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I was hoping I could get some tips for my roommates dog, Mia. She's a 6 year old cocker spaniel, and is coming off of Innova EVO fish. I have been feeding raw for quite a while with my dog, and the ferrets, but I admit Mia's got me on my toes. The ferrets were by far the hardest switch, but in comparison Mia has been much harder. I was hoping someone could sort of walk me through it, if they could.
Mia has a somewhat sensitive stomach, so we were shooting for starting out with chicken and then moving onto different protein sources from there once she adjusted, but she hasn't ate much of anything. We were also going to go the "cold turkey" way, but Mia is simply not eating. We started last Thurs. I thought she'd gobble it up as Maddie did, but she didn't eat Thurs. Friday morning she at some meat off of a wing/section with the skin pulled off and very little bone. Friday evening, nothing. Saturday she only ate a little sliver of meat off of a wing/section and no bone. Sat evening she offered her a chicken back, but Mia wouldn't touch it. Sunday evening she ate, but only because the chicken & bone were ground up. Today she offered her som rabbit, because she was wondering if it was the chicken she didn't like, but she wouldn't eat that either.
We've tried cutting & scoring the meat, and also smearing something she likes on the meat (she did lick it off). If she did not eat after 20mins her bowl was picked up and she was offered the same thing the next meal. She was weighed this afternoon and according to the scale she's lost a pound
I suggesting making a "soupie" to disguise the meat like we did with the ferrets, and then to gradually put bigger and bigger peices of raw in the "soup" and gradually lesson the amount of soup to meat ratio, but I was wondering if others had advice/experience. It has been my experience that a dog will not starve themselves, so I'm supposing that she's eating the bare minimum to get her buy.
I'm sorry this is so long, but Mia is natrally a skinny dog and we (her vet included) don't want her loosing any more weight.
Thank you
Mia has a somewhat sensitive stomach, so we were shooting for starting out with chicken and then moving onto different protein sources from there once she adjusted, but she hasn't ate much of anything. We were also going to go the "cold turkey" way, but Mia is simply not eating. We started last Thurs. I thought she'd gobble it up as Maddie did, but she didn't eat Thurs. Friday morning she at some meat off of a wing/section with the skin pulled off and very little bone. Friday evening, nothing. Saturday she only ate a little sliver of meat off of a wing/section and no bone. Sat evening she offered her a chicken back, but Mia wouldn't touch it. Sunday evening she ate, but only because the chicken & bone were ground up. Today she offered her som rabbit, because she was wondering if it was the chicken she didn't like, but she wouldn't eat that either.
We've tried cutting & scoring the meat, and also smearing something she likes on the meat (she did lick it off). If she did not eat after 20mins her bowl was picked up and she was offered the same thing the next meal. She was weighed this afternoon and according to the scale she's lost a pound
I suggesting making a "soupie" to disguise the meat like we did with the ferrets, and then to gradually put bigger and bigger peices of raw in the "soup" and gradually lesson the amount of soup to meat ratio, but I was wondering if others had advice/experience. It has been my experience that a dog will not starve themselves, so I'm supposing that she's eating the bare minimum to get her buy.
I'm sorry this is so long, but Mia is natrally a skinny dog and we (her vet included) don't want her loosing any more weight.
Thank you