Feeding our animals

[Zendo]

Not sure if this has been covered to death,but I couldn't find a thread with searching..

Wondering what the other people in here feed your animals, either as a supplement or in general. I'm trying to break away from what seems to me to be the 'hydro store' for animals.

I have two dogs that I feed EVO brand food, and while it's good, I sometimes feel like I'm at the hydro store, with a bunch of advanced nutrients and great white mycorrhizae in hand..$50 a bag for dog food is fine, as I don't have any qualms about providing the best for my animals.EVO and others are much better than your 'regular' foods..BUT.. if I can do it better, at home for less, I would totally be stoked. I also have two cats that get Innova brand right now as well.

I've been making my own Lacto cultures, but have been too paranoid to feed them the solidified top layer as I've been told you can, as I don't want to turn my dogs into test case #1.

So, what do you guys do for feeding your animals, or for making their lives better / easier. Anything DIY would be great.

Peace.

 

[big ballin 88]

excuse me if im wrong but isnt the protein in the top of the milk from LB yogurt? Lactobacillus is a pro biotic and helps with many things in the gastrointestinal world.

 

[Clackamas Coot]

Zendo

A good place to start looking at alternatives to manufactured pet foods (even the high-end products like EVO) would be BARF (bones & raw food aka biologically-appropriate raw foods).

Besides this process I would recommend adding kelp/seaweed extracts to your pet's food. These are widely used in farming swine, poultry, cattle, horses, etc. Health food stores also carry a wide range of products for people containing seaweed products.

Making your own food is cheap, cheap, cheap and the benefits are worth the effort, IMHO.

I treated a Yellow Lab who had seizures and was able to greatly reduce the number as well as the intensity of his seizures.

HTH

CC

 

[guest2012y]

I have always gone with the mainstream dogfood for the pooch. Good organic stuff for the chickens (since the eggs will be used by us),and decent molasses coated grains and alfalfa for the goats. Recently started thinking the dogs would live longer if we do them better by making food for them.

 

[Zendo]

to add

to add

To start it off..

I purchase a brand of 'natural' cat litter called Swheat Scoop.

After learning about Bokashi, it only took forever for the gears in my head to click..

Wheat cat litter...bokashi wheat bran...wheat cat litter..bokashi WHEAT bran..etc...

Finally I figured it out..duh.


"Thanks to our patented process, this litter's natural wheat enzymes work continuously to neutralize litter box odor"

Boom. Make bokashi with wheat bran for the cats, and with rice bran for the gardens. Wheat bran is 1/2 the cost. Instead of landfilling, put the litter to good use as a fertilizer for your ornamental plants, trees and flower beds.

My local store charges 12 bucks for a 14lb bag.. I just got 50lb's of wheat bran for $9, 1 cup of EM-1 $5 , 1 cup of Molasses $2.

$16 for 50 lbs sure beats $12 for 14lbs.

 

[Zendo]

excuse me if im wrong but isnt the protein in the top of the milk from LB yogurt? Lactobacillus is a pro biotic and helps with many things in the gastrointestinal world.

It is..

like I said.. I'm not being rational about it I've just been dumping it outside in my beds.

I'll try a bit out of next batch and see..

 

[Nicedreamz]

i think there is a lot of rice and corn in dogfood

 

[Clackamas Coot]

i think there is a lot of rice and corn in dogfood

Nicedreamz

Rice, especially organic brown rice, is a good thing to add to a dog food mix. Same with millet, flax seed, et al.

The bad one is corn because it's not really corn. It's the corn skins that are removed when corn syrup is made (along with other corn-based products) and these skins cannot be digested by any mammal that I'm aware of - I don't want to get too graphic here.

Beta-carotene food sources is also a good thing to add - like carrots, sweet potatoes, yams, etc.

Adding EM-1 to your pets water dish is said to reduce the smell of their feces - not my claim but it's out there.

HTH

CC

 

[Zendo]

Zendo

A good place to start looking at alternatives to manufactured pet foods (even the high-end products like EVO) would be BARF (bones & raw food aka biologically-appropriate raw foods).

Besides this process I would recommend adding kelp/seaweed extracts to your pet's food. These are widely used in farming swine, poultry, cattle, horses, etc. Health food stores also carry a wide range of products for people containing seaweed products.

Making your own food is cheap, cheap, cheap and the benefits are worth the effort, IMHO.

I treated a Yellow Lab who had seizures and was able to greatly reduce the number as well as the intensity of his seizures.

HTH

CC

CC, thanks for your input, as usual.. I knew you raised dogs? or something, and figured you would have input..

I've already got 10 sites worth of BARF bookmarked for later this evening.

If I'm feeding EVO and was going to moisten the food and sprinkle on the seaweed, how much would I use say..per cup of food?

FYI , I have the SP-90 from arcadia/KIS whatever.

 

[Clackamas Coot]

Zendo

About 1/4 tsp. per week of the SP-90/ASL is a good amount.

That or kelp meal as long as you mix it well into the BARF mush (lentils, yams, greens, potatoes, etc.) and I would suggest adding about 1/8 cup to 4 gallons of mush).

