You may recall that I started modifying the Finsters' diet shortly after Wasabi (Peas) died. I fed the birds reasonably well, but with all the deaths from liver issues, and deaths possibly from liver issues, I decided it wouldn't hurt to try something new. You can get some details in the entry "Is This Food?" I still don't have all the details down, but I never planned to do it all at once. And while I still can't tell if the Finsters are eating any of the new additions, they have a bigger variety available to them, which can only help.

Harley is a different story. Things I know he swallows regularly: cheese; macaroni and cheese (obviously); nuts — almonds, pistachios, peanuts, and the occasional cashew; eggs; safflower seeds; mashed sweet potato — only once though, after that he just flicked the stuff around; and colored pellets (he only eats the plain ones if I feed him by hand, so those don't really count).

Things I know he chews and drinks but doesn't swallow: thawed, frozen carrots; apples; fennel; the rib of bok choy; and the rib of kale.

If there is water clinging to this he'll drink it, and occasionally tear it up into bits: any full leaf of greens or lettuce I give him, carrot tops, a big bunch of broccoli, and fingers. Drinking is a really fun game!

Obviously, we feed him more things than this, and he probably eats more things than we realize. He isn't losing weight, after all. But for the most part, he seems to ignore an awful lot of food and food-like items. For example, I fix him his own mix of soaked and sprouted grains and beans, all of which he seems to ignore.

Unless, that is, it's the mix of seeds and grains that I feed the Finsters — in which case he climbs down from his perch to the kitchen counter and dives right in!

Not always, of course, but at least three days this week — when it just so happens that I've added this very same Finster Mix to his typical breakfast of toast, apple and assorted things to ignore — he has happily climbed down to the counter after his first breakfast, and eaten so much I've been worried the Finsters won't get any!

I let him eat it for a few reasons. First, because he's so darn cute! Look at that face! (Look at that nasty toaster oven! No wonder I thought of replacing it!)

Second, because it's good for him. And third, because he's so darn cute!

Who am I to complain, as long as he's eating something besides cheese and carrot juice? I'll just keep adding more things to the Finster Mix, so the little guys don't, you know, starve to death.