Syringe Feeding?

LexieHeg · Apr 23, 2011

Does any one have any good ideas on how to syringe feed? We did manage to get her to eat about 6-7 cc when all she was required to eat was 5 so im pretty excited about that but it was not a pretty sight trying to syringe feed and its not easy to squeeze them slowly. I ended up squirting the poor girl more than once and in the end the only way I could get her to eat was squirting it at her feet and she would lap it up. She would not eat from a dish this way, it had to be right onto our table top.

Im practicing with the syringe in the hopes I can avoid traumatizing her tomorrow morning but does anyone have any ideas on how to get her to take the syringe?

Thank you!

Kalandra · Apr 23, 2011

Lots of patience and practice.

One tip though, never approach from straight on, always approach their mouth from the side. There are two reasons for this. 1. They have lots of very sensitive tiny hairs around their mouths. Which will cause them to more easily react to you. 2. If you do suddenly squirt a lot, it will not go down their throat and will prevent them from aspirating the food.

Also, if you are syringe feeding, always ensure that the food you feed is smooth. Anything with a chunk in it will plug up the syringe and cause problems. I typically warm a teaspoon of canned cat food, add just a little water to help loosen it, then take the back of a spoon and smash it against the side of the bowl I'm preparing it in, then suck it up in the syringe. If it goes in the syringe easily it will probably come out easily.

Practice can help you get your technique down for how to handle the syringe.

LexieHeg · Apr 23, 2011

Thank you! I didn't think of going at the side. She isn't taking the syringe in her mouth yet but she loved the food so maybe tomorrow she will. It's not a cat food, its a powdered nutritional supplement from the vet's office so it turns into almost pablum like consistency. Maybe we will try some cat food in between the powdered meal times.

They also recommended some baby food and cat food to get her eating and her weight back up. So we're trying that in small, single portions so that she doesn't get over whelmed. She won't directly eat it but she's allowing me to rub it on her mouth and then she will lick it off. That will do for now as long as she is eating. We're still leaving out her normal food in case she gets the urge to have some, and counting kibbles....

Thanks for your help!

Kalandra · Apr 23, 2011

I'm glad to see you are leaving food in the cage. The option should be there at all times even if they don't want it. I think for sick hedgehogs, sometimes just having the bowl missing saddens them.

Cooper eats the canned food really well for me with just water to loosen it. Others I've used a little strawberry flavored Boost or Ensure (human nutrition drink) to help add calories and make the food taste more appetizing.

LexieHeg · Apr 24, 2011

Well im very excited...she has taken 7 cc's this morning, and eaten 6 1/2 kibbles on her own. We had a different kind of kibble in her cage and she didn't touch it...so we returned to her old kibble and she ate 6 1/2 kibbles of it. I really hope that's a good sign.

Still no poops but this morning she sure was hard to wrestle some food into! She wanted to explore and crawl....just like she was when we first got her!

Pray this good eating continues!!