Ok then where was I?
Oh yes. Saturday evening. In A.M.P. BARF up to the eyeballs with no room in the freezer for human food(had to chuck out the frozen bread in order to fit it in
), a
load of dog tins still in the cupboard and no mixer.
Fern got fed Pedigree Chum Saturday and Sunday with
loads of Bonios to make up for the mixer and a chicken wing or carrot for dessert. She knows the chicken wing
has to be eaten outdoors...
Vegetables and other supplementsI had done a bit more reading and discovered that Alfafa and Kelp in the powdered form was recommended in one book. Having tried in a few health food shops with no success, I read the second book and found that a dog in good health rarely requires supplements -so decided not to bother for the moment. If Fern had any specific health problems then I would be looking for extra things to help if I was sure that it wasn't being provided for with a BARF diet.
I was a bit puzzled that one book recommends garlic whilst the other one says it is toxic
. I like the idea of feeding garlic as it is known to help protect against fleas and suchlike. I shall be adding it to her diet occasionally in very small quantities, a couple of cloves a month perhaps -as most of these 'banned' foods (with the exception of chocolate) are, as far as I know only toxic at high levels.
These anomalies only serve to reinforce the point that BARF is not and never will be an exact science, so there is absolutely no point in trying to make it so. We all manage to keep alive and fairly healthy without measuring everything to the n'th degree. Variety and everything in moderation is the key to all nutrition, human and otherwise.
I'm thinking I can't prevaricate much longer and now the basics are here I might as well get on with it. I can always offer the remaining tins to one of my dog owning neighbours who would be delighted with them. I can't bring myself to give her beloved Bonios or chew sticks away though. They will be used up and I shall gradually replace them with some home made stuff from Willows Kitchen
http://www.itsaspringthing.co.uk/willows%20kitchen.htm.
Monday. I had a couple of hours free from work so went 'vegetable shopping' ( I must get a life). Went out of town and found a proper greengrocer (a rarity in this neck of the woods these days) rather than the supermarket. I don't suppose the pesticide levels are any different but I somehow felt better buying things loose and mud spattered rather than those perfectly clean, plasticised looking supermarket veg. They looked fresher to me anyway. Got rather carried away (again
) and came back with:
Carrots
Cabbage
Celery
Brocolli
Parsnips
Cauliflower
I crammed them into my, now groaning, fridge (I only have an under worktop one), got out the ancient Kenwood Chefette, that had somehow survived the liver cake and roughly chopped up:
One carrot
One stick of celery
Two or three slices of green cabbage
Added a bit of water, as the Chefette sometimes needs a bit of persuasion to get going (especially after the raw liver
), and whizzed away 'til all was mush. A rather fetching shade of pale orange I thought. It also smelt absolutely fab and fresh - a bit like coleslaw. Stuck 'dollops' (about a large heaped tablespoonful each) in to separate small recycled lidded plastic tubs (-my weakness is taramasalata
) and filled five. Stuck them in the fridge. I hope that five days isn't too long to keep them but think they will be OK as it's veg and not meat. Have decided that I might not have to buy extra veg for Fern as she can have a little of whatever we have. It goes a very long way. I shall ring the changes every week but always include one root vegetable with a couple of above ground ones. Variety is the key.
According to the two BARF books I have one says feed only a very small portion (to simulate the amount of partially digested vegetation that would be present in a herbivores stomach relative to it's size) in relation to muscle meat and bone. The other book says not to feed veg at all and is quite scathing about it
. I know Fern likes her raw fruit and veg so she is having it. I also note from the first book that veg helps loosen things up if constipation should ever become a problem. I definitely want that as an option
.
I'll tell you about Monday evening in my next post....