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Cats and dogs detox diet
My fur ball is still burning holes in the lawn despite a low A diet 🙁 Not sure what that is all about. It does seem to come and go though. Will be interesting to see what happens over the longer term. Its only been 5 - 6 weeks. Fortunately she is tiny so doesn't produce much volume, hence the holes are not big and the grass soon recovers.
Good news for you though.
Hi Rachel, I should have mentioned that I stopped giving my dog liver in February of this year. Maybe it takes some time. I could be wrong but in our case I can't think what else it could be. Our last dog did this to our lawn his whole life but he got liver now and then from me too. My sister had a dog (kibble for meals) that never burned her lawn. It's a curious thing for sure.
Ah so there is hope for our lawn yet then! I'll try and remember to feed back in a few more months to say if there is any change.
Hi again Rachel, While out for a walk just now I thought of one other thing. She did have that dental problem 😬 and was on antibiotics a couple of times. However, we've had a lawn since the end of April (warm spring). You know how those burns last forever? My hubby cut them out and reseeded regularly. Seems to me she would have been making burn marks since April, before all the dental stuff, but they are no where to be found. If it is somehow from the antibiotics and she starts burning our lawn again I'll be sure to post that. Sure hope it's the liver.
Quote from SheilaE on July 21, 2019, 6:01 pmI've been off line for a week. So much reading to catch up on! Just thought I'd mention something about my dog here. After 8 years of burning holes in our back lawn with her pee, this year the lawn is all green; no dried out brown circles everywhere. (My husband is very happy about this). Only thing different is I stopped giving our dog liver and dried liver treats! I also substituted pumpkin in her premix recipe to wax gourd (white veg) from a Chinese market. Our last dog did this lawn burning too. I thought it was a terrier thing. Nope. Pet stores sell rocks that you put in the water bowl that work by adding minerals to the water. The rocks didn't work. Low A diet worked!
Hi Sheila,
Thought I would add an update re the lawn. We have had plenty of rain this summer so our grass is growing well, green and lush - and at the moment no doggy urine burns! Yay. 🙂
moved this reply to its own thread--
https://ggenereux.blog/discussion/topic/pelvic-floor-issues/
My update to my cats' diet
- my cats seem to be fine with the sprinkling of egg shell powder I made by saving free-range egg shells, drying them in the sun, and then pulverizing
- my cats seem to LIKE raw chicken, but I think I have linked it to some tummy aches. I'm not trusting it at this point. I do give cooked chicken when we are eating it.
- my cats seem to LOVE raw, chopped lamb and beef and I think they prefer it to ground
- my cats like the occasional can of tuna (don't throw out the water, they love that best)... this is good for the ace in the hole when you run out of chopped raw meat
- I think it's a nice idea to chop up raw fish if you are preparing fish for the fam, but don't bother to save any for the next day (my cats only like it very fresh)
- we went on vacation and I put out dry kibble. A caretaker served them raw meat once per day. It is probably a good idea to keep your pets accustomed to occasional dry kibble for these situations.
- Sometimes you can just include the pet in the daily meat plans and just buy a bit more, voila
Does anyone else keep chickens as pets? I have begun to give my chickens white rice, free choice (along with their usual pellets) in a bid to lower the amount of vitamin A in their diet. My chickens have free range and have always eaten kitchen scraps, I'm not worried that a small amount of white rice will upset their apple carts. They forage and they seem to be intuitive about what they need. They LOVE the white rice.
I also offered white beans and they ate ZERO-- this is not unheard of (that chickens don't like legumes that much. I think they like seeds better)
I have also switched them to organic pellets (which is expensive!). Luckily think they are eating LESS pellets now, and I don't really think it is due to the small amount of white rice. Perhaps the organic pellets are more nutrient-dense somehow.
Regarding lower-VA cat diet:
I serve the cats only COOKED chicken and pork. (they get raw white fish, raw beef and raw lamb) And they get canned tuna sometimes. I've found that they eat cooked foods with much more gusto when these foods are given with BROTH. So, I've been trying to make broth weekly. As for shopping, in general, they eat whatever meats we are eating. They like variety.
The cats beg for our breakfast so I tried making them bacon and egg whites haha along with ours. I just left out any seasoning or veggies. They loved the bacon but only picked at the egg white.
It appears we are going to be feeding 3 times per day. The more VA-toxic one has a more voracious appetite and just can't deal with 2 meals per day. 2 meals would be easier, and may be possible in the future, my non-toxic cat often sleeps through the lunch feeding. When I work 9-5 I feed before work, after work, and before bed. But when home, they like to eat when we eat.
Progress is slow in my VA-toxic cat, but I do feel that his downward progression (which mirrored mine) has stopped and that he now has "kitten-y" moments in which he runs around.
I feel that my chickens have less inflammation around their vents lately, on their new diet. (this is considered to be caused by yeast)
(interesting note: apple cider vinegar in the water is the commonly recommended cure for inflammation around the vent)