Quote:
Originally Posted by Franceen  Thanks so much for these replies tara & ada - it is such a help!
This morning Tootsy refused to eat raw meat! I ended up giving her some cooked chicken. She seems to have a post nasal drip, as she is swallowing a lot, and we all have that at the moment. (Maybe I have made a mistake thinking that the cooked chicken upset her - it is something that she has eaten for years. I will see how I go.) I am in two minds about offering the raw meat again today perhaps I should see if she will eat it. I tried to give her some Nutrical, as I think she may have a sore throat like we have - she is showing the symptoms - but she doesn't like it! Any ideas on how to get her to eat it. How do these capsules work that you mentioned, tara? Do you try and get them to swallow them? I can see a HUGE fight on my hands if I tried to do that with Tootsy! Perhaps you can give me some tips on how to do it and how they work as well, please?
Thanks again.
Luv
Yvonne |
Personally, I would not cook the meat for her if she doesn't eat. She will learn that she can get what she wants by refusing the raw.
I had one that wouldn't eat a few times so I took her food away and she waited till the next meal - which she did eat.
(I feed twice a day) She is only 4 lbs so I had to be careful that she didn't go too long without food. She learned pretty quickly though.
Another of mine was doing fine on the raw (prey model) and one morning just wasn't interested. She acted like she wasn't hungry, so I put her food away till the next meal. No problems. They will not starve if they skip one meal.
Mine don't like Nutrical either. Are you sure she needs it? If she does, maybe you could put some on the roof of her mouth or put it on her nose
and she will lick it off.
I was reading about the weight thing and I know mine have gained some weight on this diet. I am cutting back now. At first the amount seemed so small that I added extra but now see that I didn't need to. Mine still act like they are hungry when they're done but I know they've had enough and dogs DO overeat. They just want more cause it's good food! (kind of like me with chocolate
)
Mine get 1 to 1-1/2 oz. per meal. That is such a small amount, but then I have to remember they are small dogs!!! I still weigh it sometimes to be sure they're not getting too much again, but am learning how to know the portion size without weighing.
Mine are eating beef, chicken/with bones, turkey, game hens, pork and have tried salmon once. Game hens are a great size for our little ones. I have beef and chicken liver and gizzards on hand, too. They get some type of bone once a day. I use chicken backs and necks mostly.
Although on the necks, I pound them a bit with a hammer
so they are not round anymore. Their normal shape and size could cause choking, so I just get rid of the shape a little bit to be safe. I ordered the necks and backs from the local butcher and got a box weighing 47 lbs!
I have fed pork riblets with the bones and they loved them! I also use chicken thighs often - each of my girls gets half of one with the bone. I want to try rabbit but have yet to find any that is easy to get ahold of.
Geez, long winded here....