I do still have photos from NYC and maybe even from NOLA that include actual people that I want to get on here. However, something interesting happened when I was in New York. I kept meeting people who read Tim’s and my LiveJournals. Upon hearing that they did, I expected the following questions:
1. How do you guys write together?
2. When’s your next book out?
3. Does Timothy J. Lambert really sleep in the buff?
4. What’s the deal with BBQ Fritos and how can I make Greg Herren send them to me?
5. Should I buy Famous Author Rob Byrnes a drink or donate money for his suite at Betty Ford?
But no. The most frequent question was, “What got you on the raw food kick for your dogs, and tell me more about it.”
Evidence that people love dogs more than reading, eating, and getting info on hot men.
After my dogs died in 2000 and then Margot and Guinness came to us, I stopped buying any commercially prepared dog food except Wysong. We fed them dry and flavored it with Wysong’s canned organs, beef, and chicken. But when I researched foods before I decided on Wysong, I kept finding people who recommended raw diet. There were parts (ha ha) of the raw diet that grossed me out, and I just didn’t think I could do it. I was satisfied with Wysong, and my dogs gave their hearty approval of it, so that was good enough for me.
Then River came along with his many health problems, and Tim researched how diet might exacerbate or eliminate some of those problems. Again, raw diet kept being touted. There were (and are) plenty of people against raw feeding for dogs, but they were usually people who hadn’t tried it. Some vets don’t approve of raw diet. They weren’t educated to use it, and frequently, their nutrition teachers in vet schools came from companies like Science Diet, the food you most often see sold in vet clinics. I’m not anti-Science Diet, and I’m pro-Wysong. But I wanted to get away from all commercial food, because, for example, it bothered me that Guinness scratches so much. She seems to have a problem with yeast that leads to chronic ear infections. Could it be something in her dry food causing the problem?
Those who tried raw diet talked about better breath, better coats, less skin problems, better stools, less allergies, cleaner teeth (healthy teeth are an indicator for a longer lifespan in dogs as well as people, which is why vets now offer to clean your dog’s teeth), less joint problems, less health issues that led to vet visits. Having spent thousands of dollars on three sick dogs, fewer costly vet visits sounded good. My dogs get two checkups a year, and they always will. But if anything could spare us the heartbreak of putting another three dogs to sleep, before the full life expectancy of their breeds and after a range of mystery illnesses, it was worth trying.
It’s a sad fact of life that most of us with a normal lifespan will outlive many dogs and cats who bless our lives with their love and companionship. But if something offers the hope of keeping them with us longer–and in good health during that longer life–it just makes sense. Still, though Tim and I talked about it, we knew it was going to take work, research, time, energy, and commitment, and other things seemed more pressing.
Then the pet food recall and all those animal deaths hit the news. Although none of the foods we used were involved, it seemed the story kept developing, with more disturbing details and more products added. It was the right time to jump. We’re lucky enough to have a raw food supplier in Houston, so I went there first, to get food and advice. (All that information is also available on the Internet.) Now we’re doing it all ourselves. If we ever have to board our dogs, I can see going back to her because she sells raw diet in forms that would make it easier for a vet or a kennel to feed them.
Raw diet is time consuming, I don’t deny that. My time per week probably averages five hours, mostly because I sometimes have a difficult time finding the right food at our grocery stores and making sure it’s from the USA (not China). I’m also stuck begging butchers for help, which always entails explaining things like how uncooked bones will NOT hurt the dogs. Uncooked bones are soft, and it’s fun to see the pleasure in the dogs’ eyes as they crunch on chicken and turkey necks or chunks of catfish with the bones still there. This was the biggest obstacle I had to overcome about feeding raw. I was convinced that my dogs were going to choke or get perforated intestines and die because of bones. I’m still a little iffy about rib bones, but the dogs have had no problem with the smaller bones at all. And we’ve always given large marrow bones to them as a treat. Even after they’ve cleaned them, they like to gnaw on those bones, which is great for their teeth.
Other benefits of raw food, just like I was promised: better breath, whiter teeth, stronger jaws, better weight management, less scratching, shiny coats, better sleep habits, smaller, healthier stools (I regret to say that The Compound Canines have been known, on occasion, to be poop eaters, but with raw diet, that has stopped!). Of course, the benefits I most hope for will only be evident over the long term. The dogs are completely off any dry food now, and getting all raw.
Behind the cut, I’m putting photos with more specific information about what’s working for us. If you can endure pictures of raw stuff, check it out. If you can’t, then all I can say is, yes, Tim does sleep in the buff, and no, I don’t have photos to prove it.
