cat
Adventures in RAW – Day One
December 6, 2007 | 
Author I should rename this blog…Our adventures with RAW! LOL
Ok…so we got the food tonight. A little pricier than I had thought it was going to be, but we’ll see how long it lasts and how everything goes. I was paying this much a month for a month’s worth of dog food and canned cat food, so I think we can work it out for just the dogs. And yes…the animals are NOW eating better than the humans in the house…haha
I have a few tips for myself…The inexperienced RAW feeder.
A little tip…don’t attempt to feed this way on a day that you are really clumsy and inexperienced and NEED to feed the dogs something!! We ran out of kibble…totally. I needed to feed them something today…it was either cat food or this mix.
Tip two…also plan out to thaw the tripe…just in case the red beast doesn’t like the mixture. Which for some reason, he doesn’t!!! Well…I think it’s the consistency that he doesn’t like. Now the little black dog…she ate the shit out of that mix!! Tomorrow is the turkey necks…this will be interesting.
Tip three…remember that you have 3 VERY curious male cats who would also LOVE to sample a bit of that raw mix food. It’s very hard to measure and scrape off the thawed meat mix from the block when you have 3 nosy kitties all in your face.
Tip four…put the box of turkey necks just in the tub…no water, no nothing. Necks in a tub in water made for a huge mess. I was able to pull a few off for the next couple days and thank GOD for Freezer zipper bags…I will be splitting them up and refreezing some of them tomorrow.
Tip five…dig the other aluminum pan out of the garage tomorrow and buy another one. kitchen bowls will not cut it.
Tip six…remember to breath and know you’re learning as you go. It will all be ok. You bought enough food for a month.
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Tips are over for now. lol
Anyway…yeah, the cats would LOVE to eat a bowl of the mix. All of the boys were all over the counter and licking the spoon and bowls and everything!!
And tell me why the little black dog gobbled it all down and Topaz kind of picked up a mouthful and then spit it out everywhere. I added a little tripe and he picked that all out. He’s a fruitcake!
I am so tired. I will write more tomorrow.
The adventure continues…H
This week’s adoption
I volunteer at an animal shelter on the weekends and sometimes during the week…
This past weekend we had a pet adoption like we do every weekend.
This weekend was different and special because we adopted out at least 4 … probably more that I’m forgetting … adult or near adult dogs – including a couple who have been with us for a very long time. We also adopted out 4 older cats – one who I thought would NEVER be adopted.
Buddah was brought in feral and just did not trust people at ALL! She would hiss and swat at people and scratch and everything. She just didn’t like anyone! Well this couple was adopting another cat, a little orange tabby female who is the sweetest thing and the man told the volunteer who was helping them that he wanted to give a second chance to a cat who may not otherwise get adopted. WOW! The volunteer immediately showed them Buddah and told them about her short comings. And they decided to adopt her as well.
There are still good people out there. And that was TRULY a Christmas Miracle if I’ve ever seen one…I have tears as I type this…and I had tears on Saturday too.
I wonder what Buddah is doing right now in her new home.
Thing about the weekend that was so cool…we had two litters of puppies there, and although a couple puppies did get adopted, it was mostly older dogs and the cats.
Just.Wow.
H
Posted in adoption, animal shelter, cat, christmas, dogs, feral, miracle, pet, volunteer | 
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Some thoughts..RAW Diet??
This is brought over from my other blog about the seizure dog….
My husband and I volunteer on a regular basis at a local animal shelter. This weekend was the grand opening of the pet store that’s located inside the shelter building. The pet store is called “The Pet Beastro” and they sell holistic, natural and raw pet foods and treats as well as some quality toys, collars, and beds. On Sunday I sat in on a talk about pet food nutrition. Now I know that since all of the pet food recalls last year and earlier this year, I for one, have been paying more attention to what is in the food I’m feeding our animals.
The dogs have been getting Canidae and the cats, unfortunately, are still getting a mixture of the crap that you buy at the grocery store. I have one cat, the little female, here that will NOT eat premium foods…however, we may just buy a bag of it…replace the junk in the feeder and not give her a choice BUT to eat the premium food. I think we’re going to do that this week and see how it goes. I want to feed them all the best we can.
Ok, so this brings me to the little seminar/talk I sat through and the whole RAW diet thing.
It was really interesting…i mean what she was saying made sense and I really have to wonder if it would help Topaz. We’re just about out of dry food, so we’re due to buy some more. The 40lb bag of Canidae lasted us just about a month…a few days shy is how it will come out. But we free feed, so I don’t know who’s been eating what and if we fed at certain times, certain amounts I am sure that it probably would have lasted a little bit longer.
Anyway…so now we have to buy food this week. I am seriously considering giving raw a try. I never ever in my life thought I’d say that, but it doesn’t seem as awful as it all sounds. I mean it’s gross sounding to me and it will probably take me some time to get used to the whole fact that I am feeding my dogs raw meat, but I think we’re going to give it a month and see how it goes.
I am worried about Topaz with his meds and the seizures and everything and unfortunately the internet is not the best place to get information about all of that because you do get such differing opinions and everything. I almost need to just stop reading the net, think about it, get my questions answered and go from there. I’d be better off.
And I do have a TON of questions: How to get a dog that gulps and doesn’t chew to chew the bones? What about vitamin supplements? Do we need to go cold turkey and just jump into it? Will there be side effects to look for? What about Topaz and his medication, what effect will the food change have on him? How do I know how much 8 ounces is? Do I need a scale? What about veggies and fruits? Will this make them sick in the beginning?…and well, the list goes on and on!!
So… I will need to chat a bit with the Pet Beastro lady and see what she says. And well, we may be venturing into the scary world of RAW food. I don’t know yet…I have a few days to figure it out.
Here are some links:
http://www.barfworld.com/html/barf_diet/barfdiet_specific.shtml
http://www.njboxers.com/faqs.htm
Here’s a site that talks about what is in pet food:
http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/Spring04/Perhach/PetFood/Processing.htm
The jury is still out on this one. I don’t know what to think about it all.
Later…H
