Post by xreinvention on Nov 22, 2011 15:06:23 GMT -5
She wouldn't eat any of it yesterday or the day before - at all. Today I decided to add a little bit of her kibble into the soup and she ate quite a bit of it out of a bowl. So I'll try to take the kibble out little by little. Hopefully that will work.
I'm also going to try some little turkey pieces tonight since Squirt's eating Turkey and Liver for supper tonight.
Post by xreinvention on Nov 22, 2011 15:52:27 GMT -5
Random tidbit. I called the pet store back today and talked with the owner, who wasn't there when I purchased Kara (finally got her a name ) and she said that when they got her in she was almost 5 months old. So she is probably a little over 5 months old now. So that could probably be why it's harder to transition her?
It could well be why it's harder. She isn't recognizing meat as food all that well. That's fantastic that you've found what works for her Once you get that "in", the rest of it is going to follow along just fine It's just a matter now of time, and patience. Particularly that last one ;D
Ferrets: Contessa Kitties: Watson, Oskar DIP Sinnead, Vincent, Boris, Zeus and Athena, Willow, Mr. Frodo, Indie, Lucrezia, Judge, Odin, Miss Emily, Suki, Cody, Aristotle, Butterscotch, Frankenfurter. RIP Herne, Ligeia, and Mr. Stubbs
Post by xreinvention on Nov 22, 2011 19:35:44 GMT -5
Hopefully this will just keep being her "in." Haha. Once I get her down to just soupie with no kibble in it should I work on making a soup out of a different meat or thickening the soup first?
Once the kibble is finally eliminated, then start thickening it til it's a wet ground mush. Once it's at that point, we'll start slipping slivers of meat in on her ;D
Ferrets: Contessa Kitties: Watson, Oskar DIP Sinnead, Vincent, Boris, Zeus and Athena, Willow, Mr. Frodo, Indie, Lucrezia, Judge, Odin, Miss Emily, Suki, Cody, Aristotle, Butterscotch, Frankenfurter. RIP Herne, Ligeia, and Mr. Stubbs
Post by xreinvention on Nov 26, 2011 14:45:00 GMT -5
I keep trying to thin out the kibble - but then she won't eat any of the soup. I've tried some with turkey (and turkey slivers with her foods) and some pork as well since Squirt was already eating it that day. She's very picky lol
Oh, what a brat. Try this. Instead of mixing everything up, then portioning- do that with the raw puree, but only soak and mix in the kibble on a daily basis. That way, add in two or three fewer kibbles for each day. It will take longer this way, but since it's such a slow process, she *shouldn't* notice it. Quick question as well. I gather you are still hand feeding? If so, are you allowing her to leave as soon as she says she's had enough? Or are you just offering her the dish?
Ferrets: Contessa Kitties: Watson, Oskar DIP Sinnead, Vincent, Boris, Zeus and Athena, Willow, Mr. Frodo, Indie, Lucrezia, Judge, Odin, Miss Emily, Suki, Cody, Aristotle, Butterscotch, Frankenfurter. RIP Herne, Ligeia, and Mr. Stubbs
Post by xreinvention on Nov 27, 2011 12:19:36 GMT -5
So you mean, make a batch of soup and then each time I go to feed her add some kibble? - That's what I've been doing.
I'm hand feeding and leaving the her bowl. I will take her out and make sure she eats and allowing her to leave when she's done and then leaving her the bowl afterwards.
Since you are still hand feeding, try not letting her go as soon as she wants to when you change the soupie. If you can get her used to eating more of it, she'll get accustomed to it faster. Not sure how well this would work for you and her, but this is what I mean by not letting her go as soon as she wants to leave:
You'd be amazed how much I can get into him that way ;D
Ferrets: Contessa Kitties: Watson, Oskar DIP Sinnead, Vincent, Boris, Zeus and Athena, Willow, Mr. Frodo, Indie, Lucrezia, Judge, Odin, Miss Emily, Suki, Cody, Aristotle, Butterscotch, Frankenfurter. RIP Herne, Ligeia, and Mr. Stubbs
Post by xreinvention on Nov 27, 2011 19:56:37 GMT -5
Alright, I made her eat quite a bit of the soup with crushed kibble in it today that way. My question now is, how do you know when they are actually done.
I'll keep doing this and trying to thin the kibble tomorrow and see if it works
When they've eaten a fair bit, they'll start getting even MORE antsy, take one fast lick, and try to leave. After they've done that for a while, you get to know when they are just being brats, and when they are really full. If she hasn't eaten much, but it becomes a real fight, don't push it then, but let her go, and try again later. The whole idea here is to slowly get her eating not only enough, but to not let her go just because it tastes a wee bit different. That's a good way to get her switched over.
Ferrets: Contessa Kitties: Watson, Oskar DIP Sinnead, Vincent, Boris, Zeus and Athena, Willow, Mr. Frodo, Indie, Lucrezia, Judge, Odin, Miss Emily, Suki, Cody, Aristotle, Butterscotch, Frankenfurter. RIP Herne, Ligeia, and Mr. Stubbs
Post by xreinvention on Nov 29, 2011 10:47:04 GMT -5
Tried yesterday with less kibble in it. She didn't eat as much, but after not letting her go for 10 - 15 minutes she did eat a fair amount. So this is working, and hopefully will continue to work. She's so stubborn - and so lucky I'm in love with her.
It almost sounds like you've got a mini Boris on your hands ;D glad she's eating better for you! Ok, keep it at that level for a day or two, then less kibble til she's eating all raw. In the interim, you can offer her some tidbits of meat to shee if she's at a stage to accept them yet. With a two prong "attack" as it were, she may move along a bit faster. With Boris, it seemed that no sooner did he FINALLY accept the raw soup when he grabbed a sliver and ate it. That process was 6 flipping weeks
Ferrets: Contessa Kitties: Watson, Oskar DIP Sinnead, Vincent, Boris, Zeus and Athena, Willow, Mr. Frodo, Indie, Lucrezia, Judge, Odin, Miss Emily, Suki, Cody, Aristotle, Butterscotch, Frankenfurter. RIP Herne, Ligeia, and Mr. Stubbs
Post by xreinvention on Dec 1, 2011 12:12:28 GMT -5
She isn't taking the meat tidbits still Offered her some without kibble and wouldn't acknowledge them, added some kibble and she just licked it off and went about her business. She's still doing really well with the soup, I'm going to lessen the amount of kibble in it today and see how she does.
Post by xreinvention on Dec 11, 2011 12:58:05 GMT -5
Update.. Kara has been eating just plain soup for about a week now and hardly ever any kibble. I've got the soup to where it's hardly even soup anymore, but if I add actual chunks to it she tends to just lick the soup off of the chunks and not eat them.