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Post by Deleted on Jan 16, 2016 22:35:33 GMT -5
Hi Jocelyn! Farley had been on straight meat (no FDR) for 3 days straight. He did have some FDR today as Hubby got up to feed the boys this morning. He did not hesitate with the meats only tonight for his first dinner.
Oh my goodness, the kangaroo. Where do I start? Farley loves the kangaroo. I think that was an important part of his going to straight meat this past week. He took to that pretty easily so I must get some more! Alvin is like, "Mama, where has this yumminess been all my life? You've been holding out on me???" He LOVES it. I think they're both going to be a bit upset when they get turkey thigh tomorrow though. I needed to freeze the rest of the kangaroo before it went bad.
Alvin is doing better with slivers, but I swear Farley will spit anything out that makes him work hard for his food. I think Alvin was the exact same way for quite a while. I have determined though that I need to feed Farley on his own to keep him interested in eating. I have some frozen turkey necks and chicken wings and quail that I would love to see if Farley (and Alvin) will start to chew on. I know Alvin has eaten some crushed bone but Farley was not interested in even playing with the chicken foot I gave him. What should I do to get them interested in the bone in pieces? I was hoping to make it a game for Farley but that didn't work so well.
I was able to get both boys to eat heart pieces (of course Farley spit most of his out) and some liver. The liver they didn't want to go near was pureed and frozen in cubes and I'm thinking that may have messed up the consistency or made it smell a bit weird during freezing in the ice cube trays. Last week I went back to serving the cut up pieces.
I just turned my head to notice Colby cat peeking around the hallway - just staring at me! He had to go to the vet for his annuals and he was not a happy boy. He's been recovering ever since. Poor boy! Posting a picture of this stare down on Facebook.
On the menu this week: turkey, quail, liver, heart and of course adding bone meal powder to some of those (especially the liver!).
Thanks!
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Post by Deleted on Jan 19, 2016 14:57:12 GMT -5
Farley had been on straight meat (no FDR) for 3 days straight. He did have some FDR today as Hubby got up to feed the boys this morning. He did not hesitate with the meats only tonight for his first dinner.
That's AWESOME!! I mean, yeah sure he had some FDR but it's progress! ^_^
Oh my goodness, the kangaroo... I think they're both going to be a bit upset when they get turkey thigh tomorrow though. I needed to freeze the rest of the kangaroo before it went bad.
Ahh!! I'm so giddy with excitement over their new found love of meats! <3 I'm sure a little turkey won't regress their progress. That's great news! So kangaroo is staying on the menu! lol.
Alvin is doing better with slivers, but I swear Farley will spit anything out that makes him work hard for his food. I think Alvin was the exact same way for quite a while. I have determined though that I need to feed Farley on his own to keep him interested in eating. I have some frozen turkey necks and chicken wings and quail that I would love to see if Farley (and Alvin) will start to chew on. I know Alvin has eaten some crushed bone but Farley was not interested in even playing with the chicken foot I gave him. What should I do to get them interested in the bone in pieces? I was hoping to make it a game for Farley but that didn't work so well.
Mr. Farley is starting to sound like Alvin when we first started. Remember that for Farley you can hide silvers in soup. If he likes soup, add it and then slowly start adding more silvers and removing the soup. It's all about masking their food at the beginning; Try doing that with Farley and see how that goes. I'm glad to hear that they both are eating hearts (you can try the soup trick with Farley-- Try hearts with kangaroo soup! It doesnt have to be a lot, just enough to get him lapping up some heart with the yummy soup.) When it comes to bones, always go back to the basics and something they love and know-- Soupies. Some ferts bones other need a little push with a soup they love or a little oil. Anything that their little noses find appealing. It's probably why children's medicine smells like candy. It's all about the art of masking. lol.
I just turned my head to notice Colby cat peeking around the hallway - just staring at me! He had to go to the vet for his annuals and he was not a happy boy. He's been recovering ever since. Poor boy! Posting a picture of this stare down on Facebook.
On the menu this week: turkey, quail, liver, heart and of course adding bone meal powder to some of those (especially the liver!).
Aww, poor Colby cat. I saw the stare down picture on facebook. The death stare, lol. But it's for his own good even though he doesn't know it. As far as the menu, sounds good! ^_^ Keep up the good work and keep me posted on how they are doing and if the soup idea works, if not we can try something else =)
Hope you have a good day!
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Post by Deleted on Feb 14, 2016 0:10:35 GMT -5
Heyy! I haven't forgotten about you and the boys! Trying to finish up the last bits and pieces of my grad application before the deadline (Monday).
