Raw Food Diet, Day 370- Three Little Piggies

The Old Man (computer) is up and running again, thanks to Mr. Genius at the fruit store. Looks like the typing machine has avoided that big apple tree in the sky! Mom would have been so sad. This computer has never had issues and that was its first trip to the vet in almost 4 years. And it was a silly problem with the printer program! Ha! Thanks for all of your well-wishes. They worked! But now I must go on to more important things...

Like meat.

Mom was at the feasting store and was checking out the beast-feasting section for sales when she found a massive pork shoulder for $1 per pound! She snatched it right up and brought it home for the canines' feasting delight.It was over 4 pounds of meatiness, and almost all of it was pure piggy delicious feasting material - almost no bone.
In the mood to mix stuff up a bit, mom decided to cook this meat and turn it into meaty muffins that are easy to portion out. Because it is so important to balance calcium and phosphorous ratios in our meals, and since cooked bone is a seriously dangerous thing, mom added some bone meal powder to the mix - about 900mg calcium per pound of meat. (Phosphorous is found in the animal tissue, calcium is obviously from bone.)
She added plain yogurt, some pureed veggies, one egg (we have to go easy on the eggs or else our tummies get angry), a tiny touch of garlic and a bit of pureed chicken liver to the mix. It smelled SO GOOD!
I got a raw taste test. It made my tongue do cartwheels! My eyes tried to jump onto the spoon!
Big Pupi also lost control of his feasting device and it licked every inch of that mixing spoon to a nice spit polish.
After the feastables got our stamp of approval, they were spooned into 4oz servings and baked up. Our mixture didn't stick together very well because of the lack of starches, but we totally didn't care. If your human likes to feed you grains, then some overcooked brown rice or some oatmeal would be a nice binder to mix in along with more eggs - just decrease the amount of veggies in that case or else you'll be in fiber overload. Alternately, increase the amount of veggies if you go grain-free since you want to keep things moving!
Big Pupi stared at the oven counting down the seconds and breathing deeply as the toasty pig smells made their way from the vents. He didn't budge for over 20 minutes. I don't think he blinked either, lest some cabinet monster suddenly appear and nab his baking niblets. He wasn't about to let this one get by his feasting hole.
Mom set out our servings and let the mixture cool while she packaged the rest up and made a few more batches of mini meaty muffin meals.
Awwww man. The smells were intoxicating! Pupi and I whined and moaned and looked longingly at our bowls on the counter and mom was not giving us the feast! Arg! Doesn't she know that I DON'T CARE if I burn my tongue off trying to eat? It will grow back!

Dinner was still nice and warm when we FINALLY got to chow down and it just tasted SO GOOD. That mondo pork shoulder fed us for days. My belly was so happy.
But it's gone now and I miss it. I hope it enjoyed its brief stay in my tum.

So that ends the tale of the three little pigs - the pork shoulder, Big Pupi and me!

Happy feasting,
Stanislaw

For more information and recipes about a homemade cooked diet, please view the newsletters at B-Naturals.com or click this link.

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We got this awesome Honest Weblog award from our fellow feasters Maggie and Mitch. They think our blog is brilliant! Thank you so so much. We are crazy excited.

The rules:"When accepting this auspicious award, you must write a post bragging about it, including the name of the misguided soul who thinks you deserve such acclaim, and link back to said person so everyone knows he or she is real.

Choose a minimum of 7 blogs that you find brilliant in content or design. Or improvise by including bloggers who have no idea who you are because you don’t have 7 friends. Show the 7 random victims’ names and links and leave a harassing comment informing them that they were prized with “Honest Weblog.” Well, there’s no prize, but they can keep the nifty icon. List at least ten honest things about yourself. Then, pass it on! "

So, I guess after all these posts about bum explosions, air biscuits, projectile vomiting and everything else that goes in to and comes out of our little bodies warrants an award about honesty. Sure! The original intention of this blog was to chronicle our experiences dealing with our many food allergies and health issues as they happened in the moment, as apposed to a rose-colored, hindsight point of view. So we've got it all - the good, the bad, and the ugly... otherwise known as my stinky brother.

