Saturday, June 16, 2007 , lunch time

Sloppy Kiss Cards

The vet’s office sent an e-card for Frank’s birthday.  Even I don’t know when Frank’s actual birthday is, but I guess his vet records suggest that it’s some time this month, the anniversary of the month we first found him.  The vet’s office uses a veterinary portal system to send appointment reminders, birthday greetings like this, etc.  This was the first time an actual e-card has been sent, so I guess their portal has a relationship with the Sloppy Kiss Cards folks.  In any case, the cards are really quite cute, especially if you want to use them to send greetings to a pet or their owner.  I encourage you to check them out via the link, and if you’d like to see Frank’s card, click here.  Oh, I just noticed that if you want to send a card, you need to buy a $9.95 per year membership.  However, a portion of the proceeds goes to Petfinder, and it’s really not a bad price if you like the idea of sending cards to all your doggie and kitty pals.  Victor Tabbycat, I think this might be the service for you!

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 06/16 at 01:39 PM
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Wild for Wild Kitty

I recently wrote a blog entry about ordering a new brand of cat food called Wild Kitty.  Wild Kitty is a food base, to which you add your own meat (cooked or raw).  I figured it was worth a try, as I want to make homemade diets for my pets, yet the process has been very time-consuming so far.  I bought 3.75 lbs. of ground turkey to add to the food—it was supposed to be chicken, but I couldn’t find ground chicken, and didn’t have time to grind it myself.  In the future, I’ll plan better.  I lightly cooked the turkey, mixed it with the base mix and some water, and let it sit for about 10 minutes.  The result seemed sort of soupy, but the food firmed up as it cooled, and eventually just resembled pretty conventional wet cat food.

The real test came when I had to feed the cats.  I’ve currently got 11 cats in the house, including Bunny and Carlo, and every single cat wolfed the food down except Chelsea.  Even though Chelsea wouldn’t eat the food “as is”, when I mixed it 50-50 with her favourite Natural Balance food, she ate the entire bowl.  Today, when I got the food out of the fridge, I had wild hoards of crazed cats stalking me, waiting for their MEAT.  “Meat, meat, meat”, they chanted as I put food in all their bowls.  I might lose a limb if they get any more enthusiastic.

One thing I’ve observed immediately is a reduction of litterbox poop.  Also, none of the cats suffered any digestive distress from the food change.  I gave the food to Carlo a bit tentatively, as he’s supposed to be on his special IBD food, but he’s done very well on it.

For me, Wild Kitty isn’t a huge financial savings because I have so many cats to feed (the price is almost identical, per ounce, to a case of Natural Balance cat food when I pay $2/lb. for the meat).  However, I can reduce my cost if I can find bulk chicken at a low cost, and start to grind it myself.  I also can’t argue with the fact that even if the price was the same as premium canned cat food, the Wild Kitty food has to be better because it’s so fresh.  The cats certainly seem to think it’s something special.  I believe one bag of Wild Kitty cooked food base costs $12, and then you have to add 3.75 lbs. of meat to end up with 5.5 lbs of cat food.  If you feed the recommended 4 oz. per day, one bag will feed a single cat for 22 days (2 cats for 11 days, etc.).  For the single cat owner, it’s certainly an good investment, and I do suggest trying it if you’re looking for something different.  Check the Wild Kitty website carefully, as they sell a premixed, ready-to-serve frozen cat food, as well as a base for raw meat, and a base for cooked meat.  When you place your order, tell them that The Blog Pound recommended them, would ‘ya?  The company owner has been very helpful to me as I’ve picked and tested a product (I didn’t get freebies—I paid for everything, so this isn’t a commercial), and I’d like to return the favour by helping him find some new customers.

One last thing… Carlo finally goes to the vet for blood tests today.  Cross your fingers that he has something detectable, but not something like FIV.

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 06/16 at 04:09 AM
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Killing whales for fat: why do that, when they could just have my extra fat if they asked?

Maybe you’ve read about this story already, as it’s a couple of days old, but I was pretty disgusted by it.  Hunters in Alaska killed a bowhead whale, and while they were dismembering it with a chainsaw, they found a piece of embedded metal.  Upon further examination, it was discovered that the metal was a fragment of a bow lance, a harpoon-like tool used to kill whales in the 1800s.  The evidence suggests that the whale was originally shot at over 100 years ago, but survived and went on to live a long and healthy life, until it killed by a similar tool in Alaska a couple of weeks ago.

