Re: Thinking of getting a poodle - wondering how it will affect Crohn s?

[Guest guest]

Oh Gatsby will LOVE this!! Now if only I could figure out me.

Thanks for the amazing info!

On Sun Mar 21st, 2010 8:06 PM EDT Wizop Marilyn L. Alm wrote:

>At 01:55 PM 3/21/2010, you wrote:

>> Marilyn, I have a 10 yr old Swissy (100+ pounds). He's doing well but has

some joint issues. I know this is off topic but you offered and seeing that I

already cook so much as it is, what's a little more for the dog? He is

practically our first child. LOL! What do you cook?

>

>

><g> I don't. Shadow and Sunny eat raw food.

>

>The " SCD for Dogs " which I use is a raw diet. Most dogs who have been eating

grain-based kibble for years need to transition over, but then again.....

>

>We just found a Beagle who was apparently abandoned in our neighborhood. Shadow

& Sunny haven't touched kibble in almost twelve years. I had no idea what to

give our small foundling. I looked at Harry and said, " Well, let's try her on a

chicken wing. If she can't handle it, I can always run it through the grinder,

but if I don't have to.... " Babette Beagle glanced at Shadow and Sunny,

crunching their chicken wings, latched onto her chicken wing. Crunch. Crunch.

Crunch. Swallow. Yes, that was food as she wished to know it. She has not looked

back.

>

>As to how I came to feed raw, well.....

>

>I was looking for healthier food for the Dachshund Duo. Part of my research

was through the now-sadly-deceased Natural Medicine Forum on CompuServe. There

was one Englishwoman who fed a large number of dogs for less than I was paying

for a bag of premium kibble for my two. More research led me to a local

veterinarian, Dr. Sagrera, of

<http://www.drsagrera.com/index.html>Natural Pet Care. Her recommendation was to

feed raw.

>

>When she told me to start with chicken wings or chicken drumsticks, I boggled.

I mean, really, EVERYONE KNOWS you don't feed poultry bones to dogs! They'll

splinter.. they'll kill them.... they'll....

>

>No, said Dr. Sagrera, they won't. It's COOKED bones which are dangerous and

splinter. Test a raw wing or drumstick -- the bone is actually fairly soft and

flexible.

>

>OK, says I, but what about e.coli and salmonella -- EVERYONE KNOWS raw chicken

has plenty of that! And same with raw turkey, while as for raw pork...!

>

>Dogs' stomachs are more acid, says the veterinarian, explaining that this does

in the bad bacteria.

>

>But what about a properly balanced diet? asks Me the Paranoid Furkid Mom.

>

>I got a lecture in how to balance the diet with mixed crushed vegetables, and

if I really wanted to, I could add various supplements. Note that although Dr.

Sagrera does sell prepared raw diets and various items, she encourages the

owners of her patients to prepare their own from the same human grade food they

might purchase for themselves (if they aren't vegan).

>

>So, I stopped at the store on the way home and bought a package of raw chicken

drumsticks. I brought it home. I took out two drumsticks and offered them to the

Duo, who snatched them instantly.

>

>When Sunny's not sure of something, she runs in circles, a precisely paced

circle like she once used in the show ring, click, click, click, the train in

running. The train was running -- I think she was afraid I would take the prize

away from her. She didn't know what to do with it, but she knew she didn't want

to surrender it in case I changed my mind.

>

>Shadow, on the other hand, was " mouth-feeling " the drumstick. He couldn't get a

good grip on it, so he brought it over and shoved it at my hand, wanting me to

hold it for him while he figured this out. (Who says animals can't

communicate?!)

>

>I held it. Mouth, mouth, mouth....kay-runch! He got in one solid, bone

cracking bite, and you could see the stereotypical light bulb go off over his

dachshund head. NOW he knew what to do with this new item on the menu! He

snatched it away, crunch, crunch, crunch, munch, swallow, and down the hatch

went the first drumstick. Sunny hadn't stopped watching her brother even while

the train was running, and in a few more moments, crunch, crunch, munch, her

drumstick was also down the hatch.

>

>OK, the dogs have eaten them.

>

>Now we wait. I (after washing my hands to make sure I didn't get chicken germs)

proceeded to gnaw my fingernails down to the elbow, and on to the shoulder

blades.

>

>Am I going to be making a run to the emergency vet? Have I murdered my beloved

fur kids? What if...? What if....?

>

>I didn't sleep at all that night, not until I saw them poop with no issues the

next morning. The DOGS were fine. The DOGS were quite ready to repeat the

experiment for breakfast. Their Missy was collapsing with nervous exhaustion.

>

>But since that day, when they were about six months old, Shadow and Sunny have

eaten raw. Their breakfast is ground red meat, heart or liver if I get some

organic, mixed with crushed vegetables that I run through my juicer and then mix

juice and pulp back together. Usually the veggies include green leaf lettuce,

red leaf lettuce, romaine lettuces, zucchini, cucumber, carrots, stems of

broccoli, cauliflower and ends of asparagus from our meals, and green beans.

