My TWO Finally Arrived!!

You are absolutely the most thoughtful person...how kind of you to include some Elk. Good news, though! I got home from work tonight and there was the package on my doorstep...THANKFULLY...talk about "perfect" timing! I had no idea what I was going to do?! I would have ordered the food earlier, but I was supposed to get replacement bags, so I didn't want to have two 16.5lb bags and a 4lb bag arriving all at the same time...too much food...but I guess I would rather have too much than none at all!

YAY!!![sm=dance.gif]   you got it in time and max doesn't have to go hungry!![]

It was a great shipment day for the 3 of us...Roxie, Trixie and Max all got food and JJ and Pru got a 10 month supply of dog poop bags[] 
  Picking up the poop was super easy today...loving the bags so far!!  Poop continues to be getting better even as the amount of ocean blue is slowly increasing so not out of the woods yet...but it isn't looking like we are gonna have a repeat of the elk experiment![:'(]

My Pru -bear is whining at me to go out and potty so we can all go upstairs and she can be in her comfy, cozy, warm and expensive bed []

talk to you all tomorrow! []

ORIGINAL: jjsmom06

As for Roxie's food, I'll probably mix them together towards the end. Since she's doing well on the bison, I'll leave it alone. When her poop has straightened itself out and she's almost finished with the bison, I'll begin adding the chicken. Then I'll know if the addition of the chicken is a problem. If so, I can just avoid it from that point and order the ocean blue (I swear that's my next formula! And it's FISH! Amazing!)!

I think this is a really good plan...let her get use to the bison first and all straightened out before trying the chicken.   I am also excited to hear about this formula since Rachels pup is senstive to chicky and mine to rice so we probably won't feed this formula. 

I've tried mixing kibble with pouches, but the little fart picks the kibble out and licks the gravy off.

I think this is a good sign...trixie is hungry and WANTS TO eat but is being picky (or maybe even not as hungry on the meds she is on right now).

Me too!  If things are going great on bison and then go to pot by adding the chicken, I'll know for sure if there's a problem.  Sounds like a good idea -- and *I* somehow thought of it?  []

Poor Trixie was acting weird Monday and had diarrhea, so I rushed her to the vet.  He examined her thoroughly and ran a stool test.  The result was colitis ... and that's why she is taking droppers and mLs of antibiotics and pain meds.  She had obvious pain and discomfort in her rear body. []  She's been fine today, but she's still getting every last drop of the meds.  They called me today at work to check on her (I love this vet office -- great people!), and were constantly reminding me to finish the meds.  []

Poor Trixie was acting weird Monday and had diarrhea, so I rushed her to the vet. He examined her thoroughly and ran a stool test. The result was colitis ... and that's why she is taking droppers and mLs of antibiotics and pain meds. She had obvious pain and discomfort in her rear body. She's been fine today, but she's still getting every last drop of the meds. They called me today at work to check on her (I love this vet office -- great people!), and were constantly reminding me to finish the meds.

 
A good vet is invaluable!!!
I think trixie is off on her eating partly due to the meds and not feeling well.  How old is she??

I hope Trixie feels better soon!

Shelly- That soup sounds DELICIOUS. Can I just supplement with any pasta (like elbow macaroni?)?
Or does it have to be that specific pasta?

Is that spinach scare still going on?

[Shelly- That soup sounds DELICIOUS. Can I just supplement with any pasta (like elbow macaroni?)?
Or does it have to be that specific pasta?

Is that spinach scare still going on? /quote]
 
No...the spinach is OK now []    the soup is soooo good...even the next day!  I am eating it right now for lunch []   I am sure you can use any kind of pasta in it.  It calls for rice, but I am not a huge "rice in my soup fan"...so I subsititued orzo because it is pretty close to the same size and I adore orzo (especially with parmesan cheese...which by the way...be sure to add fresh parm on top...it really makes it!  I think macaroni would work great too!  I just liked it because it was super fast and the sausage gives it such good flavor!   

Picking up the poop was super easy today...loving the bags so far!!  Poop continues to be getting better even as the amount of ocean blue is slowly increasing so not out of the woods yet...but it isn't looking like we are gonna have a repeat of the elk experiment![:'(]

You have got to tell me about these poop bags...what kind of bags are they? [] I am so happy the Ocean Blue is looking to be a more positive experience. I wonder how my pup will do on the Ocean Blue and the Dakota Bison. He will be getting Elk for at least another month with this new bag. Do you think I should rotate to Ocean Blue after this bag, or do one more bag of Wilderness Elk?
 
Also, when are you going to order your Serengeti and Wild Salmon Oil? I am thinking of ordering both those things too either this week, or next. I can't wait to see if the Salmon Oil helps his skin a bit...I heard it is excellent for their skin and coat...so I am really excited to give it a whirl. []
 
POOP REPORT!! []
Absolutely wonderful still...YAY! Poop this morning and afternoon were dark, sold, and small...not smelly either. Thank you sooooooooooooo much again JJsmom for the crock-pot advice...It has worked wonders for my pup and his poops! []

Another quick question...
 
