. Keep it in its original bag inside an airtight container, in a cool, dry place, use it within the time on the pack, and wash the bowl every day.
• 6. Check the serving temperature. Food straight from the fridge or freezer gives off little smell. Chilled or thawed food left to reach room temperature, or a splash of warm water on dry food, gives off more. Warm is enough, not hot, and bin what is left rather than saving it.
• 7. Change one thing at a time. If the checks change nothing and your vet is happy, a different food is a fair next step. Change one thing at a time, and change gradually, so you can tell what made the difference. There is more on that below.

Smell, texture and moisture: five ways to feed, side by side

Dogs have a far stronger sense of smell than people, and the shape of a food changes what your dog smells, how it feels in the mouth and how much water is in the bowl. Here is how the main types differ. It describes. It does not rank.

Smell and texture are general descriptions of each format. Recipes vary a lot, and your dog's nose is the judge. Moisture figures are typical ranges from the Pet Food Institute (dry food 10 to 12%, wet food 70 to 80%), the UK Pet Food fact sheet (raw about 65%), Whole Dog Journal (freeze dried as low as 5%, some air dried foods above 10%) and our guide to dog food types and prices in Singapore (gently cooked 65 to 78%). Moisture on a pack is a maximum, so check the guaranteed analysis on the one you buy (Tufts Petfoodology).

Serving and storage matter as much as smell on a busy Singapore weekday, so here is the same list again.

How each option works for a reluctant eater

Kibble

Kibble is cooked at high heat, shaped into pieces and dried. It is easy to weigh, it is the same from scoop to scoop and it keeps in the cupboard. Many pieces are coated with fat or flavour after cooking, so an opened bag is worth a sniff, and a splash of warm water brings the smell up. Recipes differ between ranges more than the method does.

Wet, canned and gently cooked

Wet food is cooked and sealed in a can or pouch. It is soft, moist and strong smelling, and many pet parents add a spoonful to the bowl for that reason. Opened cans need the fridge and keep for a short time. Gently cooked food is made from meat, organs and vegetables cooked at a low temperature, portioned and frozen. It is soft and moist, and the smell comes up when it is gently warmed. It needs freezer space and a plan to thaw it, and in Singapore's heat thawed food should not sit out. Most of the weight in both is water, so a dog eats more of it by weight.

Air dried

Meat, organs and bone are dried slowly with warm air, which removes most of the water. It is dense, so portions look small, and it is scoop and serve. Pieces are firm, and a little warm water softens them if your dog prefers that. “Air dried” can mean different things, so check the method on the back of the pack.

Freeze dried

The food is frozen, then the water is drawn out under vacuum. It is very light and crisp or crumbly, and it is often soaked before serving. With so little water in it, keep the pack sealed, especially in our humidity.

Raw (commercial frozen)

Raw meat, often with bone and organ, sold frozen. It smells fresh and is soft and cold. AVS notes that raw meat can carry bacteria such as Salmonella and E. coli, which matters most in homes with children, older people or anyone with a weaker immune system, and that bones can cause tooth fractures or blockages. AVS suggests talking through the risks with your vet and following strict food safety (AVS, Caring for a dog). It also needs freezer space and thawing, and a thorough clean of the bowl, your hands and surfaces.

Adding a food to the bowl, and changing foods

Many pet parents add a spoonful of a stronger-smelling food to the bowl. Some pet parents say it changes how mealtimes go, and it can also make the added food the one your dog waits for, so pick a plan and keep to it. Count whatever you add in the day's food.

Two kinds of extras need different maths. Treats and plain extras should stay within about 10% of daily calories, as in step 1. A second complete food works by proportion. If one food is half the bowl, feed half of its daily amount and half of the other food's daily amount. There is more on mixing two foods in our overview of dog food types in Singapore.

To change foods, start with a small share of the new food and raise it over about a week, or longer if your dog seems unsettled. Ask your vet if anything worries you along the way.

If you would like another option for the bowl, Nikyu is air dried dog food made in New Zealand that is 95% meat: whole meat, organ and bone plus hydrolysed fish protein, so every recipe contains fish. Pet parents can use it as a topper on their dog's current food or as a full meal, and every recipe is formulated to meet the nutritional levels established by the AAFCO Dog Food Nutrient Profiles for All Life Stages. It is high quality and easy to use: scoop, serve and reseal the pack.

Questions pet parents ask