05/29 into 30 : +9 85; +10 67; pmps 57; +1 80 **The Beginning??**

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LuvinThisPig

LuvinThisPig

Member Since 2017
Yesterday's

Okay... Sorry this is a double post. Work has been off the charts lately. I am the second longest tenured person at that place and have been with the company approx. 2 years longer than my current boss... Let us just say I am not overly popular right now, but it is okay because I do my job very well and have a very large reputation in this town. Either way, it has been very long and very stressful days. Both Monday and Tuesday I got off work, fed the boys, tested, and passed out on the couch for hours... Ugh.. Corporate politics. :rolleyes:

Sooooooo….. On yesterday's cycles he began to get constipated. Badly. I first noticed him being a bit more stand offish. As in, he was not coming to snuggle and hiding under the couch. Those tell me he is uncomfortable. His bladder swelled up again and I hate that. It has been over a month since we have dealt with that. So, for his BID meal I gave raw, but then portioned out Weruva for the rest of the cycle. He did have a bowel movement and in fact, it might just be the constipation that effect his numbers so dramatically between the two foods. However, he has not been constipated in a very long while.

After running 2 cycles on just canned, his constipation is a bit better except for one thing. Man, did his numbers tank today!! I can't decide if it is because of the canned cycle where he got less food and / or defecated, finally being able to 'snow-cone' the raw to make it easier for him to digest, or if this is the beginning of it all.....

I should have made a reduction today per my scale, but given that all the numbers around the one 65 at +8 on the pm cycle were 91 or higher, I chalked it up to meter variance. That and he moved while I was loading the strip with blood, so I filled that little blood canal in two dips, which typically causes an error. I figured the strip messed up and the 91 was the more accurate.

Yet, he tanked down again today and he has had quite a bit of food, even if it is all canned. So, its not the food its the dose, right @Wendy&Neko? It has to be.... He has eaten so much today that his is doing his fat toddler bit. Do you recommend pulling the dose down already or should I run a cycle with the raw to see if he comes back up? I honestly feel the raw is proving more difficult to digest (or slower) and this pumps up numbers... It cannot be portions today because, well, he has eaten a ton!

I am at a loss on what to do. My scale says when he drops below 70, then I reduce. So, I should reduce. However, I think this drop was more related to constipation... I guess... Better safe than sorry, huh??
 
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Found this to be the most relatable thing I have ever seen.....
 
Anyone have advice on a good set of kitchen scales?? I need to become very, very stringent with food intakes.
 
Wendy&Neko said:
Exciting times!:)
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Oh... These two little words just made my tummy jump. It is! A bit scary, but exciting for sure! The trip has all seemed a bit surreal because the impact did not show... But, if this is the start... :woot:

Wendy&Neko said:
Better safe than sorry. Been 22 days, could be SRT starting. If it is, you don't want to be at a higher dose. It's much easier to go back up if you need to.
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Agreed! I will cut him back down to 45u and watch very closely tonight... That depot is built by now and that 45u will carry that cycle. I keep forgetting to add the R as a tool. I need to do this instead of increasing the L so much, I think. If he has to go back up it might just be a half increase and then R added in. What do you think?
 
The More You Know with Pig's (totally biological) Grandma.....

So, Mommy Dearest taught me how to properly blend frozen raw food. Or rather, I should say, forcefully pointed out precisley what I was doing wrong in the whole ordeal. Either way, we are very grateful because blending food has been one of the single biggest factors of improvement for Pig's digestion. Now, I am fine tuning and learning a few tricks.

