Help with my math

doyle9732 · #1 12th October 2002, 08:05 AM

Well, little Lucy is home now.....and for the most part, seems to be hiding from Max! Although she did give a good snarl at him this morning and kinda made him rethink his behaviour.

I gave Lucy just one, skinless neck this morning.....at first she was a little unsure what she was supposed to do....but she did eat it all up (I cut it in 4 pieces - about an inch long each).

Lucy is 12 lbs .......I'm going with the 6-7 % ratio to avoid rapid growth. (this is where I need help!!! - So, that's about .8 lbs a day there's 16 oz in a pound, right? for a total of 13 oz per day, divided by 3 meals for roughly 4 oz of neck per meal)

Any opinions on the % amount? She'll be exclusively on necks for the week and then I'll try giving her the same mush as Max.

JulieM · #2 13th October 2002, 07:35 AM

Sounds about right

doyle9732 · #3 13th October 2002, 08:03 AM

Thanks Julie! It seems like a small amount....and at every meal Lucy finishes and heads over to Max's bowl....and God love Max, he backs away (and I detect a look of hurt and confusion on his face).

The diarrhea has started on Lucy (late last night), so I gave her a teaspoon of pumpkin this morning.....I also discovered worms in her stool this morning. Max got them soon after coming home too. She threw up in her crate at around 4 am. this morning..... what is your guess as to the culprit.....BARF or worms? or a bit of both?

myrocky · #4 13th October 2002, 08:07 AM

I am going with the worms. Worms are yucky and make the digestive system all screwy. Rocks' had about every worm he could get (except for HW thank goodness) when we brought him home.

I would go to the vet and get her wormed, after figuring out what kind they are. Then I would move to a bland diet for a few days as sometimes worms and the wormer can cause tummy troubles

doyle9732 · #5 13th October 2002, 08:13 AM

I'm going to come off sounding like an old miser, but is there a home remedy I can use to help Lucy until Tuesday? It's our Thanksgiving weekend up here, so Sunday AND Monday would mean a trip to the emergency vet office (at triple the cost).

I'm going to surf the web about worms (they are the long thin ones that resemble spaghetti - can't remember which ones they are....tape worm?)

But, if there isn't anything I can do for her, I will take her out today.

doyle9732 · #6 13th October 2002, 08:15 AM

Bland diet......right now she's just on chicken necks.....any suggestions on bland diet.....rice?

myrocky · #7 13th October 2002, 08:28 AM

Sound like round worms which are super common in puppies. Rice and boiled chic or burger. You can add some plain yogurt in there too if you like.

BTW:

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Muttluvr · #8 13th October 2002, 08:55 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by doyle9732
I'm going to come off sounding like an old miser, but is there a home remedy I can use to help Lucy until Tuesday?

For worms you can try a teaspoon of ground pupmkin seeds. I *think* the theory is that the abrasiveness of the ground seeds will clean the little buggers out of the intestines. I heard about this on the big BARF list (either yahoogroops or smartgroups) so you can go on there for clairification.

Also, about when she thew-up... What did it look like? Was it foamy yellow bile? That could just be that her tummy was too empty. It always happens to Apollo when he goes too long without food, and happened to Foster when he was a puppy too, but he's grown out of it by now.

One more thing, and this is more a question than anything else... How come you're feeding 6-7%? I've been feeding Apollo ~2% of his expected adult weight (he eats the same amount as Foster) which is about 1.5lbs a day. I don't think I'm feeding too much (I was actually wondering if I fed enough) because always hungry and on the slightly skinny side (I can see his last few ribs). But maybe he just has a high metabolism.

BTW Happy Thanksgiving!

doyle9732 · #9 13th October 2002, 09:23 AM

ground (raw) pumpkin seed? Does anyone know what's the best way to prepare it? Do I let the seeds dry and then put them in the blender? Should I add it to her rice/hamburger? (I can't see her eating it on its own!)

will this get rid of the worms? or just tide her over until Tuesday?

doyle9732 · #10 13th October 2002, 09:48 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Muttluvr
One more thing, and this is more a question than anything else... How come you're feeding 6-7%? I've been feeding Apollo ~2% of his expected adult weight (he eats the same amount as Foster) which is about 1.5lbs a day.

I read on BW that 8% of body weight for pups, but that some felt 6-7% was a better number to prevent rapid growth.

For the bile, I'm not really sure, but I'd imagine you might be correct - I cleaned it up by the light of the bathroom, which wasn't very bright. But it was liquid only. Actually, when I think of it, it was yellow, because I did see that on the paper towel this morning.

for the bland diet....same amount in weight as chicken necks? about 4 oz per meal? I do have plain yogourt in the fridge, so I'm going to add a teaspoon of that as well.

JulieM · #11 13th October 2002, 02:54 PM

Yes, feed the same amount as you would her chicken necks. The ground pumpkin seeds can be added to the food; raw carrot is to work, too (same principle, it 'scours' the intestinal walls so the worms can't adhere). I haven't tried either, but both are commonly suggested on the raw lists.

You do generally want to feed more to puppies. It's hard with a raw diet to really get the accelerated growth you see with some kibble, because the calcium is natural so what isn't used is excreted. If you're feeding a very high-fat diet you might still have problems (but you'll have other issues, too). The general starting amount is 10% of body weight at weaning, tapering down to 2% at adulthood (the actual amount of food stays about the same). If you're feeding 2% of his estimated adult weight, you're probably OK unless he ends up being way over or under....This page gives a little more detail:
http://newcastle.falcin.com/RawPuppyDiet.htm

doyle9732 · #12 15th October 2002, 08:49 PM

You mentioned excess fat.....should I be skinning the chicken necks for the young lady? I leave them on (or most) for Max. I bought a pair of rubber gloves for chicken neck bagging, and it's so easy to pull the skin off now!

As for the pumpkin (squash) seeds. They are definitely going through Lucy.....and today (Tuesday) when I took her to the vet with a stool sample, they couldn't find any worms!!! And the movement she had tonight didn't seem to have any either (believe me, I looked....what will the neighbour think if they saw me out in the backyard, with a flashlight, poking at poo with a stick!!!??) Is it possible that the pumpkin seeds actually cures them of worms??