What an amazing life this whale must have led.  Scientists have estimated that the whale was about 130 years old, and that he was probably originally hunted off the coast of Massachusetts.  After identifying that as a bad neighbourhood, the whale eventually travelled up to the Beaufort Sea, which is where he was ultimately killed.  I don’t know much about bowhead whales, but I’m impressed by this incredible longevity, and the ability to survive in such a variety of waters and climates.  How many offspring and family members did this whale have?  Did he still keep in touch with his Mom and Dad?  Bowheads have been known to live up to 200 years, so he still had a lot of living to do.  Instead, he’ll now be living it up in canning jars, as people dine on his blubber, and use his oil for other purposes.

I do respect the right of native peoples to hunt to maintain their lifestyles and traditions, but it still saddens me.  Whales are such magnificent animals, and the bowhead is actually endangered, numbering around 8000 or so.  Like all whales, they can communicate and have social relationships.  I can’t imagine killing anything with such a complex life, and know that they’re endangered not because of native traditions, but because of greed.  Anyway, that’s all from my soapbox right now… I just wanted to share the story, especially timely after the International Whaling Commission and CITES meetings.  And seriously… if some kind soul wants to pay for my liposuction to harvest my own special “blubber” and use it for candles or whatever, I’m totally okay with that.

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 06/16 at 03:37 AM
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Monday, June 11, 2007 , terribly early in the morning

String Eaters!

C_and_b_11_weeks (13)

Just look at those little monsters—one of them ate a bunch of string this morning!  You’d think TJ would have passed along the message that if you eat string, you end up with humans watching you poop for at least a couple of weeks, but apparently he didn’t.  I’d let the kittens play with a toy overnight (the same toy TJ ate last month), and when I got up this morning, the string was in pieces, but not all the pieces were present.  I really don’t understand why this is happening.  Here is the culprit toy, the Hartz Gone Fishin’ cat toy:

hartz_toy

We’ve been using these toys for foster kittens since last year, because they’re perfect.  They’re cheap (about $3.50), so it doesn’t matter if they fall on the floor and the cats tear off the feathers or chew on the suction cup and ruin it.  The suction cup attaches perfectly to the porcelain pedestal sink in our “foster kitten bathroom”, so it’s a good toy to leave up when they’re learning to jump and hunt.  The suction cup is strong, but not so strong that it can’t be pulled off, so it feels pretty safe, too.  We’ve never, ever had a problem with these toys until TJ ate the string on the last one, and then either Bunny or Carlo ate the string on the newest one.  What the heck is the string made of?  We still have one more brand new Gone Fishin’ toy, but it’s obviously not safe to give to any of the kittens, although, maybe I could soak the string in lemon juice or bitter apple…

The kittens are getting so grown up now (getting into trouble is the first step).  The both come upstairs and use the litterbox when they need to, although Carlo still has some issues with gastrointestinal pain and IBD.  Sometimes he’s constipated, sometimes he has diarrhea, and he’s always gassy.  He cries a lot when he poops, which is very sad.  I’m hoping to find some kefir to help his digestive system, and I’m expecting the arrival of bottle of homeopathic “Happy Tummy” this week, and maybe it will help a bit.  The Eukanuba Low-Residue food is helping, but of course our vet only had 12 cans in stock, and we haven’t been able to find more yet (there’s half a can left right now).  We’ll be out hunting for more today.  For those of you who recommended pumpkin, I did try it, and it seemed to help at first, but then there was a bit “poopy blowout” and I stopped giving pumpkin after that.  I’ll try to start up again using just tiny portions to see if it helps.

This week, Carlo can finally have his bloodwork to test for liver problems and FIV.  And they’ll both get their first set of vaccinations.  Carlo is almost twelve weeks old, and he weighs 1 pound, 13 ounces.

