Pet Survival

Discussion in 'General Survival and Preparedness' started by OffTheGridReady, Oct 29, 2010.


  1. OffTheGridReady

    OffTheGridReady Monkey+

    I've been feeding my dogs raw food for months now and need to rethink my strategy for taking care of my dogs. They do not like dry food and finding raw meat when the SHTF will be impossible. I guess I need to start storing wet food for my dogs!
    Anyone know of a natural heart worm preventative?
     
  2. RightHand

    RightHand Been There, Done That RIP 4/15/21 Moderator Moderator Emeritus Founding Member

    You can read an interesting article at:Natural Heartworm Prevention for Your Dog

    Depending on the size of the dog, it would seem pretty difficult to store enough wet food to adequately meet the nutritional need of the pup. My dog eats between 50 - 60 lbs of high protein, grain free dry food a month, a bison & venison food. I can't imagine trying to feed him wet food. He does like me to add a little warm water to the dry.
     
  3. bnmb

    bnmb On Hiatus Banned

    I'd say raw meat won't be a problem when SHTF...Water might, meat no!
     
  4. OffTheGridReady

    OffTheGridReady Monkey+

    Those are some of my concerns. I have two dogs, both around thirty pounds. We live in the suburbs, creating the shortage of meat. There are a few squirrels in our backyard and we had a few other critters, but it want last for long. I've thought about raising chickens and rabbits. Might need a combination of each for a long-term event.
     
  5. tacmotusn

    tacmotusn RIP 1/13/21

    Feeding two 30lb dogs will be near the bottom of your list of concerns should the SHTF. I will say no more. I wish you good luck and peace. Hopefully we will all live long lives and our preps will be unnecessary.
     
  6. BadgeBunny

    BadgeBunny Monkey++

    There are several books out there that have recipes for nutritionally sound meals for dogs made from a lot of the same things you will store for yourself and/or the rest of your family. I have actually figured out how much rice, beans, veggies, and canned meat I would need to "prep" for my dogs and cats and started putting that back as opposed to dedicated dog or cat food.

    If something happens to my pets I would much rather have extra stores of something I can use than 100 extra pounds of dog food or cat food.

    Jackie gets dog food but also gets meals made from people food too. You would be surprised at how much you prepare for your own family that is perfectly fine for your pets also.

    Just to be on the safe side I also stock the big jars of PetTabs (check out amazon). Depending on your dog's size one or two a day should cover any deficiencies.

    Not any different than prepping for people really ... just a matter of doing what you need to do to thrive, not just survive, as they say.
     
  7. Detentus

    Detentus Monkey+

    We have two dogs and feed them "Taste of the Wild." We always have a couple of big bags on hand. I suspect that suddenly changing their diets in a worse case scenario would lead to digestive issues. As with people this would need to be done gradually. You could start by gradually introducing dry food into their diets until they adapted. Any vet will tell you this.
     
  8. Rex Lee

    Rex Lee Monkey+

    For heartworm preventative, stock up on Ivomec injectable, specified for cattle.
    1/10th of a CC for every 10lbs of your dog's weight. Do not inject, but give orally. The active ingredient: Ivermectin, is the same main anti-heartworm ingredient found in Heartguard, that your vet charges you a ridiculous amount of money for. The other active ingredient in Heartguard is Pyrantel Pamoate, which you can also get inexpensively. It is used for bloodworms such as hookworms, roundworms, pinworms and the like. Another good alternative for this, is Safeguard for Cattle. It takes BOTH heartworm AND bloodworm meds to keep your dog healthy - in warm southern climates, at least.

    I have raised hunting dogs in the south, where Heartworms are rampant for going on 20 years, and this is a tried and true method.

    IMPORTANT EXCEPTION!! Collies and breeds with collie in them are known to have adverse reactions to Ivermectin the active ingredient in Ivomec. People with those breeds will have to find another solution...

    Google: cattle ivomec for dogs for more info on heartworm treatment and "pyrantel pamoate for dogs" for blood worm treatment info.
     
  9. Rex Lee

    Rex Lee Monkey+

    P.S. For Post SHTF dog feeding, you should probably not be stuck up, and keep some a couple hundred pounds of dry kibble dog food stored in airtight bins, along with all the cans you are going to keep on hand. It is cheap, and there is no sense being stuck up about feeding dry food in a post SHTF scenario.

    For the record, we feed our hunting a good high protein, high fat, low grain kibble. Our dogs can easily cover as much as 20-25 miles during a night of hunting (according to garmin GPS tracking collars.) They are healthy, extremely muscular and can out perform any house dog fed a "raw diet" or any kind of gourmet food. Those things are just silly internet "fads". Dogs can be HEALTHY, and happy eating good quality, dry kibble. Anything else and you are just doing to make yourself feel good, your dog doesn't need it, and you are probably doing more harm than good.
     
  10. Witch Doctor 01

    Witch Doctor 01 Mojo Maker

    well you can always eat dog food if you run low... it's balanced for a active life style...
     
  11. bnmb

    bnmb On Hiatus Banned

    LOL...or...you could eat the dog... :D
     
  12. BadgeBunny

    BadgeBunny Monkey++


    Ahhh ... let me tick off the reasons why I would rather feed my dogs what I eat than eat what most people feed their dogs:

    1. My dad was a veterinarian. He got me my first paying gig at a slaughter house that was right down the road from us. I KNOW what goes into the "byproducts" pile ... [peep]

    2. There is a Purina dog food factory in Edmond, OK ... I drive right past it on my way to my chiropractor's clinic ... I have smelled what they are cooking ... [peep]

    3. You can feed your dogs basically the same way you feed yourself. Although there are some foods that your dog should not eat, most of the time it is the seasonings that create the problem. Educate yourself a little ...

    4. Whose house would you rather eat at post-SHTF?? Someone who has extra real food or someone who has extra dog food??

    However, with all things in life and Post-SHTF ... YMMV ... :D

    (And just for the record guys ... I don't like MREs either!! :rolleyes: LOL)
     
  13. oldsoldier

    oldsoldier Gadget Master

    Do like we did with both our adopted dogs. started mixing what they were used to eating with dry food. Gradually we cut back on the meat/wet food until they were eating only dry food. We now keep around 200 pounds of dry food on hand and rotate it to keep it fairly fresh.
     
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