>The problem?  The little snot has no interest in ferret food or baby
>food or even real chicken ... he is, however, obsessed with the puppy's
>food.  How bad is it for him to eat the puupy chow?
 
Jen and the dynamic duo here ... Thought I might pass along something
that's been working for me when I want to gradually change out my fuzzies
food or get their palates used to eating a variety of flavors ....
 
Because my kiddos are rather finicky about their food and will actually
starve themselves rather than eat something they don't like, I've
developed a personal, "tried-and-true" method for getting them used to
a variety of different ferret foods.
 
I mix equal parts (about 1-2 cups) of "old" kibble (stuff I want to wean
them OFF of) and "new" kibble in a basic food grinder/processor.  Once
it's in a dry, smaller nugget / powder form, I add water to it to make it
slightly mushy or soupy and then add other 'nutrients' (usually equal
parts of ferretone and chix baby food or any real meat product - about
1 teaspoon of each, give or take).
 
I do this in pretty small batches - first with the yummy flavor additives -
but then eventually after about 3-4 batches I've reduced the flavorings
to almost nothing while at the same time eventually eliminating the 'old'
kibble so that all they are really eating is the new kibble in soup/paste
form.
 
Once they've been used to gobbling up the stuff with the 'extras' added
in, they don't seem to notice that they're no longer eating it without
the additives (or with much less flavoring) nor do they notice that
they're now eating a totally different brand of food.  Eventually, I
stop grinding it up and just give it to them in the hard kibble form.
By then they either don't care about the taste or they're just REALLY
hungry!  LOL!
 
But like I said, my kiddos are pretty finicky and this was the only
method I've consistently found that works for 'switching out' food or
getting them used to a variety of things.  I think the key, for me/them,
is that I always start out by adding some kind of flavoring (ferretone,
baby food, vitamin paste, petromalt, linatone, soft treats, etc -
whatever treat the ferret likes) to make it enticing but try to keep the
amount of flavorings as low as possible initially so I can filter it out
as quick as possible over the course of the other batches I prepare.
 
You may have to do this by mixing the 'old' kibble (dog food) with the
'new' kibble (ferret food).  It now only takes me less than 10 min.  to
put a small batch together - just enough for about 2-3 cups, depending on
what the final consistency ends up being.  then, if by chance they don't
like it, there's not much to waste.  But to make it even MORE enticing, I
generally warm up the mixture a bit so the furkids think they are dining
at SPAGO'S or something - that's total gourmet to them!!!!
 
Keep in mind, however, that the final product will have to remain
refrigerated and can't sit out too long while the furkids attempt to eat
it so I usually test this out in the mornings and evenings, when I'm home
to watch their reactions.  Most often, they lap it all up immediately so
there's no worry about it sitting out too long and spoiling.
 
Good luck!
 
Jen and the dynamic duo, Sasah & Snowball  :-)
[Posted in FML issue 4560]