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  #61  
Old February 12th, 2008, 06:04 AM
MerlinsHope MerlinsHope is offline
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Stay strong Myrka.... stay strong.... don't give in... fight hard and don't let her win... she's trying to teach you what she likes... and what she doesn't like. Be diligent.


Want4rain, one of mine really loves her meat aged. She often buries it somewhere in the garden and a few days later when it's crawling with creepy crawlies, she sits down to a nice meal.

My neighbour is a butcher and told if that if the bone is removed, meat can last up to 10 days and longer when refrigerated. It's the bone that starts to rot - then causes the meat to sour. As a matter of fact he told me that if meat lasts a shorter time in the fridge, it wasn't fresh to begin with, it may have already been sitting at the butcher shop for almost 10 days.

ANyways... don't quit yet Myrka... you've come too far and have studied too long and are trying tooo hard... don't let her winnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn!!!!
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  #62  
Old February 12th, 2008, 10:03 AM
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LOL!!! Well, Myka got the Mackerel and chicken leg again this morning...and hardly even sniffed it. Looked at me like I was stupid.
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  #63  
Old February 13th, 2008, 09:11 PM
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SHE ATE!!!!

I won! I came home and realised she has lost noticable weight. I called her a silly skinny dog. Then I fed her a bone in chicken breast, and SHE ATE IT!!! Holy wowzers. So I gave her a bone in chicken (lower) back, and she ate that too!

I have decided to only feed her one meat each day. I figure this is a good idea because she won't be able to choose which she likes and which she doesn't, plus that makes it so that every day is different for her. If she chooses not to eat something, then she gets it at the next meal, and then the next until she eats it. She'll learn that she doesn't have a choice. I guess I could always give her one piece of meat, let her eat it, then add one more meat, let her eat it, and continue for as long as she's hungry...?

So tomorrow morning is Mackerel day. This hound WILL eat Mackerel!!!!!!!!!! .........at some point.

And here I was going to go on Saturday to look at the different ultra grade kibble to put her on...
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  #64  
Old February 14th, 2008, 07:18 AM
MerlinsHope MerlinsHope is offline
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.......... together............. we did it!!!! *whew*

*clap* *clap* *clap*
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  #65  
Old February 14th, 2008, 10:00 AM
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Merlin's Hope!!!

Well, today she looks totally dejected, miserable. She's still a bit sore from pulling a tendon a few weeks back, so I think she's feeling pretty sorry for herself right now. When I fed her she didn't even look interested...didn't even pick her head up from the couch. I hate it when she's like this...makes me feel SO bad for her. So we'll try the Mackerel tonight again...hopefully she'll actually look!!
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Old February 14th, 2008, 10:08 PM
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So apparently she has reason to be miserable acting...she now has this very large soft, overly warm, lump on the one side of her jowl/neck. She's acting like she has a fever (panting), and her ears feel hot. Her gums look good. So she's off to the vet tomorrow...

On the flip side, she ate most of the Mackerel (she left the guts and the head), so I gave her several chunks of boneless pork amounting to a little over 1 lb. Good doggie...
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  #67  
Old February 16th, 2008, 10:36 AM
MerlinsHope MerlinsHope is offline
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Oh boy... hope she's ok.
Does she play with other dogs?

I have one here who was fine and then all of a sudden one day, just like yours, she had a huge clump of pus under her chin. It was from playing with another dog about a week earlier!!!!

Let us know.
Keeping paws crossed that all is ok.
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Old February 16th, 2008, 02:31 PM
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Originally Posted by MerlinsHope View Post
Oh boy... hope she's ok.
Does she play with other dogs?

I have one here who was fine and then all of a sudden one day, just like yours, she had a huge clump of pus under her chin. It was from playing with another dog about a week earlier!!!!

Let us know.
Keeping paws crossed that all is ok.
I made a thread about her lump here: http://www.pets.ca/forum/showthread....d=1#post547834

She doesn't play with other dogs. She doesn't like dogs, but thanks for the thought!