Let's start off with the 10 things about us:

1. If you offer Big Pupi a single piece of shredded cheese, he will study it carefully before eating.
2. The sound of velcro will send Big Pupi up a wall.
3. My howls sound like a deep-voiced man yelling "WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!"
4. Pupi's howls sound like 2-day old puppy giving it his all.
5. Speaking of puppies, Big Pupi doesn't always enjoy being in the company of crazy wee ones.
6. I got too excited playing in the hall with dad the other day and I accidentally killed my neighbor's newspaper. I killed it dead. Seriously.
7. When I have a pooble accident I pick it up and put it on the sofa. (This is material for a post right here.)
8. Big Pupi is totally attached at the hip to mom.
9. I'm glued to my meat-eating dad.
10. I believe roadkill is like a fine wine... the older, the riper, the better.

Alright, so now I must pass it on. I give this award to:

1. Fenway. His approach is similar to mine - including stories about making messes on his "hinders." Gotta love that honesty.
2. Biggie Z. There's nothing like a good rant about dog park days with improperly socialized owners. Plus this dude eats raw meat!
3. Mack, Paris and Lilly. Because well... Paris is there. And that's just brilliant.
4. Tadpole. This dude lets it all hang out there. When he's not wearing shirts, that is. Now that's a guy with nothing to hide.
5. Beckett. Because we're all thinking about his mom right now and hoping she gets well soon.
6. Coco. Because when you're that tiny you really can't hide much of anything.
7. Bae Bae. You're a hammy chillin' with the big dogs. That's brilliant!

'Tis all, folks!

Raw Food Diet, Day 347- Salty Snacks and Zippy Doos

Big Pupi and I did some Naughty Boys! on Friday night. We somehow managed to get our nosey schnozzles and grabby paws up onto the kitchen island (Duh, humans. I'm a tall boy.) and help ourselves to a fully-open, partially-eaten bag of Tostitos chips. By the time our humans came home from some Place of Feasting that the canines were not invited to, they found this:And two boys whose tummies were sad like this:
If you've been reading this blog for a while now, a little alarm should be going off in your heads... it sure as poobles was going off in our stomachs. Those chips are made of corn. Corn is the numero uno no-no in this place, and it only took moments before Big Pupi and I found out why.

Enter the Volcano Duo. Erupting from all ends through all hours of the night.

Dudes. If you're going to vomit, projectile is the only way to go. No joke. And if you're feeling queasy, I highly recommend seeking refuge on the human crate, sofa or upholstered arm chair. Your little bum should feel cushioned as you're blasting the stolen goods across the room from your mouth. I set new records and even I was surprised at my shooting skillz. I sent liquid across the sofa blankie, onto the sofa slip cover, soaking into the actual sofa fabric and into the cusion, then onto the wood floor and into the bed room across the hall. That room is carpeted.

Count: 6 surfaces.

Are you impressed? Mom was. The look of horror on her face said it all when she realized that I had cleared 12 feet to get the goods on the bedroom floor. I'm telling you. It was incredible.

I am incredible.

Big Pupi doesn't have talents equal to yours truly, so he just left piles on the sofa and the floor. That dorkus was polite enough to make a pooble mess out of the freshly fallen snow outside - a stain on the pristine powder so horrible that it sent passerby clamoring over plowed snow banks to get to the sidewalk on the other side. There weren't enough pooble baggies in the world to fix this.

I, The Great Poobler Extraordinaire Stanislaw, saved my bum explosion for the hallway outside our apartment. I walked as I went, often circling back to check on the progress and quality of my work. Excellent. As always. After painting the tile floor in a Pollock-esque masterpiece complete with paw prints (yes, I stepped in it), my people descended and destroyed my work with piles of paper towels and all manners of bleaches and disinfectants. Then I was similarly disinfected and brought back inside. Load after load of laundry was hauled away, and the apartment finally put back together.

At this point I was hungry.
And Big Pupi's tummy grumbled.
And in the cruelest twist of all, we were placed in our crates with nary a feast in sight. Empty bellies and hunger pangs. You'd think I would learn my lesson after my evening snack attack, and I assure you that I did.
Next time I'll go for the dip, too.

Learning valuable lessons,
Stanislaw

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Big Pupi was happy for breakfast:

Aw man. I was hungersome this morning! I got some boiled meat to soothe an angry tummy. I suppose corn chips should be taken off the menu... but they were so tasty and crunchy! I'm not sure if Stan and I learned any long-standing lessons from this little adventure.

