Teething or sick?

Question
I have a 4month old Chihuahua mix puppy. For the past 2 days she has been eating very small quantites of food. My boyfriend noticed that one of her tooth was bleeding and loose when he was playing with her the other day. So we are wondering if she has a loss of appetite because of her teething or if she is sick and we should take her to the vet. I also tried soaking her food but she still doesn't want to eat. So I made her some rice and she gobbled that up. Is it her teething or is she sick?

Answer
Hi Leyva!
I doubt she is having problems because of the loose tooth. I have never encountered a puppy to not eat because of it. If she is eating the rice, then I think she may be a bit spoiled and is holding out for the "good stuff".  LOL   Try mixing some of the soaked dry food (not too soaked, just enough so it will be soft... just a put a very small bit of warm water on it and it will soften) some of the rice and a bit of canned dog food and/or chicken baby food, the kind in the little jars, and some cottage cheese.  Mix all of this up and give her a little, put the rest in a container in the fridge.  As you feed it, warm it up a little in the microwave but WARNING... it only takes a second or two to warm up, be careful or it will be too hot and will burn her mouth!  She should eat this pretty good.  Do not give her anymore table food. If you do this, you will start a habit that will be very hard to break and it is not good for her. It will make her fat and unhealthy.  If she refuses to eat.... make sure this mixture is very soft, put it in a syringe (no needle.. you can get one at any pharmacy) and put it toward the back of her throat and squirt it in.  The thing is... small breed dogs, such as the chihuahua will go down on you very quickly if they don't eat, and they could die when their blood sugar goes down.  So it is very important that she eats.  I hope this helps.
God Bless,
Becky