Do we need to supplement with Vitamin E when we give the Wild Salmon Oil?
 
Their website says:
"Our salmon oil is preserved with 2mg of natural mixed tocopherols (vitamin E) per gm of oil, but we would recommend that it be refrigerated upon opening. Be careful of fish oil with claims of no vitamin E or some other preservative as fish oil can go rancid very quickly and cause sickness and a host of problems."
 
So, it's preserved with Vitamin E...but do we need to add more?

Yes.

Where do you get it? What brand...for humans or dogs? Is Vitamin E in oil or capsule form?
 
Also, how much do you give per amount of the Wild Salmon Oil?
 
I am soooooo confused...please explain this to me as if I am completely clueless (which I am!)...[]

you have got to tell me about these poop bags...what kind of bags are they?  

Here is the link…I absolutely LOVE them!!!  They are also so much cheaper than buying bags at the store, the size is just right, they are thick, and you can#%92t see or smell the icky poop inside!!    I wonder how my pup will do on the Ocean Blue and the Dakota Bison. He will be getting Elk for at least another month with this new bag. Do you think I should rotate to Ocean Blue after this bag, or do one more bag of Wilderness Elk?  

I sent you “samples” of the ocean blue and bison so you could give max a taste test and see what he likes!       I think if his poop is really good after you have him on the salmon oil then you should try switching BUT if the poop is having some problems then wait another bag.  That is why I haven#%92t ordered the salmon oil yet because I want to wait until they are all good on the ocean blue first so I can tell what is actually effecting them.   

I probably won#%92t order any salmon oil until the 2nd week in November…but I might get the Serengeti if my local place has it.   I am just SWIMMING in TWO right now so I really have enough for about 36 days.  

You are welcome…glad the crockpotting is going well and contributing to good poop!  

Poop report!!!  

Ok, so JJ is doing a lot better than Pru on the ocean blue.   JJ is now ALMOST normal!!!,  But Pru has the first half pretty normal and the second ½ is just a step above pudding poop.  

They are now up to a 5-/50 split and the gas is much less now (just when they get in the car and are excited to go somewhere for their nightly walk!).    

I plan to continue to slowly increase over the next 6-7 days.  I was really hoping that the transition would be so mild that I would alternate between the 2 formulas every other bag…but that means every 2 weeks!!  No way I want to deal with constantly transitioning them.  

I have about 50 pounds of bison still (33 of it is not even opened) so rather than keeping them on the ocean for awhile I might get them up to 100% ocean for a few days and then see how it goes if 1 meal a day I feed ocean and the other 2 I feed bison.   That way they get some variety and the protein source changes a bit, but I am not transitioning all the time and their tummies get use to both formulas..    

Twin,
I just bought some 200 I.U.s vitamin E gel capsules.
It's 100 I.U.s per 25 lbs of weight.
Ella is 60 lbs. and I give her 200 I.U.s a day.

Twin,
I just bought some 200 I.U.s vitamin E gel capsules.
It's 100 I.U.s per 25 lbs of weight.
Ella is 60 lbs. and I give her 200 I.U.s a day.

How much fish oil do you give per day? Do you give the Vitamin E with her food?

hm...I'm not sure how much fish oil is given to her just that it's 4 capsules (1 capsule per 15 lbs. weight).
I give her vitamin capsule when I give her her fish oil capsules.
I suppose you could poke a hole in them and put them over his food, but I just give them to ella like I would a pill.
She's used to all these things I give her. She gets sea kelp with her yogurt and she gets veggies with her yogurt.
But I have to do all this supplementation because I feed raw. But I gave her the fish oil before I fed her raw. She has skin issues.
Let me see if I can find it and quote what Sooner says about how fish oil uses vitamin E...
Here it is from another board:


My words:

I don't know. Since I'm giving Ella fish oil supplements, I'm giving Vitamin E to appropriately match that.

Sooner's (Kelly's) words:

That's right. The fish oil oxidizes rapidly in the body, and the body fights that by using its supply of E, so you're replenishing that and helping the body fully 'use' the benefits of the fish oil.

Also, will a cat actually starve itself? Or will it eventually eat? I don't want her to seriously STARVE ... ... but I don't want to cave, either.

If she doesn't eat it, would it be okay for Roxie to eat it?

 
I bought a bag of the Serengeti, and none of my cats would touch it either. I ended up feeding most of it to Cherokee. I had my cats on Felidae for a while (two months or so), and two of them (out of four) didn't like it. I decided I wasn't going to cater to them, and kept them on it. One got VERY very thin, and the other lost quite a bit of weight (but he had some to lose). So I think cats will only eat what they need to actually stay alive if they don't like the food. They've both gained weight back, since they've been back on Science Diet. [&o]