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 06/11 at 04:21 AM
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Saturday, June 09, 2007 , the wee hours

Bad day, good day: Part 2

On April 12th, 1989, my then-husband and I had tickets to see R.E.M. on their “Green” tour at Maple Leaf Gardens.  For some reason, the hubby couldn’t go, so I went with my best friend, Franca—I seem to recall that I paid for the tickets and she drove.  I didn’t really know much about R.E.M, but working at a radio station, I went to just about every big concert in Toronto just for the sake of going.  The band that opened for R.E.M. that night was the Indigo Girls, and I was mesmerized.  I’d never heard of them, and knew nothing about them, but as soon as they started to play I realized they created the kind of music which touched me on some sort of cellular level; it was like I’d been waiting my entire life to hear them.  During the R.E.M. performance, all I could think about was running down the street to “Sam, the Record Man” to buy their CD, and once I did, it was pretty much all I listened to.  I know it sounds so sappy and dramatic and teenager-ish, but I just loved the Indigo Girls.  I was going through some very difficult challenges (I was married and realizing I was gay), and I latched onto their music as both distraction and inspiration.  Between 1989 and 1996, I saw the Girls in concert at least a dozen times, and would even travel to see them.  I still have an Indigo Girls tattoo on my left arm - I got it sixteen years ago.  I once did the whole “standing outside the stage door” thing (I believe that was in Ithaca, at Cornell… or it was at Artpark in Lewiston, NY), and I have a jacket with Amy and Emily’s signatures on it—Amy even drew a little guitar. The last time I saw them was in 1997 in Santa Fe at the Paolo Soleri Amphitheatre—almost a decade ago.  When Flippy and I settled in Las Vegas in 1999, the Indigo Girls played a couple of shows here, but we didn’t have much money, Flippy wasn’t a fan, and the shows were the “general admission; no seating” types which are murder for us old folks.  The Girls eventually had some sort of a disagreement with a casino about displaying their activism material on casino property, and I believe they made some sort of statement indicating they wouldn’t be returning to Vegas again.

All that is just background for why Flippy surprised me with tickets to the True Colors Tour, once she found out the Indigo Girls would be appearing.  The tour was created by Cyndi Lauper as a show of support for gay rights, and features artists such as Debbie Harry, Erasure, and Margaret Cho.  We don’t usually do “gay stuff”, but Flippy knew I’d be thrilled because Las Vegas was the only show the Indigo Girls would appear in.  She bought the tickets back in April, and the concert was yesterday (Friday) evening.  We were afraid we wouldn’t be able to go because of Frank’s temporary disappearance, so I’m glad the little brat decided to come home so that we could go out.

The show was really super.  Dresden Dolls opened, and they were entertaining and weird, in a good way.  They signed autographs after their set, and eventually I’ll upload a photo or two to my Flickr account.  The Indigo Girls were next, and although it felt like “coming home again”, they only performed five songs and I felt sort of empty afterwards.  They were also musically out of place compared to the sound of the other performers, and I’ve since been digging through their tour schedule, trying to find some place I could go see them in a full concert.  I miss them—I have a case of musical homesickness.  If anyone else has seen them before, they sound as good as ever, but have changed up the harmonies on songs like, “Closer to Fine”, I guess to make them more interesting to sing.  It’s got to be tough singing the same songs for two decades.  Debbie Harry was next—she was in good voice, but she looked old (I’m sorry, Debbie).  She barely moved around, and it felt a bit like I was watching my Mom.  After that was Erasure, who put on a very cool visual performance, sounded great, and were oh, so gay.  Finally, Cyndi Lauper took the stage, singing all of her “classics”, including a version of “She-Bop” which could have been arranged by Tom Petty.  She was very laid back and funny, especially because she kept having “wardrobe malfunctions” with her dress, and eventually had to borrow a jacket from a guy in the audience so she could cover up.  I love her for wearing an expensive, fancy dress while barefoot, too.  At the end of the show, all the performers except Debbie Harry came back on-stage to sing “True Colors”, and Erasure’s version of “Take a Chance on Me”.  I worried that the concert would be full of long and boring breaks between artists, but Margaret Cho hosted and did stand-up between sets.  In a special surprise, Rosie O’Donnell also showed up and did some stand-up, and she played percussion on a couple of Cyndi Lauper songs.  She was actually quite talented—she’s either a natural, or she’s taken extensive lessons.  After the concert there was an afterparty at Studio 54, and we wanted to attend, but the line to get in was huge, and the cover charge was $40 each.  We found a nice gay man who borrowed our cell phone to make a call, and who then offered to let us go in with him in the VIP line, but the cover charge made our decision for us and we just came home.

