These days when it comes to finicky eating habits, cats don’t
necessarily have a corner on the market. Many people find that
dogs, and especially smaller dogs, have a tendency to turn
their noses up at the dog food dish. Sure, some dogs would
still eat a license plate (if you melted a little cheese on
it).
But more and more people are finding that dogs who used to
have healthy appetites are suddenly eating like supermodels.
And of course many cats are still eating like birds (pardon
the pun).
Our core belief is that this is the result
of sheer boredom caused by bland, over-processed, low-quality
dog foods.
Imagine
for a moment that you were stuck eating the same thing, day
after day. Now imagine that what you were being forced to eat
was a diet consisting strictly of dried up “mystery” pellets
that didn’t even resemble real food. It’s easy
to see why pets will suddenly stop eating when in fact they
should be welcoming each meal with voracious excitement. It
is the main driving force in their lives. A pet with a passion
for food is a pet with a passion for life.
If this description reminds you of your pet, the first step
that I would recommend would be to switch to fresh, real, natural
dog food. Whether you choose a base, like our Sojos
natural dog food mix, that
you add to fresh meat and veggies, or a recipe that you make
from
scratch
-- dogs and cats will have a much healthier appetite on human-grade
pet food. It’s important to keep mealtime exciting for
pets. Once you’ve got their systems accustomed to a
raw dog food, try out different fruits and vegetables
to see which ones they
like. Try adding healthy leftovers to their food dish. And
feel free to mix in things that you know they like such as
tuna juice or chicken broth. Also, allowing all of the food
to soak together in the fridge overnight will help ensure that
the meat’s flavor gets absorbed into the other food items,
making the meal all that much more exciting and tasty for your
pet!
If your pet appears finicky to raw
dog food,
fear not. Where there’s a will, there’s a way.
Remember to switch slowly. There is no need to rush. When starting
out on a new
diet, begin with as small as 1/8 teaspoon mixed in with their
existing dog food. The smaller the amount of new dog food being
introduced at each meal, the better. Then, very, very slowly
start to
increase the amount of the new dog food each day while simultaneously
decreasing the amount of old food being served. The same is
true for added vegetables. Don’t add too much of a new
dog food all at once, and try one new thing at a time so as
not to overwhelm your critter. Chop veggies into very fine
pieces
or put them into a food processor if need be. Another helpful
tip is to use a 5 to 10 minute feeding window. (Their bodies
were never meant to have food available 24 hours a day.) If
they refuse to eat, put the dog food in the fridge and try
it again later. If they still refuse then wait 'til the next
day.
They
will get the idea after a few days. Be very, very patient.
This will make for a smoother transition, which, in turn, will
also be easier on their digestive systems.
Once you’ve
increased the proportion of the new raw dog food to the point
where you’ve completely phased out
the old food, your dog or cat will be ready to try other fresh
and raw pet food. Remember, the only reason dogs and cats
have trouble with table scraps is because their bodies are
used
to only
digesting bland pellets everyday. Once they’re transitioned
to fresh pet food, they’ll love to try other healthy
table scraps. Just stay away from things that are difficult
to digest
like onions and citrus fruits -- and of course no junk food.
For more information on how to feed a finicky pet, check out
this article (http://sojos.com/howtofeedfinickycats.cfm) from
our website. Bone appetite!
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Sojourner Farms. All rights reserved.