She's been getting boneless pork and beef liver this week and eating well because she likes these ones. She was weighed at the vet 3 weeks ago, and then again on Friday, and she lost 5 lbs in that 3 weeks from being picky and not eating!!
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Old February 17th, 2008, 01:43 PM
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I don't know if any of you guys are familiar with the high-end dog & cat food & supply chain store called Bone Apetit? www.boneapetit.ca

There are two of them here, and I went to go check them out yesterday. One is obviously much nicer than the other. They have these "logs" of ground bone-in chicken. I bought one for Myka to try out as it would eliminate me having to cut up the chicken carcasses which makes me feel ill. I should have asked them more questions though, like what percentage of skin/bone/meat. The logs work out to about $1.50/lb.

I also bought Dog Nip! Catch of the Day wild Salmon oil. "Only one ingredient." It stinks! Since Myka has really put up a fuss about eating Mackerel I figured I could supplement with a bit of this oil. I'm also going to try gutting the Mackerels to see if she'll eat them then.

Myka also got spoiled with a pink camo harness by Ezy Dog www.ezydog.com with a matching pink bone dog tag since I got a new phone number. She looks good in pink...
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  #70  
Old February 17th, 2008, 02:28 PM
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Quote:
There are two of them here, and I went to go check them out yesterday. One is obviously much nicer than the other.
Did the "not so nice one" have a sign on the door that said something like "I'm only nice to one customer a day...today is not your day". If so, I was at that one and have never met such an unpleasant woman in my life.

Quote:
I also bought Dog Nip! Catch of the Day wild Salmon oil. "Only one ingredient."
If it doesn't contain Vitamin E with the salmon oil then you are going to have to supplement vit e several days a week as well. Salmon oil depletes a dogs body of it.

Quote:
Myka also got spoiled with a pink camo harness by Ezy Dog www.ezydog.com with a matching pink bone dog tag since I got a new phone number. She looks good in pink...
Ahem....could we have pics please. I don't think you've ever posted pics in the Photo Forum here and we would love to see pics of Myka.
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Old February 18th, 2008, 02:12 PM
MerlinsHope MerlinsHope is offline
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Originally Posted by rainbow View Post
Did the "not so nice one" have a

If it doesn't contain Vitamin E with the salmon oil then you are going to have to supplement vit e several days a week as well. Salmon oil depletes a dogs body of it.
Just for clarification fish oils (not necessarily salmon oils), and especially vegetable oils are the oils to be avoided, and essentially what you're saying is only profound in true working or performance dogs that exceed normal activity levels.
Most premium dog foods contain many times the recommended 20 IU of vitamin E per kilogram of diet. However, most commercially available dry foods are supplemented with fresh meat and fats prior to feeding and this dilutes the vitamin E that comes in the commercially prepared dog food. The practice of adding vegetable and fish oils, which contain polyunsaturated fatty acids, to these commercially prepared dog foods also results in dietary vitamin E being used up at a faster rate. Vitamin E is used by the body to keep theses polyunsaturated fatty acids from becoming rancid. This is not a problem as long as the total diet (dry food, fresh meats and added fats) has adequate vitamin E.

People are often too quick to jump into supplementations. The addition of a capsule a day of salmon oil will not deplete the body of vitamin E.

Best
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Old February 18th, 2008, 02:19 PM
MerlinsHope MerlinsHope is offline
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They have these "logs" of ground bone-in chicken. I bought one for Myka to try out as it would eliminate me having to cut up the chicken carcasses which makes me feel ill. I should have asked them more questions though, like what percentage of skin/bone/meat. The logs work out to about $1.50/lb.
Myrka, if you can, please avoid the logs. Ground food does not substitute for solid food, certainly not in the long term. Also, chances are good that this product contains additives. You may want to really examine the contents.

