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learning to use the meat grinder....
Feb. 8th, 2007 09:05 pmso this whole process creeps me out.
i could deal with unpackaging the chicken organs and even fed luther a couple of chicken livers (he loves them). less to freeze immediately that way. everything is all labeled and packaged in the freezer.
but this chicken carcass is creepy. something about the sound the bones make when the cleaver breaks them....and bone marrow has a distinctive smell.
the meat grinder works great, but it gives me the willies to think that bone is coming out of those little wholes in addition to the meat.
yuck.
ilovemycatsilovemycatsilovemycatsilovemycats.....
Edit: man that's gross. there are some other recipes that include bone MEAL rather than grinding your own bone. i think that will be the next option. homemade cat food is GROSS. it doesn't look bad, kinda like ground meat with bits of broccoli in it (yes, a small amount is good for them because of the fiber), but the smell of bone marrow haunts me.
i could deal with unpackaging the chicken organs and even fed luther a couple of chicken livers (he loves them). less to freeze immediately that way. everything is all labeled and packaged in the freezer.
but this chicken carcass is creepy. something about the sound the bones make when the cleaver breaks them....and bone marrow has a distinctive smell.
the meat grinder works great, but it gives me the willies to think that bone is coming out of those little wholes in addition to the meat.
yuck.
ilovemycatsilovemycatsilovemycatsilovemycats.....
Edit: man that's gross. there are some other recipes that include bone MEAL rather than grinding your own bone. i think that will be the next option. homemade cat food is GROSS. it doesn't look bad, kinda like ground meat with bits of broccoli in it (yes, a small amount is good for them because of the fiber), but the smell of bone marrow haunts me.
maybe i'm a cruel, bad person
Feb. 8th, 2007 01:19 pmi just served my cats two live mice.
EDIT: *DIES laughing* the other mouse is still alive and is hiding in the box. unable to successfully remove mouse from box, luther has stuck his entire HEAD in the box with the mouse and got the box stuck on his head! SO funny. poor mouse. 2nd EDIT: luther is now eating the other mouse. i guess that ends my need to supervise. i will go run the rest of my errands.
EDIT: *DIES laughing* the other mouse is still alive and is hiding in the box. unable to successfully remove mouse from box, luther has stuck his entire HEAD in the box with the mouse and got the box stuck on his head! SO funny. poor mouse. 2nd EDIT: luther is now eating the other mouse. i guess that ends my need to supervise. i will go run the rest of my errands.
homeopathic vet
Feb. 7th, 2007 04:46 pmso luther had his first visit to a homeopath today.
after talking to her for a couple of hours about luther's health, i'm not sure i'm interested in going back to regular vets for him. she said a lot of very sensible things that completely jive with what i know about animal (and human) health.
( cut for the sake of brevity )
so i'm sold. i'm going to try these alternate feeding things. i'll let you know how it works out. the proof is in the pudding with both the diet and the remedy. i'm not getting my hopes up that this is going to save him, but i definitely believe that it will give him a higher quality of the life he has left.
here are some of the sites i've been looking at if you have your own interests in this:
first, this is the website of the place luther is going now.
http://www.homeopathichealthclinic.com/Pets.htm
a collection of sites and articles by vets, owners, and holistic practitioners
http://www.catnutrition.org/foodmaking.html
http://www.catnutrition.org/vetletter.html
http://www.barfworld.com/
http://cats.about.com/cs/nutrition/a/rawfooddiet.htm
http://www.holisticat.com/
http://www.shirleys-wellness-cafe.com/author.htm
http://www.lowcarbluxury.com/atkins-cats.html
http://www.alt4animals.com/nutrition_feline.htm
http://www.petsynergy.com/nutrition.html
after talking to her for a couple of hours about luther's health, i'm not sure i'm interested in going back to regular vets for him. she said a lot of very sensible things that completely jive with what i know about animal (and human) health.
( cut for the sake of brevity )
so i'm sold. i'm going to try these alternate feeding things. i'll let you know how it works out. the proof is in the pudding with both the diet and the remedy. i'm not getting my hopes up that this is going to save him, but i definitely believe that it will give him a higher quality of the life he has left.
here are some of the sites i've been looking at if you have your own interests in this:
first, this is the website of the place luther is going now.
http://www.homeopathichealthclinic.com/Pets.htm
a collection of sites and articles by vets, owners, and holistic practitioners
http://www.catnutrition.org/foodmaking.html
http://www.catnutrition.org/vetletter.html
http://www.barfworld.com/
http://cats.about.com/cs/nutrition/a/rawfooddiet.htm
http://www.holisticat.com/
http://www.shirleys-wellness-cafe.com/author.htm
http://www.lowcarbluxury.com/atkins-cats.html
http://www.alt4animals.com/nutrition_feline.htm
http://www.petsynergy.com/nutrition.html
i just got off the phone with the vet, a very competant young woman. i can tell she knows what she's talking about and i feel he is getting very good care.
so luther's red blood count is better than it was.
that doesn't mean he isn't a very, very sick kitty.
in the CVA (a count of ALL the different kinds of cells in the blood)that they did last night, he had too many lymphocites.
she is going to do a bone marrow sampling.
she is not optomostic about what she will find.
there are three things in the range of possibilities.
