|
Post by Deleted on Jan 22, 2012 20:45:58 GMT -5
Mom says - "I love my dogs and I refuse to feed them a raw diet just because I don't want to go through this all the time!!!!" (I gave her a hug. She is appreciative ) I also went to walmart (right by the other grocery store) and got some medium/small-ish plastic rubbermaid containers & metal shower hooks to make feeding dens. hopefully tomorrow night my dad will cut entry holes and places for the shower hooks -- for now I will just start feeding them their soupies inside the dens cos I don't want to deal with finding rotting meat stashed around my room!!! YUCK! (Also -- Marley found a very small chunk of organ or meat in his soupies and ATE IT! The look on his face was PRICELESS -- eyes scrunched closed super-tight, lips sneered back like, "what IS this?!!")
|
|
|
Post by Heather on Jan 22, 2012 20:49:58 GMT -5
Ha...dogs are easy...you just throw the meat to them and they eat it. No prep needed Of course then you've got baby fuzzes who steal the food ;D ;D ciao
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 22, 2012 21:20:11 GMT -5
I just think she doesn't want to hack up chickens all the time ..and i was gonna say, those are huge chunks those fuzzies are eating!! but if its for the dogs...thats another story I have to say, my cat is pretty fond of the raw soupies too, I gave her a dollop when I fed the kids. Bowl was licked clean and I mean CLEAN...and this is a PICKY cat!
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 22, 2012 21:23:08 GMT -5
Oh and how long can the raw stand before it needs to get tossed? Overnight, if I put some fresh in? (I think this is where partially frozen chunks may come in handy ) I think you said 4-6 hours give some fresh, but I tend to sleep for longer than 6 hours
|
|
|
Post by Heather on Jan 22, 2012 21:27:26 GMT -5
I would leave it and not worry. They won't eat it if it's turned. ciao
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 23, 2012 11:42:19 GMT -5
Mom wants to know...doesn't all that raw meat get stinky?! The kids loved their raw soupies this morning -- Freya took a little encouragement/a good bit of spoon feeding to get her started & I'm still mixing a little extra S&C into hers, but Marley requires no spoon feeding to get him started (I think he'll be ready for chunks soon!) and Soxx just followed the spoon to the bowl and chowed down! When I got home from the doc I gave them a second feeding I gave Freya about 2.5 tsp & she ate about 1/2 to 1 tsp; Marley got 3 tsp and ate at least 2 to 2.5 tsp; Soxx got 3 tsp and only ate about 1/2 tsp, but this morning when I fed them he ate all of his (probably about 2.5 tsp) as well as probably .5tsp of Freya's leftovers so he may just not be hungry Marley ate about 2 tsp this AM and Freya probably around 1.5 tsp. I left the food in their cage and am gonna take a nap so we will see if any more disappears by the time I wake up! (Freya is laying in the cage looking at me like..mom..why are you laying in bed when we should be PLAYING!!!) Oh -- and I had to reschedule the vet appointment to Wednesday -- I woke up even sicker today and it's doing this nasty freezing rain thing outside. The vet lives on a dirt back road (welcome to VT ) so it'd be too dangerous.
|
|
|
Post by Heather on Jan 23, 2012 12:09:15 GMT -5
Funky weather....it's raining here after dumping a full load of snow on Friday I'm sorry that you're not feeling well. Don't push yourself too hard. No point in making yourself sick again. It sounds like your wee ones are really doing great. Excellent job. I would keep up the soupy for a bit yet, maybe a week depending on who your slowest little one is and how they're doing. If you move too fast they have a tendency to backslide and I would like to avoid that if possible. Try offering the soupy to your little go-getter a bit dryer or add a couple of sliver chunks to his soupy and see what happens. As far as the meat smelling...it doesn't. Most times the dog gets fed outside, either way it usually gets eaten fairly quickly. My dog feels that food isn't a great necessity of life, so he will leave stuff he has to work at. You will note the pics that I have of the ferrets stealing his food are all boned meals. If he doesn't eat at a reasonable pace the food goes back in the fridge and he gets it later (I have a small bar fridge for the animals meats and hubbies beer ;D) There is no reason why meat that you feed should smell any worse than anything you're cooking up for the family (unless your vegetarians and then...well you will notice a smell, we're all carnivores in this house) I have a friend who is vegetarian (her whole household is, except their dog...he gets a raw diet) and she says she notices the smell. She says that her dog has been so much better since switching she would never go back to kibbles. Now, I just have to educate her about over-vaccinating ;D ;D ciao
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 23, 2012 15:43:31 GMT -5