As I'm sure your folks know, any time there is an extended period of vomiting and/or diarrhea there is an increased chance of the patient suffering from dehydration. Dehydration can be a very dangerous thing, and if it gets bad enough it can kill. There are ways to check for hydration levels and to help the body rehydrate, and we'll discuss some of those here.

The skin test: This is the least accurate way of measuring hydration but it's the easiest. Your person should lift the skin between your shoulder blades and let go, watching how quickly it drops back into place. If it snaps right back then you're good to go. If it sinks down slowly then you're in need of some fluids. The slower it moves the worse off you are, and if your skin remains aloft then it's doctor time, pronto.

The gum test: The more accurate option, the gum test is done by lifting your lip and having your human touch your gums. They should be nice and wet, but if you're dehydrated they will be tacky or sticky. A test for capillary refill should also be done, and it's easy - your person should press gently on your gum line, then remove their finger and count the seconds until the pink color comes back to your gums. Two seconds is ideal. Any longer and it's a sign of dehydration.

If you are suffering from tummy problems, your person suspects mild dehydration or if they are not able to get you to the vet right away, there are ways to help your body gain and retain fluids. If they suspect moderate or severe dehydration or if you are suffering from extremely frequent vomiting or diarrhea, then you need to see a doctor ASAP for intravenous fluids and medication to ease your symptoms.

Mixing up an electrolyte beverage is easy to do and can aid in re-hydrating a sick pup. But before we get into recipes we're going to explore why and how these electrolyte things work.

Electrolytes are ions, meaning that they are teeny tiny subatomic particles that carry a charge and are able to to conduct electricity. Regular table salt is an electrolyte. When it dissolves in water, its components split, becoming charged particles.

Sodium Chloride (table salt) = NaCl
When dissolved in water, the molecule separates to become ions:
Na+ (Sodium) and Cl- (Chloride)
The Sodium ion has a positive electric charge and the Chloride ion has a negative charge.

In the body, the 2 most prevalent electrolytes are Sodium (Na+) and Potassium (K+), and that is why these are most commonly included in hydrating drinks for humans. By consuming electrolytes when in need of hydration, we are replacing the fluids necessary to keep our body's cells in working order. The functions in our bodies (nerve impulses, muscle contractions, heart beats) all rely on a steady stream of electric impulses, and it's electrolytes that allow the impulses to pass from one cell to another - they are doing their job conducting electricity. You can see why it is so important to remain hydrated!

Normally the kidneys are responsible for maintaining electrolyte levels in your bloodstream, but diarrhea and vomiting can create havoc with this delicate balance. An irritated bowel not only pulls and eliminates necessary fluids and electrolytes, but it also makes absorption of the water and salts extremely difficult. There are different kinds of transporters in the intestines that are responsible for absorbing salts and fluids. There are other transporters that bring in salts and sugars. This is why there is often glucose included in re-hydration drinks for humans, as it increases the efficiency of electrolyte and water absorption by appealing to the sugar/salt transporters. (Please note that sugar can exacerbate diarrhea, and it is not always necessary to include.)

Okay, so let's come up with a hypothetical situation here... Let's say that you're feeling pretty icky after having snarfeled down a bag of corn chips and the feast is ferociously making its way out of your bum. Your folks want to prevent any dehydration while your body rids itself of the offending food. They know that this is a temporary illness and you do not show any signs of moderate or severe dehydration. It's time to give your body a helping hand (or drink).

Our favorite recipe is super easy-

From the human grocery store, our people buy one can (about 2 cups) of beef broth, the kind with a moderate amount of salt and preferably not too many ingredients beyond "beef" and "water." Once at home, your folks can pour this can into a bowl or pitcher, then fill the can once more with filtered water and dump that in. The solution can be served in very small servings 1-2 times per hour - too much too quickly can really upset the tummy. If you're not in the mood to drink, the solution can be warmed slightly to increase the smell of the meaty tastiness. This solution does not include sugar, so if your tum is especially sensitive this may be the way to go.

If a trip to the store isn't possible, then a solution can be made using stuff your person probably has at home.

