Abdominal issue needs expert help

What to do when your dog eats grass and refuses meals.

Greyhound occasionally eats grass, refuses her breakfast but is fine by the evening.

Question - My greyhound occasionally eats grass, refuses her breakfast but is fine by the evening. She passes a lot of smelly gas. Her sister does not show any of these symptoms.

Answer - Eating grass is a normal response some dogs show to abdominal discomfort.

Dogs do not have some in-built primitive system they use to cure themselves.

Eating grass may be an attempt to irritate the stomach to cause vomiting in an attempt to void the offending object from the stomach.

Grass has a very rough texture which will induce a great deal of irritation in the stomach and complicate the abdominal discomfort.

The relationship between the dogs is of no importance. Stop for a moment and consider, you share half your genetic material with your biological parents and siblings, do you all react in the same way to food or the environment?

Your dog clearly has an intestinal issue which requires veterinary attention.

Attempting to address the problem yourself by changing foods and researching the problem on social media will result in a complication of symptoms and probably an escalation of symptoms.

Food may be involved and I would strongly suggest a veterinarian be consulted as pet shops and friends do not have the required knowledge to address the complications of dog diets and immunology.

It would be sensible to separate the problem from several bouts of acute gastrointestinal issues with a truly chronic problem.

A plethora of problems may be involved from lymphocytic-plasmacytic infiltration of the gastrointestinal wall to food intolerance, pancreatic insufficiency or parasites, to name just a few.

I hope I have convinced you of the importance of involving a veterinary professional.