I realized I could no longer reel his number off by heart. I actually had to scroll through my contact list. Like wtf right.
It took 3 years for me to accomplish this. 3 bloody years for me to forget his number.
And you know, I'm not even the super-sentimental sort. I wonder how long it takes for emo qings and kueens to forget their past.
They probably never do.
***Now for a public service announcement: View Yasmin Ahmad's SPCA commercial at http://yasminthefilmmaker.blogspot.com. It's freakin touching ok. Do your bit to prevent cruelty to animals and spread the word.***
Got a wedding to attend to this coming Saturday. The bride armtwisted me to attend her church ceremony. Gah. I've never attended a wedding ceremony at church before because:
- I rather sleep in.
- I don't believe in getting dressed up for something that lasts just an hour.
- I'm pessimistic that way.
Some more it's a Catholic wedding and the church is un-airconditioned. Thank gawd it's only for about an hour. Any longer than that, I'd probably melt into something akin to unholy water.
Anyhoo, one of my colleague coaxed me to attend Catholic classes with her in April. Now, for the record, if I DO attend classes, it's just so that IF and ONLY IF I do marry B, we'll get to marry in church in holy matrimony with bells and whistles and the whole nine yards. If not, we'll only get the priest's blessings, like
Jessie Chung did.
For the record again, I cannot see myself as a Catholic because the Baptists got me first and although I'm such a "worldly" person (according to MK), I find that their teachings make more sense. Not that I'm against the Caths or anything, I mean, whatever makes you happy, right? I just find that it's not my cup of tea. And I cannot imagine how I will behave in a class where I have to pretend that oh yes Father, I so believe in Mother Mary, the saints and rosaries. Because I freakin don't and I have no idea how to do that ok. You know, I didn't even believe in creationism because evolution makes a hell lot more sense, but now I've accepted that God created the universe and all living creatures, but please, not the Adam and Eve bit. That's like telling me that Harry Potter and his broomstick is real. Now how many Hail Marys do I have to say in order to repent? Oh, and don't forget to dunk me in a bath tub of holy water and pray for my tortured soul while you're at it.
But then hor, the only positive thing about being a Catholic is that I get to choose a new name and I get a freakin cert for it! But only if I REALLY get to choose my own name. God help me if I had to be a Mary or Elizabeth hahahahahahahahahaha. Oh, and I get to buy myself a gold crucifix, eventhough I don't believe it has the power to ward off vampires or pontianaks. I'm just thrilled to be able to accumulate more pieces of gold jewelry. And the hour long services! If they totally do away with the kneeling part, it would be perfect. Baptist churches don't require you to kneel, but their services are sooooooooo long, almost 2 hours. So yes, I love the fact you can get to heaven by just devoting one hour a week.
Just remind me to bring my own cushion for knee pads.
Thursday, February 05, 2009
The comment that deserved its own post
1. If I have a big dog, will I still feed raw?
YES! Actually, Bobby + Brandy's weight = 30kg, which is nearly the average weight of a adult male Golden Retriever (27-36kg). In fact, I wanted to put Bobby on 100% raw diet also. Problem is, I've still got too much kibbles at home. And canned dog food, which used to be Brandy's staple diet. So processed or not, Bobby has to finish them.
Also, Bobby is a bit of an idiot when it comes to raw feeding. He doesn't like raw chicken. He loves raw mince meat though. And I'm not feeling benevolent enough to experiment with other types of meat so soon. So Brandy gets all the chicken, while Bobby eats the raw mince.
Supposing I put both of them on a raw diet, feeding 2-3% of total body weight per day, my food cost a month would be:
3% of 30kg = 900g
1kg raw mince meat (pet food variety) = RM3 per kg
900g raw mince = RM2.70 per kg
1 month = RM2.70 x 31 days = RM83.70
As for the bones and organs:
Chicken drumsticks = RM8.50 per kg
Liver = RM5 per kg
I bought 4 medium-sized drumsticks for RM5 at Cold Storage, which means I'm paying upscale price. I'll probably pay less if I get them from the market or normal supermarket. So on average, 1 drumstick = RM1.25. If I feed one drumstick every other day, my cost will be RM19.40 per month. If I feed one drumstick every day, it will be RM38.80.
Chicken liver is very cheap. At slightly more than half the price of drumsticks per kg, even if fed every day, cost will be maybe RM20 per month.
So in total, meat + drumsticks + liver = RM150.
But that's a very conservative estimate. Actually I pay less than that because I feed less than 1% of body weight. Reason being, chicken drumsticks come with meat too, which means I have to cut the weight of mince meat, or else I'll be over feeding the dog.
So in reality, I'll be feeding my 30kg dog roughly 500g raw mince daily, which will cost RM46.50 month. If I add in a drumstick and some liver EVERY DAY, it will bring the monthly total to RM105.30. Cheaper than a 6.5kg bag of Innova Evo. :)
Of course, there are so many other ways to lower cost. Feed breast meat + bones instead of drumsticks. Feed chicken wings instead of drumsticks. Or even chicken necks. The sky's the limit.
2. But I can only go to the market on weekends.
I never go to the market. I buy all the stuff I want from supermarkets. I'm a sucker for comfort. As long as you find yourself a supermarket or hypermarket with a meat counter and there's a guy behind the counter who can slice meat for you, you can definitely buy raw mince meat for pet food. Just ask for "pet food", the meat guy should know.
Then you go home and portion the meat into little bags and pop the whole lot into the freezer. In the morning, take one bag out to defrost. By evening, the meat is soft enough to be fed. If you get a frozen bag of pet food, just ask the meat guy to slice the meat up into smaller blocks so that it's easier for you to pack individually at home.
