Babycakes0707 Switching Thread

[sherrylynne]

Sounds like you might have to do that, at least at meal times. For Molsen, a scedule would likely be a good idea. The basic premise is 4 days bone in meats, 2 days muscle meats(heart and gizzard are muscle meats), one meal liver/organ, the other meal whatever you want. And a minimum 3 different proteins. Can you set up a schedule along that line ok?
Then we will focus on Scratch.
Don't know if this helps, but here's a video of me giving Boris some ground meat he's not familiar with:


What I have to do with him is scruff, and tuck his back end between my arm/elbow and my side to keep him still.

[babycakes0707]

wow he's really fighting you on this!! i just tried to force feed scratch...god it was horrible i think he hates me now! lol. i took a tuperware with a chicken thigh (with bone) out and as soon as i opened the cage door molson jumped in in and got blood all over his face..and scratch's too so now they look like evil lil monsters lol. i tried to just kind of "shove" the meat in scratch's face but he kept backing away so i eventually ahd to scruff him until he yawned but he continuasly kept on pushing it out with his tongue!!! i even tried putting small tiny pieces of kibbles on it and hed smell it come close but never ate it. eventually i got it in his mouth but he did not seem to enjoy that one bit...for molson i should be able to make a pretty good schedule for him, do portion sizes matter? cause like i said he always seems to be STARVING!!!!

[sherrylynne]

What he'll likely settle to is 2-4 oz per day. For now, though, feed him what he wants for amount.
With Scratch, he'll forget what you've done soon enough. Boris does, too . The main idea is to keep him tasting it. If he wants to join Molsen in his meal, even if it's just to lick it- that's wonderful! He's doing on his own what we want him to do- tasting it
And sometimes watching the other eat the meat will rub off.

[babycakes0707]

i was hoping once he had a taste of meat he'd go for it but not a chance..he wont go NEAR the meat at all anymore, he used to at least go check it out, give it a sniff but now nothing...i think im going to have to force it down his tiny throat again..urgh, feels like im torturing the poor baby. anyways tonight im going for some beef. wish me luck!

[sherrylynne]

What you see me go through with Boris is what happened most of the time throughout the 6 weeks it took to switch him. Still happens with every new meat. And yet- take a look at this:


This happens almost every day , in spite of the forced feedings he's had.

[babycakes0707]

yah so scratch avoids me at all cost now..lol when he sees me with meat he goes and hides! i had to force feed him yet again today and im going to have to do it again tonight cause other wise he's not eating. even when i think its like pretty far into his mouth he pushes it right out with his tongue, he really does everything he can to push it out!

[sherrylynne]

Why not try what I had to do? Take the kibble out during the night(or day), feed the raw soups, and put the kibble back in later, to make sure he's eating something. If he sees the meat, he will avoid you if possible. Just try to have it handy, and give him a bit during playtime as he runs by.

[babycakes0707]

well i dont have any kibbles left,besides like powdered crumbs that i use to cover the meat with (yah..that so doesnt fool him...) he's really not interested in the soup and it was harder to force feed him that cause he'd just wipe it off whatever he could and it just get wasted...with molson he just ate whatever i gave him..i know before really feeding him pieces of meat i put raw hamburger meat with his kibbles..maybe that helped?

[sherrylynne]

Can you get a syringe from the pharmacy, or from your vet? If you aren't giving him some kibbles, and he's not eating on his own, you'll have to syringe feed soups about 3-4 times a day. If he goes without eating enough, he'll get nauseated and not want to eat anything.
I think I'd pick him up a small bag of kibble for nighttime if you don't think he's eating enough, and work with getting him to eat the raw soup in the day.

[babycakes0707]

i think i found the problem.....MOLSON! scratch will somewhat eat a bit of meat if i feed it to him but he wont go get in the bowl. i tried to take away the meat from molson and he like fought me on it he pulled back the meat and made creepy noises... i still have to scruff cratch for him to eat the meat though, but at least i dont have to shove it in his mouth anymore..

[sherrylynne]

So he is eating then? That's my big concern, is Scratch taking in enough nutrition.
And of course Molson fought to keep his prize Mine will hiss, scream, etc. if someone tries to take away their choice bit of meat!

[babycakes0707]

well he still wont eat unless i hold it to his mouth and sometimes i have to scruff him..but once when i was trying to get it in his mouth molson came and took it right out of his mouth! i think he just wont share...

[sherrylynne]

Why does that sound oh, so familiar Scratch will start defending his prizes, once he realizes they are actually food. In the interim, try keeping them separate for feeding times.

[babycakes0707]

just when i thought scratch was starting to give in to liking meat..he surprised me by taking the meat from me running away with it so i got all excited thinking he was going to go eat it.. but you know what he does? CHUCKS THE MEAT IN HIS LITTER! i dont know what im going to do with this child seriously!

[babycakes0707]

you better believe it! that's scratch eating all on his own!!! he's eating porc side ribs...i took some of the meat off the bone an di was going to keep the rest for later but my dog got a hold of it,sicne the bone is way too big for the boys to eat anythings i let her have it...but yup i had to scruff him for the first bite then he went over to the bowl all on his own even though molson was there!