I give my seniors all the chocolate Ensure that they can lap up, and when done I refill their little bowl and set it down near their hideout so that they know it's there, as long as they live alone or else it will be gone when you turn your back, lol
Also.... Ensure is a thick, drinkable, supplement, (or, in these cases, a "substitute"), which, when put into little rounded bottom bowls, can be lapped up by very sick rats with extreme URI issues. If your sick rattie stops eating and/or, worse yet, drinking, it is due to her inability to breathe (or open mouthed inhaling and gasping) and so she won't risk drinking if she's barely able to breath, or else she could choke, and possibly die. With a round, curved bottom bowl she can lap it up from the sides where it's shallow, and not risk choking. ATM I have 1 4 year old male who was on his last leg, so to speak, but I was focusing on attending to his brother until he was pts. I then took a close look at him and saw he was severely underweight. I am ashamed to say that I missed the signs, but fortunately I immediately put him on Ensure and he GAINED weight!!! Not saying he became cured, but he got a lot of weight back on and could drink Ensure quite easily. Believe it or not, this was about 6 months ago! He has lived on Ensure only for half a year!!! Quite impressive to day the least. I regularly offer him any table scraps and soft treats I can, a few of which he will attempt to eat. Anyway, he's coming up on 4½ years old and is in the exact same shape as he was 6 months ago. So I have no plans to pts anytime soon unless his health deteriorates. Ensure truly is a life saver!