The magic white box (or, the most expensive part of raw feeding)

This is Kip's favourite new thing:

It's the magic white box that food comes from.  Apparently, if you sit in front of it long enough, it will dispense yummy food  (this works for humans as well as dogs).   And the space allocation is much more fair to those in the house that actually pay for the food*!

 

But...but...but...why is Kip's space empty???

What?  Doesn't everyone thaw 3 turkeys at a time in their bathtub**? 

Getting serious for a moment, I think having a freezer (even if it is small chest one) is really helpful for raw feeders.  Turkey was on sale for $0.99/lb - a great deal (well, better at least a better deal than the last time I bought some).  And I have found other meats on sale for that price, and limited the amount I bought due to freezer space (well, actually I didn't limit as much as I should have...).  Having a large freezer allows me to preserve food for myself, and stock up on cheap meat for Kip.  Yes, it's an investment, and yes, it takes up space I really don't have (which is why I spent more for an upright instead of a chest freezer).   In a perfect world, I'd have a freezer just for meat, which would allow me to take advantage of even cheaper (like free) meat sources (from hunters, butchers, etc.).  But, unless I build a back porch (which won't happen for a few years, if ever), there simply isn't room for two freezers, and I do need a lot of freezer space for myself as well - and not just for ice cream!! 

The freezer cost almost $700, and of course, there is the yearly cost for electricity.  But even if it was dedicated to just dog food, if it means I can buy a lot of meat when it's on sale, then the freezer will quickly pay for itself.

Other new raw feeding equipment:

I went to a meeting of the garden club my parents are members of, and oddly enough, one member works for a flooring company and had brought in old sample pieces of vinyl flooring as a fund raiser for the club.  So, for a $2 donation, I got a nice piece of vinyl that I'll use for Kip to eat off of, instead of the grungy towel he's currently using.  Cheap, easy to clean, and easy to store away when it's not in use.  And when the flooring guy overheard me chatting about getting a second dog one day, he gave me a second piece!  Which just goes to show you can find the most useful stuff in the oddest of locations!

_________________________________________________________________
* Hey, the ice cream was on sale.  So were the carrots.  And those are individual-sized homemade chicken pot pies on top of the ice cream, waiting for me to wrap them up after freezing.

** Yes, the tub will be cleaned after the thaw!

This is why

People don't really understand why I switched to raw.

This is one part of the reason:

Mold

Melted Plastic

Think it will ever change? I'm just glad I don't have to worry about it anymore.

Money, money, money!

Another cost update:

I just finished portioning out all the meat I have left in the freezer, and there is enough for another 8 weeks, exactly. So, I thought it'd be a good time to do a cost summary.

What I've spend so far: $194.85

# days fed:

Starting on Feb. 18, I fed Kip one meal a day of raw, and one of kibble, just to get rid of the last of it. That lasted until March 23, then it was totally raw. So, 34 days at half portions equals 17 "days". March 24 to October 17 (8 weeks from now) is 208 days, for a total of 225 days.

That works out to $0.87 per day. WAY under my $1.00 target!!

And the good news - I'm getting better all the time at finding cheaper meats, generally under $1.00/lb. So that cost should stay low, if not lower, than it is now.

So for those that say raw is expensive - here is the proof that it's not.

Mind you, raw does have some associated costs to it, but more on that tomorrow...

OMG! Look at what raw feeding has done to Kip!

It's turned him into a CAT!




Silly dog! I haven't posted in a while, since there hasn't been anything to say, really. All is well, and we're working our way through the insane amount of meat purchased last month (thank Dog for parents with large freezers).

I have noticed Kip "grooming" after each meal though. It's odd - he never did this after eating kibble, and his beard is actually less smelly now than it was then. So I don't know why he does it - but it is cute!

I've lost all reason

Apparently, cheap meat prices make me lose all sense of proportion.

How the @#*%&# did I think I could fit almost 50 pounds of meat in the freezer compartment of my fridge? (Remember, I bought some for me too - it's not all Kip's).

Here's evidence of the advanced level of my insanity:

Note how much of the freezer Kip takes up. He also hogs the bed.

To understand the enormity of the problem, there is still over 25 pounds of meat left in the fridge. Obviously, the ice cream has to go.

I've been using the space atop the two containers on the bottom shelf to hold a cookie sheet with portioned meat bits so they can freeze, and I can bag them all in a large freezer bag without using smaller bags for each piece - by freezing them separately, they are easy to remove individually when needed. It takes more time, but it vastly reduces the number of plastic bags required. After all the meat is frozen, that space will be claimed by the ice cube trays required for the vast quantities of gin and tonic that I will soon be consuming to block the memory of trying to fit 50 pounds of meat in a space designed to hold 10 pounds.

Well, I'll be busy trying to find a rift in the space-time continuum to increase my freezer space, and eating ice cream. Wish me luck!

SCORE!!!!

This is why I desperately want a freezer.

Chicken drumsticks and thighs - $1/lb.

Pork shoulder - $1/lb.

Beef liver - $1/lb.

Whole chicken - $1.50/lb.

Beef roast - $2/lb.

I bought over 42 pounds of meat for slightly just under $55.

That averages out to ~$1.30 a pound, and brings my running average to around $0.93/day.

Counting the meat I already have in the freezer, I have enough meat to fed Kip until September, and really cannot fit one more ounce in the freezer. But I am SO tempted to go back and get more - really, $1/lb!!!!!

(And yes, I actually bought some meat for me too!)

The devil is in the percentages

Kip was getting 1/2 a pound of meat a day, and dropped to below 21 pounds. I'm not too focused on weight, but more on how he looks and feels - and when I can start seeing his ribs, and easily feeling his hip bones and spine, I get concerned.

So, I upped his daily amount, closer to 3% of his ideal adult body weight, or ~11 oz/day.

And the porker packed on the ounces (can't really say he packed on the "less than a pound").

So, new plan:

We're back to ~8 oz/day, with the occasional extra meal thrown in if we've had an extra active day, or I see him getting a bit too skinny again.

One exciting OT thing - my shed got built, so his agility equipment (just jumps and weave poles... for now!) is here for us to play with - yippee!!