If you really find that you are having issues with raw, there is nothing wrong with premium dog food, that doesn't stop you from giving your dog a bone once in a while. Actually it is much better to subscribe to premium kibble, than hokey raw. Perhaps you are just not ready to take the plunge yet, and there is nothing to be ashamed of about that.

Cheers
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Old February 18th, 2008, 03:27 PM
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Originally Posted by MerlinsHope View Post
Myrka, if you can, please avoid the logs. Ground food does not substitute for solid food, certainly not in the long term. Also, chances are good that this product contains additives. You may want to really examine the contents.

If you really find that you are having issues with raw, there is nothing wrong with premium dog food, that doesn't stop you from giving your dog a bone once in a while. Actually it is much better to subscribe to premium kibble, than hokey raw. Perhaps you are just not ready to take the plunge yet, and there is nothing to be ashamed of about that.

Cheers
Merlin
Merlin, would you be able to perhaps expand on the idea that a good kibble is preferable to a diet consisting of good quality meat, bone, organs from a variety of sources, but that may include ground meats, some supplementation, etc?

It would seem that, although one might miss out on certain benefits from using, ground meat say, or be getting something from an imperfect whole source, with fish oil rather than whole fish as an example, would the very fact that it is less highly processed than kibble and uses far more whole sources of nutrients as compared to any kibble I've seen not still make it a better choice?

The criticisms you seem to have of what people include in their raw feeding seem equally true of pretty well all kibbles (and add to that the processing, lack of safety which seems inherent to feeding kibble these days, etc.)? Why then go on to suggest going back to kibble?
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Old February 18th, 2008, 10:07 PM
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luckypenny luckypenny is offline
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Are these frozen logs? And the name of the company that produces them?
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Old February 18th, 2008, 10:20 PM
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The Salmon oil doesn't have any Vitamin E added to it. It's just pure Salmon oil. I'll have to check into this Vitamin E issue more...

When I was at the two Bone Apetit stores, the women from both stores were VERY concerned that Myka isn't getting any veggies or fruit other than what's in the Tripett. They were also VERY concerned that I was feeding Myka pork. They said that pork is like feeding candy because it's so high in fat. I cut ALL the solid chunks of fat off the pork. Is any of this true???

Quote:
Originally Posted by rainbow View Post
Did the "not so nice one" have a sign on the door that said something like "I'm only nice to one customer a day...today is not your day". If so, I was at that one and have never met such an unpleasant woman in my life.
I didn't notice actually. The better one was down on Pandosy near KLO. Very nice lady there.

Quote:
Originally Posted by rainbow
Ahem....could we have pics please. I don't think you've ever posted pics in the Photo Forum here and we would love to see pics of Myka.
http://www.pets.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=49123

I took some pics of her new harness, but she's sick and looks horrid. I'll check my camera and see if they're any good!

Quote:
Originally Posted by MerlinsHope
Myrka, if you can, please avoid the logs. Ground food does not substitute for solid food, certainly not in the long term. Also, chances are good that this product contains additives. You may want to really examine the contents.

If you really find that you are having issues with raw, there is nothing wrong with premium dog food, that doesn't stop you from giving your dog a bone once in a while. Actually it is much better to subscribe to premium kibble, than hokey raw. Perhaps you are just not ready to take the plunge yet, and there is nothing to be ashamed of about that.
I did check to make sure the logs are 100% chicken. There are no preservatives, no additives. There is a version you can buy with some veggies (peas and carrots), but I bought the plain chicken one. I do have a few concerns about the logs...one being exactly what parts of the chicken go into it (I'm worried about a high concentration of necks and backs which are mostly bone), and the fact that ground meats are more susceptible to bacterias.

Myka isn't being fed these logs exclusively...don't think that. She gets quite a variety. I'm also going to try gutting the Mackerel to see if she'll eat more than just the back half that way. With her being sick (infection of some sort), it's important that she's getting food in her as she's lost a little over 5 lbs in the last week and a half. Her appetite is real good now that she's feeling better though!

