puppys eating habits

i have an 8 week old border terrier x patterdale terrier, i have had him for 11 days now and when we got him he was a stocky little thing (the owner said he was eating everything and anything) however since we have had him he has been picking at his food i can tell he has lost some weight and although he is still full of energy and runs around all over the place i am quite worried, we have 2 cats and he seems to be more interested in their food than his own, has anybody got any ideas on how i can tempt him to eat more? ive tried cried food, tinned food, the two mixed together, i have tried tesco puppy, pets at home puppy and now we are currently trying pedigree pouches but he still seems more interested in the cat food

maybe its because he is on his own now and doesn't have the competition from his littermates for food, try putting a small teddy or something like that next to his food bowl wilst feeding him he may just think the competition has arrived!
good luck

You got your puppy very early then if he's 8 weeks old now, which is not a good thing....

I'd remove the cat food and put it where he can't reach it, and I'd also give him better quality food than Pedigree.

yes we did and we wouldnt normally take a pet so young, however his mother wouldnt let him near her and the lady we got him from was going into the hosptial to have her foot amputated and she had to rehome them a bit early

thamkyou i will give that a try x

When Kali left his Mum to come and live with us, he was two days under 6 weeks. He had no problems with the idea of food, but he was bl@@dy fussy about what it was! When we eventually found something that he would devour with relish, the manufacturer stopped making it (typical). After that, it was a question of "try this, try that" - and then we found "Bounce", with a little tuna mixed in.

Maybe the tuna makes dogfood smell like catfood??? Worth a try....?

Snorri

thankyou for that tip, i will definitely be giving it a try,

Another thing we tried, with success, was minced lamb (from the butcher) - the unsaleable bits shoved through the mincer. Not only did it get finished, it cleared up breath problems. If you settle on this, watch out for the fat content!

Snorri

Did the breeder mention when he was last wormed? Have you wormed him since you got him? Pups should be wormed every 2 weeks until 2 weeks of age. Just an idea as having worms induces weight loss, and can kill is left.

Re; food puppy's can be fussy, I'd try a good quality complete kibble or wet food. Off the top of my head that's easily available in Pets At home - (dry) James Wellbeloved Royal Canin, Wainrights or (wet) Naturediet, Natures Menu, Applaws (this is lovely stuff but can get expensive if you have a medium to large size dog! ), Natures Harvest. You can also add some egg to either as it helps keep their poos from being runny, and I'd moisten the kibble if you decide to go with dry.

Definitley pick the cat food up, it's very high in protein and fat and can be dangerous for your puppy to eat!

Hope that helps.

hi thanks for that she never mentioned anything about worming he does have a vets appointment tomorrow so i think he will probably be prescribed some wormer, at least i hope he will be. i shall have a look out for the foods you mentioned, im willing to try anything once and see which he prefers xx