Food additives?

[LeoMonster]

I've read a lot about food additives that I could sprinkle on Leo's food and each is supposed to do something. He's healthy and acting as normal as a little hyper chin could be, but I would like to encourage him to eat a little more.

I've seen things that I can mix with either his hay or his pellets. Could I have some suggestions because I have no idea what each one does. I don't want it to turn into a situation where Leo eats just the additive and not the food itself.

 

[Stackie]

I really haven't heard much about food additives. Where have you read about them? I really don't like the idea of adding something to a food to get a chin to eat. A healthy chin will not starve themselves. Putting something on the food to get the chin to eat could create a dependance or cause the chin to favor whatever you are adding, doing more harm than good. They may ignore the pellets and just eat whatever you are putting in the pellets to make them more interesting.

What type of pellets and hay are you feeding? You say he is healthy and active...if so, he is probably eating just fine and doesn't need anything else.

 

[arf2184]

If you put something yummier than his pellets in the dish, chances are he'll start digging through the pellets to get to it, throwing more pellets on the floor.

If he's doing fine, don't worry about it. Remember he only weighs 1-2 lbs. He doesn't need to eat much.

If you think he needs to put on a smidge of weight, you could try giving him a small pinch of oats for a treat a couple times a week. Also remember that fatter is not necessarily better. An increasing amount of pets in America and other countries are overweight (including some chins) and many of them pay for it with their health.

 

[LeoMonster]

I'm just worried that I can feel his spine a little bit.

 

[Tillygizmo]

I sometimes sprinkle some dry critical care or lifeline over their pellets they seem to like it

 

[LeoMonster]

What type of pellets and hay are you feeding? You say he is healthy and active...if so, he is probably eating just fine and doesn't need anything else.

Sorry just saw this...I currently have him on Mazuri pellets and hay is a mixture of timothy and orchard grass Oxbow hay. It used to be just timothy but i put the orchard grass in to try to entice him with something new.

 

[dragsil]

I sprinkled lifeline over my pellets with my new chin and it made him take to them, also Silver was getting a small amount of lifeline daily too when he was on antibiotics and he actually put on weight despite the Baytril, which I was impressed with.

Not sure if this actually works too but when I was paranoid that they were not eating enough hay I didnt clump it in the cage in one big feeding but gave smaller amounts more frequently (when they woke up, before I go to sleep, when I wake up) and they´ve been getting really excited about getting so much´new´hay and have all put on a few grams since I started doing it.

 

[ticklechin]

You can add some loose alfalfa to the diet, I don't like the idea of sprinkling anything on the pellets.

 

[Tillygizmo]

You can add some loose alfalfa to the diet, I don't like the idea of sprinkling anything on the pellets.

Dawn, could it be unhealthy? I do it once in awhile.

 

[ticklechin]

Its not "unhealthy" but chins can hold out for the good stuff and if you get them in a habit of having stuff on pellets they may not eat the pellets "naked". There is no need for healthy chins to have anything added to their diets besides hay and pellets.

 

[LeoMonster]

Not sure if this actually works too but when I was paranoid that they were not eating enough hay I didnt clump it in the cage in one big feeding but gave smaller amounts more frequently (when they woke up, before I go to sleep, when I wake up) and they´ve been getting really excited about getting so much´new´hay and have all put on a few grams since I started doing it.

I think I'll give that a try...maybe do that with the food as well, not put so much in the bowl and then just watch it like a hawk

You can add some loose alfalfa to the diet, I don't like the idea of sprinkling anything on the pellets.

Its not "unhealthy" but chins can hold out for the good stuff and if you get them in a habit of having stuff on pellets they may not eat the pellets "naked".

I was extremely worried about this concept which is why I asked for all of your opinions. I didn't want him to become dependent on it. Now that I see that a couple of you mention it becoming an issue I'm going to bypass the additive. Its not like he's not eating, I see him happily munching on stuff (usually around midnight or so). I think I'll try the smaller portions/fresher stuff, and then see how it goes. I'll throw a couple bits of alfalfa in if I feel I need to.

Thanks guys!

 

[Brittany]

I agree with everything that has been said. You definitely don't want to add any 'treats' to the pellets for all the reasons stated in previous posts.

While chins do wonderfully on hay and pellets alone I also add an herbal supplement from http://www.fuzzieskingdom.com/. I have decided to do this because it provides my chins with an even larger variety of textures to grind their teeth down. It also provides my chins with nutrients that haven't been processed by compounding them into pellets. I spent a long time doing research, and talking with Tanya from Fuzzies Kingdom, to come up with a supplement that I'm happy with. Again, this supplement is in addition to their hay and pellets. It goes in its own separate bowl. I slowly incorporated it into my chin's diet, so they consider it to be food, and not a treat.

 

[greeneyedbaby190]

If you are worried about his weight then I would get a scale for him. Preferably a gram scale. That way you can monitor what his weight is, and if he starts to get sick her will start to drop weight.

I first invested in a scale when I picked up my rescue and it really helped my peace of mind to watch those numbers go up each week. My girls all sit around 550 grams although I know that some other chins are heavier or lighter.

 

[LeoMonster]

If you are worried about his weight then I would get a scale for him. Preferably a gram scale. That way you can monitor what his weight is, and if he starts to get sick her will start to drop weight.

I got a gram scale from my boyfriend, but it was too small. Another one is in the mail it will arrive on saturday

 

[LeoMonster]

I agree with everything that has been said. You definitely don't want to add any 'treats' to the pellets for all the reasons stated in previous posts.

While chins do wonderfully on hay and pellets alone I also add an herbal supplement from http://www.fuzzieskingdom.com/. I have decided to do this because it provides my chins with an even larger variety of textures to grind their teeth down. It also provides my chins with nutrients that haven't been processed by compounding them into pellets. I spent a long time doing research, and talking with Tanya from Fuzzies Kingdom, to come up with a supplement that I'm happy with. Again, this supplement is in addition to their hay and pellets. It goes in its own separate bowl. I slowly incorporated it into my chin's diet, so they consider it to be food, and not a treat.

Also.... (sorry for the double post)

Brittany, I've poked around a lot on fuzzies kingdom as well, and have looked at all their supplements. I don't think it's something I'm going to do right now but I might talk to Tanya in the future to learn about what they are used for.

But do you find that your chin(s) eat more of the supplement then their actual food? Once again I'm worried about dependency on the something "extra". I never wanted to add actual treats to the pellets, but I had heard about powder supplements (I don't remember from where I'm sorry, its probably a misinformation around on the internet) that are used to benefit chins if mixed with pellets, which I was thinking about when I made the post. Just to clear that one up because I think I worded it weirdly and people think I wanted to add treat like things to it. Not my intention at all.

I am definitely going to leave his food alone though, and just do it in smaller portions. I might switch back to his original ceramic bowl as well, to see if that changes anything. He seemed to eat more out of that one. I'll take it one step at a time though.

 

[Brittany]

do you find that your chin(s) eat more of the supplement then their actual food? Once again I'm worried about dependency on the something "extra".

No, they only get 1- 2 teaspoons of supplement a day. It's not enough to sustain them, nor does it last the entire day. Chins can get all the nutrients they need from hay and pellets. In my initial posts I explained why I choose to have their nutrients coming from 3 sources (pellets, hay, supplement). So in my case its not an 'extra' but part of their diet. I'm watching for overall health, consistent droppings, steady weight, etc. I get concerned over drastic changes in eating, but if someone eats a little less of something on any given night I'm not rushing out to the vet.