I’m in an odd mood today, a combination of Frank’s disappearance, Indigo Girls’ melancholy, and a nostalgia about being gay.  The concert reminded me that I miss “being” gay—since we left San Francisco, we just “pass” most places, and have no gay friends.  We don’t go “gay” things—we just live our lives.  Normally, I’d use those sorts of statements to argue that being gay isn’t any different than being straight, but there is a cultural connection to other gay people which feels comfortable and affirming.  Flippy and I really do hide most aspects of lives from almost everyone, even family, because we have a constant sense of wanting to make others comfortable.  I think that “passing” takes no effort, and is no big deal, but it is.  I just didn’t realize it until I was with a few thousand other gay people.  I also had an awful sense of feeling “safe” while at the concert, which shocked me because I hadn’t realized how much caution I expend in my regular day-to-day dealings with the general public.  I don’t think I live in fear of a hate crime, but on some subconscious level I must, because I wanted to stay in the atmosphere of that concert hall forever.

If I could get just one message out from this blog entry, I want to thank Cyndi Lauper for organizing this event.  She obviously didn’t have to do this, yet she was so concerned about the lack of equal rights for gay people that she invested a huge amount of time and effort to organize the performers, obtain sponsors, etc.  She gave a very heartfelt speech at the concert about how she was inspired by the emails she’s received from gay fans who feel an affinity to the song, “True Colors”, and was further encouraged to take action after meeting Matthew Shepherd’s mother.  I hope the rest of the tour is a huge success for everyone involved, and if it’s in your city, I encourage you to go see it, whether you’re gay or straight.  There were lots of straight couples in attendance this evening, and everyone had a lot of fun.

Oh, and to the Indigo Girls—please start coming back to Vegas again.  Yes, the city is a big capitalistic mess, but I miss you.

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 06/09 at 02:23 AM
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Bad day, good day: Part 1

I was getting ready to finally fall into bed this morning at about 6am, and the two big dogs were outside barking incessantly.  They would not stop.  Flippy went and yelled at them, but they still didn’t quit, so I went outside to try attempt to silence them.  They were both staring intently at some bushes near the pool, and I crouched down and could see something black under/behind the Texas Ranger plant.  I figured it was a trash bag or something, but suddenly it moved—it was a stray cat.  I thought it was a stray cat.  It started to run towards the backyard gate, towards the street, and I realized it wasn’t a stray cat—it was our cat, Frank.  He was wearing his new orange collar, and even though I called to him, he squeezed under the gate and vanished.  I was devastated—I thought I might have seen him for the last time.  He has a microchip, but no ID on his collar.

Flippy and I did a drive through the neighbourhood, looking under cars and in corners, but we didn’t see any sign of him.  I poked all the big bushes in our front yard with a stick, in case he was hiding in them, but he wasn’t.  Luckily, I have a couple of humane traps, so I set one on the front porch and baited it with food, and then I came inside and made some “Lost” posters.  I literally had the posters made within 20 minutes of seeing him go under the gate, and I planned to take them door-to-door on our street, while also asking permission to look in peoples’ yards.  I did some quick online reading about how to find a lost cat, and I gathered up a familiar cat bed to put on the front porch next to the trap.  I carried the bed and the posters downstairs, glanced into the yard, and there was Frank by one of the trees.  Unfortunately, the big dogs again shot outside, saw him, and frightened him into hiding.  He went into hiding in the yard though, not outside the gate, so I quickly grabbed the dogs and hauled them inside and locked them up.  Then I called for Flippy to blockade the gate so Frank couldn’t squirm under it again.  When I finally tried to approach Frank, who was again under the Texas Ranger, he ran to the house, peered through the doggie door, and jumped back inside.

Frank was probably missing a grand total of 30 minutes, but it seemed like an eternity.  I really thought I might never see him again, as he’s one of those cats who’s so nervous in strange territory that they hide and stay silent.  I hoped I’d be able to trap him, but that’s how he originally came to live with us, so he might have been smart enough to avoid the trap for a second time.

