supplement problems in home cooking
 

Hi everyone,

I am having a problem getting my baby to take the supplements I mix into her food. I have tried Dr. Pitcairn's Healthy powder, Balance-it, and something called green mush. All of them are EXCELLENT for her, but she will not eat the food when there is supplement added to it. I've tried everything, like starting out with a tiny tiny amount and then slowly adding more and more supplement. Any more than a micro grain and she can taste it and will not eat her food. So I break down and finally give her the food without the supplement because she is only two pounds full grown and I don't want her to go without eating for too long. I think the only way to get supplement into her would be some sort of a liquid I could give to her daily with a dropper. Then at least I know she would be getting the calcium, vitamins, and minerals, etc. that she needs to be healthy. Does anyone know of a liquid supplement that is really good, instead of a powder that you have to mix in with their food? Help please. I'm beside my self with worry that she is not getting good nutrition, and she is sooo very small. I would be most grateful for any help. Thanks so much for being there :-) Shellie:)

I don't think I'd use liquid and give it separately because the amount she receives should be proportioned to the food she eats. It would be more difficult if you gave it separately.

You could talk to a nutritionist about using something else (maybe human vitamins cut to her size...they might be less flavored).

Especially with the Balance IT, I really can't blame her for not eating it. It is what Ellie is on and it smells disgusting.

I wonder what bothers her with the Healthy Powder.:confused:
Have you tried baking the food with the supplement to see if she likes it? She probably won't but it might be worth a try.

I'm not sure what the problem is with the healthy powder, but she will not eat it-even a tiny tiny tiny amount. She is like a blood hound. She can tell if there is a supplement from a mile away. She will sniff it, take a lick and then walk away. If there is no supplement added, she eats like a demon. She looooves to eat. But any supplement I try-she will turn her nose up and walk away and will not eat, no matter what. What to do? I only ask about the liquid because I feel it is better than nothing, and I would give it right before giving her meals. She eats about 1/4 cup to 1/3 cup a day. So I could base the amount of liquid on that. Anyway, it was just a thought because I figured some supplement is better than no supplement, which is what she is getting now. In an ideal world I would agree with your reccomendations completely, but she is just not eating. The nutritionists at Balance-IT said to start out very small, very tiny and then slowly, very very slowly start to add the supplement back into the food a tiny amount at a time...I've tried this for three months and it is just not working. I'm at my wits end!!!!

Oh, yess, Ellie May, I have tried cooking the food with the supplement in it as opposed to adding it to the food after the food is cooked. She is a little geiger counter when it comes to detecting it in her food (LOL). She walks around the food in circles, takes a lick and a sniff and then haughtily marches off as if to say, how can you feed me this awful tasting stuff?. So she doesn't eat for awhile, and then I figure she will get hungry and eat, but she doesn't, and then I weigh her and she weighs in at under two lbs, and I panic!!!! I start to feed her. It's crazy making, I can tell you. So now I worry day and night that she is not getting good nutrition. AAAAgh Ughhh. I'm going wacko (LOL). :):):confused::)

Because you are measuring her food out, liquid might work.
If you make sure that she is getting the right amount for the food she eats it would probably be fine.

I know I would be disgusting for her but have you asked Balance IT about mixing the supplement with water (or low fat, no salt broth or yogurt) and syringing it?

My Vet suggested 3V Caps Liquid Skin Formula a concentrated dietary supplement containing Fish Oil, a source of Omega-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids, plus Vit E. It works great for Bella; she seemed not to notice the liquid, plus it's only 1/2 a skirt (pump bottle). :p She was one also to be very in tune with anything added to water or food. I've tried apple cidar vinegar in her wtr & she can definitely tell....doesn't like that:( Good Luck!

what if you mask the smell of the supplieemnt with something like Cheese? layla will eat ANYTHING with cheese on it. Or like Ellie May said can you mix it in some yogurt or cottage cheese?

I never let my baby taste what the food tastes like without supplements, so that she doesn't know what it's "supposed" to taste like. That way, she can't get picky about it. LOL :) When you make up the next batch, mix in the healthy powder mix into the actual batch of food. Try making a new recipe and don't let her taste it without the supplements.

Hi all again,

I just came from Petsmart and they have a few choices for vitamins and minerals either in a liver tasting chew tablet form, I think it's 21st Century or something like that, or Vita Dog, a gel they say that dogs love and it has vitamins and minerals. Not the best choices, I know, compared to Dr. Pitcairns powder, or Balance-It, but I figure it's better than nothing. Any one ever heard of any of these brands or products?

Ellie May, Yes, I always measure her food so I know exactly how much she is eating and I give her more food if she doesn't finish what is in her plate. She is very small so I try to keep a handle on how much she is eating. I did try mixing it with water, soup, yogurt. Water and soup: the amount of water or soup required to dissolve even one scoop of the desired 5 scoops of balance-it they recommend for her size turns out to be alot. Much more than one syringe full. Also, the granules don't seem to dissolve. So they stayed at the bottom of the dish. Then she gets all upset when I try to put the wet granules in her mouth, and starts to reverse sneeze on me so bad, I wonder if it was worth it. The yogurt seems too thick for the syringe and she hates it as well. Oh My goodness! She is such a little picky baby.

Marcerella02, I have tried mixing the supplement with everything from mashed banana, yogurt, cottege cheese, peanut butter, cheese, mashed potatoes, rice, you name it I've tried it. etc. etc. She just hates it. She will not eat anything with supplement in it. It would make my life so much easier if she would- (SIGH)

Yorkieluv, I think it is too late for that. I got her at 11 months, and the breeder had been giving her all of the above foods WITHOUT supplement for almost a year. I only have her a couple of months and she came to me like she is now. She knows what the food tastes like without the supplement, so I can't fool her. If I do, she goes on a hunger strike, and as I mentioned before, she is too small to go too long without eating. Then she loses weight and goes below 2lbs and I start to panic. It's a problem, I can tell you. Whew!

YorkiechonBella, is 3v Caps Liquid skin formula the name of the vitamin supplement? Is it complete? What about calcium and phosphorous? Do you feed this separately in liquid form also? I would be interested in hearing more about this.

Thanks everyone so much for your concern and your input. Any additional suggestions about a complete liquid vitamin mineral supplement? Thanks so much to everyone for your words. Shellie

Hi Shellie, I bought this through my Vet, so I'm not sure if a prescription is really needed or not. Of course mine says, Refill:as needed. It also says to give 1/2 pump on their food once/day. I found their website & hope it helps with more details. DVM Pharmaceuticals
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