I am considering putting her on Ebo Innova and supplimenting with Tripett. I forgot to check what the bag of Ebo costs though...
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  #76  
Old February 18th, 2008, 10:33 PM
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Are these frozen logs? And the name of the company that produces them?
They're frozen...I'm not sure who makes them. I understood it was local butchers...? The logs don't have any writing or stickers on them....which concerns me as you don't know the date they were packaged on. I'm going to look into it A LOT more before I buy another one. Myka does LOVE the logs though...
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Old February 18th, 2008, 10:47 PM
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It would be a good idea to get in writing the exact ingredients in these logs including percentage of bone, meat, fat, organs, etc.

I've been feeding pork to our three dogs (approx. 2x per week) and sometimes the fat is as high as 15-20%. We've never had a problem with pork. If Myka is med-high energy and gets plenty of exercise, I wouldn't worry about the extra fat. It's natural afterall, not processed. It may help her put back on the extra weight she has lost. Just increase the amounts slowly to give her digestive system time to adjust.

As for the mackeral...have you tried feeding it to her frozen? One of our dogs refuses to eat fresh or thawed fish. But he'll eat frozen sardines (he'll only leave the tail and head behaind to share with our girls ).
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Old February 19th, 2008, 06:55 AM
MerlinsHope MerlinsHope is offline
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I do have a few concerns about the logs.
and so you should.


Ironically, if they are 100% chicken with no additives, I personally don't see the rational in purchasing this over purchasing an actual piece of chicken at a much better value, and again, your dog needs to chew food.

LP suggested freezing the mackerel which really does help sometimes. Please bear in mind that you are not limited to mackerel> You can try salmon, trout, sardines, anchovies, herring or smelt. Why not try canned????

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Old February 19th, 2008, 08:53 AM
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on the note of fruits and veggies, most folks feed them because it makes us feel better. in no way, shape or form do you NEED it in their diet. which doesnt mean there isnt soemthing good in them either. your dog just doesnt NEED it. if you decide to feed fruit/veggie/dairy, make sure its less than 10% of her total diet and pureed or juiced. Mister likes V8. i use it in one of my soups.

also be aware that canned anythign has salt in it so drain out the juice (as much as im tempted to use it!!) and feed sparingly. ours get canned fish once a week because i have to hide liver in it but im uncomfortable with it.

i dont feel feeding a hodge podge is bad as long as your concept is the same, variety of cuts, variety of meats, organs in variety, bone. of course feeding organically raised whole prey, species appropriate etc etc.... but lets face it, WE dont even eat as well as we should. to say that feeding kibble, with as processed as it is, is healthier than a raw meat chimera is a little silly in my mind.

on the subject of ground meats, one of the lines touted by raw feeders is that our dogs can handle the bacteria present on raw meats. im not entirely sure wht the difference in bacteria present on ground meats are any different than unground other than quantity and if they ahve the ability differentiate the difference in numbers between ground raw or unground raw.... it sounds to me like the difference between 100 rice grains and 110 rice grains.

there are MANY points in raw feeding that are very important, from the need to chew and rend the food apart for bile production and dental hygiene to the general idea of whole prey model (ie ratio of bone/meat/organ) but there isnt a vast difference between the PERFECT (ie feeding only a 2lb rabbit/squirrel/bird whole, unaltered to a 95lb dog daily) whole prey model and the kind of chimera feeding most current raw feeders do. there IS a vast difference between feeding raw meat and kibble. as long as you keep in mind variety variety VARIETY!! you should be just fine.

Merlin'sHope, i hope you dont take this criticism the wrong way. regardless of how tight ANY of the members are here, no one holds anythign against each other unless its outright abuse. our philosophies may not be exactly the same but they are close enough and i greatly respect your advice, point of view and experience on raw feeding. if i had the money, resources and time to feed the way you do i would, unquestionably, but its just not an option right now.