How are the boys doing? Eating wise? are they still getting FDR? Bones? full update! lol.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 14, 2016 8:58:11 GMT -5
Hi Jocelyn. I hope your application goes smoothly. Exciting time for sure! Alvin is doing pretty well with grounds, and smaller chunks. I don't have to hold him to get him to eat enough. Farley on the other hand only eats pureed meats. And I have to hold him. He doesn't mind the taste but if he has to chew he will spit it out. He learned to break into the laundry room where we leave Colby's kibble and he has no trouble chewing that. When I puree Farley food I do leave some chunks to try to sneak some consistency and get him used to chewing. He is finally starting to fill out in the hips and gain weight. Feedings take up to an hour some days though. They do get some FDR late at night but I make sure farley's other meals are all meat from the fridge. By their 10 PM dinner I'm too tired to hold Farley to make sure he eats.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 1, 2016 8:06:06 GMT -5
Sounds like progress! As much as I'd love both of them to be off FDR, because it'd be better for them to receive their nutrients from the meats themselves, a little doesn't hurt for now. Remember that Alvin does have insu but you did say that only Farley is getting the FDR.
Mr. Alvin is a smart little cookie figuring out how to get to Colby's kibble. Did he eat any? I don't think you mentioned it, so I'm going to be hopeful and assume no. Has this insisdent happened again? Just keeping a watchful eye on him since he does have insulinoma and kibble is, well, bad for him.
How are we doing bonewise? I mean I know we're still trying to get both Alvin and Farley on the same page before moving on. It would be ideal. So silver-wise, is Farley still struggling with it like Alvin did or are they slightly neck and neck at this point? Just want to see where they are meat wise for the next step on their transision--bones.
Hope all is well! I'm sorry that I haven't had a chance to answer. I've been playing catch up at work since I took the GRE, which is unlike me. Usually I have things done weeks before I need them but the exam took priority. Then, I got hit in the nose that inflamed my sinuses and now I'm fighting off a sinus infection. Bleh, Lol. keep me posted on the boys <3
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Post by Deleted on Mar 7, 2016 18:44:19 GMT -5
Hi Jocelyn! Sorry about the delay in responding. Life got crazy and between work, feeding the 3 boys, and trying to catch up on sleep I haven't had a lot of time for anything else.
Farley had been breaking into the kitty kibble and does snack a bit at times. He started protesting all meats but he is back to meat with some FDR as a light gravy. Still working on larger slivers, but he has been a stubborn boy (Hubby has been doing a lot of feedings for me and he hasn't come comfortable with preparing all of the meats so FDR had been reintroduced while I was trying to recover a bit).
Alvin had an infection and spent 2 weeks on Bactrum but he is doing much better now! He tried to make it down the stairs twice today which I love seeing him come down on his own instead of having us carry him down while pouting.
So, I do have some quail and turkey necks (I was hoping to make a chew toy out of the turkey neck for Farley but he doesn't play with anything I offer as "toys" go). How small should the quail wing tips be chopped before I offer them to Farley? I think Hubby would have to do that work right now and the more details I can offer him on size would be great. With Alvin I had been chopping them to the point of pulverization, but that takes so long. Farley is starting to chew his food a bit more but if it's not something he really likes he spits out the meat and sucks the juice/oil/babyfood/etc out. Drives me crazy.
Both boys still need liver and hearts this week. They've had pork this weekend and we have wild boar defrosting now (or is that too much like pork?). I've been adding quite a bit of bone meal powder to keep their potty more on the solid side.
Thanks! Hope you get good news on your GRE and application.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 16, 2016 15:41:58 GMT -5
Hey, sorry for the delay. Was having computer issues (I was trying to install a new antivirus from the same company and it would just crash my computer everytime I attempted it and when I was trying to do that, my laptop would run so slow it'd constantly freeze. Ugh! But it's fixed sort of, my scroll was somehow disabled [img src="http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h352/JW_2012/Emoticons/ .png" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h352/JW_2012/Emoticons/.png"].png[/IMG] lol) Farley had been breaking into the kitty kibble and does snack a bit at times ~~~> Farley is starting to chew his food a bit more but if it's not something he really likes he spits out the meat and sucks the juice/oil/babyfood/etc out. Drives me crazy.
