Question:
Cub was @ the vet today for eye/tooth issues, which turned out to be irresolavable, but they also said that in ayear she had lost *100 grams*. She seemed smaller to me but I don't have a scale so I never knew how bad it was.
I am willing to do ANYTHING to put the weight back on her, but as she has bad teeth, this is an uphill battle.
She eats Oxbow pellets but refuses hay. She gets a decent # of treats such as organic fruit, Vitakraft Calcium sticks, natural vegetraian dog buscuits/horse cookies, etc.
What is left?


Answer:
maybe a bit of nutrical once or twice per week? What did the vet say about her teeth and eye?


Answer:
He put flurescent drops in both eyes to see if she had a blockage. She does & he said there was nothing that could really be done, other than irrigating eyes w/ saline. there is no infection.
Her teeth have always been bad. They are ingrown on one side of her mouth, discoured as well. She drools a lot.
He suggested euthanasia last yaer but this time he didn't.
What exactly is Nutrical? Where do you get it? I saw nothing buy that name for sale 2 the vet's office....


Answer:
It's a high calorie supplement in a sort of gel formulation. It comes in a tube that you keep in the refrigerator. I found more info here:
http://www.millpledge.com/preparations/nutrical.htm
I used to feed it to Tinsel once or twice a week to keep her weight steady and now I keep some around in case the girls need it. Jigsaw is especially prone to weight loss. Anything new and her weight goes down. The vet has checked her over and said it's just the stress of new things around her so I give her a bit of Nutrical when that happens. Honestly, she would eat the whole tube if I let her
There is a cat & dog formula as well as a ferret one. Our vet said the difference in both is not major from what he could see (aside from the price...ferret one is more expensive). He just said to make sure I never gave more then a pea-size drop per serving.


Answer:
Many vets offices have it. You don't need a prescription. Call around to a few and see if any have it. I tried the ferret one from the pet store and my Chu wouldn't touch it, I think it tastes too much like meat so don't try the ferret one. The dog or cat one that you can get at most pet stores are close to the one you can get at the vet. They are all called Nutri Cal but there are different brands.


Answer:
Less than 1/2 teaspoon full of Old fashioned oatmeal (not instant) can help a chin to gain and might be something Tinsel would eat. Be carefull though too much oatmeal can cause constipation.


Answer:
I know our local Petco has it. The kind for dogs/cats is the one I use when needed. I bought it from chinworld.com.
Our LOVE it. Every once in a very great while I'll put a tiny smudge of it on a wheat for everyone and they'll lick it off, even before they eat the wheat.


Answer:
Thank you everyone. Friday I am shopping for oats & Nutrical.


Answer:
yes I forgot about oats! Tinsel used to get some of that too - both for her weight and her seizures (apparently oats is good to control seizures)
Just make sure you get real oats and not the instant kind


Answer:
I will buy them @ the health food store. What about other things like flaxseeds?
I'm still not 100% clear on where to get Nutrical, a pet store? Neither Hank's vet nor Cub's ever had it on the shelves to my notice....