Weaning a Jenday

[dogslovepeace]

Sgt. Pepper is 10 weeks old and has been home for 3 weeks. When we left the store they were feeding her twice a day. I have been offering her pellets/seed/fruits/veggies without much success and continuing to feed her formula twice a day.

Yesterday I was tired of hearing her cry. I felt in my gut that she just wasn't getting enough food. I decided to feed her early and offer her more before bed. Sure enough she was hungry [emoji20]

The good thing with this is that she went for the bowl of formula rather than the syringe and ate from there - even when I added in food. So this morning I offered her the bowl first and only gave her a small amount of food from the syringe because SHE had filled her crop. [emoji4]

So with all that said - is it okay for her to eat her formula over an hours time? The instructions are so specific about the temperature but it takes her forever to eat enough to fill up.

 

[JerseyWendy]

I will tentatively say, yes, it's fine for her to eat the formula like this, even if it takes that long. I understand the temperature can't be maintained during the entire time, however, she IS eating on her own, which is a good thing.

Just make sure her crop is emptying nicely, and that there is no foul/rancid odor coming from her beak at any time, as this would possibly indicate a sour crop.

Will she try pre-moistened pellets? If she's slurping up her formula, why not try and make her some sort of mooshy, warm food and see how she does with it? (for example: mashed, cooked yams with cinnamon)

 

[dogslovepeace]

She is emptying her crop and smells normal so she seems to be doing well!

I will try mashed yams and maybe some mashed carrots. Maybe the cold foods are freaking her out because she's so custom to her warm formula. Hmmm - that makes sense to me. Thanks for the suggestions!!!