-ashley
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Old February 19th, 2008, 09:02 AM
MerlinsHope MerlinsHope is offline
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Ashley! no offense taken at all! I'm old enough to realize not everyone has the same available budget, and you seem savvy enough to realize that variety makes up for many evils! and yes, there are plenty of ways to feed a raw diet. I totally agree.

Kudoes

FYI - to explain the ground meat issue, the caveat is that ground meat sits on the table and in the grinder longer so it is suseptible to growing bacteria. This all has to do with the amount of time it actually sits in the grinder.

This is not the same as if you went to a butcher, ordered some meat and had it ground. It would be ground, then immediately removed and packaged. Apparently this is not the case in large abbatoirs.

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Old February 19th, 2008, 09:06 AM
MerlinsHope MerlinsHope is offline
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I took some pics of her new harness, but she's sick and looks horrid. I'll check my camera and see if they're any good!
Boy she's very beautiful!!!!
Thanks for sharing the nice pictures.
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Old February 19th, 2008, 10:04 PM
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luckypenny: Yes, I'm going to check out the logs MUCH closer when I go back next time. Myka is very high energy. I'm out of Mackerel right now, but I'll try feeding it frozen next time.

want4rain: Thanks for all that info! Myka does get quite a variety. Although I haven't been able to find beef at a reasonable price, so she hasn't had any beef other than beef liver.

MerlinsHope: I've tried smelt as well, and she didn't like smelt either. She's a bit more interested in the Mackerel. I haven't tried any canned fish since the cans cost $2-4 and are tiny!!!

The point in purchasing the log is because Myka will eat it. She hasn't eaten all day because she refuses to eat the bone-in chicken leg I gave her at each feeding. She needs to get her to eat bone. She won't eat fish with bone or chicken with bone, so I figure this is a passable way to do it, albeit not the best.

The chicken log was $1.50/lb which is pretty darn cheap if you ask me. Although I can buy whole chickens for $1/lb (skinny little buggers though), and I could ask the butcher to grind them...there's a . I suppose I could ask him to grind the fish too...
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Old February 20th, 2008, 01:35 PM
MerlinsHope MerlinsHope is offline
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The point in purchasing the log is because Myka will eat it. She hasn't eaten all day because she refuses to eat the bone-in chicken leg I gave her at each feeding. She needs to get her to eat bone. She won't eat fish with bone or chicken with bone, so I figure this is a passable way to do it, albeit not the best.
Myrka will also eat alpo, roadkill and many other things that may present themself to her. Dogs are not discerning eaters. I'm sorry to hear that you feel you've reached a point that you have to succumb to commercial raw. It's very much like commercial kibble. Not everything has to be marked on the label and if she prefers it over a simple piece of chicken, well, the chances are excellent that there is more in that package than just chicken. Those sausages in no way can replicate an appropriate raw diet.

On one hand though, you're kind of saying that cutting up chicken is making you ill.

You haven't really given yourself or your dog much time to adjust to this new diet, and it does take time. Raw feeding is so different. Like we've been trying to tell you, a hungry dog won't starve itself. I hope you'll find a way of getting over the humps that works out for both of you.


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Old February 20th, 2008, 10:51 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MerlinsHope View Post
On one hand though, you're kind of saying that cutting up chicken is making you ill.

You haven't really given yourself or your dog much time to adjust to this new diet, and it does take time. Raw feeding is so different. Like we've been trying to tell you, a hungry dog won't starve itself. I hope you'll find a way of getting over the humps that works out for both of you.


Merlin
Yep, cutting up chicken makes me feel ill. I can handle the pork and beef, but chicken looks too human with all the muscles intact.

Well it's day two of her doing no more than chewing on the chicken leg a bit. She went 5 days no eating last time I tried to feed her a chicken leg, and I threw the leg away...
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Old February 21st, 2008, 02:36 AM
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Thanks for posting the link to Myka's pics.....she is gorgeous.

