Post by odin on Oct 25, 2010 9:00:39 GMT -5
Hello all, I'm back after a far too long hietus from the forum. After a wedding in the summer, a 7 month long job search after losing my job (the only thing i could get is part time over an hour away with a toll between us both ways 
) i'm back and i have some questions!
Firstly if anyone remembers cassi's major tummy problems, she's been doing fantastic since making the switch to raw. She's happy and healthy since February. It's now been a year since her obstruction surgery last September, and 7 months since her second surgery for biopsys in her gastric system (which yielded absolutely nothing and no answers to the mysterious tummy problems of weight loss, loss of appetite and vomiting for months) I'm quite certain the entire thing was Helicobacter or a flare up of undiagnosed IBD that she is simply doing well with on raw.
Either way, we're problem free (health wise).
Cassi's diet now consists of a soupy made from chicken thigh meat with the skin, chicken liver, chicken hearts and the appropriate amount of ground eggshell as a staple and we mix in pork and lamb as other proteins, and since she will eat anything added to her soupy, we look forward to adding other proteins as well. She is however allergic to beef, which was quite a messy discovery.
My issues are such: She absolutley refuses to make the step up to even tiny chunks of meat and especially will not chew on bones. I've tried many strategies, she just LOVES her soupy as it is. And to be entirely honest, after the months i spent trying to get her to eat and be healthy and just watching her waste away, i'm so grateful that she is eating something so healthy and balanced now that i almost don't want to push her. However, I am aware of how important it is to enrichment for her to have something to chew on, and the eventual long term effect eating only soupy will have on her teeth. So i need alternatives. I want to keep the soupy as her staple, because it's balanced and if i can't get her to eat chunks, i sure won't be able to get her to eat an organ meat meal, not to mention that i don't want to put her system through that. I'd rather her get her organ meat everyday in a small amount rather than deal with the diarrhea so common with the organ meat meal. Her tummy has been through enough.
So my ideas are to find some kind of natural jerky she can eat, or see if i can get her to eat some frozen whole prey a few times a week as either treats or substituting a soupy meal. My primary concern is to avoid periodontal disease here, secondary is to give her more things to chew on as i am seeing the adverse effect of her need to chew on something (and the one part of my house that has carpeting is sure FEELING the adverse effect)
I bow to the infinite knowledge of the forum! advice and bright ideas are welcome. Along with the comfort of knowing... does anyone else have a little fuzzy that loves soupy and just won't quit it?
) i'm back and i have some questions!Firstly if anyone remembers cassi's major tummy problems, she's been doing fantastic since making the switch to raw. She's happy and healthy since February. It's now been a year since her obstruction surgery last September, and 7 months since her second surgery for biopsys in her gastric system (which yielded absolutely nothing and no answers to the mysterious tummy problems of weight loss, loss of appetite and vomiting for months) I'm quite certain the entire thing was Helicobacter or a flare up of undiagnosed IBD that she is simply doing well with on raw.
Either way, we're problem free (health wise).
Cassi's diet now consists of a soupy made from chicken thigh meat with the skin, chicken liver, chicken hearts and the appropriate amount of ground eggshell as a staple and we mix in pork and lamb as other proteins, and since she will eat anything added to her soupy, we look forward to adding other proteins as well. She is however allergic to beef, which was quite a messy discovery.
My issues are such: She absolutley refuses to make the step up to even tiny chunks of meat and especially will not chew on bones. I've tried many strategies, she just LOVES her soupy as it is. And to be entirely honest, after the months i spent trying to get her to eat and be healthy and just watching her waste away, i'm so grateful that she is eating something so healthy and balanced now that i almost don't want to push her. However, I am aware of how important it is to enrichment for her to have something to chew on, and the eventual long term effect eating only soupy will have on her teeth. So i need alternatives. I want to keep the soupy as her staple, because it's balanced and if i can't get her to eat chunks, i sure won't be able to get her to eat an organ meat meal, not to mention that i don't want to put her system through that. I'd rather her get her organ meat everyday in a small amount rather than deal with the diarrhea so common with the organ meat meal. Her tummy has been through enough.
So my ideas are to find some kind of natural jerky she can eat, or see if i can get her to eat some frozen whole prey a few times a week as either treats or substituting a soupy meal. My primary concern is to avoid periodontal disease here, secondary is to give her more things to chew on as i am seeing the adverse effect of her need to chew on something (and the one part of my house that has carpeting is sure FEELING the adverse effect)
I bow to the infinite knowledge of the forum! advice and bright ideas are welcome. Along with the comfort of knowing... does anyone else have a little fuzzy that loves soupy and just won't quit it?
