The term “dog anorexia” is considered to be a deficiency, usually used to describe a dog who refuses to eat or who eats only a small amount of what his body needs everyday. The way a dog eats is most often controlled by hunger, and appetite.

A dog's emotion, sensations, and the taste of food can be affected by this control factor. Also, a mechanical interruption can cause a disturbance of a dog's natural eating habit. Any foreign object stuck in its throat, a broken jawbone, or any other physical altercations are some examples of anorexia. It can be mistaken as normal by a dog owner, for a dog to skip a meal, but this should bring concern, because a healthy dog should always be hungry when it is time for a meal, in the same way a human is.

Whenever a dog will not eat at mealtime, this should be the first sign that something is wrong. If your dog skips eating two feedings in a row, you can almost be certain that there is something wrong with your dog.

As the law of gravity, it is natural for a dog to gradually loose weight if he stops eating.  This weight loss results from the dog using the nutrients from his body. When there are no nutrients entering a dog's body, an anorexic dog must burn itself up to be able to maintain the energy and the nutrients required for his life functions. When any extra demands from disease are put on top of those that are suffering from anorexia, they tend to burn up even faster.

Fats, carbohydrates, and protein are added to the weight that has been lost. Protein is among the most important loss to a dog. A 20 lb Beagle will have already lost approximately 3 percent of his total protein need by the end of 2 days of anorexia. This can be an extreme loss when considering how much protein is essential for wound healing, tissue repair, and for normal metabolism. Death can occur during an illness if actions are not taken immediately to overcome the deficiencies of calories and nutrients.

Force feeding or intragastric intubation is sometimes required with a anorexic dog. If this method is needed to nurse your dog back to health, it should only be done long enough for a dog to get back to eating on a satisfactory level.

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