I think that five days is much too long for a dog to go without food. I would feed her anything that she will eat especially since she is sick. :sad:
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Old February 21st, 2008, 10:11 PM
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Yay!! I found beef at a (kind of) decent price! $3/lb. I bought a 2.1 kg sirloin tip roast "chunk". Ooooooooo she likes it!!! I cut some steaks off it for me too! I also found Pork sirloin roasts for $1.49/lb. I figure that is probably a better price than the $1/lb bone-in picnic pork shoulder since I ended up throwing away at LEAST 1/2 of it as fat and bone.

I find out Myka will eat "whole" chicken if it's deboned. I fed Myka her "recycled" piece of chicken leg this evening, and she barely sniffed it, and went and layed down. So I cut the meat off the bone for her, and she ate it without hesitation.

So maybe what I should do, is buy roaster chickens and get them ground by the butcher. I'll see if she'll eat that. I'm worried about the amount of skin and fat though...is that a concern?

I gave her some of those sample packs of Ebo Innova today as well...

Quote:
Originally Posted by rainbow View Post
Thanks for posting the link to Myka's pics.....she is gorgeous.

I think that five days is much too long for a dog to go without food. I would feed her anything that she will eat especially since she is sick. :sad:
Thanks! I think she's awfully perdy too!

Ya, so what do I do if she will starve herself for 5 days instead of eating something I offer?
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--------------------
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  #87  
Old February 22nd, 2008, 06:50 AM
MerlinsHope MerlinsHope is offline
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Quote:
buy roaster chickens and get them ground by the butcher.
Myrka, Raw feeding isn't about ground meat... you have to pull away from that concept. Try other meats instead. You have to serve a variety of meat and fish in order to offer valuable nutrition to your dog. there's pork, lamb, beef, plenty of other meats you can offer.

Yesterday at Metro/Provigo large pork roasts were on sale for 99c/lb.
I bought two dozen roasts that averaged 3.00 each. that's a lot of quality meat and bone.

If you go into china town you'll probably find the large cans of herring and mackeral. These are easily only $1.29 a can and have up to 4 large mackerels in them. There is so much fish in there, the can would make an entire meal for Myrka.

IGA had whole chickens for 89c/lb so I bought 10 of those. I had to go in and out of the store 3 times because there was a 3-chicken limit per customer.

Follow the specials in your area, you'll find some sweet deals on other meats.
I'm trying to attach a picture here, don't know if it will show up. If it doesn't you can see it at:
http://sharpeihealth.niceboards.net/...tables-t35.htm

Just so that you can see the proportional size of meat. It isn't broken or cut down into small cubes.
She has to work at eating it.


Best
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Old February 22nd, 2008, 08:13 AM
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You're going to get a different opinion here. If Myka is not well and she's lost a considerable amount of weight in the past week or so because of her illness, I'd feed her whatever raw she will eat.

For example, a chunk of beef (if there's a little fat on it, that's fine), with a small amount of liver and/or kidney. If she likes to chew on bones, then you can offer her a long beef rib with the meat on.

Chicken, obviously boneless if she refuses to touch it with the bone. Add giblets, heart and liver in small amounts (not more than 10%).

A chunk of pork.

Don't forget to try frozen or semi-frozen fish again. Frozen sardines and mackerel are fairly inexpensive, especially if you can get to a Chinatown in your area.

Will she eat whole eggs with the shell? If not, once or twice a week, you can cut up into cubes whatever meat she likes best, blend on high speed 2-3 whole eggs until shell is a powdery texture and mix in well with her meal.

Don't worry about feeding her the same variety a few days in a row. Variety over a period of 1 to 2 weeks is what you'll want to aim for.

As for bones, does she like to gnaw on bones at all? You can offer her a beef rib, some chicken necks, or perhaps a chicken breast bone to start. Give her these separate from her meals and see if she'll get used to chewing on little bits at a time (just remember, usually not more than 10%).

