Dog food?

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Has anyone started stocking up on dog food yet? I've been looking at "best used by" dates, and the brand my two little monsters prefer seems to only have a 9 month shelf life (Kibble and Bits). Do you think that opening the bags and packing the kibble in buckets with oxygen absorbers and dessicants would keep it ok for longer, or would it be better to leave it in the original (plastic lined) bags? I have plenty of buckets and O.A's. I don't plan to buy it in the next few weeks, but don't want to wait too long either. Keeping the dogs healthy is definately a priority for me as they are excellent watch dogs, at least in terms of letting me know when someone is in the vicinity. Of course if someone aproaches, the most they would do is lick them to death (they're Schipperkes if anyone is curious).Between the two of them they eat about 5-7 pounds a week, and of course will eat damn near anything else too.

-- Online2Much (barking@dogs.com), February 16, 1999

Answers

Have you tried the manufacturer? Every one that I called has been very friendly and helpful when I needed help deciphering their date codes. I'll be looking for an answer too since I have 2 stupid, fat cats to feed. At least they'll minimize my risk of mice in the grain. I'll post if I find out anything.

-- rick (rick@ina.com), February 16, 1999.

I must admit I've fantasized that dog food manufacturers would can the beef they have while leaving out that dog-food-tasting-sauce. I'd be thrilled to pay .50 for a 15 oz. can of (even dog-food-grade) beef.

-- Lisa (gross@gross.gross), February 16, 1999.

Suggest you gradually switch your buddies to a dog food with a longer sell-by date by mixing in ever-increasing quantities of the new with the old. Iam's and Hill's are good for about 18 mos after purchase, according to the dates on the package, but somewhat pricey. There should be less-expensive others with a longer sell-by. Bear in mind that the lower the fat content, the longer the food will last. You can always add needed fat from a can of something, maybe tuna in oil. You might also call the manufacturer--very often they haven't tested beyond a certain period because it's never been needed; the stuff doesn't stay on the shelves that long. You might also investigate places like Pet Depot and PetSmart, where food moves faster and is possibly fresher. In addition, you might look at Drs. Foster & Smith catalogue (on-line somewhere), which has biscuits and rawhide chews in bulk, as well as pet vitamins, antibiotics, vaccines, first-aid kits, etc. Don't know about repacking with oxy absorbers, but sounds logical. My cats would like to know--anyone got info?

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), February 16, 1999.

Yep.

Been wondering about my kitties food supply.

Thanks for the "read the labels" reminder.

Diane

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), February 16, 1999.


1. Already stocking up for my pussies. (The fat one won't eat *anything* she doesn't already accept as cat food; the skinny one is really excited about the canned hams and chickens I'm storing.) The exp. dates don't get me all the way through 2000, so I will continue to purchase throughout this year and start rotating next fall. At least I won't have to start from scratch.

2. I'm sure I've seen web sites with recipes for homemade pet food. Cats needs a great deal of protein, and (I believe) extra taurine (amino acid); dogs are omnivores.

3. Don't forget litter!!

-- Brooks (brooksbie@hotmail.com), February 16, 1999.



we suffer the same problem but have taken it one step, anyway. We have been canning pt jars of beef, pork and chicken. I cut off all of the fat with a generous knife leaving some meat on it. This then gets put into jars and canned along with the rest of it, dated and marked "pets". I figure even some bread with a little of this fat on it will go along way to keeping the dog fed....., along with what kibble we have and table scraps.

-- Taz Richardson (Tassie@aol.com), February 16, 1999.

If things get REALLY bad, we might want to keep a close eye on our well-fed pets Someone might envision them as pot roast. . .

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), February 16, 1999.

People please stop feeding youranimals that "death food". Kibbles & Bits? Hills Science Diet? Iams? All these foods are made with animal by-products...bones, beaks, guts, hooves, etc. And when a poultry farm finds chickens with cancer guess where they end up? Sold to the pet food companies. There is a chemical in Hills, used as a preservative, that causes cancer in rats! It's called etoxicuine or something like that. I have been feeding my two dogs and one cat a food called Solid Gold. All natural stuff and they love it. Other foods i would use are Best in Show or California Natural. I have found these brands at For Pet's Sake, all but Best in Show, which is mail-order only. Please stop killing your animals.

-- Dogdude (I'mset@myplace.home), February 16, 1999.

DogDude,

Gimme a break. My last Schipperke lived to be 18 on a diet of primarily Alpo. Hooves and beaks? My two little morons will eat a dead toad.... a few hooves and beaks ain't gonna kill them.

