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Post by Deleted on Aug 29, 2014 8:16:46 GMT -5
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Post by gfountain on Aug 29, 2014 13:49:55 GMT -5
Is he eating chunks that size consistently now? Approximately how many ounces per day?
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Post by Deleted on Aug 29, 2014 17:46:11 GMT -5
Yes. Last night he ate all of a 0.7 oz soup cube.
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Post by gfountain on Aug 31, 2014 8:49:45 GMT -5
How do you feel about trying him without kibble for a day? You know him best.. do you think he'll eat the raw in his cage if he's hungry?
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Post by Deleted on Aug 31, 2014 14:22:18 GMT -5
Yeah I think that would be okay. I'll try that tomorrow.
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Post by gfountain on Aug 31, 2014 16:23:51 GMT -5
OK, so in the morning feed him his raw as usual, but then leave extra soup/chunks in his cage with him. It can be thawed or frozen; thawed soup will stay good for about 6 hours. If it's frozen, it will thaw during the day and he can eat it as it thaws. Do you go to school? If so, check on him as soon as you get home to make sure he still has some food left. If not, you'll need to give him some food then and you'll want to leave more with him the next day. If it's not all gone, you can wait until his next mealtime. Ideally you want there to be just enough to have 1 or 2 bites left over by the time you serve the next meal, which should be about 12 hours after his breakfast. If there's still some there it means he's had enough to eat, but you don't want a LOT of leftovers.
You also need to start decreasing the amount of soup he gets and increasing the chunks. If he's eating the chunks with no problem, it's time to start working on bones, so ask your parents to pick up some bone-in meats for him - chicken wings, quail, cornish game hen.. those are all small enough to start on. Chicken wings are probably best since he's been getting the chicken in his soup and is already familiar with the taste. Tell them to look for whole wings with the tip included (not what we call 'wingettes' with only 2 sections). They should have all 3 sections of the wing.. the tip is the best part for beginners.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 1, 2014 10:40:38 GMT -5
I start school tomorrow. Thank you for the help and I don't think he's quite ready for bones yet.
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Post by gfountain on Sept 1, 2014 13:42:43 GMT -5
No, I'm sure he's not ready for whole bone, but if he's eating chunks, then it IS time to START working on bone. If you're decreasing the amount of soup as I said, he's not going to be getting enough calcium to keep his poops firm. Therefore it's time to begin working on bone. Of course we're not going to expect him to eat whole bones just yet. You'll start him with thoroughly smashed bone and work up from there.
How is he doing today without the kibble?
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Post by Deleted on Sept 1, 2014 22:07:17 GMT -5
He didn't eat any soup while I was there, probably because I just woke him up and he was tired. He eats the soup by himself so I'm not worried.
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Post by gfountain on Sept 2, 2014 8:44:14 GMT -5
A few questions... How did he do without kibble yesterday? How much soup did he eat? And what did you give him for overnight, soup or kibble?
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Post by Deleted on Sept 2, 2014 14:15:04 GMT -5
I gave him the soup overnight and he ate about 0.8 oz of soup total.
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Post by gfountain on Sept 2, 2014 17:01:49 GMT -5
So in 24 hours he ate about 1.5 ounces? Is that right? And that includes both soup and chunks? Wow, that's not very much, but if you've left it available and that's all he ate AND he ate it by himself, then I guess that's all he needs. You need to work on getting him to eat more and larger chunks now. Did you get any bone-in meat to start working on?
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Post by Deleted on Sept 2, 2014 22:36:35 GMT -5
I didn't get any bone-in meat but I will when my parents go to the grocery store.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 3, 2014 9:22:48 GMT -5
Do you keep your meat in the freezer? If so, how do you thaw it? I keep the soup in the fridge and the chunks of chicken in the freezer. I read that thawing the meat at room temperature will allow bacteria to grow. I also read that you can thaw the meat in the fridge but I think that would take quite a long time. I've been thawing the meat a bit in warm water, is that okay?
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Post by gfountain on Sept 3, 2014 14:04:19 GMT -5
I keep everything in the freezer except for the meal that I'm going to serve next. When I serve one meal, I get the next out of the freezer and put it in the fridge. I buy LOTS of meat when I find it on sale and put it directly in the freezer. Then as I have time, I partially thaw and portion it into baggies that are labeled and put back in the freezer. That way, there are always ready-to-serve meals in the freezer and I never have to spend very much time on preparation.
Soup can be frozen in individual portions in ice cube trays, and kept frozen until just before you serve it. It thaws pretty quickly. Thawing meat in warm water is OK as long as the water isn't hot enough to partially cook the outside of the meat. Once Cloud gets used to eating whole chunks and bones, you can actually give them to him frozen once in a while. They like meatsicles, especially on hot days.
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