There may be other stuff as is seasonally available. We toss in some salmon oil

caps, the occasional vitamin E, some kelp tablets. Dinner is Raw Meaty Bones

(50% bone and 50% meat). An evening snack of a beef cube is used to wrap up a

low potency B vitamin, plus a couple supplements they're getting now they're

twelve. They also get some DCCC and flax oil on the recommendation of Dr.

Sagrera.

>

>Those dogs eat a better balanced diet than most humans!

>

>And that is the story of the Nervous Dachshund Mom, whose furkids are now

advising her that it's time for their beef cube. Oh, and a lick or two of my

goat yogurt snack. After all, if it's people food....

>

>For how much raw stuff, I know it by heart. <g>

>

>Multiply your dog's weight by 16 to get the number of ounces he weighs.

>

>Multiply that by .02, which gives you 2 % of his body weight.

>

>Multiply that by .6 to give you the weight of RMB you should feed. That is

chicken necks, wings, backs etc.

>

>Go back to the 2% of his body weight again and multiply that number by .4 to

get the weight in ounces of vegetable patty mix you should feed.

>

> " Vegetable patty " is the only thing you need a food processor or grinder for. I

toss in romaine lettuce, green leaf lettuce, red leaf lettuce, zucchini,

cucumber, carrots, broccoli stems (buy whole broccoli for us, trim florets for

us, stick the stem in a bag in the freezer for veggie slop when I make it),

ditto cauliflower, ditto almost any other veggies you use. Veggies can be cheap

-- some people i used to know in Texas were able to talk their grocery into

giving them the discards each day for cheap. I run it all through the grinder,

stir well, and freeze in boxes... an easy way for you would be to figure how

much you need for each dog, and freeze in a box which contains one day's serving

for all. Then defrost and serve.

>

>I don't do a lot of fancy prep for Shadow and Sunny -- I hand measure, more or

less, the amount of raw meaty bones into freezer packages, then defrost and

serve. No grinding, the dogs think it's great fun.

>

>It's also not a bad idea to give red meat from time to time -- if you can find

a cheap source for beef heart or something, that works really well. Otherwise, I

use a good grade of ground beef. I also give them liver from time to time.

>

>Shadow and Sunny are each 30 pounds, so

>

>30 x 16 = 480 ounces

>

>.02 x 480 = 9.6 ounces of food daily (This usually gets rounded up to ten

ounces for my convenience.)

>

>.6 x 9.6 = 5.76 (we usually round up to 6) ounces of RMBs, aka raw meaty bones.

RMBs should be roughly 50% meat and 50% easily eaten bones (which is why chicken

necks, backs, and wings (if affordable) are ideal. So are turkey necks and pork

neck bones.). This is what they get for dinner.

>

>They get about a quarter cup of crushed vegetables and an ounce of red meat for

breakfast. We do give them a low potency multi-B, and various omega 3s -- salmon

oil (and as prescribed by their holistic vet, flax oil and DCCC mixed. They get

about a tablespoon of DCCC and a teaspoon of flax oil mashed together. Flax oil

is not SCD illegal, but it does go rancid easily, so we buy it in small

quantities.)

>

>For your hundred pounder:

>

>100 x 16 = 1600 ounces

>

>.02 x 1600 = 32 ounces of food daily

>

>.6 x 32 = 19.2 (I would round up to 20) ounces of RMBs, This is for dinner.

>

>.4 x 32 - 12.8 ounces of " other. " I would probably give about a cup of veggie

slop and 4-5 ounces of red meat. If your dog isn't used to eating vegetables,

you might have to start with less veggies and more meat. If you can, I would

include some heart and liver in with the red meat. You can grind them up and

mix them into the veggies so the !@#$#@! too-smart-for-our-good beast doesn't

pick the meat out and leave the veggies.

>

>Too many homemade dog food recipes include grains.... And we all know what

grains can do to our digestions. Besides, ever see a wolf roasting an ear of

corn?

>

>Interestingly, it was through this diet for Shadow and Sunny that I found SCD

for me. They were doing great on their raw diet, and I mentioned in the NatMed

Forum (now deceased) that I wished I could find a grain-free diet for humans.

Someone pointed me to Breaking the Vicious Cycle, and the rest, as they say, is

history.

>

>

>

>

>

>— Marilyn

> New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

> Undiagnosed IBS since 1976, SCD since 2001

> Darn Good SCD Cook

> No Human Children

> Shadow & Sunny Longhair Dachshund

> Babette the Foundling Beagle

>

>

[Guest guest]

At 11:46 PM 3/21/2010, you wrote:

Oh Gatsby will LOVE this!! Now

if only I could figure out me.

Oh, and btw, I should note that Shadow and Sunny are of the opinion that

I went SCD for their special benefit.

They feel (quite strongly) that I should add a spoonful of SCD yogurt

(whole milk or better) to their veggie slop.

Their favorite treat is a pecan half.

Glad this is useful information for you. It was working all this out for

my furchildren that led me, as I said, to SCD for me.

—

Marilyn

New

Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Undiagnosed IBS since 1976, SCD since 2001

Darn Good SCD Cook

No Human Children

Shadow & Sunny Longhair Dachshund

Babette the Foundling Beagle