Post by Zoshi on Oct 6, 2009 21:04:06 GMT -5
All right, so I have ferrets, right? Well, there's a few other animals in the house as well, 90% of which are... er, not rescued, but taken off of the hands of people who no longer wanted them. There's the two budgies who were advertised as canaries (once we got to the house and saw them, we couldn't say no), and there's the fish. Yes, yes, 8 fish that were in that tank were taken from one person who didn't want them anymore.
Our oldest take-in is Maja, a Polish mutt we've had for the past 13 years, ever since her owner brought her over as a tiny little puppy.
She's not so tiny anymore, as you can see, haha...
Now, to get to the part that relates to the title. xD
Ever since I got the ferrets onto a natural diet, I've been slowly pushing my parents into getting better stuff for Maja to eat. Now, I'm not going to even try to get them to feed her raw full-time, because she is their dog and I know they wouldn't be able to handle or afford it.
However, two months ago she was still eating Beneful Healthy Weight (blech). As it ended, I went with my dad to the local pet store and started looking through the dog foods. My dad, who as always forgot his reading glasses, had me read the ingredients from each bag of dog food.
He had me read Benefuls HW ingredient list, and when he heard "Ground yellow corn" as the first ingredient he got the strangest look ever on his face, as if he was eating something that tasted bad. So off we went. We ended up getting Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul. Not the best there is, but the best they can afford right now, and with the first four ingredients being from meat sources too.
That was good enough, but now, for the last week, Maja has also been getting a raw chicken foot each day at mid-morning. Everyone made icky faces at first, but when they heard that Maja was actually chewing her chicken foot, and not swallowing it whole, both my mom and dad were pretty happy about it.
Maja does have joint problems, and as we learned from our vet a probably pinched nerve in her back. I've read good things about chicken feet helping out dogs with joint problems, so I hope they work well for her as well.
Not only that, but my mom actually asked me if Maja couldn't eat some of the freeze-dried I have for the ferrets occasionally. xD
Both of my parents are hoping that the chicken feet help out a little, and that they help clean her teeth a bit. My dad swears he can already tell that her breath doesn't smell as bad as it used to already. xD
I know it's not a big jump forward, but considering just a month ago my mom still thought that giving Maja anything raw was bad, bad bad, I'm quite happy. She's reminded my dad to get chicken feet the next time he goes to the store, so that Maja doesn't run out. xD
I'm just really happy with their progress, in terms of more natural diets. Both of them understand the importance of learning more about feeding animals, and they're a lot more understanding then they were at the beginning. I'm so proud of them!
Our oldest take-in is Maja, a Polish mutt we've had for the past 13 years, ever since her owner brought her over as a tiny little puppy.
She's not so tiny anymore, as you can see, haha...
Now, to get to the part that relates to the title. xD
Ever since I got the ferrets onto a natural diet, I've been slowly pushing my parents into getting better stuff for Maja to eat. Now, I'm not going to even try to get them to feed her raw full-time, because she is their dog and I know they wouldn't be able to handle or afford it.
However, two months ago she was still eating Beneful Healthy Weight (blech). As it ended, I went with my dad to the local pet store and started looking through the dog foods. My dad, who as always forgot his reading glasses, had me read the ingredients from each bag of dog food.
He had me read Benefuls HW ingredient list, and when he heard "Ground yellow corn" as the first ingredient he got the strangest look ever on his face, as if he was eating something that tasted bad. So off we went. We ended up getting Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul. Not the best there is, but the best they can afford right now, and with the first four ingredients being from meat sources too.
That was good enough, but now, for the last week, Maja has also been getting a raw chicken foot each day at mid-morning. Everyone made icky faces at first, but when they heard that Maja was actually chewing her chicken foot, and not swallowing it whole, both my mom and dad were pretty happy about it.
Maja does have joint problems, and as we learned from our vet a probably pinched nerve in her back. I've read good things about chicken feet helping out dogs with joint problems, so I hope they work well for her as well.
Not only that, but my mom actually asked me if Maja couldn't eat some of the freeze-dried I have for the ferrets occasionally. xD
Both of my parents are hoping that the chicken feet help out a little, and that they help clean her teeth a bit. My dad swears he can already tell that her breath doesn't smell as bad as it used to already. xD
I know it's not a big jump forward, but considering just a month ago my mom still thought that giving Maja anything raw was bad, bad bad, I'm quite happy. She's reminded my dad to get chicken feet the next time he goes to the store, so that Maja doesn't run out. xD
I'm just really happy with their progress, in terms of more natural diets. Both of them understand the importance of learning more about feeding animals, and they're a lot more understanding then they were at the beginning. I'm so proud of them!