Everyone has their VVC DVDs but me! Ok, maybe not everyone, but still, I'm jealous. And I can't check my mailbox more than once a day, because it's freaking cold out there
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Well, I'm not going to lie, the poop is definitely a factor. The cats have been making us want to leave the house lately when they do their business. Plus not getting a lecture about how I should be torturing them with a toothbrush would be nice too. Even if that depends on the vet. ;)
I know I asked this before, but what do you feed your guys again? I'm starting out with chicken, and I'm going out again today to see what some other places have for prices. I'd like to get whole chickens and just lop them in half for Miles. I looked for leg quarters yesterday, but had to settle for some thighs and drumsticks. I don't want to overdo it right off the bat, so Miles got two thighs and one drumstick this morning, and the cats split up two other drumsticks. Miles was a perfect gentleman. I was worried he'd get all protective and wolf it down, but he chewed it all up nice and slowly. Only thing he didn't like was that I eventually cut him off. :)
I smashed up the ones I gave to the cats because I was afraid they wouldn't have a chance at bone that size. Then I didn't like the way the bones broke up (kinda pointy and thinish), so I ended up picking a lot of the fragments out. BooBoo and Lily turned into little feral cats the second I put it in front of them, growling in stereo. And the bones definitely weren't an issue for them. Corki mostly just ate the meat, and she had to keep coming back to it. Sasha was the hardest sell, she's still out working on her. Seems to be catching on though. BooBoo's locked up in the cat room so that he doesnt' steal it. ;)
It seems like more people recommend a supplement for the cats than the dogs. And what do you guys give them for treats? I think I'm leaning more towards the "prey-model" way of feeding, and I know that includes more meat than some methods where there's more bone. Mostly I want to watch them and see what happens, then regulate it.
So many little questions. :D (And Lily needed an icon with some flowers. 'Cause she's our scarey growly little flower. ;D)
You should consider taking new Lily pictures so we can see how big she's gotten. :)
We feed our cats one and a half to two chicken necks each. What's nice about the chicken necks is that there's one, thick bone and a varying amount of meat on them (which is why it's hard to give an exact amount). It's that bone that really helps their teeth. Ours have never had a problem chewing through them, even when they're fresh from the freezer. It's a little scary. Heh.
For the dogs, Sophie (who's 50 pounds) gets 1/2 a turkey neck and raw meat, I don't know how much, I'll have to ask AHH when he gets home. Sydney gets 1 turkey neck and more meat (he's 70 pounds). For treats we throw in the occasional raw egg and/or give them some of our leftovers, including steamed veggies, bread crust, yogurt, cottage cheese, whatever we have that we're not going to eat. They also get little dog biscuits during the day when we do quick "sit-stays" with them. Sophie gets uppity if you don't remind her who the boss is. :)
We get our turkey and chicken necks from the butcher, and our raw meat for the dogs from CostCo. It comes out to about $1.50 a pound of food. So slightly more than dry food, but IMO absolutely worth it.
I have a bunch of new pictures (and some old ones) to post. Just. have. to. post. them.
I'm still looking into what kinds of chicken parts I can get. I need to either consider getting a small freezer and trying to find bulk, or deal with running all over town every few days. Which is fine for now. We don't have a Costco, just a Sam's Club. And I don't think I can do Sam's Club. The more I go into Wal-mart lately, the dirtier I feel. Silly internet going and making me dislike them even more.
And I'm still searching for butchers. The one I stopped into had almost no poultry that wasn't smoked. And the grocery stores all seem to get theirs pre-packaged. I'd wanted to do all the prep investigation before starting the new diet, but Miles' kibble was out, and I didn't want to put it off anymore.
The treats don't make them un-regular or anything do they? I know with Miles, it takes a lot to upset his stomach, the cats less so. Problem being Lily wants to eat everything. I hadn't met a dog or cat that didn't run away from bananas until this morning when she tried to tackle mine out of my hand. And that was after the chicken.
We didn't experience any irregularity with them on the raw diet. Interestingly enough, they did have problems when we had to put them back on kibble while they were being boarded, but just some minor runs, nothing more. The hard part for us was finding a butcher, too. We ended up with one in Bellevue, that's about 25 minutes away on a good day. And we're lucky because this house came with a fridge in the garage as well as the kitchen, so we put all of our extras in the freezer down there. A second, small freezer is highly recommend. We also get our chicken and turkey necks in box form and so have to bag them ourselves in ziploc freezer-proof bags. It doesn't take that long, but it can be unplesant at first, and my hands are always freezing after we're done.
And if the necks go bad, wow do they stink. They will start to go a little bad if you get them in bulk, it just can't be helped, even in the freezer, but don't worry about feeding that to your pets. Our dogs are eating some stinky, stinky chicken necks right now and have in the past and have shown no signs of tummy problems (these are pets that at one point on their kibble diet, ate their own poo, so I'm not worried about some slightly rancid chicken).
We had some trouble getting Sebastian onto the raw diet at first, so we gave him some ground chicken to go with his to ensure he was eating enough. Then he finally just took to the necks so we stopped with the ground chicken.