Fair points! I never noticed a smell, but...well my mom is a lot more paranoid than I am I will try to be more patient and wait a few days to start Marley on sliver chunks. When I went to feed them this afternoon Freya required no spoon feeding to get started Soxx did (I put less S&C in his today) but started eating like a champ after I spoon-fed him for a minute. Freya's bowl was on the ground and she came over, sniffed it, looked at Marley & Soxx chowing down, sniffed it again, and started eating! What a good girl. I'm back to sleep..this cold is a doozy
|
|
|
Post by Heather on Jan 23, 2012 16:44:05 GMT -5
Stay well, rest. Worry about moving these wee ones on when you're feeling better. It will do them no damage at all to stay at one point for a bit until you're feeling better. You've got all their soupies made up, leave it at that. Just keep giving it and offering assistance if they need it. Get better ciao
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 25, 2012 13:15:50 GMT -5
FINALLY feeling a wee bit better At least I can breathe again! Kiddos are doing well. Got the new bag of Archetypal I yesterday so I started mixing a little of that in -- about 1 part S&C to 1 part Arch I to 1 part raw. They are enjoying having a little more freeze dried in their soupies -- they were starting to show a bit of reluctance to eat the 50/50 Raw/S&C. So we've gone a little backwards but they are eating this mixture very well! Almost no spoon-feeding to get them started eating these days (Marley had started biting the spoon & trying to drag it off...goober!) In terms of leaving food out -- when they finish their soupies, should I replenish immediately & let it sit (where it often goes bad and gets wasted) or wait a few hours & then replenish? (Obviously if they start sniffing around like they are hungry I get them new soupies right away.) Also...they are having some diarrhea..which I am not too surprised at since their diet consists of soupies (..and there is a lot less of it -- or they've gotten creative with their pooping spots!) Should I be concerned? They're off to the vet this afternoon...I'll let you know how much they weigh! Hopefully this won't take all my money ( stupid hospital randomly charged me $101! They are trying to put it back but in the meantime I am verryyyy broke) and I will get a digital scale soon, but they are all eating like crazy (I watch them eat to make sure everyone gets their own food ) Sorry for no update yesterday -- was gonna post before I went to bed then fell asleep on my keyboard
|
|
|
Post by Heather on Jan 25, 2012 13:21:09 GMT -5
If you haven't already done it add some pumpkin to their mix. It's that whole raw, dried...thing that sometimes happens. How much soupy did you make vs how much powdered egg shells? You should have about 1/2 tsp for every 8 oz of meat. This too will help firm up the stools. I don't know anything about freeze dried so there may be a bit of discrepancies between meat bone ratios and such which might be why you're also seeing some sloppy poops. Also, you are aware that a raw ferret poop looks nothing like a kibble fed ferret stool? I'm off to medicate and feed the brats and then off to the vets so won't probably be back on until later tonight ciao
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 25, 2012 14:05:15 GMT -5
ah, poop. I felt like I forgot something. I feel very foolish ....now.... how on earth do I get the egg shells into the soupies now that they are frozen Do I have to un-thaw it all, weigh it out, and then re-freeze?? (insert lots of swearing here) And pumpkin will help solidify poops?! I thought it did the opposite
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 25, 2012 18:27:27 GMT -5
Clean bill of health from the vet! They'll go back for boosters in a month (the woman I got them from hadn't brought them to a vet while she had them so it's been quite awhile...if EVER...since they've seen a vet). I am proud to say both Marley and Soxx weigh in at 2.4 lbs and Freya has gained a teeny bit since her last vet visit and has weighed in at 1.8 lbs! I noticed a teeny bit of clear discharge out of Soxx's nose -- vet said his lungs sound fine though, so I will just keep a close eye on it. I hope I didn't get him sick He was glad to hear that I am feeding them a raw diet!
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 25, 2012 18:28:23 GMT -5
(When I got them, Soxx was about the same as Freya weight-wise. He's gained at least a pound since I got him! My good boy!!)
|
|
|
Post by Heather on Jan 25, 2012 22:08:54 GMT -5
Excellent...give those bouncy babies a big hug and tell them to keep it up. It's always great news when they come back from the vet's with a clean bill of health and a vet happy about their dietary changes How much do you thaw out at a time? I wouldn't thaw out everything...How much do you use at a time or within a day or two? Pumpkin can be used to solidify stools (about a tsp a day) or it can be used to move sticky objects (about a tbsp every three hours alternated with vaseline) Keep an eye on your wee ones, they may have picked up your virus. ciao
|
|