Obviously, my old fears about cats going out the doggie door have come true.  I found Frank sitting by the door again this afternoon (the door was blocked, however), so I’ve no doubt that he’ll leave again when given the opportunity.  As long as the big dogs are downstairs, he won’t go down there, but I put the dogs in crates a few times a day so the foster kittens can play without being poked and prodded—that’s when he snuck out this morning.  Our doggie door is one of those panels which fits in the sliding glass door track, so eventually we want to get a new panel with an electronic door.  The door will be trigger by sensors on the dogs’ collars, but otherwise, will stay locked.  I priced the door and it’s going to cost about $450 (including shipping), so that’s not affordable right now.  I then priced cat fence, but our yard is so big, that would cost about $400 as well.  For now, all I can do is make sure the doggie door is blocked anytime the big dogs aren’t around, and I’ve blocked the bottom of the gate in our yard, so Frank can’t slip underneath it if it gets out again.  I also obviously need to put better ID on the cats.  I try to avoid dangling tags, because they seem to encourage the cats to pull their collars off.  I really need a tag with rivets, but need to find something small enough to fit on a cat collar.  I guess just a name and phone number would be enough information.  TJ and Missy Mae don’t even have microchips (I completely forgot to ask for them when both cats had surgery this year), so I have to be more diligent.  It’s just a matter of time before TJ merrily follows the dogs into the backyard, because he’s not afraid of them, and thinks he’s just one of the gang.

I eventually did get some sleep, and the day got better.

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 06/09 at 01:53 AM
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Wednesday, June 06, 2007 , the wee hours

Don’t let down your guard about the quality of commercial pet foods

While the pet food recall isn’t the story on everyone’s lips anymore, maybe it still should be.  While it seems that the manufacturing companies have resolved their quality control problems and are going back into production, tests by private labs show that many types of pet food, some of which were never recalled, are still contaminated with melamine, cyanuric acid, and even acetaminophin.  According to this story in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, a lab in Texas was asked by a pet food manufacturer to test their products for contaminants.  My guess is that the pet food company wanted a clean bill of health that they could use in advertising.  Instead, they were informed that their food contained acetaminophen, which is utterly toxic and deadly to cats.  The lab isn’t naming the pet food manufacturer, but whichever company it is did not have any products recalled during the melamine scare, and they’ve now known about the acetaminophen problem for over a month and still haven’t spoken up.  And, in another great show of decision-making, the pet food company did not inform the FDA of the contamination problem with their pet food, as they’re legally obligated to.  The FDA found out the news from people on the Internet.

I’m sure the pet food company will be revealed any day now, but I think the problem may be that there’s more than one company with acetaminophen in their food.  How did it get there?  Was this deliberate sabotage and contamination?  I really don’t know, but now more than ever, be alert about what you’re feeding.

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 06/06 at 02:05 AM
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Tuesday, June 05, 2007 , the wee hours

Why shelters hate the holidays

I’ve always read that animal shelters have a terrible time adopting out pets in the summer months because people are too busy vacationing and being active to think about adding an animal to the family.  A story in today’s Toronto Star shows how a well-meaning law in Quebec makes the problem even worse for shelters there—not only are people not adopting, they’re dumping their pets in record numbers.  In Quebec, all leases end on July 1st, to help families avoid the disruption of moving during the school year.  That makes July 1st a huge “moving day” in the province, and shelters are reporting that pets, especially cats, are being left at shelters in record numbers as people move and either chose not to take their animals with them, or aren’t permitted to have animals in their new residence.  In either case, shelter drop-offs have tripled as people prepare to move, and the numbers will only get worse as July 1st gets closer.  You can read the entire story here.

The situation in Quebec is unique, but all shelters experience a surge of inmates during the warm weather.  “Kitten season” means that the lives of older cats are on the line, too, as shelters need to make room for the young residents.  I probably don’t need to mention it to anyone reading this, but just in case:  if you’ve considered adding a new cat or dog to your family, now is a time when your help is really needed.  Even if you just want to foster for a few weeks or months, I know that any rescue group or shelter in your area would love to hear from you.  You would literally be saving a life.

