 Re: A couple of cat questions
[Re: Jennifer Mullen ]
#237297 - 04/24/2009 09:59 AM |
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If all goes well, I was wondering about buying frozen mice and grinding them - should be complete in terms of nutrition going on a prey model....has anyone done this? Siaty?
I need to price out grinders too....am saving up money for our trips, so this might be down the road, but that seems like a good possibility (I'm assuming my hand blender won't work on whole mice). You'd still want more variety. Chicken, rabbit, fish.
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Re: A couple of cat questions
[Re: Michael_Wise ]
#237298 - 04/24/2009 10:02 AM |
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True....
Either way I still need to get a grinder though, or be using boneless meat with bone meal as a replacer.
Does anyone know how small the bone pieces are after going through a grinder? I'm assuming it depends on the bone....but it would be okay for a toothless cat???
I'm just thinking that mice might be a nice whole prey that would make a good backbone (so to speak) of their diet (with other things as well of course).
Edit: I found a place that sells frozen mice in bulk as well as live fish (goldfish) as feeders....very cheap! All for snakes of course....hmmm, maybe I should look into a goldfish bowl.
Teagan!
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Re: A couple of cat questions
[Re: Jennifer Mullen ]
#237303 - 04/24/2009 10:16 AM |
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No fish in a bowl...even if you are going to use them to feed your cats!!!!!
Goldfish are really fatty, they make awful feeders even for other fish.
If you really want to feed live fish I would recommend guppies, they breed quickly, you could keep them in a 10 gallon and the females get about the same size as the feeder goldfish.
I mean seriously you could start with a trio of guppies, 2 females and one male, and with some cover or a small breeding net you could have 50 guppies in a month. I actually use guppy fry as a live food supplement for my other fish or else I would be over run.
The cats have a snack of bigger ones from time to time as well and love them.
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Re: A couple of cat questions
[Re: Jennifer Lee ]
#237305 - 04/24/2009 10:21 AM |
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Thanks! I was just reading about breeding fish and getting confused....guppies do sound easiest.
I may be coming to you for fish help! I wonder how big guppies are?
Toby's going to have a heart attack if I come home with an aquarium and fish! Heh heh heh....
How do you humanely kill fish that size? I'm assuming it's wrong to stick them straight into the blender....
Teagan!
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Re: A couple of cat questions
[Re: Jennifer Mullen ]
#237307 - 04/24/2009 10:25 AM |
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Does anyone know how small the bone pieces are after going through a grinder? I'm assuming it depends on the bone....but it would be okay for a toothless cat???
Yes, it would be small enough for the cat. There are different plates that determine the size of the grind. Course to fine.
You could even re-grind if you wanted finer.
I'm just thinking that mice might be a nice whole prey that would make a good backbone (so to speak) of their diet (with other things as well of course).
Yes, a great base for the diet.:smile:
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Re: A couple of cat questions
[Re: Jennifer Mullen ]
#237310 - 04/24/2009 10:32 AM |
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Let me know I can talk fish all day!
Female guppies get about 2 inches long, males about an inch not including the tail. Mollies are also really easy and bigger but need some salt in their water to do really well.
Well when I have to put one my fish down I use clove oil, but you wouldn't want to do that for feeders. Apparently vodka also works but I have never used that method.
I would say the next best thing is to drop them in really cold water then put them in the freezer.
I don't bother when I feed them to the cats though, it is just as fast if not faster death than any other method.
The main thing with guppies is to start with good stock, otherwise they are the most fragile fish I have ever tried to keep. They are so inbred and overbred that the ones at the larger fish stores just die.
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Re: A couple of cat questions
[Re: Jennifer Lee ]
#237314 - 04/24/2009 10:39 AM |
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Thanks both of you!
Yup, Jenn, I was just reading you need to go to a reputable breeder if you're going to start breeding guppies. I'm a bit worried I'll get which fish is which confused....Especially since I wouldn't want a bunch of tanks (as I said, Toby would kill me....3 dogs, 3 cats, 2 rabbits, and 2 guinea pigs PLUS fish....I'll have to talk to him and see, but I think it'd be fun).
I found this pricing out frozen mice....I need to google the weights and the weights of my cats though as I'm having a hard time picturing size. But I think I could get a good supply for the cats for a decent price.
Large Pinkie - 2.5-3g - 0.45ea - or 100 only $35.00
Fuzzie - 4.5-7g - 0.60ea - 100 only $50.00
Hoppers - 8-12g - 0.65ea - 100 only $55.00
Weanlings - 13-19g - 0.75ea - 100 only $65.00
Adult - 20-29g - 0.95ea - 100 only $80.00
I'm sure it's my imagination, but I would've sworn last night Mitch was a bit plumper! I wonder if he ate ALL the livers the night before....yikes!
Teagan!
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Re: A couple of cat questions
[Re: Jennifer Mullen ]
#237315 - 04/24/2009 10:49 AM |
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Yup, Jenn, I was just reading you need to go to a reputable breeder if you're going to start breeding guppies. I'm a bit worried I'll get which fish is which confused
Well the males and females are super easy to tell apart, and guppies and mollies are both pretty unique.
But be warned fish tanks are sort of like a contagious disease, they seem to spread and multiply!!
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Re: A couple of cat questions
[Re: Jennifer Lee ]
#237325 - 04/24/2009 11:32 AM |
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Ack! Must balance desire to feed fish with need to save money for vacation! Hmmmm....
I think this is going to work well! I'm going to wait to make sure they really do take to raw - most of the meal last night was eaten but not all of it - I'll see when I get home if the rest is gone. It was a decent amount though, so....
Teagan!
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Re: A couple of cat questions
[Re: Jennifer Lee ]
#237328 - 04/24/2009 11:59 AM |
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Well when I have to put one my fish down I use clove oil, but you wouldn't want to do that for feeders. Apparently vodka also works but I have never used that method.
I would say the next best thing is to drop them in really cold water then put them in the freezer.
Clove oil is an anaesthetic. It puts them to sleep. Too much of it would probably kill them (overdose of anaesthetic).
Vodka can be used BUT ONLY with clove oil to put them to sleep first. Vodka is VERY PAINFUL to fish. Please don't just add vodka to their water to kill them. So I guess if you are going to feed the fish to your cat you wouldn't want to use that method since the clove oil would stay in the tissues.
I have also heard that freezing a fish to death isn't very humane. Opinions on this are varied, though.
How do fishermen kill the fish they catch for food? I really don't know? I would assume bonking them on the head would work and would probably be easy to do on small fish.
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