Babies' First Soupie

[ringodingo]

Hello all (:
We recently adopted two beautiful girls, around the age of 16 weeks old! They showed no interest in raw meat, so we cut back to trying the soup on them. Right now, they have no interest in eating it on their own. Mishka will immediately run and bury her face into the bedding to rub it off her nose the second I put it on, so I've been using the "scruff and stuff" trick. They seem to know they're supposed to/can eat it, as Lena will lick it off of my finger when she is scruffed, and Mishka will swallow it when I put it on her tongue/after I release her from the scruff. 

My question is - since they aren't willingly eating the soup on their own, how long should I be doing this for each mealtime? And, do I give them kibble along with the soup, or just leave the soup for them to eventually learn to eat?
Thank you! Loving these babies so much already, despite their stubbornness 

[Sherry]

Every 5 or 10 minutes while they are out playing, pick one up, dab some on the nose, and release. Each time after about 30 minutes pick up, offer a lick from the finger first. If they willingly take a few licks, keep offering while holding them on your lap. Once they willingly take about a tsp worth, put them down. 15 or 20 minutes later pick up, have spoon and soup on lap and offer from the spoon.

[Heather]

I just sit with them on my lap and feed them (wee sods) At this stage of the game I'm measuring, this allows me to decide if they're taking in enough nutrition to remove that kibble crap. If they're eating a tbsp or more at a go and you're doing this several times during the day...remove the kibble, especially if you're using the balanced soupy mixture
ciao

[ringodingo]

Okay, thank you both! Lena will eat it on her own from the bowl after I give her some from my finger, Mishka is a bit more stubborn and unless I wipe it directly on her mouth or her tongue, she'll rub it off immediately, so I'm definitely doing it multiple times a day to make sure they'll be getting enough. Lena finished off what was left in the bowl so i'm very proud of her. (:

[ringodingo]

Update:
Mishka is eating it by herself! I forgot I had it in the freezer so it was frozen (made it last night, I hope that's okay?), I mashed it up the best I could and she is loving it! Her sister is sound asleep still
I'm such a proud mama right now

[Sherry]

Oh that is fantastic! It is such a great feeling knowing they have made that most important first step on the road to a proper diet

[ringodingo]

They just continue to progress each day! I tried some little chunks of chicken breast in with the soup and they are loving it! I'm so so happy at the rate they're going
Can't wait until they're able to just eat a full frankenprey diet

[Sherry]

That is amazing Hopefully the rest of the switch goes easy! Every couple of meals, increase the number of slivers to soup. Once they are half slivers/half soup start increasing the size of the slivers. Maybe 6 or 7 longer ones(always think longer rather than thicker at first). Keep doing this every couple of meals(increasing slivers to soup, and increasing the number of longer slivers). By the time they are fully on slivers they will hopefully be about 1/4" around, and an inch or so long.

[ringodingo]

Awesome, thank you! They've been eating the soup/sliver mix happily, so I'm going to make sure they're good on that for a few more meals before I increase again (: