Saturday, October 30, 2010
Zoey & Ziva eat their first whole prey meal
This is a short video of Zoey & Ziva eating their first whole prey meal (mice)
Monday, October 25, 2010
Zoey's Fishy Birthday Cake
Mom made me a Mackeral & Smelt Birthday Cake (Grandpa said it was okay cause fish bones are soft)
It is really yummy!
Is that it mom? I know there has to be more....
I also's got some nummy treats but I am bery cold in this picture
Cedes & Tigger thought if they were cute mom would share my burfday cake...boy were they wrong, it's MINE!
I is also bery excited mom's says I am getting another Tiger Dreamz bed! Big ole mean Shellie dog ate my last one
**Mom's getting a good deal ($40 + shipping) on the trundle snuggle bed normally $58-$68, she's willing to pass it on to anyone who's interested they come in all sorts of colors
http://picasaweb.google.com/cprcheetah3/TigerDreamz#
It is really yummy!
Is that it mom? I know there has to be more....
I also's got some nummy treats but I am bery cold in this picture
Cedes & Tigger thought if they were cute mom would share my burfday cake...boy were they wrong, it's MINE!
I is also bery excited mom's says I am getting another Tiger Dreamz bed! Big ole mean Shellie dog ate my last one
**Mom's getting a good deal ($40 + shipping) on the trundle snuggle bed normally $58-$68, she's willing to pass it on to anyone who's interested they come in all sorts of colors
http://picasaweb.google.com/cprcheetah3/TigerDreamz#
Thursday, October 21, 2010
What's the difference?
I've been asked several times, what makes feeding a 'little' dog different than feeding a big one. Well for one thing Zoey my 4# chihuahua only eats 2oz per day whereas Shellie my golden retriever eats 20x that much at 22oz per day. Little dogs I have found don't need bone in their meals as much once they are off of the introductory period. Zoey only gets bone 2x a week, Georgie gets bone every 3-4 meals, Shellie (who has a sensitive stomach) has to have bone every other meal to regulate her stools. Another difference, is feeding 50% red meat (which I've heard is the ideal) isn't that difficult to do since a 2# roast will make 32 meals for my little Zoey and I got one for $3 so that made each meal less than 10 cents, you can't argue with that. As far as organs go, Shellie gets them daily, my little dogs get them once a week. Those are the main difference I am finding, as well as what 'boney' meals they can handle. Zoey won't attempt to eat anything other than a pork neck bone, a cornish hen bone or the meat off of a beef rib bone. She doesn't like the bigger cuts of meat either.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Refusing Organs...
For the past 3-4 weeks Zoey has absolutely been refusing to eat organs. I have tried searing them, feeding frozen, feeding 1/2 frozen etc. The only way I get her to eat about 1/10th of them is to dice into pin point size pieces and hand thfeed, she still spits 1/2 of it out. Tonight I even tried mixing them in with the canned tripe, she ate all the tripe stuff and left the organs after she licked them clean! GRRRRRR Any suggestions? I will stuff them down her throat if I have to as I know she needs her organs, but she's being a pill about them. She's eating Calve Liver & Beef Kidneys as her organs, and she normally just loves them. Apparently stuffing isn't going to be an option, I tried...even if I stuffed all the way in the back of her throat to where you couldn't see it anymore she hacked it up...the little stink! So last night I tried just searing it and added a little butter & parmasan cheese, she still wouldn't touch it so I cooked it all the way through, then had to hand feed it to her like a treat....what a stubborn little diva!
 |
| You Want me to eat that? |
 |
| Oooh....I'll gladly eat it cooked though |
 |
| This is good stuff maynard! |
I need to switch my cats to raw
The other day I heard a loud crash in the kitchen, I was in the pantry at the time organizing shelves...so I go out to the kitchen and this is what I found:
My ever so helpful Siamese, Munchie got on top of the freezer then somehow knocked over my dog storage drawers (they sit on top of another drawer system next to the dog cages) where Zoey had her organs she was refusing to eat...Munchie was trying to get to them...the little stink!
***If and when I do switch the cats to raw (waiting for hubby's approval) they won't be a problem, they are EVER so helpful when I'm feeding the dogs, I have to really watch Mercedes or she will walk off with their dinner. So far they like just about EVERYTHING, pork, beef, chicken, sardines, smelt etc.
My ever so helpful Siamese, Munchie got on top of the freezer then somehow knocked over my dog storage drawers (they sit on top of another drawer system next to the dog cages) where Zoey had her organs she was refusing to eat...Munchie was trying to get to them...the little stink!
***If and when I do switch the cats to raw (waiting for hubby's approval) they won't be a problem, they are EVER so helpful when I'm feeding the dogs, I have to really watch Mercedes or she will walk off with their dinner. So far they like just about EVERYTHING, pork, beef, chicken, sardines, smelt etc.
My little pro
Ziva our new little Miniature Pinscher is eating raw like a pro, this week I ran out of Cornish Hen and we are squeaky tight on the budget so couldn't go run & get some so had to cut up some chicken thighs and Ziva is eating them like a pro! She was diagnosed with Ringworm last week, and I really think the Raw and no vaccines is helping her immune system fight it quicker. My cats took almost 2 months to get over it, her areas are already starting to look better. GO RAW!
Sunday, October 17, 2010
A day with the wolf pack
I am on a Raw Feeding Yahoo group and Beth Hostetter was nice enough to allow me to share her AWESOME experience with you!
"I am spending the day at the International Wolf Center in Ely, MN. Below are the answers to the questions I rec'd before I went. I am going back for feeding the pack this evening, so private email me any other questions (I can pick up from my phone on the run)
They feed whole prey to the pack. Typically white tail deer and beaver. The natural diet for wild wolves in this area is 60% deer, the rest beaver, moose, and small mammals. Nearer the Rockies the natural prey is more elk.
They feed the pack in a group. The alpha male and female feed first and subordiinates feed in dominance order. The large prey is proportioned by the pack. Different parts of the animal are eaten by different wolves over time.
They do NOT eat the stomach contents. They shake it out and eat the stomach lining. The wolves can eat all parts except the stomach contents, but often will not eat the vertabrate or skull (but will eat the jaw bone). They can eat them, but they are more difficult to eat, so they will pick clean and might bury/cache for future in case of extreme hunger
They feed the pack as they eat in the wild gorge/feast- once per week. They might supplement with addtitional small feedings if the staff deems necessary. They determine this by watching their scat daily. The scat is usually hair and some bone. (Yep, they watch the poo too!)
The staff freezes the meat for 2 weeks prior to feeding to kill parasites. Most the deer is road kill that they gather. The DNR pays trappers to bring in beavers and the DNR gets rid of them by donating them to the Wolf Center. They said check wtih your locall DNR to see if they have collected carcasses they want to get rid of. Many are thrilled to have someone else dispose of it.
There is an area in British Columbia where the wolves fish, a habit they think was learned from observing the bear in the area. It would be rare for others to fish, but as opportunistic animals - they will eat fish.
Wolves are only successful in making a kill 15% of the time, so on average a wolf will hunt and monitor their territory 30 miles a day, days a week.
The strongest dog breed jaw strengths (like pit bulls, GSD, etc) have a jaw strength of 600#/inch pressure. A wild wolf's is 1500#/inch. An adult wolf can sheer a moose femur in -10 bites. The staff I talked to raw feeds her dog and doesn't feed the leg bones of the animals because the domesticated animals jaw strength isn't there.
Wolves are very efficient at digestion and convert 95% of eaten food into energy. Only undigested is hair and a little bone.
Finished with the Feeding of the pack tonight.
Chris, you are correct, the correct term is breeding adults or dominant male or female. The dominant males and females discourage breeding of younger wolves in the pack, as they are usually related such as younger wolves from the breeding pair. The dominant wolves lead the hunt and usually select the prey in the herd, the wolves then work in relay the running, and wearing down the prey, usually by tiring it and making it weaken by bleeding. The speaker said she was not aware of them having differnt managers for different prey, but might use more experienced hunters for more challenging or dangerous prey, such as moose.
This pack just "retired" their dominant male due to arthritis. (Moved to a non-public viewed site) There is a dominant female who currently runs the pack. Her name is Maya and she is 6. Her brother, Grizzer, is a loosely dominant male, but not doing his job,so he is getting challenged by Denali- a 2 year old male just reaching adulthood. Grizzer has not submitted, but likely will have to raise to the challenge or step down soon. The smallest is Aidan, the lowest ranking male.
Tonight's dinner was beaver. 6 beaver and a rib cage of deer were brougt in. Maya and Grizzer ate the beaver tails first. The tails are primarily fat and considered the best prize. While they were eating, Denali snuck out some of the deer ribs. Aidan sniffed around, but didn't touch anything for a long time. Maya marked several of the beavers. The funniest thing was that Aidan finally stole a small piece of deer rib- about the size of a chicken leg. Maya came over and he dropped it. She stood over the piece and marked it then walked away.
We watched for 1.5 hours during that time Maya and Grizzer dragged away beaver and were eating in the distance. Denali stole a beaver and was eating it in the distance. Aidan was the only wolf left in the food area, and he just sat next to his peed on piece of meat and didn't eat anything. The staff said that Aidan usually would not eat until the next day when he was allowed to eat. Even if Maya chose not to eat for hours, he wouldn't eat. All the other wolves were at least 50 yards away and he didn't touch anything.
They ate slower and less frantic than I expected. They weigh between 60 and 100 lbs and each will eat about 20# of meat tonight. They will sleep most of the next 2-3 days.
We did see one wolf up close tear open the belly after the tail was gone and pull out and eat the guts. One organ was pulled out and left alone. It looked greenish so we suspect it was the stomach.
I asked about the deer and chronic wasting disease- there is a fair amount around here. They said it doesn't affect the wolves, so not a concern.
Laura, I got your email after the feeding, so I didn't get to ask about eating apples and berries. They did say that they are opportunistic, so perhaps that has something to do with it."
"I am spending the day at the International Wolf Center in Ely, MN. Below are the answers to the questions I rec'd before I went. I am going back for feeding the pack this evening, so private email me any other questions (I can pick up from my phone on the run)
They feed whole prey to the pack. Typically white tail deer and beaver. The natural diet for wild wolves in this area is 60% deer, the rest beaver, moose, and small mammals. Nearer the Rockies the natural prey is more elk.
They feed the pack in a group. The alpha male and female feed first and subordiinates feed in dominance order. The large prey is proportioned by the pack. Different parts of the animal are eaten by different wolves over time.
They do NOT eat the stomach contents. They shake it out and eat the stomach lining. The wolves can eat all parts except the stomach contents, but often will not eat the vertabrate or skull (but will eat the jaw bone). They can eat them, but they are more difficult to eat, so they will pick clean and might bury/cache for future in case of extreme hunger
They feed the pack as they eat in the wild gorge/feast- once per week. They might supplement with addtitional small feedings if the staff deems necessary. They determine this by watching their scat daily. The scat is usually hair and some bone. (Yep, they watch the poo too!)
The staff freezes the meat for 2 weeks prior to feeding to kill parasites. Most the deer is road kill that they gather. The DNR pays trappers to bring in beavers and the DNR gets rid of them by donating them to the Wolf Center. They said check wtih your locall DNR to see if they have collected carcasses they want to get rid of. Many are thrilled to have someone else dispose of it.
There is an area in British Columbia where the wolves fish, a habit they think was learned from observing the bear in the area. It would be rare for others to fish, but as opportunistic animals - they will eat fish.
Wolves are only successful in making a kill 15% of the time, so on average a wolf will hunt and monitor their territory 30 miles a day, days a week.
The strongest dog breed jaw strengths (like pit bulls, GSD, etc) have a jaw strength of 600#/inch pressure. A wild wolf's is 1500#/inch. An adult wolf can sheer a moose femur in -10 bites. The staff I talked to raw feeds her dog and doesn't feed the leg bones of the animals because the domesticated animals jaw strength isn't there.
Wolves are very efficient at digestion and convert 95% of eaten food into energy. Only undigested is hair and a little bone.
Finished with the Feeding of the pack tonight.
Chris, you are correct, the correct term is breeding adults or dominant male or female. The dominant males and females discourage breeding of younger wolves in the pack, as they are usually related such as younger wolves from the breeding pair. The dominant wolves lead the hunt and usually select the prey in the herd, the wolves then work in relay the running, and wearing down the prey, usually by tiring it and making it weaken by bleeding. The speaker said she was not aware of them having differnt managers for different prey, but might use more experienced hunters for more challenging or dangerous prey, such as moose.
This pack just "retired" their dominant male due to arthritis. (Moved to a non-public viewed site) There is a dominant female who currently runs the pack. Her name is Maya and she is 6. Her brother, Grizzer, is a loosely dominant male, but not doing his job,so he is getting challenged by Denali- a 2 year old male just reaching adulthood. Grizzer has not submitted, but likely will have to raise to the challenge or step down soon. The smallest is Aidan, the lowest ranking male.
Tonight's dinner was beaver. 6 beaver and a rib cage of deer were brougt in. Maya and Grizzer ate the beaver tails first. The tails are primarily fat and considered the best prize. While they were eating, Denali snuck out some of the deer ribs. Aidan sniffed around, but didn't touch anything for a long time. Maya marked several of the beavers. The funniest thing was that Aidan finally stole a small piece of deer rib- about the size of a chicken leg. Maya came over and he dropped it. She stood over the piece and marked it then walked away.
We watched for 1.5 hours during that time Maya and Grizzer dragged away beaver and were eating in the distance. Denali stole a beaver and was eating it in the distance. Aidan was the only wolf left in the food area, and he just sat next to his peed on piece of meat and didn't eat anything. The staff said that Aidan usually would not eat until the next day when he was allowed to eat. Even if Maya chose not to eat for hours, he wouldn't eat. All the other wolves were at least 50 yards away and he didn't touch anything.
They ate slower and less frantic than I expected. They weigh between 60 and 100 lbs and each will eat about 20# of meat tonight. They will sleep most of the next 2-3 days.
We did see one wolf up close tear open the belly after the tail was gone and pull out and eat the guts. One organ was pulled out and left alone. It looked greenish so we suspect it was the stomach.
I asked about the deer and chronic wasting disease- there is a fair amount around here. They said it doesn't affect the wolves, so not a concern.
Laura, I got your email after the feeding, so I didn't get to ask about eating apples and berries. They did say that they are opportunistic, so perhaps that has something to do with it."
Monday, October 11, 2010
Why are organs important?
Over on Dogster, someone asked the question as to why organs are necessary for a raw diet, I've never really known the answer to that other than they need nutrients from them, & it helps balance out the diet. So I did some research and this is what I found:
Liver
In this one product is a vast range of important nutrition. Liver is the most concentrated source of vitamin A and should be fed in small amounts on a regular basis. It also contains vitamins D, E, and K in substantial quantities. Liver is an excellent source of the minerals zinc, manganese, selenium and iron. It also contains all the B vitamins, particularly B2, B3, B5, biotin, folacin, B12, choline, and inositol. It contains B1 in adequate or smaller amounts and is a good source of vitamin C. Liver provides a source of good quality protein and the essential fatty acids, both the omega-3 and omega-6 type.
Kidneys
Not unlike liver, kidney supplies good quality protein, essential fatty acids and many vitamins including all the fat soluble vitamins A, D, E and K. Kidneys are a rich source of iron and all the B vitamins. They also have good levels of zinc.
So even if your dog is having a harder time adjusting with organs, they are still a good idea to give, otherwise you'd have to supplement with tons of vitamins etc. We have found that with Georgie he needs a bone meal before, during & after all organ meals, Zoey only needs the bone meal with her organs. Shellie also needs the bone meals, before, during & after her organs. Each dog is different but that helps eliminate the splarts/rocket butt etc.
Liver
In this one product is a vast range of important nutrition. Liver is the most concentrated source of vitamin A and should be fed in small amounts on a regular basis. It also contains vitamins D, E, and K in substantial quantities. Liver is an excellent source of the minerals zinc, manganese, selenium and iron. It also contains all the B vitamins, particularly B2, B3, B5, biotin, folacin, B12, choline, and inositol. It contains B1 in adequate or smaller amounts and is a good source of vitamin C. Liver provides a source of good quality protein and the essential fatty acids, both the omega-3 and omega-6 type.
Kidneys
Not unlike liver, kidney supplies good quality protein, essential fatty acids and many vitamins including all the fat soluble vitamins A, D, E and K. Kidneys are a rich source of iron and all the B vitamins. They also have good levels of zinc.
So even if your dog is having a harder time adjusting with organs, they are still a good idea to give, otherwise you'd have to supplement with tons of vitamins etc. We have found that with Georgie he needs a bone meal before, during & after all organ meals, Zoey only needs the bone meal with her organs. Shellie also needs the bone meals, before, during & after her organs. Each dog is different but that helps eliminate the splarts/rocket butt etc.
Friday, October 8, 2010
Ugh.....we may have Ringworm....
Ziva has a circular bald spot on the back of her neck, then this morning her neck had welts on it and was red & she's been super itchy since we brought her home, I gave her an oatmeal bath today, and still she was rubbing her neck on the ex-pen, and my elliptical machine. We thought she was having an allergic reaction to the nylon in her collar but I'm thinking it may be ringworm. The 'scaly' parts do glow under the purple light :-( We gave her some benadryl this morning, but as you can see it's still red & inflammed & scaly. It appears the skin folds are swollen & inflammed. I will be having my dad/Vet do a skin scraping tomorrow to check them. Both spots are red & scaly. So I think it may just be starting. She's had the bald spot on her neck since I got her it's just been growing and now it's red.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Ziva being cute!
Ziva is the cutest puppy, here she is last night "trying" to get out of trouble, the cats were eating canned food on the floor....
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Zoey Update
One of our friends (Rylee & Frida) on one of our Chihuahua forums/groups made this for Zoey just because, it's an adorable harness dress, anyways I took these pictures and was noticing Zoey really is looking great. Her front legs are really white now, even on her toes. I am so happy! For so long they have been stained brown/red from her looking. Not to mention her figure is looking very svelte and trim.
Here is a 'before' picture taken when she first started eating raw:
Here is Zoey now:
Friday, October 1, 2010
Zoey inhaling Smelt & Mackeral
I FINALLY figured out how to upload videos that work :-) This is from September 2nd I think this is one of her favorite meals. I need to find more smelt :-)
Learning to Feed Raw Educational Videos.
Over on Dogster raw feeding there was a contest to make videos on educating people about Raw Feeding: Here are the winners and some excellent videos:
Mississipi:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rb47M2kyWRk
The Hounds:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-T7iVYbkLw
Lincoln:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmaBe9vpTcg
They are really good, really educational as well. I am working on one geared towards feeding 'Little Carnivores' it's in the works, so bear with me, I will post it when I have it completed. One thing I will show is how to 'properly' cut up a Cornish Hen as I seriously had no clue when I started...Rob (hubby) taught me how.
Mississipi:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rb47M2kyWRk
The Hounds:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-T7iVYbkLw
Lincoln:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmaBe9vpTcg
They are really good, really educational as well. I am working on one geared towards feeding 'Little Carnivores' it's in the works, so bear with me, I will post it when I have it completed. One thing I will show is how to 'properly' cut up a Cornish Hen as I seriously had no clue when I started...Rob (hubby) taught me how.
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