Once, I bought 2 bags of frozen mince (2kg per bag) and I forgot to ask the meat guy to slice it up for me. When I got home, I spent more than an hour hacking through frozen meat. It was like trying to free a woolly mammoth from the ice. It was painful. My fingers were numb and blistered at the end. So don't be afraid to ask the meat guy for help.
3. That's how you get clear pee?
Uhm, yes. Well, the more water you drink, the lighter your pee will be. The same rule applies to dogs too. The trick is to find something to add to water so that he'll drink more than usual. In Brandy's case, it's a teaspoon of raw mince added to a little hot water and then topped up with drinking water. She drinks roughly a big cup of soup before every meal.
My colleague adds a little glucose to her dog's drinking water to entice him to drink, but I've never tried that before. Basically, you work with whatever you have or whatever it takes to make your dog drink more.
4. Although dogs can't process green leaves, I still give them as treats.
Lucky you. My dogs don't eat fruits or vegetables because Bella gets first priority on anything un-meat. And I'm not strict on dogs eating greens. Maybe because I'm not a huge fan of vegetables myself. Haha.
Labels: bella, bobby, brandy, dog, kibble, raw feeding
Posted by Hedonistics Anonymous :: 7:06 PM ::
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Wednesday, February 04, 2009
The continuing saga of Miss Brandy... continues
It has been almost 3 weeks since I started Miss Brandy on her raw diet.
Along the way, I modified her diet here and there to suit her needs and mine too. I had to, because Brandy is a special-needs dog (yes very speshul) who doesn't like to drink water. But basically, raw meat and bones still make up the bulk of diet.
For breakfast, Brandy gets:
1. Soup (1 cup hot water + 1 teaspoon raw mince meat for flavor).
2. A hard-boiled egg (with bits of shell attached for calcium).
I choose not to feed raw eggs to my dogs because of the biotin (Vitamin B) hype. Apparently, raw egg WHITES contain an enzyme called avidin which can bind biotin and prevent it from being absorbed by animals, which ultimately leads to Vitamin B deficiency. The only way to destroy avidin is through cooking the egg whites. Anyhoo, I did my research and discovered that dogs that are fed whole raw eggs do not suffer from biotin deficiency because something in the raw egg yolk prevents that from happening.
Whatever, I don't have the time to separate the whites for cooking and leave the yolks raw. So she gets cooked eggs and she lurves them.
For dinner, Brandy gets:
1. Soup (same as breakfast)
2. Raw mince meat
3. On alternate days, she gets a whole chicken drumstick and offal. This week she's eating gizzards because CCK Cold Storage didn't have chicken liver for sale. Gizzards, though slightly more expensive, are easier to deal with and doesn't have the strong bloody, iron-y smell that liver has.
Raw mince meat (the type that butchers sell as pet food) are so damn cheap at RM2-RM3 per kg. 2 kgs can last Brandy more than a week. Even with the cost of chicken drumsticks and offal in, it's still a hell lot cheaper than buying kibble. I'm not against people feeding their pooches kibble, but I wish petfood manufacturers would stop labelling their products as "organic", "natural" or "holistic". Face it, there's nothing natural, organic or holistic about kibble. It's just processed food. It's like buying "wild salmon" in a can. By the time it's in a can, who cares whether it's wild or farmed or hand-reared to do circus tricks in your bath tub? Until I personally see that the salmon has been caught from icy Alaskan rivers or Norwegian fjords, you can take your "wild" label and stuff it where the sun don't shine.
Now, tell me, do you believe that McDonald's uses "premium" beef in your Big Mac? :)
Oops, back to the main topic of conversation.
I'm looking into lowering the already low cost (IMHO) of Brandy's meal. My father loves what raw food is doing to our shih tzu, but he keeps mumbling that drumsticks are expensive (But dad, a week's worth of drumsticks cost less than a meal at McD's!) and so he suggested feeding Brandy solely on raw mince meat and chicken carcasses. For those who do not know what chicken carcasses are, no, they're not roadkill. They're whole chicken skeletons usually sold for making soup stock. Since mince meat already has a nice meat-to-fat ratio, I just need to add in the raw bones and chicken carcasses work just fine. Not to mention, they're dirt cheap (according to my father).
So after nearly 3 weeks on her new diet, Brandy:
1. Is fitter. Last time her top speed is a mild trot for a 20-30 seconds before collapsing on the road. Now she gallops like the world's shortest pony and is my father's newest jogging partner. Think you can outrun her? Think again.
2. Produces better poopies. They're small and compact. Super easy to clean up. Doesn't stink and attract flies. Poop quality usually the major difference between processed food and raw fed dogs. Dogs on kibble diet will always poop more and their poop tend to smell. Pooping more is not necessarily a sign of good health. It shows that food is not being fully absorbed into the system. Raw fed dogs, in contrast, have very small poops despite being fed alot.
3. Fur is a lot better now. On a kibble diet, the fur on her back was dry and faded-looking. A week ago I told my colleague that Brandy's fur was getting better. Only the part near her tail still feels a little dry.
4. Clear pee. Like seriously tranparent ok. She peed on the garage floor one night and I thought it was a rain puddle until I realized the puddle was made in a spot that has never been touched by rain. This one, however, is probably due to the fact that she's getting a hell lot of fluid from the twice-daily meat broths.
Labels: brandy, kibble, raw feeding
Posted by Hedonistics Anonymous :: 11:28 PM ::
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