Catfood?!?!

Cait0420

Cait0420

New Member
So my guys are going thru baytril treatment for RI and aren't eating, so my vet gave me a/d catfood said to mix with water and force feed that. This was after I asked about the yogurt thing to up the good bacteria and he said that yogurt would have NO effect on chams. I'm worried to feed the catfood mixture (the food itself is like glop for a cat with like no teeth or something) any advice? Should I even attempt feeding it? Or just keep force feeding bugs? Or both? I'm so confused
 
If it were me i would not feed cat food. A vet told the previous owner of our adopted panther to gutload his bugs w dog food for extra vit A and his uric acid went way up. I think we got him and corrected it in time to avoid gout but this just isn't a good idea. There are critical care food formulas for insectivores that vets can prescribe. I would blend up bugs before feeding cat food. But that's my opinion.
 
The cat stuff once wont hurt. But certainly I wouldn't use it regularly. The dietary needs of cats are completely different than chameleons.

Like piglet, I would take a bunch of insects and liquefy those, or carefully encourage (force feed) soft bodied whole bugs
 
The stuff I used is works great I will post a pic you can get it at ur local pet store I'm chameleon broke his leg and I was using this it is a pain to do but it works
 
Probably the only reason he said to use cat food is because they don't sell puree insects in a can. He probably never assumed that anyone would go to the trouble of putting insects in a blender.;)
 
Lol yea I was thinking of liquefying some crickets, they will open their mouths for me when it's force feed time, I've been giving silkworms, meal worms and hornworms, but they'll only take like one or two a day. I may try the catfood once just to get the healthy probiotics in them, if I can't find the stuff Christine mentioned
 
I'm also worried that if I force feed them daily while their so young they'll get used to it and not bother hunting anymore
 
Cait0420 said:
I'm also worried that if I force feed them daily while their so young they'll get used to it and not bother hunting anymore
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I wouldn't worry about them getting too used to it. Most chams hate being force fed. I would continue to do that though just to make sure that they're still getting something in their stomach. See if you can find that stuff I posted though...its worth a try! I'd do the bug juice if my stomach could handle that, but the thought of liquifying bugs makes me gag!:p
 
christineacero said:
I wouldn't worry about them getting too used to it. Most chams hate being force fed. I would continue to do that though just to make sure that they're still getting something in their stomach. See if you can find that stuff I posted though...its worth a try! I'd do the bug juice if my stomach could handle that, but the thought of liquifying bugs makes me gag!:p
Click to expand...

Yeah its not pretty. When I had to do it, I blended them in a coffee grinder and had to put my hand over the top so I wouldnt see it happening.

Also do be sure you are not overfeeding or forcing too much at once as you could cause serious damage and lead to the death of the animal.
 
christineacero said:
I wouldn't worry about them getting too used to it. Most chams hate being force fed. I would continue to do that though just to make sure that they're still getting something in their stomach. See if you can find that stuff I posted though...its worth a try! I'd do the bug juice if my stomach could handle that, but the thought of liquifying bugs makes me gag!:p
Click to expand...

Yeah that's why I've been feeding the worms, I think bug juice is nasty
 
pigglett79 said:
Yeah its not pretty. When I had to do it, I blended them in a coffee grinder and had to put my hand over the top so I wouldnt see it happening.

Also do be sure you are not overfeeding or forcing too much at once as you could cause serious damage and lead to the death of the animal.
Click to expand...

They're only taking one or two extremely small worms a day, but they're drinking a lot again, thank god! I was sooo worried, still am worried, but the drinking is a step in the right direction!
 
I used reptaboost insectivore recipe for my daughters bearded dragon when she was on medication and not eating - she would lick it from the syringe (but wouldn't eat crickets or worms) - I got it at a regular pet store
 
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