Here's Ginger with her lunch today. No need to sear chicken anymore
She got her drummette first, then a chicken neck with her THK.
(Sorry for the 'hubby commentary in the background)

I fed her a drummette yesterday and today her BM wasn't as firm and she seemed to have an easier time passing...so with more muscle meat on the drummette vx. a wing, she seems to do better.

My next question is:

Ginger gets fed 3x a day. Each meal is 1/4 THK plus 2 tablespoons, and 2 tablespoons Orijen. If I give her a wing, I minus the Orijen. I would like to graduate her to a chicken leg (drumstick).

Should I just feed a drumstick in lieu of one of the THK/Orijen meal? In other words, 2 meals would THK/Orijen and the third meal of the day would be a drumstick? Or is that too much food?

Yay for Ginger!!!! She seems to be totally enjoying it! =) and OMG your hubby had me cracking up! he's so funny!

cmanding wrote:

I fed her a drummette yesterday and today her BM wasn't as firm and she seemed to have an easier time passing...so with more muscle meat on the drummette vx. a wing, she seems to do better.

Glad to hear the meat to bone ratio adjustment is helping.

cmanding wrote:

My next question is:

Ginger gets fed 3x a day. Each meal is 1/4 THK plus 2 tablespoons, and 2 tablespoons Orijen. If I give her a wing, I minus the Orijen. I would like to graduate her to a chicken leg (drumstick).

Should I just feed a drumstick in lieu of one of the THK/Orijen meal? In other words, 2 meals would THK/Orijen and the third meal of the day would be a drumstick? Or is that too much food?

That sounds like a plan. How much does her drummet weigh? You can try the two THK/Orijen meals and one drummet meal and adjust as needed if she gains or loses. Our chicken quarters weigh 1 pound and that's all we feed our sibe for that day, aside from treats in the morning, afternoon, and evening.

Huskyluv wrote:

That sounds like a plan. How much does her drummet weigh? You can try the two THK/Orijen meals and one drummet meal and adjust as needed if she gains or loses. Our chicken quarters weigh 1 pound and that's all we feed our sibe for that day, aside from treats in the morning, afternoon, and evening.

The drummette is the mini drumstick attached to the wing. That's what she's getting now.

If Dakota is only getting 1 lb of raw for the whole day, I'll have to check the weight for a regular drumstick. I'm guessing that maybe she may only get 1 cup of THK, no Orijen and raw drumstick for food for the day.

Thanks Val! This gives me an idea of how much to adjust her regular food if I increase her to a drumstick.

Oh okay, I was thinking it was the drumstick. I'm such a confused individual! lol

Yeah, we feed a lb of food a day. So 1 cup of THK if that's what we're feeding that day. If I do a mix of THK and a raw I weigh out the raw food and adjust the HK amount so that the two combined equal about a lb or slightly over. And of course on our raw days I feed about a pound. Granted I do give treats so that does increase his total food intake for the day to over a lb. I'd say total he gets about 1.25 to 1.5 lbs max of food per day total.

Hmm...I think Ginger eats a little more. She gets a total of 1.5 cups total in a day if I'm feeding only her THK/Orijen.

I'll figure out weight and adjust accordingly. Or maybe I should decrease her food intake slightly since I think she could lose a couple of pounds. She's 59.6 lbs right now, and our old vet says he can totally tell that she's gained a lot more muscle mass than when he first saw her last October. He says she's right where she should be, but I think if we could drop at least 3 lbs over the summer, she'd be better off...

It's healthier to be on the leaner side regardless so I'm sure it couldn't hurt if you did want to drop a few pounds off of her. Plus, it'll probably help stimulate her appetite a bit more.

Dakota is 55 lbs and he looks good, he was at 58-59 lbs for the past 2 years and in good health but it was a little bit extra for him to be carrying around. Our holistic vet said he was fine at the 58-59 lb mark but honestly, he is much healthier and better off at 54-55 lbs. He's got more energy and stamina with those few extra pounds off, it makes a difference. Faith and Glory were both overweight when I adopted them and they are so much healthier and active without all that extra weight. Not to mention how much better their joints are without having to support a heavier body.

You can always try her out at a lower weight and see how she does, I'm sure if it doesn't work out that Ginger will easily put the weight back on. 3 lbs can make a big difference in their overall health and well being, I know from experience with Dakota.

Huskyluv wrote:

It's healthier to be on the leaner side regardless so I'm sure it couldn't hurt if you did want to drop a few pounds off of her. Plus, it'll probably help stimulate her appetite a bit more.

Dakota is 55 lbs and he looks good, he was at 58-59 lbs for the past 2 years and in good health but it was a little bit extra for him to be carrying around. Our holistic vet said he was fine at the 58-59 lb mark but honestly, he is much healthier and better off at 54-55 lbs. He's got more energy and stamina with those few extra pounds off, it makes a difference. Faith and Glory were both overweight when I adopted them and they are so much healthier and active without all that extra weight. Not to mention how much better their joints are without having to support a heavier body.

