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My dog won't eat for 3 days. Is it serious? What should I do now?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Pug | Female | unspayed | 1 year and 10 months old | 12 lbs

It is not eating food for three days pls help me

5 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Destini R. Holloway, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on May 13th, 2017

I am so sorry to hear that Blessy is so ill. Not eating for 3 days typically indicates an internal disease process is going on such as liver, kidney, pancreas disease or an infection. This needs to be treated by your veterinarian because at home remedies won't help in this case. I would recommend starting with some testing (bloodwork, urinalysis, x-rays) through your vet to determine what is causing this so that we know how best to help your sweet girl. Once we know the cause, proper medical treatment can help stabilize her condition. Until you can get her in try offering her some Pedialyte and/or Pediasure to provide some fluid support and nutritional support until she can get seen. I sincerely hope you can get her seen soon and I hope she makes a full and speedy recovery. Here are financial assistance resources also, if needed: Carecredit.com Redrover.org

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Other Answers

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    Answered By Dr. Massimo Orioles, DVM, Cert AVP, MRCVS

    Veterinarian

    Published on

    This is a quite generic but concerning sign. Differentials are many, from gastrointestinal diseases (infection/inflammations often dietary related) to any disease that can spread systemically (causing lethargy for example) like infection, and anything that can cause pain/discomfort. The approach must be logic, starting from offering different kind of food. Anyway A check up is needed if inappetence last for more than 24hours, so I would recommend to take Blessy to your vet immediately. Please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further.

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    Answered By Ana M, DVM

    Veterinarian

    Published on October 17th, 2019

    Thank you for submitting your question regarding Dog. I recommend that he sees a veterinarian today. Three days is a long time to go without eating. He could be experiencing nausea which is causing a lack of appetite. If this is not the case, then a respiratory tract infection is possible or he could be painful somewhere. The veterinarian will carefully examine and determine how best to treat him. In the meantime, do not give any over-the-counter pain medications as these can be toxic to dogs. I hope this information helps!

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    Answered By Silvia De Cecco, DVM, MRCVS

    Veterinarian

    Published on March 17th, 2018

    Inappetence is a non specific sign and can be related to a variety of health problems (gastrointestinal, pain related, secondary to high body temperature,...). Given his young age could be quite concerning and 3 days without nutriment is a worrying sign. I recommend to bring her to the vet asap for a full health check. Please post again on the forum if you would like to discuss it further. I hope my answer was helpful.

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    Answered By Jennifer Summerfield, DVM CPDT-KA

    Veterinarian, Certified Dog Trainer

    Published on June 16th, 2018

    Poor Tommy! If he hasn't eaten in the past three days, he definitely needs to be seen by a vet - I would recommend taking him to an emergency clinic today to be seen, if possible. This is a very vague symptom that could be caused by almost any kind of illness, so it's hard to say what might be wrong without being able to examine him and run some tests. He may have parvo (if he wasn't fully vaccinated as a puppy), a GI problem such as pancreatitis or an intestinal obstruction, a systemic illness like liver or kidney disease, or may have ingested something toxic. Your veterinarian can do blood work and x-rays if needed to help diagnose the problem and get him started on appropriate treatment.

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