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Edit: Please do not tell me to "just stop hand feeding" before reading the whole post, she actually DOES starve herself to the point she starts vomiting bile.

Hi all, I know this is a topic that's probably been brought up before but my situation is slightly different to what I've seen. She will sometimes eat on her own without intervention in her crate, BUT sometimes she will ignore food entirely for hours. She has gone through this kind of phase before but this time she is much more stubborn about it.

I have tried placing the food down for half an hour and then taking it away if she refuses to eat, this worked last time. This time however, it is not working. People always seem to repeat the same thing, "they will not let themselves starve", but she will. Yesterday she still had not eaten her breakfast by 10:30am and ended up vomiting bile from her stomach being so empty. She WILL allow herself to reach that point. We have a vet appointment about this because I do not think that's normal but what's frustrating is she WILL eat, but only if someone is actively interacting with her while she does so.

For example, I will place her food down in her crate and leave her in there with it, she will not eat, but if I place it down and then hand feed her the first few bites and then stay sat with her she will then eat the rest no problem. I'm not sure if this is just a quirk she's picked up or what's going on but if I don't do this at breakfast she will end up vomiting bile. Lunch and dinner I am a little stricter as since she's eaten breakfast there's no risk of her vomiting from being so hungry. But at breakfast I just can't afford to not sit there with her anymore.

Has anyone dealt with something similar? Could she be unwell? Is this just a quirk she will grow out of? She used to be so enthusiastic about eating and we were having to use slow feeders to stop her from eating everything so quickly but one day it was like a switch flipped. Everything else is normal she is still her usual self in all other aspects it's JUST eating she has suddenly become so weird about. Could this be her coming into season? Can that affect her eating habits? I haven't noticed any other signs but I've been told their first season has very little blood it can go completely unnoticed. (I will be spaying her, but to prevent stunting her growth/development the vet has agreed it's best to wait until after her first season which is what we are doing).

TLDR; please actually read it lol

I have an almost 7 month old english cocker spaniel, I called the vet this morning because she refused her breakfast (not completely out of the ordinary for her) but she ended up vomiting bile.

I'm not sure how the conversation steered to our previous concerns of a food allergy but it did and the vet ended up recommending an incredibly strict elimination diet. They told me there would still be treats and wet food options for her so I accepted it as maybe something I'd be able to do with her, but when they sent me through the food they said in the notes that there will be NO treats and NO wet food. So she will only be eating kibble for 6 weeks minimum.

I'm concerned. She already is not a massive fan of kibble, moving her onto an entirely kibble based diet seems risky. They told me before that she would not allow herself to go hungry but this morning she was SO hungry she vomited. All I wanted to know was if I should take her in to make sure she's ok or if I should be majorly concerned and how soon I'd be able to offer her another meal. I don't feel like those questions were really answered and now suddenly I'm looking at 6 weeks of an elimination diet I did not ask for. I feel a bit lost.

Does this seem like an extreme decision on the vets part or does this seem like a logical next step? Should I just buy the food and get on with it?

I'm not sure how to approach this honestly. Today my puppy woke up and refused her breakfast, she's been off her food for a little while and this morning she just didn't want it. She ending up vomiting bile. I called the vet for advice about it and the conversation steered to her potential allergies that we've been discussing. Long story short it's been recommended I move her onto Royal Canin Anallergenic kibble.

I just feel like this isn't addressing the issue I actually called to discuss, other than they've told me to have her on a plain rice diet for the next 3 days until the new kibble arrives. Is this the right thing to do? They told me over the phone that there were treats and wet food options available as well so I was more willing to try it, but when they sent me through a link to the food they said in the notes that there are no treats and no wet food. She will just have to eat this specific kibble only for 6 weeks minimum. Is this extreme? We don't know for sure that these issues are being caused by a food allergy and I'm not sure how making a dog that's already struggling to eat kibble ONLY eat kibble for over a month is the right call.

Should I get a second opinion? Did they get distracted by her potential food allergy and not directly address today's issue? Should I just buy the food and see what happens? I'm completely lost. I feel a bit let down and confused and I'm scared for my pup. Potential partial obstruction was also something that was discussed, but they were happy for me to not take her in because of the heatwave should I be worried?

We (my mother and I) watched the Ruby Franke documentary recently and as they were describing the physical abuse those poor children faced my mother made a comment about not understanding how someone could ever hit or spank their child. This was incredibly weird because she did, in fact, hit us. She used to slap the backs of our legs or force us over her knee to spank us until we were crying out in pain, a few times she even forced us to eat soap if we said something she didn't like. There are a few other more specific examples I can give of ways she physically hurt us, but I know that even describing some of them would make it very easy for members of my family to recognise that this post is being made by one of us.

Anyway, I did remind her of the spanking, gently, and she acted genuinely shocked that that was something she had ever done. She got teary eyed and apologised for ever doing that to us, but a few weeks later, when discussing the documentary, she had forgotten again? I don't know what to make of the situation and I don't know how to feel. I have always tried to give her a lot of grace because she grew up in a severely physically and emotionally abusive household and I always felt that it might've had an impact on the way that she treats us or views familial relationships. But not remembering hitting us despite being reminded, and not taking us seriously or apologising when she did and does hurt us is something I really struggle to accept. I am the only one still living at home and most of my siblings rarely speak to her now, I'm not sure if it's because of the way she treats us but I don't blame them for going low contact, I have thought about doing the same once I move out. I don't know.

He handed himself in when I was 19, he was not sent to prison. I still live with him and my mum but our family is broken. I hate him and I have no respect for him. I do not have all the details and I'm not sure I want them but I struggle to know what to think of him because I don't know what exactly happened, it's not morbid curiosity it's a need. I need to know but nobody will tell me, I'm not even sure they could. I had a chance to move out when everything first happened but I was scared and I didn't want my life to change. I will hopefully be able to move out at the beginning of next year with my fiancé, we want to start a family, but I'm not sure I want my dad anywhere near my children. It's been a few years and I just don't know if I can trust him. It's not about thinking he'd do something to them because I wouldn't ever leave them alone or have them sleeping under the same roof, it's the not knowing what he'd be THINKING while interacting with my children. The closer I get to moving out and moving on the more I think about cutting him off for the sake of my future children but I just feel awful every time I think about it. A few of my siblings have cut contact with him already, and I wanted to as well, but now I've stayed living here I see how normal he is and it just messes with my head because he is not normal, what he did is not normal. I'm not sure it's possible to ever shake this feeling of disgust. I feel awful for the child or children involved, I just hope they're ok and safe and loved.
My heart is just broken.