You can always try her out at a lower weight and see how she does, I'm sure if it doesn't work out that Ginger will easily put the weight back on. 3 lbs can make a big difference in their overall health and well being, I know from experience with Dakota.

Yep, I totally agree!

When we adopted Ginger, she was 56-57 lbs. She was picky and ate very little, probably because she needed time to settle in to her new home. When she did settle in, she weighed in at 59 lbs. Then diarreha set in and I thought with feeding her so little, she would drop 1 or 2 lbs, but she didn't. She's been holding steady at 59 lbs. Jenn says she doesn't look that heavy.

Still, I completely agree with you. Even if the vet says she OK, I'd still like to lean her out a little more. She'll only be healthier.

Thanks Val!

I am a proud momma today!!

At dinner, Ginger got her THK with her little wing and neck in her food bowl...and she ate it all up right out of her food bowl!

I didn't have to clean the carpet where she normally takes her chicken!

I've backed off a little of the Orijen and her THK since she's getting a tad more raw chicken...I'll have to weigh it out, but her food for the day is now: 3/4 c THK, 3 full tablespoons of Orijen, and a raw chicken neck and either a wing or small drummette....of course she gets a few treats during the day...Hopefully, that'll help her drop a couple of pounds in the next couple of months.

Awww Yay Ginger!!!!!!! How much does she weigh now? I think you mentioned it before, but I don't remember.

The last time she went to the vet, she weighed in at 59.6 lbs...she's been at that weight since I got her back on track from diarreha, which is about 4 or 5 months now.

Oh how I wish Mya was at 59lbs...LOL! Last time she went to the vet she was at 68lbs...had lost 4lbs from her previous 72lbs! Still working on it! I'm thinking she's lost a lil more now. I'm planning on taking her to the pet store soon to get weighed. Ginger is fine...2-3lbs and she'll be perfect =)

Yep - I'd like her to be 55-56 lbs...but man! 3 lbs off her is hard!! (Just like me trying to lose 6 lbs!) It ain't much, but it ain't easy!! What the hell?!

cmanding wrote:

Yep - I'd like her to be 55-56 lbs...but man! 3 lbs off her is hard!! (Just like me trying to lose 6 lbs!) It ain't much, but it ain't easy!! What the hell?!

Typical woman issues..lol! Girl, I have a very small frame, and for me to lose 5lbs means working out twice a day like mad women and eating like a rabbit! I know it's hard! Same with Mya! I'm always telling her that i"m sorry she's a chic with chic weight issues..LOL!

Walked to the vet's office today and weighed Ginger....58.6 lbs

That's awesome! Baby steps!

I have to believe it's all the fur she's shedding!

But seriously, the last time she's been to the vet was a few weeks ago, so sometime since she's lost some weight. When I got home, and she was laying down on the floor, hubby asks, 'I wonder if she lost some weight. She looks like she has. You can see more definition...'

Right now, Ginger gets a wing or drummette, and neck every day once a day. Once she graduates to a thigh or drumstick, would feeding her that once a day be too much? Should I stagger it to every other day?

For now, since you're still starting out in this it should be fine daily. Just be sure to make the necessary portion adjustments to keep her from gaining weight. I'm sure you already are but just wanted to be sure.

Yep...I weighed her THK that's she's getting now...and it's a total of 9 oz. She also gets 1.5 oz of Orijen as well. And then a few treats as she usually does. The chicken she gets now is under 3 oz.

So in total, she NOW gets 13.5 oz of food and her usual treats. Wow...!

That means she WAS getting just about a 1lb of food...

No wonder she lost 1 lb in the last few weeks which is about when I started feeding raw chicken! Heh! Didn't even know...

...and we're SO in tune with each other, I TOO have lost 2 lbs! LOL!!

Awesome, you two are in it together!

Are you weighing her THK before adding water, or after? Just curious...

I think Nikolai and I have both found your "lost" weight. He needed it, but I sure as hell don't. :-( Kharmic balance in the universe.

I weighed her THK after I added water. So 1/4 c THK + 1/3 c water = 3 oz.

Now, I do make her's a little more on the dry side because I will make up 4 servings and put it in the fridge. When she's ready to eat, to take the chill of, I spash a couple more tablespoons of hot water so it's not too cold.

I now feed her 1/4 c THK (dry) three times a day. With that, she gets about 1 oz of Orijen (each meal) which is about 1 rounded tablespoon, and about 2.5 oz of raw chicken. And she gets a few treats throughout the day.

When she's up to a thigh or drumstick, that'll be a meal serving. So she'll then get only 1/2 c THK (dry) and 2 tablespoons of Orijen in addition to her drumstick or thigh. I'll have to weigh out the drumstick/thigh to make sure it's about 3-3.5 oz so she still gets about the same amount of food in weight...

Hey Claudia! I was just separating the drummettes that I bought yesterday and was wondering if you give them to Ginger as is? They seem to have a lot of skin and/or fat. Did you take some of that off?