I am in the process of doing the hard and horrible thing of switching the ferret's food. I only have one really staunch withholder who REFUSES anything but cat food. Jeesh. I admit, that when I first got them, they were eating the Friskies Dental Diet because that's what my cat eats. (The cat was here first) Well, we first started with mixing the Dental Diet and Totally Ferret in hopes that a switch would occur. I even box it in a container so that the Totally Ferret smell seeps into the Dental Diet. These guys are free roam and I can't really monitor their individual eating habits very well except to say that the dental diet is crumbed up on the floor the most. I've been slowly and surely taking out more and more dental diet and putting in more and more Totally Ferret. Sola is the only one who won't eat it. Everyone else still grabs a piece of Dental Diet here and there, but I've never seen Sola eat anything but the Dental Diet. Everyone seems to be trying to make the switch. Even the cat is eating the TF now. :-) (Note: I tried to switch over from DD to a high quality kitten food cold turkey. I was under the impression that "when they get hungry enough, they'll eat". Well, Sola didn't and got wobbly on me. I watched her closely, but she just didn't eat for almost 2 days. I couldn't take it anymore and got her some DD and she chowed down. That's when I decided to try other things) I tried taking the TF and putting it in a container with a smidgen of Ferretone and coating it in a thin film of Ferretone. That helped with the other guys, but Sola looked at me like, "Who the hell you think you foolin'?" So, I tried a TF paste of crushed TF and water and everyone took it reluctantly. Once they tasted, they were cool with it and took it freely. But, alas, Sola REFUSED. I got some into those jaws of steel and she chomped it up and swallowed and I rewarded for eating it (a lick of Ferretone), but she just won't take the hint. Tonight, I made a TF broth of TF and water. I am reluctant to spike it with anything else. I don't want them to expect the other taste with the TF. It was AMAZING! I had 3 out of 5 take it with no problem. In fact, Venus-Orion-and Luna wanted it in a bowl so they could lap it up. I put a few hard pieces in the broth and they took one or two and ate it on their own. YEAH! But, Eros was iffy about it. He took it when I syringed it into his mouth. He kinda lapped but wasn't thrilled with it. I've seen Eros eat the TF, though, so it doesn't bother me too much. He's kinda strange with eating. Even with things like Nutrical and Ferretone, I have to grab him, make him take the first lick and he is like "OH! This is GOOD stuff" and he eats it like nobody's business. Alas, Sola wouldn't have it. I finally got it in the side of her mouth and got a little on her tongue and she lapped furiously to keep from breathing the liquid. I mistook it to mean she liked it and put her down thinking she wanted it and she took off. I got her to take a reluctant syringe full. I rewarded her afterward. (She's the only one I rewarded) Also, I only made her take one syringe full. I don't want to make her sick. Does anyone have any suggestions? I really really really want them to take the TF and be able to ditch the DD forever. I think I am almost there. This has been going on actively for a few months. I've tried half heartedly several times over the past year and a half though. It just seems that we just slide back into our old habits. I am thinking my next course of action is to make everyone sleep in a cage at night instead of just free in their room so I can really start taking the DD away and be able to monitor what Sola eats. I just don't want to cage her, alone, and take away the DD. I am afraid she will have the impression that we are starving her alone in a cage away from her brothers and sisters. If I cage them, I will cage them all, or at least a pair in one cage and a trio in another cage. This way, she at least won't have that tension. I welcome all suggestions... April "LOVES" Ferrets L una O rion V enus E ros S ola [Posted in FML issue 3066]