1 quart purified water
1 teaspoon salt
2-4 teaspoons sugar or honey

Boil the water and add the salt and sugar, stirring until dissolved. Let cool and give to drink in small portions frequently throughout the day (1-2 times per hour) as needed. This solution is also good for use on humans with sad tummies!

A 1/4 teaspoon baking soda (Sodium Bicarbonate) may be added to act as an antacid, and a slice or two of banana may be fed separately to get some Potassium (K+) in the mix.

If dehydration has become moderate to severe, you must see a vet as soon as possible. ONLY your vet can properly and efficiently treat severe dehydration. These recipes are for ORAL re-hydration only.

Whenever Stan and I are suffering from a mild case of the Sad Tummies, we enjoy a bit of the broth/water mixture added to our breakfast and dinner feasts. We suck it right up! And it's an easy way to get those fluids into us when we aren't drinking quite as much as we should. But, for a healthy dog some fresh, plain water will do just fine, so make sure you have plenty of that around for the slurping.

That's all the learnin' for now, folks!
Big Pupi

Raw Food Diet, Day 98- Natural Critter Control

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Big Pupi is stealing the blog today:

It's that time of year again. Even for us up here in winterland...

Spring. AKA: the start of bug season.

Stanislaw and I have resumed our heartworm pills once again, after being off of them for the winter months. (If you'd like to learn more about why you can avoid taking those meds during the winter, please read our post about heartworms.) I know that part of the draw to a raw diet is that it makes our lives fairly chemical-free, but this is one thing my humans are just not willing to change. As I've mentioned before, I had heartworm when I was first adopted, and the treatment for the disease and risks involved are so terrible that we're determined to never do that again. So that's a chemical that I will be taking for the rest of my puppy life, and so will Stanislaw.

Another chemical that comes about in the nice weather is usually a flea and tick preventative of some kind. While in Texas, the land of biting critters, we used to be on Frontline year-round. Almost every day Stanislaw and I were out and about in very green and lush areas by the Colorado River, and despite our up-to-date preventative we'd STILL managed to get the occasional tick and bug. But now that we're living right in the heart of a city, our humans don't feel like we need such a harsh additive any longer. They've discovered that there are lots of natural alternatives to the chemicals, and I think this summer we're going to give them a try.

**IMPORTANT: ALWAYS dilute essential oils and make sure to do your research! NEVER feed or ingest the oils - they are for external use only. NEVER apply essential oils to or anywhere near a cat, as they can be highly toxic to our feline buddies.**

Essential oils are basically the extracted oil from any plant material, and what makes it "essential" is its strong distinctive scent or "essence." Fleas, ticks and mosquitos are sensitive to certain odors and compounds and can be kept at bay by using these oils in the correct combination. There are many different opinions as to what combinations are effective, and the following recipe is only one of many used as a natural repellant.

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ANTI-CRITTER RECIPE

In a spray bottle, add 10 drops each of:

-Rose Geranium Essential Oil

-Peppermint Essential Oil

-Lemongrass Essential Oil

-Sweet Orange Essential Oil

-Lavendar Essential Oil

Add 8-10 ounces of distilled water and 1 ounce of vodka to preserve and disperse the oils. Give the bottle a good shake before each use and avoid contact with eyes, inside the ears, nostrils, lips and mouth. Make sure to spray under the legs and in nice toasty spots where ticks like to hide and feast. Reapply every week, before woodsy outings and after it rains. And again, NEVER spray near or use on a cat!! Not recommended for use on young puppies.

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It is very important that the oils used are the actual and real essential oils, and not just scented oils. There are lots of online retailers that sell these oils for decent prices, and there isn't a need to purchase a huge amount of them either. Our humans ordered 1/2 ounce bottles of each oil and found that to be plenty. And it was MUCH less expensive that Frontline!

More ways to deter buggers

Including garlic in meals is another good way to keep the biters at bay. I guess they just don't find garlic to be as tasty as I do! But keep in mind that too much garlic isn't a good thing, so don't go overboard on the stinky deliciousness.