I forgot if you've mentionned how much she weighs . Do you have an idea as to how much in terms of weight you're feeding her?
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Old February 22nd, 2008, 04:01 PM
MerlinsHope MerlinsHope is offline
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Lucky Penny, I agree with you whole heartedly.
I must have missed somewhere that Myrka is sick. Sorry I didn't realize that.

Yes, of course,..... she should abosolutely feed her anything at this time, and get the malady under control.

What is she sick with?? Sorry Myrka, I didn't realize that she was ill. This takes on a whole new meaning. If I were you I wouldn't switch anything until she is well. Feed her what you used to feed her. She may not be eating because of her illness and with this new diet you'd have no way of telling.

Thanks LP!!!!!

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Old February 22nd, 2008, 09:26 PM
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Myka Myka is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MerlinsHope View Post
Myrka, Raw feeding isn't about ground meat... you have to pull away from that concept. Try other meats instead. You have to serve a variety of meat and fish in order to offer valuable nutrition to your dog. there's pork, lamb, beef, plenty of other meats you can offer.

Yesterday at Metro/Provigo large pork roasts were on sale for 99c/lb.
I bought two dozen roasts that averaged 3.00 each. that's a lot of quality meat and bone.

If you go into china town you'll probably find the large cans of herring and mackeral. These are easily only $1.29 a can and have up to 4 large mackerels in them. There is so much fish in there, the can would make an entire meal for Myrka.

IGA had whole chickens for 89c/lb so I bought 10 of those. I had to go in and out of the store 3 times because there was a 3-chicken limit per customer.

Follow the specials in your area, you'll find some sweet deals on other meats.
I'm trying to attach a picture here, don't know if it will show up. If it doesn't you can see it at:
http://sharpeihealth.niceboards.net/...tables-t35.htm

Just so that you can see the proportional size of meat. It isn't broken or cut down into small cubes.
She has to work at eating it.

Best
Merlin

Hi Merlin, thanks for posting that photo! Myka's chunks are definately smaller than that, and she doesn't eat that much in a day...or is there a bone in there?

Myka will chew on a large weight bearing bone until there is no meat left, but she doesn't actually eat the bone. I am under the understanding that these large bones shouldn't be fed to dogs because dogs can chip their teeth on them...? Also, both of Myka's canine teeth are damaged and partially dead. So they aren't as strong as they would be if they were fully alive. They are the pinkish brown that a dead tooth goes, although the vet tells me that they are still a bit alive...? Either way they don't bother her, and I hope there is never a day when I have to get them root canalled $$$$$$$$.

Your market in Montreal is much better than the one here. I can't find lamb or veal for les than $6/lb period. So neither of those is an option. I have found the large whole "picnic" pork shoulders for 99 cents per pound, but I think that bone is too big for her to chew on, plus they have LOTS of fat and skin that I trim off, so in the end it is about 50% fat, skin, and bone. The boneless pork roasts that I just bought for $1.50/lb are a way better deal. I cut them into 3x3" chunks, but now I know I should cut them into bigger chunks. I bought the sirloin roasts for $3/lb, and cut them into 1" steaks. Next time I'll cut them into chunks, but I wanted steaks out of it as well!!! Every time I go grocery shopping I check the meat section for specials.

We don't have a Chinatown here, but I went to the ONLY Asian market in town, and that's where I found the whole mackerel for $1/lb. But Myka will only eat the back half. Once she gets to the guts she stops eating. They didn't have any cans of fish that I found...I'll looks closer next time.

I don't think you understand that Myka WILL NOT eat bone-in chicken. Except she will eat bone-in chicken thighs...but I'm not paying the price of those!!!! This is why I figure that grinding the chicken may be the only way to get that full 10% bone into her. She will STILL be getting chunks of beef, pork, and Mackerel.

Quote:
Originally Posted by luckypenny
You're going to get a different opinion here. If Myka is not well and she's lost a considerable amount of weight in the past week or so because of her illness, I'd feed her whatever raw she will eat.