Speaking of fostering, I made a really stupid mistake with Carlo last night.  Many people have posted on my blog and suggested that I try adding a bit of pumpkin to his food to try to ease his diarrhea.  I finally bought the pumpkin, gave him a bit on Sunday morning, and his stools did seem a bit bulkier.  I again gave him a tiny bit of pumpkin on Sunday evening, but I stupidly (I cannot stress that word enough!) gave him a new type of food as well.  He always eats Natural Balance Ultra, but I noticed that Bunny was starting to be a bit fussy about her food, so I gave them some Natural Balance Ocean Fish and Shrimp.  Ack!  Bad, bad, bad to give a cat with bowel problems a brand new food, with pumpkin to compound the problem.  I woke up this morning to discover that Carlo had explosive diarrhea during the night—thank goodness he still sleeps in an enclosed room with a linoleum floor.  The mess was literally splashed three feet up the walls, and it was everywhere.  There was even a big puddle in his bed, so the stuff just went right through him.  He seemed absolutely fine today, and ate well, and had no more problems, but I’ll never forget having to clean up after that disaster.  I usually do a lot of switching and swapping of kitten food to purposely make the kittens less finicky about tastes and textures, but I’ve never had a kitten with IBD (or whatever Carlo has) before.  I never want to relive that.

I still have one more food switch to make, but it’s to Iams Low-Residue, which the vet recommended for Carlo’s digestive problems.  It’s high-fiber, low-protein, so I’m going to start him off with a bit of it to see how it handles it.  I can’t imagine that it’s at all “rich” or “fatty”, and I doubt it will have the effect of Ocean Fish and Shrimp.  I really hate feeding him anything made by Iams, but I’m pretty desperate to get his bowel problems under control.  The problems cause him discomfort, and he’s stopped using the litterbox for pooping because of them.  I don’t know if the litterbox issue is “bad association” or just a lack of control, but I’ll never be able to adopt him out if he doesn’t use the litterbox properly.  The sooner he’s able to go to the bathroom normally, the sooner I can work on retraining him to have good litterbox habits.

Thus ends today’s poop report smile FYI, tomorrow I start a new, three-week continuing ed class called “Pain Management of the Canine and Feline”.  One week covers dogs, one week covers cats, and the third week covers alternative therapies like acupuncture.  If I pay attention, I might learn something!

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 06/05 at 01:52 AM
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Monday, June 04, 2007 , the wee hours

New possibility for homemade cat food

I somehow stumbled across an ad for Wild Kitty Cat Food Kits yesterday, and after speaking to the company manager via email, I’m going to place an order tomorrow.  Wild Kitty sells premade frozen raw cat food, but they now offer two kits so cat owners can just add meat to make food at home.  Best of all, the kits come in two choices, cooked or raw, with the cooked food kit flexible enough to be made with either cooked or raw boneless chicken.  That’s the kit I’ll order, because while cooked chicken is my preference, I’d like to see what the cats have to say about it.  In the long run, I guess the raw kit would be the most economical, but I don’t want to assume the cats will eat raw food and then find out they’re not interested.

I’ve checked out other raw cat food kits, like the ones offered by Honest Kitchen, but they’re cost prohibitive.  The Wild Kitty kits sell for $11.95, including shipping, and you have to add almost 4 lbs. of raw chicken to end up with 5.5 lbs. of food.  If I just buy chicken leg quarters at $1.00 per pound (a pretty average price), and debone them, I figure I can make my 5.5 lbs. of cat food for about $17.  That works out to 19 cents per ounce, (I think), or the equivalent of $1.06 per 5.5 oz. (the size of an average large can of cat food).  With canned food like Merrick costing about $1.35 per can, and even Natural Balance running at least $1.09, I’ll either break even or save money, while having more control over the quality of what I’m feeding.  If I place a big grocery store order for a large quantity of chicken, I’m sure I can get it even cheaper.

I’ll report back on all of this when I have the kits in hand and give the preparation a try.  If this is something which interests you, I encourage you to check out the Wild Kitty website.  They sell sample kits of their frozen, premade raw food for just $29.95—too rich for my multi-cat blood, but perfect for the person with just one or two cats.

The thing that really excites me about this food is that it passes AAFCO feeding trials, and the results exceeded expectations.  This gives me good peace of mind, because while money is always in the back of my mind (as it has to be), keeping the cats healthy is my ultimate goal.

So… Wild Kitty food kits reports to follow soon!  I hope it’s good news!

