The Question Thread

[Laetitia]

I've heard of people putting their dogs on a raw meat diet. I was thinking doing so myself. Question is; wouldn't raw meat greatly increase the odds of them getting worms?

Nah, they're built for it.  Their digestive systems are pretty tough, they can eat spoiled stuff that would make us extremely sick because they have a comparatively high acid content.  That would kill the majority of parasites.  Dogs do get worms but usually from exposure to other animals feces who are infected. 

I had a special breed of cat that we were supposed to feed raw chicken twice a week, vet recommended.  It kept the urge to kill at bay, he'd tear through the window screens to get outside. 

Hah! I'm reading a book all about human evolution & cooking of food. (Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human) The last few chapters included talk about how a Biologically Appropriate Raw Food (yes, BARF) Diet is a very good option for helping household pets shed extra weight. (I've heard about switching dogs/cats over to raw food for dealing with health issues before, but not with the official name.)

You should ease them into it, just like you would do with switching between foods. (old to new - 3:1, 2:2, 1:3) Cooked/processed foods are much easier to digest, and they won't be able to pull as many nutrients as quickly as from the food, so it's going to be a bit of a shock to the system.

[ForumTroll]

Our cats won't touch anything raw. God knows I've tried.

[Bill Brasky]

I've heard of people putting their dogs on a raw meat diet. I was thinking doing so myself. Question is; wouldn't raw meat greatly increase the odds of them getting worms?

Nah, they're built for it.  Their digestive systems are pretty tough, they can eat spoiled stuff that would make us extremely sick because they have a comparatively high acid content.  That would kill the majority of parasites.  Dogs do get worms but usually from exposure to other animals feces who are infected. 

I had a special breed of cat that we were supposed to feed raw chicken twice a week, vet recommended.  It kept the urge to kill at bay, he'd tear through the window screens to get outside. 

Hah! I'm reading a book all about human evolution & cooking of food. (Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human) The last few chapters included talk about how a Biologically Appropriate Raw Food (yes, BARF) Diet is a very good option for helping household pets shed extra weight. (I've heard about switching dogs/cats over to raw food for dealing with health issues before, but not with the official name.)

You should ease them into it, just like you would do with switching between foods. (old to new - 3:1, 2:2, 1:3) Cooked/processed foods are much easier to digest, and they won't be able to pull as many nutrients as quickly as from the food, so it's going to be a bit of a shock to the system.

Barf, thats pretty good.

Ya, in fact I don't think I'd go with a total raw meat diet at all.  As a supplement, yes, but you probably wouldn't want to go more than 50/50 just because keeping a supply of raw meat is not easy and you want to default into some friggin kibble when you don't feel like screwing around with raw meat. 

My kids have an older kittay and she pukes when you switch her food.  Its just a regular brand like 9Lives or something, but she's used to it. 

[davann]

I've heard of people putting their dogs on a raw meat diet. I was thinking doing so myself. Question is; wouldn't raw meat greatly increase the odds of them getting worms?

Nah, they're built for it.  Their digestive systems are pretty tough, they can eat spoiled stuff that would make us extremely sick because they have a comparatively high acid content.  That would kill the majority of parasites.  Dogs do get worms but usually from exposure to other animals feces who are infected.  

I had a special breed of cat that we were supposed to feed raw chicken twice a week, vet recommended.  It kept the urge to kill at bay, he'd tear through the window screens to get outside.  

Hah! I'm reading a book all about human evolution & cooking of food. (Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human) The last few chapters included talk about how a Biologically Appropriate Raw Food (yes, BARF) Diet is a very good option for helping household pets shed extra weight. (I've heard about switching dogs/cats over to raw food for dealing with health issues before, but not with the official name.)

You should ease them into it, just like you would do with switching between foods. (old to new - 3:1, 2:2, 1:3) Cooked/processed foods are much easier to digest, and they won't be able to pull as many nutrients as quickly as from the food, so it's going to be a bit of a shock to the system.

Barf, thats pretty good.

Ya, in fact I don't think I'd go with a total raw meat diet at all.  As a supplement, yes, but you probably wouldn't want to go more than 50/50 just because keeping a supply of raw meat is not easy and you want to default into some friggin kibble when you don't feel like screwing around with raw meat.  

My kids have an older kittay and she pukes when you switch her food.  Its just a regular brand like 9Lives or something, but she's used to it.  

From what I've been reading going cold turkey is the way to go, lots of raw meat with a carrot or some sort of raw vegetable thrown in everyday. The reason being you don't want to confuse their digestion system. That can get hard to clean up in the back yard.

Many people that have switched also suggest adding a little fish oil every now and then to get a nice coat. Every time my dogs get any sort of fish the end result was impossibly messy. I'm a little leery of adding this.

[blackie]

You should put your dog on a diet of stray cats.

[davann]

You should put your dog on a diet of stray cats.

Unfortunately there are many Asian restaurants in Vegas. No stray cats to be found. Not a bad idea otherwise. A meal would only cost the price of a .22 round. Wonder if they would like desert tortoise.

[Bill Brasky]

I've heard of people putting their dogs on a raw meat diet. I was thinking doing so myself. Question is; wouldn't raw meat greatly increase the odds of them getting worms?

