I've been reading a lot of good threads here about what a person or family should stock up on in case of disaster situations. What I haven't seen is advice on what to stock up on for pets. As anyone who has a large dog or two knows, they can eat up a 40lb bag of kibble pretty quick. My first thought is to keep a couple extra bags in reserve, along with extra water. Anyone have some suggestions for dealing with pets and their needs in a worst case scenario? Thanks, Squirrel
My dog isn't very large, so I figure I can shoot/butcher one of my illegal alien neighbors about once or twice a month to keep him fed properly. Good question... Keep a bottle or two of Neem Oil Shampoo around for flea control, Maybe some worming meds though I'm not sure what kind of shelf life the stuff has. Actually, our dog (His puppy pic is my avatar) has a travel bag already packed that's probably stocked better than mine. We tend to go overboard when it comes to the "kid". .
Definition of a heeler is: it will eat anything that doesn’t eat it first; I have come to believe this now after watching my heelers over the years. I stock for him as another person in the family. Although I would be curious as to the self life of dog food.
As to the worming and flea controle, tobaco (especialy when chased by castor oil) worms dogs well and garlic will in the pets food will deture fleas. As far as the food issue we do most of our own butchering and would do it all if needed and raise some stock. While we dont eat most of the entrials the animals love them as well as the bones with the scraps we cant carve off so well. So that combined with a little extra food from the table is our basic plan for the pup and as a suplement for the cats, they can mostly chase mice and birds if times are that lean.
I try to keep 500-700 lbs of Dog food and a few hundred pounds of Cat food. After that is gone, Dunno.... It's not really their fault that we domesticated them... Need to take care of them I stock Vet meds so I suppose I can share with them if they need something
Another thought to consider is that most of the better pet foods are primairly rice with a little meat or broth added so a good option for pet food with an indefinate shelf life and such might be a whole bunch of rice and toss a fer meat scraps or broken/cut bones in the water with it when cooking it to feed the pets.
Guys, sorry for my late response...I've been a little busy. Melbo.......where the heck do you keep 500-700lbs of dog food?? The rice and scraps for dog food is a good idea...my dog likes carrots so maybe I'd better plant some in the garden. Besides, the rabbit that tries to steal my carrots is going to become part of the stew......
I have a workshop attatched to the house. Whenever my wife buys another bag of food, I run and get one from the shop and stash hers away. Keeps it somewhat rotated that way. And, I just started this pan last month when a local Grocery closed and had a half price clearance....
well as for water depending on if you live in the city or out in the country cus i know my grandpa's dog would go out and would find some wild food but i don't know how true that dogs stomach acid is 3 times stronger than ours so they could eat road kill if need be or drink ditch water and should not get sick. just my 2 cents
I think that shelf life for an unopened bag of dry dog food is one thing, though what if you put it into one of those blue 50gal drums and vacuum seal it? Any ideas on the shelf life of that or how long that vacuum seal will last?