I just took an entire block of raw food (about the size of a cup) and smashed it to bits in the blender, just the way mother would have wanted. What did I learn? That even though it is getting blended it is NOT getting thawed. Really, I am making meat flavored snow-cones. Good stuff! What does this tell me? That I can take a 24oz container of RC and let it thaw just so much that I can chisel bits off like @Chris & China suggested I do, then place those frozen bits in the blender (my big industrial one) and snow-cone them up and since it has not thawed, this means I can refreeze into any shape I want with little risk of contamination.. So, I can use blended snow-cone meat in my mini meat-muffins for the perfection of meal I have been looking for! Fantastic! Although, I would never admit this to my Mother.. :p

Also, I think most of Tail's aversion to the raw is an aversion to texture. I think the stringy little tendrils of whatever it is bothers him when he is eating it. This means that if that is the case, there is a very real possibility that he will eat the snow-cone meat... Ahh, a girl can hope... :rolleyes:

I anticipate Pork to be here in the next day or two with his probiotics coming tomorrow. I will need to finish up a spot of research and get him settled into a dose before I change anything, but if I am correct, then I suspect we will see some healing gut-walls soon!

And, why does none of these meat suppliers sell organ meat in with the typical ground? Does it degrade the quality somehow? Or is it another way to make you HAVE to buy more??? Because 13$ for a pound of Bison meat is not enough... Let us charge twice that for the organs you will HAVE to have... ugh.
 
LuvinThisPig said:
The More You Know with Pig's (totally biological) Grandma.....

So, Mommy Dearest taught me how to properly blend frozen raw food. Or rather, I should say, forcefully pointed out precisley what I was doing wrong in the whole ordeal. Either way, we are very grateful because blending food has been one of the single biggest factors of improvement for Pig's digestion. Now, I am fine tuning and learning a few tricks.

I just took an entire block of raw food (about the size of a cup) and smashed it to bits in the blender, just the way mother would have wanted. What did I learn? That even though it is getting blended it is NOT getting thawed. Really, I am making meat flavored snow-cones. Good stuff! What does this tell me? That I can take a 24oz container of RC and let it thaw just so much that I can chisel bits off like @Chris & China suggested I do, then place those frozen bits in the blender (my big industrial one) and snow-cone them up and since it has not thawed, this means I can refreeze into any shape I want with little risk of contamination.. So, I can use blended snow-cone meat in my mini meat-muffins for the perfection of meal I have been looking for! Fantastic! Although, I would never admit this to my Mother.. :p

Also, I think most of Tail's aversion to the raw is an aversion to texture. I think the stringy little tendrils of whatever it is bothers him when he is eating it. This means that if that is the case, there is a very real possibility that he will eat the snow-cone meat... Ahh, a girl can hope... :rolleyes:

I anticipate Pork to be here in the next day or two with his probiotics coming tomorrow. I will need to finish up a spot of research and get him settled into a dose before I change anything, but if I am correct, then I suspect we will see some healing gut-walls soon!

And, why does none of these meat suppliers sell organ meat in with the typical ground? Does it degrade the quality somehow? Or is it another way to make you HAVE to buy more??? Because 13$ for a pound of Bison meat is not enough... Let us charge twice that for the organs you will HAVE to have... ugh.
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Is your industrial blender a Vitamix? Best blender ever - it could puree boot leather!
 
LuvinThisPig said:
And, why does none of these meat suppliers sell organ meat in with the typical ground?
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Try raw pet food suppliers. I have a hard time getting the novel proteins WITHOUT the organs in them. Though sometimes it's hard to get the same protein organ as meat. For example, I've seen kangaroo with goat organs...
 
@Wendy&Neko did we talk about making back to back reductions? As in breaking protocol? I had a hard time keeping him up last night and he rode below 70 for about 3 hours. All of this is with snacks even. He has that depot in play still, so do what do you think? Give a BCS to drain the depot a bit and continue with the 45u or drop him to 40 on this dose? That residual effect is still in play and it is definitely the dose and not the food.
 
Wendy&Neko said:
Try raw pet food suppliers. I have a hard time getting the novel proteins WITHOUT the organs in them. Though sometimes it's hard to get the same protein organ as meat. For example, I've seen kangaroo with goat organs...
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Which suppliers do you use? I looked at Hare Today and all of their ground was devoid of organ meat. They had a few options, but not many. Miami Raw had decent prices, but I was not too thrilled with how they do things. As in, they purchase the meat and then repackage for wholesale. Seems to me that any food for raw needs to be cleaned and processed on site and then flash frozen. Not shipped around and 'repackaged'.
 