Nah, they're built for it.  Their digestive systems are pretty tough, they can eat spoiled stuff that would make us extremely sick because they have a comparatively high acid content.  That would kill the majority of parasites.  Dogs do get worms but usually from exposure to other animals feces who are infected.  

I had a special breed of cat that we were supposed to feed raw chicken twice a week, vet recommended.  It kept the urge to kill at bay, he'd tear through the window screens to get outside.  

Hah! I'm reading a book all about human evolution & cooking of food. (Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human) The last few chapters included talk about how a Biologically Appropriate Raw Food (yes, BARF) Diet is a very good option for helping household pets shed extra weight. (I've heard about switching dogs/cats over to raw food for dealing with health issues before, but not with the official name.)

You should ease them into it, just like you would do with switching between foods. (old to new - 3:1, 2:2, 1:3) Cooked/processed foods are much easier to digest, and they won't be able to pull as many nutrients as quickly as from the food, so it's going to be a bit of a shock to the system.

Barf, thats pretty good.

Ya, in fact I don't think I'd go with a total raw meat diet at all.  As a supplement, yes, but you probably wouldn't want to go more than 50/50 just because keeping a supply of raw meat is not easy and you want to default into some friggin kibble when you don't feel like screwing around with raw meat.  

My kids have an older kittay and she pukes when you switch her food.  Its just a regular brand like 9Lives or something, but she's used to it.  

From what I've been reading going cold turkey is the way to go, lots of raw meat with a carrot of some sort of raw vegetable thrown in everyday. The reason being you don't want to confuse their digestion system. That can get hard to clean up in the back yard.

Many people that have switched also suggest adding a little fish oil every now and then to get a nice coat. Every time my dogs get any sort of fish the end result was impossibly messy. I'm a little leery of adding this.

I'm just going by my experience and what the vet recommended.  Age and size of the animal is an important factor as well.  The veggies are obviously important because pure meat doesn't provide the complete balance of nutrients and roughage.  You could probably use rice for the fiber bulk and a liquid vitamin in place of spending an hour per day making dog stew.  

If the consistency of the dog waste becomes problematic, it can be adjusted with training methods.  You administer six to eight rapid kicks to the ribs when the dog is making a bowel movement, this will teach the dog to hold the shit longer and the bowel will absorb the excess moisture.  You can usually expect positive results within a month.  

[davann]

If the consistency of the dog waste becomes problematic, it can be adjusted with training methods.  You administer six to eight rapid kicks to the ribs when the dog is making a bowel movement, this will teach the dog to hold the shit longer and the bowel will absorb the excess moisture.  You can usually expect positive results within a month.  

Hehe, think I will try a little natural pumpkin mashed into some softer meat product first if the stool becomes to messy for Jose, our yard guy, to clean up. Feeding them raw meat and then kicking them might get them to thinking bad thoughts when I am sleeping.

[Sam Gunn (since nobody got Admiral Naismith)]

You should put your dog on a diet of stray cats.

Unfortunately there are many Asian restaurants in Vegas. No stray cats to be found. Not a bad idea otherwise. A meal would only cost the price of a .22 round. Wonder if they would like desert tortoise.

Desert tortoise... YUM.

[Rillion]

I bought two pairs of shorts yesterday.  Both of them came with a belt.  Why?  Does anybody actually wear the belt that comes with the shorts or pants they bought?

And is this just a girl thing, or do guys' pants come with them too?

[Bill Brasky]

And is this just a girl thing, or do guys' pants come with them too?

With guys, its usually the youth sizes - and some of the hipster trendy shit. 

Big boy pants come sans-belt. 

[Laetitia]

I bought two pairs of shorts yesterday.  Both of them came with a belt.  Why?  Does anybody actually wear the belt that comes with the shorts or pants they bought?

And is this just a girl thing, or do guys' pants come with them too?

You know, I never do. At first, my answer would have been "sure", and then I realized the only things I wear with original belt or sash are dresses and a couple of skirts. My regular belts for slacks/jeans/shorts were separate purchases.

[Rillion]

You know, I never do. At first, my answer would have been "sure", and then I realized the only things I wear with original belt or sash are dresses and a couple of skirts. My regular belts for slacks/jeans/shorts were separate purchases.

If they were nice belts, I'd consider it.  But belts that come with pants seem to be uniformly some kind of pleather nonsense, and in this case they're freakin' gold.   A gold pleather belt on a perfectly good pair of Levi's shorts.  Ridiculous.  I'm offended.

[Laetitia]

You know, I never do. At first, my answer would have been "sure", and then I realized the only things I wear with original belt or sash are dresses and a couple of skirts. My regular belts for slacks/jeans/shorts were separate purchases.

If they were nice belts, I'd consider it.  But belts that come with pants seem to be uniformly some kind of pleather nonsense, and in this case they're freakin' gold.   A gold pleather belt on a perfectly good pair of Levi's shorts.  Ridiculous.  I'm offended.

They're treating us like the 10 & under crowd, using sparkly & shiny objects to get our attention.

[TimeLady Victorious]

Why is Firefly so ridiculously overhyped? I mean, it's not a bad series . . . it's just not as good as the Internet's legions of fanboys make it out to be.

According to some, I should have ten orgasms just from watching Summer Glau do something crazy. (Yes, I say this with at least two people on this forum who have Firefly quotes in their sigs.)