feeding fish

[kasia]

i am very happy to report that after a bit of a rough start, mooi has been thriving on the raw diet. his appetite is incredible, his poop is perfect all the time, much less gas and almost no ear wax build up (i had to clean his ears every couple of days prior to this they would get so yucky). and it gives us incredible joy to see him enjoy his food so much.

we've been introducing new foods very slowly to make sure he's got no reactions. so far we know he's good with beef and chicken. i think we'll do turkey next. but my question is how do we do fish? how often should we feed fish in the trial period (a month of mostly fish seems a bit much, no?). i want to add fish becuase mooi's coat seems a bit course and he has slight dandruff (it's really cold in toronto now and so he's dealing with cold air outside and dry heat indoors). also, i can get cheap fish here of various types so it would reduce my overall budget. i've looked on the forum but can't find the info on preparation of the fish - should i debone it, should i freeze it first before serving, should i cut it up in chunks or give it whole, or should ijust buy fillets? mooi seems to be a gulper, if this makes a difference in how i should proceed.

i know i can give canned fish but i'd rather go with fresh raw fish. sorry for all the questions!

[imogene]

I usually use whole raw herring or Smelt cut in to chunks - I just defrost them, give them a good rinse and cut them up - Belize was good with them for months, but now will not eat them unless they are ground. If your are worried about mooi being a gulper I would probably use canned Sardines or Jack Mackerel - just make sure it has been packed in water. I used to use canned fish, but I found a good supplier for frozen raw herring and Sam really seems to prefer it. He will eat it whole - head and all - totally gross, but it is what he likes:D

Fish is very fatty so you may want to mix it half and half with chicken before starting out. It is okay to mix raw chicken and canned fish - most of the raw feeders I know mix chicken and sardiens. If Mooi's BMs turn black and slimy then you have introduced too much too fast and should reduce the amount of fish.

I am glad he is doing better. I am trying Belzie and Sam on a new probiotic - they occasionally get kibble/canned meal and can sometimes have pretty bad gas - They have been on it 4 days and they smell better -you may want to look into it - it is called Probiavi (http://www.probiavi.com/) It is produced by a company from Quebec so the site is full of spelling and grammar errors but the product seems quite good.