We be grindin’

Today, I used my Waring meat grinder for the first time.  I’d purchased it months ago, with hopes of making homemade pet food, but I got distracted by other things (which happens pretty often).  I used it to grind a batch of boneless chicken thighs for cat food (I cooked the meat and added it to a bag of Wild Kitty), and then I also ground about six pounds of semi-frozen, bone-in chicken thighs.  The grinder did a great job!  The only thing I don’t like about it is that the removable parts aren’t supposed to be washed in the dishwasher, so I had to wash them by hand while worrying they were clean enough and free of any raw chicken contamination.  I put the raw bone-in thighs in the fridge for the big dogs, and for a week they’ll eat that as an addition to their kibble, instead of their usual cooked chicken.  They were less than enamoured by the ground raw chicken I gave them today, so it may be they just enjoy their cooked chicken and broth a bit more.  A week of experimentation won’t hurt.

Carlo and Bunny went to the vet today.  Bunny had her first series of vaccines (FVRCP and rabies)—I passed on the FIV/FeLV because I’ve been frightened by it ever since Bing and Tie developed vaccine-site lumps.  The lumps eventually went away, but I worry they’re at risk for injection-site sarcoma in the future.  As long as the cats stay indoors, I don’t think they’re at much risk for developing either virus, and I can always choose for them to have it sometime in the future.  Carlo didn’t have any vaccinations because I told the vet that he’d been steadily gaining weight, and the vet didn’t want to mess with the status quo in case the shots caused a setback.  Carlo will have his vax in two weeks if all goes according to plan, and today he had blood tests done instead.  The tests came back normal, so it’s really starting to look like Carlo had a virus or congenital issue which caused intestinal problems, and that he does not have any liver problems.  Today’s vet suggested calicivirus, and a previous vet suggested panleukopaenia, but neither of them could say why Carlo was infected when Bunny wasn’t, so I guess it will remain a mystery.

I hate to sound like a paid shill or a broken record, but that new Wild Kitty cat food is working wonders for Carlo.  I took him off his Eukanuba Low-Residue food yesterday, and put him on Wild Kitty exclusively, and his stools have reduced in quantity by about 75%, and his gassy/cramping problem has also dramatically improved.  I worried I would really cause a problem by putting him on such a high protein food, but it definitely seems to agree with him.  He’s gaining weight and visibly growing, too, so it makes sense that his digestion issues have been related to lack of absorption, which in turn has caused him to be small in stature.  I’ll be very interested to see if he’s able to make up for lost time and catch up to Bunny, or if he’ll always be on the tiny side.

I feel really good about cooking for the pets, but it’s pretty time-consuming.  I’ve always cooked for the parrots (I cook their meal every day), but now that I’m cooking for four dogs and eleven cats, I feel like I’m perpetually in the kitchen cooking chicken or making rice.  I told Flippy that I need to figure out a way to make one month’s worth of food at a time for everyone, because I doubt it would take much longer than the time I spend now making food every few days.  The only problem would be that I’d need a lot more storage containers, and I’d probably need another refrigerator.  In the long run, I’m sure home cooking will be a wise financial move, but right now it just seems to keep costing money.  Every few days I’m running to the grocery store to buy more chicken, so I’ve got to get hooked up with a supplier who’ll sell me 50 lbs. or so at one time.

The last big experiment I have to try is giving the cats raw food.  I’m going to try and buy more of the boneless chicken thighs before the sale ends on Tuesday, and I’ll be able to use those to make a raw batch of Wild Kitty (it already contains the bone meal, which is why I have to use boneless meat).  I don’t know how they’ll feel about it, but I’m anxious to see.

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 06/17 at 01:00 AM

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  1. It’s great to hear that Carlo is finally gaining weight steadily! Wild Kitty sounds like the solution to lots of issues. All that cooking is a serious time commitment. We haven’t made the jump to home cooked meals yet but, if nothing else, we may be switching to an even higher end dog food as soon as the last of the Nutro Ultra is eaten. After reading the reviews, it’s obvious that even something like Ultra has more grain than necessary.

    Posted by Dachsies Rule  on  06/17  at  03:34 AM

  2. Consider a freezer instead of a second fridge. For cooked food, you can just thaw in the microwave, or rotate a package out of the freezer into the fridge when you take a package out to thaw. The latter is the only viable option when raw food is fed.

    I’m glad Carlo is improving.

    Posted by Georg  on  06/17  at  05:51 AM

  3. Dachsies Rule, have you considered a brand like Canidae?  It’s affordable, but the company has a very good reputation and I’ve fed the kibble to my two large dogs for years.  I like that the company is small enough to really keep tight control over manufacturing.  I’m sure there are no shortage of premium dry dog foods, but that’s one I’ve used and have been happy with.

    Georg, would you believe we already have a standalone freezer, but it’s full?!

    Posted by Leigh-Ann  on  06/17  at  06:08 AM
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