For example, a chunk of beef (if there's a little fat on it, that's fine), with a small amount of liver and/or kidney. If she likes to chew on bones, then you can offer her a long beef rib with the meat on.

Chicken, obviously boneless if she refuses to touch it with the bone. Add giblets, heart and liver in small amounts (not more than 10%).

A chunk of pork.

Don't forget to try frozen or semi-frozen fish again. Frozen sardines and mackerel are fairly inexpensive, especially if you can get to a Chinatown in your area.

Will she eat whole eggs with the shell? If not, once or twice a week, you can cut up into cubes whatever meat she likes best, blend on high speed 2-3 whole eggs until shell is a powdery texture and mix in well with her meal.

Don't worry about feeding her the same variety a few days in a row. Variety over a period of 1 to 2 weeks is what you'll want to aim for.

As for bones, does she like to gnaw on bones at all? You can offer her a beef rib, some chicken necks, or perhaps a chicken breast bone to start. Give her these separate from her meals and see if she'll get used to chewing on little bits at a time (just remember, usually not more than 10%).

I forgot if you've mentionned how much she weighs . Do you have an idea as to how much in terms of weight you're feeding her?
Yes, Myka is definately getting what she will eat so the weight can get back on. I think she's regained about 4-5 of the 6 pounds she lost. She's almost back to good weight now.

Long beef rib? GOOD IDEA!!!! I'll try to find some! Will she be able to actually eat and digest it?

I don't have a blender. That sounds REALLY gross! LOL! She won't eat the eggshell. If I whip the egg up and pulverize the egg, then she won't eat the egg. Hmmm...maybe if I feed her eggs, and save the shells, then pulverize them and mix them in with her Tripett??? I bet she'd go for that! To give me an idea...how many eggshells should she eat in a week if it was her only source or calcium (just for arguments' sake)??

She won't eat chicken breast bones. She did eat chicken bone-on thighs in the first week of raw, but she's gotten a lot pickier since then. I'll try to feed her some thighs again.

I'm not sure how many lbs I am feeding her. I was trying to figure it out from the weight of the meat packages. I don't think I've been feeding her enough in the beginning...partly from not knowing, and partly from her being picky.

This morning I fed her a deboned chicken breast, a pork steak about 1" thick and about 3" round, and the tail half of a Mackerel. This evening I fed her a beef steak about 1" thick 3" wide and 5" long, a pork steak about 1" thick 3" round, and half a can of Tripett with a pulverised egg in it. Does that sound like enough?

Quote:
Originally Posted by MerlinsHope
Lucky Penny, I agree with you whole heartedly.
I must have missed somewhere that Myrka is sick. Sorry I didn't realize that.

Yes, of course,..... she should abosolutely feed her anything at this time, and get the malady under control.

What is she sick with?? Sorry Myrka, I didn't realize that she was ill. This takes on a whole new meaning. If I were you I wouldn't switch anything until she is well. Feed her what you used to feed her. She may not be eating because of her illness and with this new diet you'd have no way of telling.
Myka being sick was mentioned a couple times in this thread, but there wasn't a lot of emphasis put on it. There is a whole separate thread dedicated to that in the Health forum.

We're not totally sure what is wrong with her. Her lymph nodes on her neck swelled up. Here's a link: http://www.pets.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=49521

I don't want to go back to kibble at this point, since she hasn't had that kibble in 3 weeks now. I think that would cause upset for sure. She had some Ebo Innova yesterday. I'm up in the air whether I want to do 100% raw, or 50/50 raw/Ebo Innova, or 100% Ebo Innova. We'll see how this goes...it's really nice that Myka doesn't have stinky farts anymore!!!
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Streak - '18 - Black cat (adopted Nov '18)
Peewee - Jan '06 - 6.5 lb Chi (adopted May '09)
--------------------
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Myka - Nov '98 to Jan '10 - APBT X
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