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 06/04 at 02:57 AM
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Sunday, June 03, 2007 , terribly early in the morning

Homemade dog food

The good news is, I’ve perfected the art of making mushy chicken bones.  Thanks to the advice given by many of you, I’ve cooked about six pounds of chicken thighs in a pressure cooker for two hours, after adding about a third of a cup of vinegar.  The bones practically turn to dust… it’s fabulous.  The dogs love them, and I don’t have to worry about splinters or anything dangerous.  I store the thighs in a plastic container, along with the cooking broth, so I hope the dogs are getting the benefit of some nutrients, despite the rigorous cooking process.  I’m serving the chicken atop a daily serving of Solid Gold Holistique kibble, so it doesn’t quite count as “homemade”, but it is “enhanced”.  That’s what I’m feeding the two big dogs right now and they’re very happy.

Now, for the two little dogs, I really did attempt to make a fully homemade meal using a recipe from the BalanceIt.com site.  The recipe, “Chicken with veggies and rice”, was free, and I bought one bottle of the BalanceIt vitamins.  I asked to have the recipe designed for a 15 lb. dog, meaning it was appropriate to feed both Phoenix and Cricket, and I bought all the ingredients to make one month’s worth of food for both dogs.  I needed about 8 lbs. of chicken breasts, 6 lbs. of frozen peas and carrots, and a bunch of rice.  I wasn’t sure of the dry amounts for the rice, so I just bought a bunch, cooked it in the rice cooker, and then measured out what I needed.  Once I’d done all the calculations (and I did them multiple times to ensure they were accurate), it was very simple to cook the chicken breasts, dice the meat, mix in the veggies, and then mix in the rice.  Voila—I was done, and just needed to add vitamins.  Or so I thought.

I sat back and looked at the food I had just portioned out into daily servings.  The servings were MASSIVE.  The basic recipe, unmodified and “untouched by my lack of math skills” said quite clearly to add 1 and seven-eighths cups of cooked rice to each day’s portion of chicken and veggies.  The chicken and veggies part looked fine, but does a 15 lb. dog really need TWO CUPS of rice every day?  We normally feed our dogs each about 7 ounces of canned food per day, total.  That’s it.  They’re a nice weight, not fat, not skinny, and they’re healthy.  The recipe from BalanceIt was telling me to feed the dogs more than twice that, and the bulk of all the extra food was just rice.  It didn’t make sense to me.  I went over my math again and it was fine, and I compared it to a couple of other recipes and in all of them, huge quanties of carbs were called for.  It really did seem that I’d made the food correctly and had portioned it as directed.

We tried feeding Phoenix and Cricket the homemade food for two days, and even the dogs thought we were trying to kill them with excess (although they did enjoy the food).  It caused a lot of excess poop, most of it visibly full of rice that just passed right through them.  It was getting pretty stupid.  After two days we just put the little dogs back on their regular canned “Eatables”, and gave the rest of the homemade food to the two big dogs.

I’m rethinking a lot after this experiment.  This was only one recipe, but I was not impressed with all the empty calories in it.  I looked at a couple of other recipes, (one for the two big dogs), and it called for so much oatmeal that I’d have to get oatmeal delivered in a dumptruck each week.  A recipe for the cats called for them to each eat the equivalent of half a sweet potato per day, plus meat, and they’d end up turning into little basketballs.  To me, the recipes from BalanceIt are overly-burdened with carbs, and I don’t understand why.  They’ve got one more recipe I may tackle, a “BARF-like” meal made with ingredients like yogurt, fresh veggies, spinach, sweet potato, and chicken (almost two pounds of chicken for one dog), but it’s going to be insanely expensive.  The point of the homemade food project was to improve the dogs’ health, but also to save money, and we’re not off to a good start.  I think the food for the small dogs was pretty economical (I calculated it would cost about $45 per month to feed them both, as compared to $90 buying canned food), but then, the food seemed like junk.

I thought I’d offer this up as my first experience using a recipe from BalanceIt.com.  If you’re cooking for just one pet, and perhaps a very active one, the recipes might be okay.  To me, however, the recipes were laden with carb-fillers, and the portions were way too big.  I’ve seen a number of other homemade recipes online (mostly raw), that appeal to me more than these ones have, so I might be headed in a different direction.

If you have a dog or cat and want a peek at any of the three or four BalanceIt.com recipes I have, please email me and let me know.

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 06/03 at 03:13 AM
The Litterbox • (2) Comments • Permalink
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