I would also note that the green starting showing up on cycle 6 of 50 units, when the depot was built. It could just be 50 units is too much. Regardless, I'd do something like a 1/2 or 2/3 dose for the next cycle, to help drain that depot. 1/2 if you are going to work and can't monitor (or need sleep!). I'd try 45 after that, depending on how the cycle goes with the BCS. Post if you can get a +10 or +11 today.

As for suppliers, they are all local/Canadian. Of course, the kangaroo is not local. :p
 
Wendy&Neko said:
I would also note that the green starting showing up on cycle 6 of 50 units, when the depot was built. It could just be 50 units is too much. Regardless, I'd do something like a 1/2 or 2/3 dose for the next cycle, to help drain that depot. 1/2 if you are going to work and can't monitor (or need sleep!).
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Sure thing. I can do a 2/3 dose. I will be home and plan to clean. Naps can be taken early on in the cycle. I have a whole can of coffee... :p However, I don't think a 2/3 dose will have much effect on the immediate cycle. Historically, he only climbs with a half dose or less, but I also don't want him to climb too far. Just a tad, so a 2/3 might be right up our alley!

Listen to me talking like I know things.. :joyful: But, I think you are 100% correct in this! You always are... :smuggrin:

Wendy&Neko said:
Post if you can get a +10 or +11 today.
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Ahhh, yes.. I was looking at this last night. I am woefully devoid on those times lately. I just took a +11 and will get one on this am cycle. No work today, so just spring cleaning, a bit of napping, and a lot of coffee and monitoring.

Wendy&Neko said:
As for suppliers, they are all local/Canadian. Of course, the kangaroo is not local.
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The great Canadian Kangaroo... :p
I wonder if they would ship? That is the main problem I have. Isolation. Even the pet food companies that are within a 2 hour radius from us do not carry the actual pre-ground meat. Instead, they opt for commercially made raw and cooked diets. Many of which, with the exception of RC at one Naturals Store, are loaded with all the unnatural things like vegetables and trendy ingredients. I think some even sell this ridiculous 'vegan' diet for cats. Fie on all of that!

I will say that I believe any impact to the BGs that I saw with raw can be attributed to constipation or the sheer bulk of the food. Since figuring out how to snow-cone the meat, he can move it through with far less effort and even with 4 meals of raw his is getting back down to where he was before. No enlarged bladder and the 'toddler' shape is melting off, even with the extra snacks he got last night. We may just have hit a gold mine with this one.
 
So, doing calculations. I think I can get by on roughly 15lbs of raw meat a month for both the boys. This is assuming that Tail will take to the raw. Of course, I can still cook whatever meat I get for Tail, but raw is preferable. If I bulk order the meat that will limit shipping costs to about 25$. My whole total for a month should be about 220$ for meat and shipping costs. Then, I can purchase the EZ Complete which will cover 130 servings for a small bag. The cost is not exorbitant at all and rather comparable to the cost of RC and even the cost of can, considering how much can we move through.

I was looking at filling a box, because that would be a one time shipping fee. But, to be honest, I have no idea where to even store the 55lbs of meat (Hare Today) to fill a box. Anyone have a giant freezer I can borrow?
 
I revaluated the parameters of Operation Sneaky Meat. We saw mild success. More so than before. He is more receptive of a blended snow-cone texture. Now, I will continue putting a small amount in until he finishes all the food like he does without the raw mixed in. Once we hit that mile stone then I will increase the amount per meal. Go Tail go!
 
So far he has come up a bit with the BCS, but not much. More than I expected, though. I feel it safe to give 45uL. I will be home to monitor. I think the 45u will be good now that I am managing his intake better. The 50u was just a bit much. Actually, under normal circumstances it was a good dose, but with reductions looming it was a bit much. @Wendy&Neko
 
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