Diatomaceous earth is another popular and natural bug keeper-away-er. Diatomaceous earth is a chalk-like rock that is crumbled into a very fine and light-weight powder. It gets its name from the fossilized diatom remains (a type of algae) that are found within the rock. This powdered stone is extremely absorbent, and this is what give it its flea-and-tick-fighting capabilities. It absorbs water from the cuticle, or waxy exoskeletons of insects, causing them to dehydrate and die. A medical-grade version of this substance is even used to de-worm dogs and humans (but DO NOT try this on your own!!). If you happen to be itchy from fleas, a thorough sprinkling of the powder brushed down to the skin will help to get rid of those little buggers. But make sure that there is no prolonged contact with skin, as this substance is so absorbent it can dry out skin on both dogs and their humans.

According to the University of Sydney Australia, Eucalyptus oil, when added during the rinse cycle, will kill 99% of dust mites in doggy bedding and other soft materials. While those aren't truly a parasite to worry about, they can cause severe allergies. If fleas are found in the home, washing blankets and other items on a hot wash cycle will kill those bugs.

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Since we didn't have the essential oils for the first warm and buggy month, Stanislaw and I had our regular dosage of Frontline. Once these 30 days are over, we're going to mix up a batch of the spray and give it a shot. We'll let you know how it works, and if you tried it before, let us know how you did and what recipe you followed!

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Raw Food Diet, Day 51-A Belly Full of Tripe and A New Meat Locker

Today is the best day of my life since yesterday! I have a belly full of my favorite meat, tripe, and my own personal meat locker came in the mail and is fully functioning. It's packed to the brim with all my favorite raw meats and bones and now my humans can use their locker for their own stupid non-raw meat. Apparently they think my tripe smells like puke and they want to separate it from their food. Well, here's some news for my humans- tripe is puke (cow stomach with digested plant matter in it) and it smells and tastes delicious! Actually, one bad thing did happen to me today. I hurt a muscle in my foot because I slipped on my hardwood floor and now I have to wear a bandage. I'm telling all the dogs I see outside that I hurt my foot hunting buffalo and eating their tails off because that's a better story. I'm one bad puppy.

Feast hard,

Stanislaw

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brother has a meat locker!:
Our freezer arrived yesterday! My mom almost had a heart attack when the delivery human arrived with the biggest box I've ever seen on a magic wheeling thing. It could barely fit through our little apartment hallway! She was terrified that she had measured wrong or ordered the wrong freezer. Fortunately, when she opened the first box there was a smaller one inside and then packaging inside that, so the freezer only wound up being moderately bigger that she expected. Because of the probable tipping and jostling during shipping, we had to wait 24 hours before plugging it in, and today we finally got to give it life. It gurgled quietly and got cold right away, so she loaded it with our meat and emptied out the human meat locker.

My brother and I couldn't believe all of the meaty deliciousness that we saw being carried to the new meat locker! We happened to be in our feasting cages at the time working on some stuffed femur bones (recipe below). But I couldn't contain myself and in a single leap I escaped my cage, femur bone in tow, and joined her in the kitchen. She took my femur away from me, but I didn't care... our freezer was packed with meat!!

Stanley and I immediately began sizing up this meat locker and made a few attempts at breaking in. To our absolute dismay we were unsuccessful, and the mighty meat locker was able to keep us at bay. We tried to make our saddest eyes at it but it was immune. We tried sad eyes on our mom but she wasn't giving in either. Instead, she took a picture of us looking pathetic with her annoying flashy box. How embarrassing!

I need to give this whole situation a little more thought if I'm going to figure out how to break into that box of feasting possibilities. I think I'm going to do what I do best and sleep on it. After all, I did go for a long run with mom today and now my belly is full of femur snacks, so I'm going to take my stuffed marmott and snooze on the sofa. Hopefully the answer will come to me in my dreams.

Stuffed Femur Bones
Once you're finished feasting on some delicious meat and marrow in a femur bone, tell your human not to throw it away! My humans like to take it away for a time and keep it in a zip-lock in the fridge for the next day, when they make this to stuff inside:

ingredients:
3/4 cup ground raw meat
1 tablespoon yogurt or 1 raw egg
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

Mix together, adding parmesan as needed to thicken. With a spoon or your fingers, stuff the contents into the bone. This can be served right away, or frozen to make it more of a challenge. Save any remaining meat mix for another day.

That's some mighty good snack feasting, especially if you've gotten a lot of exercise and need to get some protein and calories. I can't wait for more tomorrow!

Happy feasting!