Old Git,

What are you saying, that if it gets bad, a popular menu item could be "Chow" mein? Or Lochs and Beagles? Or turnips and Collie greens? Just curious.....

-- Online2Much (beaks@breakfast.com), February 16, 1999.


No, online: worse; pets just the appetizers. More like Hum Sum Pa

-- like Chinese (cannibals@hard.times), February 16, 1999.


Someone I know who's been homeless in the past claims that Purina Dog Chow has gotten him through some hard times...

-- Kevin (mixesmusic@worldnet.att.net), February 16, 1999.

We've kept Purina chow in 55 gal barrell for 4-5 months it's ok ditto purina catchow supplement with scraps. Ideal- no but what is? Might last longer.

-- EC (JHnck1776@aol.com), February 16, 1999.

Online2Much--too much! Hilarious! Brilliant! Let's add German shepherd's pie, mutt-on stew, lemon cur, curs and whey, and, of course, hot dogs. (My cats love this twist in the thread.)

Dogdude, re the stuff in the petfood, my 18-year old cat has been eating commercial petfood all her life, no problems thus far. So have the others, who range in age from three to fourteen. However, I don't like the idea of them eating diseased meat oe cancer-causing chemicals, so if you can give me a URL where I can look up the material, I'd be very appreciative.

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), February 16, 1999.


http://www.earthisland.org/journal/sum96-30b.html

A couple of the other good sites are unavailable at the moment.

-- Bumble Bee (bumble@icanect.net), February 16, 1999.


If (when) TSHTF, you'll have more to worry about than if you have enough yuppie gourmet food stashed away for your "animal companions".

The dogs better be working dogs, or they will be excess baggage.
"Fifi" better be a good mouser, otherwise she will be dog food.

-- A (A@AisA.com), February 16, 1999.



Current Hills sience diet as an experation date of 2/00. Just buy it and start to rotate it. Also Sams club has tity cat litter 40lb for 4.99. I have stocket or about 300lb in regular todes. Leave the catfood in the bag if you want to rotate it it has a plastic liner just stack the bags in plastic todes so that mice stay out. We had a sale here a couple of weeks ago 20lb for $12 I bought 10 bags will last me a few month with those ever hungry critters will buy and start rotating starting May or so or latest at the next sale.

-- rickjohn (rickjohn1@yahoo.com), February 16, 1999.

Message to Brooks; Concerning the "Litter" bit, go to your local car parts store and buy 50 lbs of Oil Dry. You will find it's the same as Cat Litter( ground clay) just add some Tide or other smell good stuff if need to. Save your money and think of alternatives to the known item contents. Furie...

-- Furie (furieart@dnet.net), February 16, 1999.

Here is the location of the dog food comparsion chart. Check it out.

To: Old Git, The info about chickens with cancer was from a 60-Minutes show where they investigated chicken farms. It was there that they found that a great many chickens had cancer or other diseases, thus being un-fit for us humans. But still good enough to be sold to the pet food companies. Pretty sad. I have 2 Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retrievers. Aside from being beloved family members and great watch dogs, I have about $1300 invested in them (what I paid for them as pups). I want them to be around for a while so i feed them, what i consider to be one of the best foods out there. A 40lb bag is $38 bucks and that lasts for 26 days.

http://www.aloha.com/~wolfepack/food.html

-- Dogdude (I'mset@home.house), February 17, 1999.


Thank God I have a chihuahua--barks at the least noise and eats maybe a handful of food a day, and I can tuck him under my arm and go if need be. Now my two cats, Thunder and Clarissa are a different story. They don't do anything useful,just stare at us and lick each other and taunt the Chihuahua. But hey we love 'em. We buy their food from Sams in these gigantic bags and pour them into these 6 gallon buckets with airtight lids. Works well for us. Hey if things get really bad the expiration date on my pets food is going to be the last thing I will be thinking about--so they eat some stale food, they;ll still live.

My husband is as big of a GI as I am but he still has not allowed me to stock up on kitty litter. Just a tip, if you feel like you will be hard up for litter, start taking the bags from your workplace under the shredder that are filled with little shredded bits of paper. In a pinch, you can line the box with newspaper, dump some of the shredded paper in, and there ya go! Also, stock up on HUGE boxes of baking soda for the litter box! All you do is sprinkle a little on the remaining litter after scooping and viola! No more odor! (Makes the litter last longer.)

Happy Scooping all you cat owners!

Buddy

(One last tip, if you have declawed cats and the sh** hits the fan, post-Y2K, please do anything you can NOT to let them go outside. They won't make it without the claws.)

-- Buddy (toomanyanimals@pets.com), February 20, 1999.


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