3021a Oakland Dr.
Kalamazoo, MI 49008
Phone: 269-383-8334
Fax: 269-383-8433
Meeting
Minutes
March 15,
2004
Next meeting: April 19, 2004 @ 6:30 (meeting special: save 10% on case of
patties)
Next topic: To vaccinate or not to vaccinate
Heartworm medicine
Natural flea control
March 15 topic (bones & grinders):
The grinder discussion was
very informative. The big plus to
grinding your own is cost savings. The
downside is finding the time to do the grinding/clean up and freezer
space. Because clean up of the grinder
is time consuming, the group recommends doing bulk quantities. A minimum shoot size of 3” is
recommended. Stats on grinders discussed:
¨ Hobart 1
½ -3 ½ hp can cost up to $2000 – top of
the line/ rather large
¨
Cabella ¾ hp approx.
$400 – good performance for price (recommended by Marcia)
¨
American Eagle is nice
because it is all stainless steel
¨
Northern Tool ¾ hp
approx. $250 (Marcia had a bad experience with this brand)
¨
Maverick offers a
portable model for $100 – only good for wings and backs
¨
Kitchen Aid attachment
– small shoot size
Bones size should be based
on the dog. Is your dog a bolter (eats
in gulps)? Does your dog “barf” up
bones often? Are you unsure about what
is safe? Here are some pointers:
¨ For gulpers – you may want to cleave meat & bones
first. Chicken wings and backs are
fairly safe for this type of eater. We
learned a new “name” for chicken wings – Sliders (seems many dogs don’t spend much time chewing these/ no noted
problems)
¨ Turkey necks - 45 minutes to eat properly – cleaving
first highly recommended
¨ With a diet of minced meat/bone only some have
noticed plaque build up. At a minimum
give the dogs recreational bones (knuckle bones are a good option)
¨ Concerned about pork (trichinosis), freeze @ 0
degrees for two weeks to kill it
¨ Quality Meats on sprinkle offers hormone free Amish
meats
¨ Elly recommended grass fed animal sources and a
website eatwild.com
¨ Deb has a source for a variety of meats, including
some rather unique offerings. She will
have full product information (confirm hormone free, grass fed?) and order
forms for the group at the next meeting.
¨
REMINDER – it is
important you feed a variety, including varying meats!
¨
Mucous, Loose stools….
can indicate food allergies or problems (be a poop watcher)
Bark’s 5th Avenue
would like to clarify an issue. We are
calling the meetings BARF because that is a familiar term in our store, but the
meetings are not intended to promote a diet of only BARFworld products or
necessarily exclusive to Dr. Billinghursts version of a raw diet. I personally do follow the basics of
Billinghurst, but find these meetings offer valuable additional and alternative
information. Like most of you, I use
our product for convienence in conjuction with meats and produce from the
“grocery store”. We are planning a
meeting about diet in June and will be discussing various approaches. Lois joined our group and she has extensive
information about the Volhard diet (books: Holistic guide for a healthy dog 1st
and 2nd
editions).
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