I'm not sure if he's still breaking into the kibble or how long it was but if he is still doing this, it could be the reason why he's spitting out the meat and only sucking up the juices. He got used to getting the best of both worlds, the kibble and the yummy meat juice. Try and keep him away from the kibble. We don't want him to regress because of it =/ I always see them as kids, why eat dinner when I know where mom hides the cookies and brownies? You know what I mean? If anything put the kibble up in a place Colby can get to it but Farley can't. Alvin had an infection and spent 2 weeks on Bactrum but he is doing much better now! He tried to make it down the stairs twice today which I love seeing him come down on his own instead of having us carry him down while pouting. Oh poop. What did he have? I'm glad he's doing much better though. I didn't know v.v I do have some quail and turkey necks (I was hoping to make a chew toy out of the turkey neck for Farley but he doesn't play with anything I offer as "toys" go). How small should the quail wing tips be chopped before I offer them to Farley?As big as you can cut them and have them still eat them. Ideally, in time, you wouldn't need to cut them at all. I mean, I hope you can get them a little bigger than pulverized bones this time around with Alvin being a good boy so far. I'm not sure if you've done this already. If you did, let me know how it went. Both boys still need liver and hearts this week. They've had pork this weekend and we have wild boar defrosting now (or is that too much like pork?). I've been adding quite a bit of bone meal powder to keep their potty more on the solid side.Remember that the rule of thumb is at least 3 different meats (chicken, turkey, rabbit, pork, kangaroo, etc.) keep me posted!! Edit: Idk why but for some reason a picture of my belt is showing up? O.o proof my laptop is possessed. Ugh. Attachments:
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Post by Deleted on Mar 31, 2016 7:44:32 GMT -5
Hi Jocelyn. Now it's my turn to apologize for the slow response. I haven't had much computer time lately. So, we moved Colby over to a completely wet food so no more kibble in the house. Farley did exactly as you expected. He now eats his grinds without much prodding from me. That is awesome! They get maybe 1 or 2 Stella kernels as a snack but they don't have it as a supplemental meal. Now that they're both on the same level it's time to introduce larger slivers and then hopefully bone.
Alvin had really bad diarrhea and his skin got raw and sore from the poo and repeated cleaning. He was on the antibiotic to help clear that up. I doubled the amount of bone powder and no more diarrhea. He is doing great and even started losing a bit of weight from the season change. He still gets regular butt baths to ensure it doesn't come back but he is definitely feeling much better. Not nearly as stressed. Alvin did make it down the stairs on his own a week ago while I was teleworking. He wants to go into the basement and it's almost time to move them back down there for the summer. We need to get rid of an old couch that Farley (and Alvin when he can pull himself up onto it) love to sleep inside but I really don't like them doing that. Aside from the spiders, there's all kinds of things they can pull on and try to eat.
Thanks!
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Post by Deleted on Apr 12, 2016 14:36:11 GMT -5
Hey sorry for the huge delay. It's been an interesting few weeks: the flu, competition, reinjuring my wrist, and today I barely have mobility in my shoulder because I slept on it. But let's get to business! lol. Switching Colby to wet food was a good call, just remember to brush his teeth-- just like the ferts should be getting brushed since they're not on bones yet but they're not in the soup stage either. Bones and gizzards are nature's toothbrush, so if see if they all like gizzards since we know theyre not bone savvy yet. How are they doing by the way? It's been quite a few days since your post so did you try the larger slivers and bone? Have they reverted? Are they still having issues with liver? Give me the 411 on their diet and a potential menu to have a visual of how they're doing. Glad that Alvin got over the bad poops. Poor baby, I could only imagine how that was. Good call on the bone meal, so proud lol. For sure do a cleaning in the basement, spider bites are not good at all. If you're gonna use some kind of insect repellent, make sure to clean it up afterwards, we dont want the kids getting near it and getting sick. Regarding the couch, I have no idea what it is about couches but mine loved the couch. We had to cover it up so they didnt get hurt. Naughty boys made a hole and would fall asleep in there. Gave me a heart attack because I couldnt find them. You can nail down a bedsheet under the couch or some people have used wood to board it up.
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Post by Deleted on May 9, 2016 13:58:11 GMT -5
Hey!!!! How is Alvin doing? Any updates on him? I think we were pending results? Please let me know how he is doing. How are the guys doing in regards to their meats and/ or bones? Update meeee ^_^ lol Also, Congrats on the baby announcement!! So happy for you two =) (dance)
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Post by Deleted on May 14, 2016 8:03:32 GMT -5
Hey! I guess I messed up with my last non-reply and Sherry was kind enough to unlock the thread.
Alvin is doing better, but I feel that he does much better while he's on the antibiotics. It's strange. He was having bad diarrhea again after stopping so it's back to more bone meal powder. He is eating well but his teeth are miserable.
Farley on the other hand went into a meat-only is unacceptable phase so he kind of turned his nose at anything unless it had Stella's in it. He had a couple of meals where he didn't eat much than a few bites but I held my ground making sure he ate enough (with the help of salmon oil) and he's now eating more. I realize that with the summer heat coming that they normally stop eating as much and I have taken that into consideration. He still refuses anything larger than grounds, but I'm going to get some cornish hen which is still a fairly soft meat so I'm hoping that he will take to eating small strips of that.
