alternatives to lifeline?

[momenteller]

Hi. I have a new adoptee (read about it here) who feels seriously bony and who has lost more since she's been with me. The first night she was at 503 grams, now down to 470. I'm guessing she lost weight protesting the move, because she barely ate the first three nights she was here. Now that she is settling in and eating pellets, I'm slowly mixing Oxbow pellets with her current feed. It seems like Lifeline would help stimulate her appetite, help with the constipation and ease the food transition. I keep trying to offer it to her in various ways (by itself, on the pellets, in a paste on a spoon) but she refuses to eat it. Could she just dislike the taste of Lifeline? For now I'm sprinkling plain acidophilus on her pellets. Is there anything else I could give her to stimulate her appetite and help her gain weight? She is warming up to me but still won't take anything from my hand, including simethicone.

Is Dyne in liquid form, and have to be administered by hand? Could I try some CC (although I doubt she'd take it from me)? Calf-manna? One of Tanya's supplements? Or should I just leave her be and hope she slowly gains?

 

[RDZCRanch]

As long as she is eating, I would just give her time. You don't want any animal to gain a huge amount of weight all at once. Slowly but surely is the way to go and acidophilus in her water bottle or sprinkled on her food will be helpful.

 

[ticklechin]

You could add a bit of loose alfalfa to her hay, other than that since she is skittish and has the capability of eating on her own I would let her gain slowly. Tanya's supplement herb mix couldn't hurt either. I would not hand feed this chin anything. Dyne I would only use in extreme cases where the chin won't eat anything period, I dip the syringe tip in it and get them to eat what ever in in the syringe that way.

 

[momenteller]

Great, thanks for the advice. I just need a little hand-holding every now and then.

 

[Riven]

Dyne is super high in fat... but also sugar. I would stay clear unless absolutely needed.

There are a couple other supplements I've heard of. Or just acidophilus from the store. Some chins love it, some chins don't. If she don't, I would waste your money trying to shove it at her. It will literally take months to put the weight back on, depending on how bad she is, it may be 6 months before she's a healthy weight. Slow and steady is the best approach.

 

[starleomach]

You could mix in a touch of honey and water...or apple juice. It tends to help stimulate the appatite.