Thought I should give some of the negatives to be sure you're prepared. :)
Well, we have a small spare fridge in our bedroom closet (uhm...it's just there--who knows why...), so we might move that and use it temporarily. Miles has had to be watched carefully in the winter, because he's been a fan of poopsicles for a couple of years now, so I'm hoping this all makes them slightly less appetizing. :\
And the kitties are very entertaining. I need to get something with slightly smaller bones than drumsticks from regular chickens (although Boo and Lily do a number on them), but they seem to be catching on. The hardest parts with them so far are convincing Corki to work at it long enough to actually get something, and to keep Boo from grabbing his or anyone else's food and running off with it.
Lily looked like a little monster tonight. She was working on the end of her bone for over 20 minutes and she managed to get blood all over the corners of her mouth and her feet. She's a beast. ;D
I know I asked this before, but what do you feed your guys again? I'm starting out with chicken, and I'm going out again today to see what some other places have for prices. I'd like to get whole chickens and just lop them in half for Miles. I looked for leg quarters yesterday, but had to settle for some thighs and drumsticks. I don't want to overdo it right off the bat, so Miles got two thighs and one drumstick this morning, and the cats split up two other drumsticks. Miles was a perfect gentleman. I was worried he'd get all protective and wolf it down, but he chewed it all up nice and slowly. Only thing he didn't like was that I eventually cut him off. :)
I smashed up the ones I gave to the cats because I was afraid they wouldn't have a chance at bone that size. Then I didn't like the way the bones broke up (kinda pointy and thinish), so I ended up picking a lot of the fragments out. BooBoo and Lily turned into little feral cats the second I put it in front of them, growling in stereo. And the bones definitely weren't an issue for them. Corki mostly just ate the meat, and she had to keep coming back to it. Sasha was the hardest sell, she's still out working on her. Seems to be catching on though. BooBoo's locked up in the cat room so that he doesnt' steal it. ;)
It seems like more people recommend a supplement for the cats than the dogs. And what do you guys give them for treats? I think I'm leaning more towards the "prey-model" way of feeding, and I know that includes more meat than some methods where there's more bone. Mostly I want to watch them and see what happens, then regulate it.
So many little questions. :D (And Lily needed an icon with some flowers. 'Cause she's our scarey growly little flower. ;D)
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We feed our cats one and a half to two chicken necks each. What's nice about the chicken necks is that there's one, thick bone and a varying amount of meat on them (which is why it's hard to give an exact amount). It's that bone that really helps their teeth. Ours have never had a problem chewing through them, even when they're fresh from the freezer. It's a little scary. Heh.
For the dogs, Sophie (who's 50 pounds) gets 1/2 a turkey neck and raw meat, I don't know how much, I'll have to ask AHH when he gets home. Sydney gets 1 turkey neck and more meat (he's 70 pounds). For treats we throw in the occasional raw egg and/or give them some of our leftovers, including steamed veggies, bread crust, yogurt, cottage cheese, whatever we have that we're not going to eat. They also get little dog biscuits during the day when we do quick "sit-stays" with them. Sophie gets uppity if you don't remind her who the boss is. :)
We get our turkey and chicken necks from the butcher, and our raw meat for the dogs from CostCo. It comes out to about $1.50 a pound of food. So slightly more than dry food, but IMO absolutely worth it.
Reply
I'm still looking into what kinds of chicken parts I can get. I need to either consider getting a small freezer and trying to find bulk, or deal with running all over town every few days. Which is fine for now. We don't have a Costco, just a Sam's Club. And I don't think I can do Sam's Club. The more I go into Wal-mart lately, the dirtier I feel. Silly internet going and making me dislike them even more.
And I'm still searching for butchers. The one I stopped into had almost no poultry that wasn't smoked. And the grocery stores all seem to get theirs pre-packaged. I'd wanted to do all the prep investigation before starting the new diet, but Miles' kibble was out, and I didn't want to put it off anymore.
The treats don't make them un-regular or anything do they? I know with Miles, it takes a lot to upset his stomach, the cats less so. Problem being Lily wants to eat everything. I hadn't met a dog or cat that didn't run away from bananas until this morning when she tried to tackle mine out of my hand. And that was after the chicken.
So, pictures. Yes. WoW first. Then pictures. ;D
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And if the necks go bad, wow do they stink. They will start to go a little bad if you get them in bulk, it just can't be helped, even in the freezer, but don't worry about feeding that to your pets. Our dogs are eating some stinky, stinky chicken necks right now and have in the past and have shown no signs of tummy problems (these are pets that at one point on their kibble diet, ate their own poo, so I'm not worried about some slightly rancid chicken).
We had some trouble getting Sebastian onto the raw diet at first, so we gave him some ground chicken to go with his to ensure he was eating enough. Then he finally just took to the necks so we stopped with the ground chicken.
Thought I should give some of the negatives to be sure you're prepared. :)
Reply
And the kitties are very entertaining. I need to get something with slightly smaller bones than drumsticks from regular chickens (although Boo and Lily do a number on them), but they seem to be catching on. The hardest parts with them so far are convincing Corki to work at it long enough to actually get something, and to keep Boo from grabbing his or anyone else's food and running off with it.
Lily looked like a little monster tonight. She was working on the end of her bone for over 20 minutes and she managed to get blood all over the corners of her mouth and her feet. She's a beast. ;D
Reply
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