Yogi's (unofficial) Switch Thread

[Deleted]

Yogiiiiiiiiiii

(headwall)

He won't touch the soup in the bowl. I actually found some Stella and Chewy's, but they only had the chicken and turkey kind, so I grabbed some of the turkey. He seemed really interested in it, but didn't want to eat it. What a snob!

I weighed out about 4 oz of soup and have been feeding him it through out the morning...he's put a dent in it for sure, but he still fights me when we first sit down. I'll leave some out for him while I'm at work, with a little bit of egg and oil on top.

In all honesty, I will not have time to keep sitting down with him once my other job is in full swing... and I feel bad for basically starving him ;-/ It broke my heart a little earlier when he walked over to where I store the dry kibble and looked at me

I see some people do a partial raw diet... maybe this would be more practical in my situation? Days I have off I can coddle him into eating the soup, other days where I have to work for 11 hours I can leave him kibble mix (I was doing a mix of instinct raw boost duck and instinct rabbit... was planning on adding in some orijen red and wysong digestive as well). Thoughts???

[Deleted]

I understand a busy lifestyle. I also understand worrying that they won't eat enough.
If you feed a combo of raw and kibble, you open up a can of worms.
Kibble is like junk food and everyone loves junk food. If he knows it is coming, then he will hold out for it. The raw will just sit there.

Yogi knows where the kibble is and already tried to play you. They are just so smart.

When do you start your other job?
You won't have to sit with him forever. In fact, we recommend that once you see that he is eating well and eating well regularly then leave him to eat. He will be fine.
If you continue to sit with him forever, he won't eat well if there is an emergency and you are away or he is boarding at the vets.

Let's see what others who do a partial raw diet have to say. I can't think of anyone or I would tag them for you.

:wave3:

[Deleted]

There is nothing wrong with having a busy life, we have all been there, and we understand how hard it can be. Not everyone is able to do a complete switch, and while it is best for them, you have to take care of yourself and your life too. Some raw is better than no raw

I think that unclejoe may feed partial raw, perhaps he can help with that.

[unclejoe]

All I do is grind their favorite kibble into powder and mix it with ground turkey and warm water to make a thin mush. Because it's muscle meat only, no bone or organs and very little fat, it's mostly to boost protein and some minerals. They do ok on it.

[Deleted]

I start with orientation next week, but I'm thinking I won't have to start doing the 10 hour shifts until the week after. Hopefully I'll get my schedule soon so I can start figuring all this out!

I think he REALLY likes the raw, he just forgets he likes it... He needs it in front of his face for a few minutes to fully remember lol. Usually when I put him down he won't eat anymore. I'm still trying with the stella and chewy's. I rehydrated about 4 pieces and put some egg over it with just a tad of what was left over of the raw and mixed it all up (and of course with a salmon drizzle), he ate a bit of it so hopefully he'll eventually get the taste.

Maybe I can transition to just putting some egg on top and leaving it out? He seems like once he's done with his first encounter with it, he's completely done with it.

[Deleted]

Just wanted to check in. We are going on day 6 of strictly soup! He still fights it and needs to get held to start his meal, but he's been doing better eating it from the bowl (just not on his own). I think he's even actually enjoying chewing the fatty parts in the soup :-)

The egg on top has been helping a lot to get him started with eating it out of the bowl, although it is usually short lived. I've been leaving soup out during the day but I don't think he's been touching it.

[Deleted]

I forgot to mention that he also smells a lot less ferrety! ... which I think I'm actually a little sad about haha

[Deleted]

9/5-9/6: Ate about 2-3 oz each day of soup

9/7: Ate about 4 oz of soup! I mixed in a little group turkey with the frankenprey soup batch and he seems to like it!

9/8: Put 1 oz in the bowl for him before going out for errands, with soup and oil on top... brat licked it off with a little bit of soup, but most of it was still there when I came home. Ate 2 oz, will try to feed another 1 oz before the end of the day

Yogi's weight today is 1396 grams and he is also officially 7 months old this week!

[FireAngel]

You are doing well with him!

[Deleted]

Thanks! I love him but want to strangle him... just made a new batch of soup, a little more chunkier and this time I hide tiny pieces of thigh. He's being such a brat about eating, but we are doing it in shifts. He also still needs to be held

[FireAngel]

Does he eat off the plate or only fingers? If fingrs try using a spoon that you can slowly lower to a plate. To help transition him to not being held try getting on the floor with him and just holding your hand under him so he feels lik you are still holding him and slowly remove yourself each time until he is on his own.

[Deleted]

He eats off a spoon. He likes to be held around his chest at first, but then when he really starts getting into it he'll stand on my hand. I have also gotten him to eat out of the bowl, but i have to put a lot of egg/oil on it and he typically does not eat all of it that way. I can try to lower him to the floor once I get him going (he loves to fight at first, then he'll stop and just sniff it, then after a few licks he's all about it), but he never eats all of it that way, and he won't come back to it later to eat it unless I hold him and feed him.

I'll try the bait and switch over the next few days and let you know how it goes. So far today he's only eaten about 1.5 oz. Most of the little chunks he's eaten and will even try to run away with them or a piece of fat.

[Sherry]

Hi, just wondering how Yogi is doing now?