HTH

CC

 

[Zendo]

i think there is a lot of rice and corn in dogfood

As far as I know, corn and grains are to be avoided..

but the real horrors start when you start really digging into what's in most dept. store animal foods.

Science diet , Eukanuba, and pedigree, along with lesser knowns, all use horrible stuff in their foods.

From ground up euthanized animals from Vet's offices, to chemicals, cancer causing agents, hormones, antibiotics, and things I wouldn't feed to my enemies, let alone a being that I care for. The 'meat meals' are not just from slaughtered animals, but also from ones that have been euthanized or died from disease.
So along with with the tranquilizers that were used to put down an animal , you are looking at ground up cats and dogs with various illnesses , cancers, and their drugs. Also E coli and Salmonella contaminate over %50 of all meat meals.. While they ARE cooked off, the endotoxins that these bacteria create during their lives, and when they expire remain. These can cause illness and disease, and the pet food companies do not test for them...

Wonder why?

 

[guest2012y]

As far as I know, corn and grains are to be avoided..

but the real horrors start when you start really digging into what's in most dept. store animal foods.

Science diet , Eukanuba, and pedigree, along with lesser knowns, all use horrible stuff in their foods.

From ground up euthanized animals from Vet's offices, to chemicals, cancer causing agents, hormones, antibiotics, and things I wouldn't feed to my enemies, let alone a being that I care for. The 'meat meals' are not just from slaughtered animals, but also from ones that have been euthanized or died from disease.
So along with with the tranquilizers that were used to put down an animal , you are looking at ground up cats and dogs with various illnesses , cancers, and their drugs. Also E coli and Salmonella contaminate over %50 of all meat meals.. While they ARE cooked off, the endotoxins that these bacteria create during their lives, and when they expire remain. These can cause illness and disease, and the pet food companies do not test for them...

Wonder why?

This is exactly the issue I've been thinking about........I'm supposed to LOVE my puppy,not feed him crap!

 

[Zendo]

This is exactly the issue I've been thinking about........I'm supposed to LOVE my puppy,not feed him crap!

cheese - I went thru the same things in the past.. First , I started feeding 'Science' Diet, and found out they are total garbage..then I moved up to Nutro "natural choice"..better, but again, has fillers, some junk, and grains..

Now I'm on EVO, and while it's good (no fillers/grains/weird crap) I think I can do better, and like CC said, I'm sure I can do it for MUCH cheaper.

Trying to convert more of my lifestyle to the "keep it simple, less is more" philosophy.

 

[mad librettist]

I would not discount grains or any other agrarian food. Some breeds, like the Borsoi, do better with the high carb, low protein (relatively) diet that is traditional for the breed.

My boys are a mutt and a pure breed that is the muttiest of them all: the jack russel. Until recently, nobody cared about a jack's conformation or looks. It was all about performance. So they are not as a rule very inbred. They can eat just about anything.

I give them canidae because it went down in price relative to nutro.

Maybe my nutrition isn't up to snuff, but I try to make up for it with tons of exercise, followed by frisbee for the mutt, and obstacle jumping with weights on for the jack. Plus discipline discipline discipline. Since I added the discipline (subtle and otherwise), and stopped leaving food out (even water is mine to share), I have noticed a lack of weird noises from the gut, vomiting, etc...

I believe the best way to help a dog's digestion is to eliminate or reduce anxiety. I won't plug any dog rehabilitators here, but I have been introduced to a whole world of body language and awareness that gets cooler every day and makes everyone feel confident. Until recently I could not imagine walking with the boys and having them ignore completely a barking, lunging dog. Forward, forward, forward.

Edit - oh yeah, they love bokashi, and I put EM in the water when their breath is rank.

 

[medi-useA-Redux]

My 13+yo shi-tzu, who recently had 4 teeth removed, gets fed roast beef...I cook it, cube it really fine and it lasts a week.
She will only eat out of my hand nowdays...even if it means starving for 6 days!

But she's earned her quirks

muA

 

[mad librettist]

interesting, my thinking was the opposite. I've created anxiety in them by letting my boys run the show. They've earned the right to a loving and respectful master who gives them what they really need.

But getting your scent on the food is supposed to help a lot.

These are truly wonderful animals if you think about it. They really ask for nothing in return for unconditional love and loyalty.

 

[VerdantGreen]

i have an engish bull terrier that has some skin conditions - not too bad - its a breed thing and he is white mostly.

i moved onto a pure minced meat and raw bone diet - he loves it and his skin isnt getting worse - but it isnt a miracle cure either.

i use seaweed too

im interested in the EM given to dogs as i might try this - anyone used it with success??

VG.

 

[Clackamas Coot]

VerdantGreen

RE: skin and fur conditions

I found that adding both organic fish oil (Omega 3 and Omega 6) and flaxseed capsules very helpful. Both are the soft-gel type of supplement so it's easy to bury them in a piece of crap American cheese like Velveeta for example.

There are a number of other benefits from using these oils for pets as well as livestock.

HTH

CC

 

[VerdantGreen]

thanks CC - i have been using evening primrose oil and he gets a tin of pilchards once a week. must dig out some fish oil too

VG.

 

[mad librettist]

eggs?