Eating on her own while still on Critical Care

[Bostongirl'sChin75]

Does anyone have any tips on how to get Herby to eat more of her own food? I had to recently switch foods because of illness and she is not taking to the new food well. She is also still being hand fed Critical Care 4 times daily along with some spring greens and timothy hay.

She was eating Charlie Chinchilla ( bad for her I know, but it is the only thing she would eat ) and now we have her on Oxbow Chinchilla Diet. Is there a way I can slowly ween her off the Charlie Chinchilla and make the transition to the Oxbow easier for her?

Also, is there a way to get her more of the new food so when we go back to the vet we may be able to reduce the hand feeding in the future?

Thanks! :thumbsup:

 

[alli713]

For one thing, she doesn't need spring greens. I read in your other thread that at the beginning she was gassy, fresh greens will only make this worse. Chances are, she's not eating the Oxbow because she was used to all the treats in the crappy Kaytee food. So now she won't eat just the pellets. Also, most chins prefer the taste of the critical care over the pellet.

I've read that you can crush their pellets and mix it in with the critical care. This will get her used to the taste as well as work back up to eating pellets. You can slowly decrease the amount of water and the CC in the CC mix until you're back to pellets.

More experienced people will probably have more advice regarding this.

 

[Bostongirl'sChin75]

Thanks for the info! As for the spring greens, the vet said to give them to her, just not a lot at a time. she gets a very small handful at the beginning of the day and then what she does not eat, I toss. She is also on Mylicon to combat any gas from the greens along with the meds she is on.

 

[mishellyshel]

i would start crushing the pellets and mix with the critical care as alli said.

also i found that when i backed off the hand feeding a bit, richie started nibbling his pellets. i tried to feed him the most in the morning and the least at night, so while he is awake he can eat his pellets. since i have been doing this he is actually eating his pellets. he still sorta crushes some of them into dust because of his malo BUT he is eating! at one point he was eating about 140 cc's of the crushed pellet mix a day and now he eats between 60 - 80 and his pellets. he will also now eat a shredded wheat which he wasnt doing for almost 6 months.

i would skip the greens. my vet also told me to feed my chins a diet rich in fresh greens. when he wasnt eating at all, i tried it and he wouldnt have anythign to do with it. their digestive system is just too delicate to handle the fresh greens, after being raised on pellets and hay.

you should try some organic herbs instead. I give my boys organic rasberry leaf, nettle & dandelion plus hibiscus flowers and crushed rosehips. i make my own organic mix that includes some oats and some hay and give them a pinch of the mixture each night.
Also for my chin that has malo, i put some crushed rosehip powder and some of the herbs in his food before i crush it so he gets the benefits of the herbs as he usually will not eat them from the bowl.

 

[alli713]

So then if the medicine is to combat any gas from the greens too, why give them? It doesn't make any sense.

If your chin isn't used to the greens it can cause gas, not something I'd mess with in a chin with health issues already.

Some vets do recommend them, but some vets also don't know what's best for chins in regards to diet. They generally don't specialize in chinchilla diet.