I also want to see if Farley will chew on a gizzard. He likes chewing on rubber so I would guess it could be something he may go for if I slather some oil on it.
I need to revamp their menu given Alvin's latest kidney issues. Others have suggested removing the red, fatty meats from his diet. So that leaves fowl. I think Falrey has a chicken sensitivity but I did buy a small amount of chicken breast to give it another try. Are there any good options aside from quail, chicken (which may be eliminated), turkey, hen?
Should their organs be altered in light of kidney issues?
I have been keeping the types of proteins in separate meals, mostly as that is how I got Alvin started (then Farley) to see what is preferable to them and what they refuse. Is there any reason why I can't mix a few different proteins together in one meal? It would be helpful for Hubby to be able to look at a menu and select a pre-portioned meat cup for when he needs to take over mealtimes. I can do that with separate meats, but if he doesn't have to search our tiny freezer for a particular protein it would help to mix a couple together. Organs are easier since I package those a bit differently.
I'll give you a revised menu once I refill the meat supply this weekend. I'm running short on meats.
As far as Alvin's test results we didn't get anything definitive, but he is such a fighter. He has his good days and bad days, and his diarrhea is probably making him feel so much worse. He is getting daily baths (just for his bottom) to keep him clean and reduce pain but he HATES those. We have medicated wipes that helps as well and he isn't much more fond of those than the baths. His heart was ruled out and he seems to be doing better after the last round of antibiotics for the pneumonia. He sleeps a lot now and his legs are still weak. He wanders a bit when I take him around the house to get away from the one room he prefers to hang out in. He eats without hesitation and his eyes haven't lost their brightness so I'm taking those as signs that he is still happy to some extent. I was able to change my work schedule so I only work at the office 3 days a week. It's nice being able to have that much flexibility. Although I am nervous about their level of interaction when the baby arrives. They have been staying upstairs in the room that will become the baby's room. Their room in the basement is larger and has more stuff in it and is much cooler, but the natural light is limited. I need to work on finding a solution for that as I don't like the fluorescent light option much better. Still not very healthy. If I can find some safe natural light boxes that will give that room enough light I'll get one from them and place it on a timer. We have a family room there too as well as my crafting area so they will have company in their area when they aren't able to come upstairs as frequently.
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Post by Sherry on May 17, 2016 10:37:18 GMT -5
Hi, I'll be taking over the switch Haven't had a chance to read through but could you give me a run down of exactly where they are at diet wise? And has IBD been considered for Alvin?
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Post by Deleted on May 17, 2016 11:07:01 GMT -5
Hi Sherry!
Both boys are basically on grounds with Alvin eating meats readily and Farley needing a lot of encouragement to eat meat without Stella and Chewy's or salmon oil. He is also very fussy when it comes to trying new foods.
I haven't been able to get Alvin to eat bone that isn't pulverized and Farley won't go near food that has the pulverized bone in it even when mixed in with Stellas. Alvin has really bad teeth and I'm not sure he would be able to handle larger pieces of bone or not.
Chicken seems to be a no go with Farley, but I'm not sure if Alvin has IBD with everything else going on. He seems to feel better and eat more while on antibiotics and right now he still has diarrhea issues. I've increase bone powder but I also worry about giving too much.
Alvin takes .33 ml pred twice a day to manage his insulinoma. He also gets a Des implant (both boys do) but we delayed his last implant while waiting for his test results a few weeks ago. He should be within the therapeutic time range for his last implant so the vet wanted to hold off a little while. His last BG check has been above 100 but he has hind leg weakness.
I'm trying to move Farley over to hen, turkey and quail to match Alvin's need for less fatty red meats while increasing him to take slivers over grounds. Hopefully I can sneak some bone in as well.
They get hearts and liver (both chicken right now). Salmon oil and beech nut baby food are snacks in high moderation. They never took to the meat freeze dried snacks so I kept using the oil and baby food.
I'd be interested in exploring the IBD issue for Alvin.
Thanks, Kim
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Post by Sherry on May 18, 2016 4:03:38 GMT -5
Okay. It does sound as though you may be dealing with IBD. If you are willing I would like to eliminate all fowl from the diet entirely for both boys. That means for now we will be dealing with just commercial raw. Is that okay with you, or do we need to take a different route?
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Post by Deleted on May 18, 2016 4:10:38 GMT -5
Hi Sherry. I don't mind going the commercial raw at this point. It could be easier for Hubby and I as we get closer to having our human baby arrive. Are there any particular choices that are best? We have been using the Tummy Tickling Turkey which sounds like now we should eliminate. With Alvin's high kidney enzymes should we watch out for for anything in particular?
Thanks!
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