[jellybn1]

:new_Eyecrazy: Hi All,
I REALLY NEED all your help PLEASE....... My Cha Cha is doing very well now. She is 5 and 1/2 months old and approx. 2.5lbs. She is very small. Full grown my vet expects 3 to 3 and 1/2lbs. (I would be overjoyed!!). Here's my problem. Cha Cha is EXTREMELY finicky. (Eater). My vet has her on Hills AD, Which now is 3 times per day (2 tablespoons). She will eat 1/2 off the dish, but the 2nd half she will ONLY eat off my or my husbands finger. I know that I am really making her eat more than nessesary, but as per 2 vets the first 6 months of her life she needs as much weight as I can get on her.
She seems to really push herself to eat as she know's I need her to!! She's SUCH a GOOD girl!! I notice that she is alway's interested in human food. Many maltese owners that I have spoken to say this is common.
Cha Cha is PERFECT except that she really does NOT like dog food. Will not TOUCH hard food at all. Sometimes I give her Honey Nut Cheerio's. I learned this trick from this website. She loves them.
I want to start integrating other soft dog or puppy foods.
Can any of you recommend one that a FINICKY puppy will eat?????????? I worry constantly...Also, I have to do this slowly, as puppies get diarea when you swich foods. I also need to know HOW to do this.......HELP...................
Thanks So, Jellybn1

 

[LexiAndNikkisMom]

Lexi loves Innova. The pieces would probably be too big for Cha Cha. You could use a hammer to break them up I guess.

 

[pico's parent]

Some things to try, either beside or mixed into her food:

cottage cheese
shredded low-fat cheese
low-sodium chicken broth
steamed veggies such as sweet potato, squash, green beans
baby food

 

[jellybn1]

Any good soft foods?

 

[Chelsey]

Originally posted by jellybn1@May 2 2005, 12:59 PM
Any good soft foods?
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[/QUOTE]

You said she s 5 1/2 is she not eating hard food becase she has started teething ? What we did with chelsey was mix her hard food with lok warm water. It soften it up .kind of like a soup.. and she liked it that way. Now she is back to hard food but it is the same brand so no issue with the tummy.

Other suggestion you could mix a small amount of the hard food with the soft food.
Mix it very well or she will pick out only the soft food.

 

[Furbaby's Mommie]

At 13 Frosty is still a fincky eater, but at least I don't have to feed him with a teaspoon like I did for the first 5 1/2 years! He has never gotten so he'll eat hardly any dry food---mixed with gravy, warm water or whatever. I have made a life time project out of gathering up dry food samples at the pet stores that carry all the good premium foods. I've had vets as well as the food specialist ask me why I keep trying to get him to eat dry food! I guess I feel they need something crunchy for their teeth's sake. However I've been told dry food is only a convenience for the humans and not necessarialy the best nutrition, especially for tiny dogs with tiny teeth that don't like it and have a hard time eating enough of it.

I've also tried to encourage Frosty to eat the high priced natural canned foods, and of all I've tried over the years he will only ocassionally eat a little mixed with something he likes. There's no way he'll eat any of the Hills Special Diets the vets sell. Here's the formula I've ended up with that he'll eat.......(but I do still try to add other things): He will eat any flavor of the canned little flat foil top dinners called "Cesar" chopped up in small bits (he won't eat anything that's in a large hunk). He gets 1/2 a can (2 oz.) twice a day of that mixed on top of Innova Senior dry mixed with Precise Senior dry. The dry totals 1/3 cup a day (and he rarely eats all). He has to be PRIMED to eat even what he likes. The primer is cooked chicken breast, only about 2 teaspoons chopped and on top of everything. The primer is the only thing that keeps him eating every day! He also gets 1/2 teaspoon of "Missing Link Plus" (omega 3-6, with glucosamine) sprinkled on top of the canned food. He likes the Missing Link, and won't eat anything with smelly fish oil in it.

I know that sounds terribly spoiled! but I've many times been through the "when he gets hungry he'll eat it" rut. It just doesn't work with him. He is the most stubborn creature alive. He'll go 3 days and vomit bile from not eating and still not give in. What I am doing works, so that's what we do!

So my advice would be don't force the dry food issue, keep some at the bottom of the bowl, but find a good top of the line canned food she likes and add something she loves that is good for her like the chicken breast on top to prime her. Always keep nutrition in mind, but realize it doesn't have to be kibble. Find chew bones or Greenies she like for her teeth.

 

[jellybn1]

Oh My!!! Sounds so much like my little girl!!! She will STARVE herself rather than eat Euconoba puppy food......... It takes me 3 days to get her to eat an Iams dog buiscuit! Since she is so very tiny, she has not lost ONE baby tooth yet!!Incredible!!! I sure hope that this is NOT going to continue for 13 years!!!
Anything else you have to tell me, I'm listening!~!Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Jellybn1

 

[jmm]

You can do home cooked. Dr. Donald Strombeck has a good book with recipes included. You can also use a pre-mix like Sojourner Farms which you add meat to. Otherwise a commercial canned or dry food is best.

I forget if your puppy has been worked up for a physical problem like liver shunt or hydrocephalus?

 

[k/c mom]

I would keep trying different brands of food. Kallie didn't care about food either and I had to hand feed her for quite a while. I kept trying different foods and finally when it was time for adult food I found Newman's Own which she loves. But it is kibble.....

I've found that my guys have not had stomach problems when I've switched foods possibly because the ingredients in the various ones I tried were similar.

If you're using Lamb now, you may want to try another meat such as chicken. You may want to slightly warm the food... With my first Maltese, Rosebud, I would sit in the kitchen floor, put a little bib on her and she'd sit in my lap and I'd hand feed her canned food.... We did this for quite some time. I'm just not someone who feels comfortable saying "they'll eat when they're ready", etc. I think puppies need to eat and I always like to make sure mine have had their food.....

 

[jellybn1]

Me To!!!!

 

[jellybn1]

Yes. Thank god no problems there. She is VERY picky!!!