Tags
basenji health endowment, basket muzzles, budgeting, dog muzzles, fanconi, inulin, merrick, orthopedic foundation for animals, probiotics, supplements
THE COST OF (PET) THINGS: November 2011
- FOOD: $59
- TREATS: $40
- ACCESSORIES & MISC: $13
- VET/MEDICAL: $50
TOTAL: $162
(Running average for 11 months so far: $257 / month)
Food:
The usual meat here and there, a refill of enough fish oil to last us months, and something new: a bottle of inulin to “enhance calcium absorption” and “promote probiotic bacteria growth“. A 180 gram container cost $8.99 around my parts. I picked up a bottle manufactured by Jarrow Formulas. It’s going to last a long time since I’m only adding a couple pinches of this sweet powder to the Bows’ wet meals. I’m also adding some to my own diet, when I remember — funny how I am more consistent with the dogs’ supplements than I am with my own. Anyway, we’ll give this a couple months and see where it goes.
Treats:
The usual treats here and there. Also picked up two pieces of Merrick’s Porky Jerky Pumpers (pig heart), since we seldom see pork meat-based treats in the store, aside from ears and snouts.
At $3.99 for each 2.5 oz shrink-wrapped pack, it felt like a rip-off. I think I’d rather swing through the local Asian market and get the dogs the real, raw thing.
Or maybe it’s time to just invest in a dehydrator. Any recommendations?
Accessories:
Bowdu got a basket muzzle.
1 November 2011
Vet/medical:
The Basenji Health Endowment was subsidizing OFA Fanconi retests for dogs who had previously submitted saliva samples. Even though Bowpi had originally tested Probably Clear/Normal for the linked marker test, even though it was unlikely that a probably clear dog would have their results change to becoming “affected,” even though she is spayed, and even though we have no pedigree information for her, I still wanted to take advantage of this discount for my own peace of mind.
We haven’t gotten the results back yet, but I’m not worried.
20 October 2011
I keep forgetting to keep track of how much I spend on Conker. It’s probably a lot more than I realize. I’m gonna try to keep better track starting next year. (I’m starting a lot of things next year…)
I saw some pork heart treats from a new (to my area) brand and bought one. It was $2.99 and so far Conker has really liked it. I chopped it up into pieces though, since he doesn’t need to eat that much in one sitting. but because of the price I probably won’t buy them very often.
As for dehydrating, I just do that in the oven.
“Accessories: Bowdu got a basket muzzle.” Heh, poor guy. But it’s for safer vet visits, right? So he can’t bite anyone? Have you been able to actually test it out yet?
I’ve done dehydrated sweet potato treats in the oven before, and it worked fine (and the treats were deeelicious — for me too!). But it’s rather energy inefficient. We tend to use a lot of gas in this house anyway, so I’m thinking that an actual dehydrator would make more sense if I intend to make a lot of treats. For the humans too. The main thing holding me back is the creeping fear that dehydrators are the breadmakers of the 2010s. I’ll be into it for a few months, then one day I’ll put it away and never touch it again…
It was surprisingly easy to fit the basket muzzle on Bowdu at home — very little resistance. Though he’s not too keen on moving around while he’s wearing it. We’re taking it very slow, very short acclimation sessions every few days. No vet visit for many months yet, so it hasn’t really been put to the test. But the idea is to NOT have him associate it with impending doom.
We love buying treats for the pups and finally bought a dehydrator. We picked up a the Nesco one from Amazon. It’s reasonably priced and has fantastic reviews. I picked it up at $49 – the price recently went down $10 from the normal price of $59 on the site. Here’s a link:http://www.amazon.com/Nesco-FD-75PR-700-Watt-Food-Dehydrator/dp/B000FFVJ3C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1322961630&sr=8-1
I tried it once with sliced chicken breasts and the dehydrator worked wonderfully. Except I had to throw the batch out because I realized that I had to cook the chicken before dehydrating (the dehydrator’s max temp is 160 and chicken needs to be cooked at 170). DOH!
Thanks for your rec! That’s the first one that caught my eye, and the price is right too. I’m not familiar with the brand at all though.
The dehydrator ting has looks like the one I have. I use it to make dehydrated sweet potatoes for my girl.
When I read the words ‘basket muzzle’ I was prepared to be enormously sympathetic… but he doesn’t look very bothered by it. Good on him!
I plan to get me a dehydrator for Saya it’d be a lot better then buying it at pet stores.. I can get heart, tongue, liver for good price..
That is the exact dehydrator I have…I posted about it actually on my blog. The Nesco works great and has paid for itself already.
Oh whoops—I think you already commented on my post. I’m backlogged with reading and didn’t realize you were writing about this as well! Disregard!
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