1)FLV. after all the craziness it could still be that. the blood tests are good, but FLV can hide in their bone marrow.
2)cancer. this seems to be what the vet thinks she will find.
3)an autoimmune virus. this is the only option that is treatable.
some of the results will be available today. some not until after the holidays.
she says he is stable right now. he could live a few months even if what he has is not treatable.
this is not the xmas present i wanted.
so luther's red blood count is better than it was.
that doesn't mean he isn't a very, very sick kitty.
in the CVA (a count of ALL the different kinds of cells in the blood)that they did last night, he had too many lymphocites.
she is going to do a bone marrow sampling.
she is not optomostic about what she will find.
there are three things in the range of possibilities.
1)FLV. after all the craziness it could still be that. the blood tests are good, but FLV can hide in their bone marrow.
2)cancer. this seems to be what the vet thinks she will find.
3)an autoimmune virus. this is the only option that is treatable.
some of the results will be available today. some not until after the holidays.
she says he is stable right now. he could live a few months even if what he has is not treatable.
this is not the xmas present i wanted.
(no subject)
Dec. 22nd, 2006 08:45 amso luther's red blood count is back up to 26 from 21. that is very good.
BUT i spent all evening last night at the vet and got NO xmas shopping done.
and he is back in this morning because they lost his paperwork and didn't know what tests to run (besides what i could tell them).
and they charged a lot for the emergency visit.
and apparantly bringing him in BY 7 also entails waiting around for 45 minutes while they look for his paperwork from last night.
grrr.
i hate being late to work.
even if it is my last day.
the people at my work are amazingly nice. i came in to work this am and there were two cards signed by everyone and a big box of six different kinds of teasophy teas from india and sri lanka. some of them i've never heard of before (although i'm already a big fan of darjeeling - celestial seasonings organic mango darjeeling is a current favorite). SO cool. they act like they're actually going to miss me. :)
it's so nice to feel cared for.
BUT i spent all evening last night at the vet and got NO xmas shopping done.
and he is back in this morning because they lost his paperwork and didn't know what tests to run (besides what i could tell them).
and they charged a lot for the emergency visit.
and apparantly bringing him in BY 7 also entails waiting around for 45 minutes while they look for his paperwork from last night.
grrr.
i hate being late to work.
even if it is my last day.
the people at my work are amazingly nice. i came in to work this am and there were two cards signed by everyone and a big box of six different kinds of teasophy teas from india and sri lanka. some of them i've never heard of before (although i'm already a big fan of darjeeling - celestial seasonings organic mango darjeeling is a current favorite). SO cool. they act like they're actually going to miss me. :)
it's so nice to feel cared for.
sometimes silver lining is all glowy.
Dec. 21st, 2006 02:38 pmso i have to take my cat back to the vet.
because he tested negative for blood parasites. the vet says she can run another test, but they just don't know what's wrong with him and it is a better bet to take him to the university clinic. so today luther goes back to the vet.
and then i will spend the evening xmas shopping. and my brother and his wife have answered 0 of my e-mails asking for ideas.
but i am happy anyway. because i have had nothing but success today at work. and because i will be in va in 2 days. and best yet because we are getting our first substantial snow of the year!
because he tested negative for blood parasites. the vet says she can run another test, but they just don't know what's wrong with him and it is a better bet to take him to the university clinic. so today luther goes back to the vet.
and then i will spend the evening xmas shopping. and my brother and his wife have answered 0 of my e-mails asking for ideas.
but i am happy anyway. because i have had nothing but success today at work. and because i will be in va in 2 days. and best yet because we are getting our first substantial snow of the year!
woke up to cat puke again this morning. luther MUST go to the vet. which means i have to get a stool sample. yuck.
also these minneapolitan beaurocrats won't let me have a license w/o a written test. i am not amused. i also have to go into st. paul to take the bloody thing.
grrrr.
that is all.
also these minneapolitan beaurocrats won't let me have a license w/o a written test. i am not amused. i also have to go into st. paul to take the bloody thing.
grrrr.
that is all.
