Preparing and family pets

[bradsteen]

+1 on extending the human food for pet consumption. If SHTF and your pet dies (god forbid), a stockpile of pet-grade food will not do you any good. For that same reason I would avoid doing a significant volume of advanced food prep for the dog (i.e. canning a boatload of dog food made from human-safe ingredients) - technically you could eat it, but you probably wouldn't want to.

As said above, rice works as a filler. Add a protein at minimum, and preferably vegetables and/or fruit to round out the diet. Potatoes are fine as long as they are cooked. Beans are a good source of protein and fiber for dogs, but should not exceed 10% of their diet.

Avoid giving them plums, cherries, grapes or raisins, chocolate, nuts, anything in the onion family, avocado, cooked bones (splintering hazard), or corn cobs (blockage hazard).

More info here:

Fruit: https://be.chewy.com/13-best-fruits-for-dogs-to-eat/
Veggies: https://be.chewy.com/vegetables-for-dogs/
Carbs: https://be.chewy.com/sweet-potatoes-and-other-carbohydrates-used-in-grain-free-dog-food/

 

[Yarome]

"Dog food" is a first world phenomenon. Historically dogs would eat what they were given from whatever people ate, and likely the parts of animals people didn't eat, or didn't want to.

I'm of the opinion, if things have gotten so bad I can't go to the grocery store and buy food, the animals are a potential food source.

My grandpa had two pet rabbits during the Great Depression that got turned into a few meals because of that same reason.

Very true, and even then, not all. Many countries have no "dog food" of any kind and feed their animals from the vegetable ends (that might normally go down your garbage disposal or out to the compost bin), left over scraps and trimmings and stewed with grains.

In Japan, they have "dog rice" which would be the closest thing to "dog food" I guess. It's the broken grains of rice that fall through the processessors as "unfit" for commerical sale, but it's simply "rice on the cheap" and used as mentioned above. (Also fit and used for human consumption, but one of those "unmentionables" never talked about... )

Stock more "people food", but also remember that dogs and cats have it in their nature to largely feed themselves, if allowed to do so.

 

[Mike7b]

Lmao, if the big shtf event happens, you know how many unprepared people there's going to be? If someone's hungry, I'll let them have some pet food, they aren't getting the good stuff. Note, everything I can is safe for human consumption.

 

[3MTA3]

Just can whatever sunsabiches try to knock your door down and take what you have.You will have plenty of dog food.

 

[Devneck]

Great info. Thanks.

I was thinking increasing human food was the ideal route and will do so accordingly. I'm not sure I could ever eat my own dogs. Somebody else's, sure ... but not sure about mine. Hopefully never have to find out.

Unfortunately on the "working dog" front, we kind of made poor choices there. French and English Bulldogs... they can alert, and they do. But they are not guard dogs (my English bulldog thinks everybody she meets is her new best friend). They also aren't likely to ever hunt. But they are family

 

[JustSomeGuy]

I don't have any critters I'd consider pets. I do have two packs of dogs, but they both work for a living around the ranch.
Pack number 1 are the Rat Terriers, or as I call it, The Rat Pack. Their job is rodent control, and they're zealous about it. They have full run of the ranch 24/7. The only required training is basic obedience training as pups, and when grown they make cats look like lazy slackers when it comes to racking up their rodent body counts. Fierce would be a good word to describe them when they're working.
Pack number 2 are the Border Collies. They play a dual roll on the ranch, herding and lookout/border security. When not actively needed for herding, they patrol the ranch looking for signs of trouble. They require substantially more training than the terriers, but once they understand what you want from them, they've got and don't need refresher training. Because they play integral rolls in the daily operations, I consider them highly valuable and their maintenance and well being has been planned and prepared for accordingly.

 

[Certaindeaf]

Phew......

Thought this was gonna be a cooking thread....

 

[solv3nt]

And yet you still opened it. Lol

Found the Korean.

 

[3MTA3]

A bit of thread drift but the OP's question brings other thoughts to the surface.

Border Collie and a Rottie/Husky mix here. The first one is the wireless alarm and the second on is the first wave of defense. Dogs are definitely valuable enough to keep fed even if you have to go a bit short. Even if they weren't family members they are well worth accommodating.

Historically (very common in ancient Rome) people kept geese because they honk like crazy when disturbed, anybody who ticks one off quickly learns how the word "goosed" came to be, and they are great food source. Just a thought if ti starts looking like fan is getting smelly and you have a bit of room. Foul are pretty efficient feed wise and really keep the insect population under control. From experience your grass will never be greener, either.

 

[gmerkt]

SHTF situations sometimes call for relocation. Which arduous as that can be, especially under "emergency" situations, it's compounded by retention of animals.

Recent events in Ukraine highlight this. When bombs are falling, it's a natural human reaction to leave quickly. It's unfortunate but lots of times, animals get left behind. Same comment applies to major hurricane situations in the US. My heart goes out to the cats and dogs that are suddenly thrust into bad situations like this. Dogs are more portable than cats, the latter of which are more habituated to established surroundings and don't adapt well to change.

Imagine what happens to dogs and cats left shut inside apartments and other dwellings when the evacuation takes place. They slowly starve to death. The lucky ones are left to roam for survival in a hostile environment.

Dry dog and cat food, AKA kibble, is the worst thing you can feed them. It contains ash and other inert materials as filler. If you can afford it, any kind of wet food is preferable. Dry food has a definite shelf life that is relatively short. In a true emergency, I'd think scrap human food would be pretty normal.

Attachment to pets is a First World problem. Lesser societies (value judgement) don't view it as an issue.

 

[WWShooter]

I would not store kibble (dry dog food) for 2 reasons:

1) It will go stale in a matter of months.
2) It is a notorious source of stored product insect infestation, as government inspection criteria for pet food production facilities are not as stringent as for human food and it does not come in insect resistant packaging. So not only will the food value be degraded over time, you risk infesting your other stored products if there is cross contamination.

Canned dog food is better for storage, although generally more expensive per serving. But you can extend the canned food by mixing it with cooked rice in a 1:1 (by volume) ratio, which is perfectly palatable to dogs.

I read your post with and was concerned that my kibble stash was ill-advised. Turns out the "use by" date for my dogs' food is about 10 months to a year out. I rotate my stock, so that should be okay. But thanks for the heads up, and some canned food supplemented with rice is also a great idea.

 

[Cavedweller]

I read your post with and was concerned that my kibble stash was ill-advised. Turns out the "use by" date for my dogs' food is about 10 months to a year out. I rotate my stock, so that should be okay. But thanks for the heads up, and some canned food supplemented with rice is also a great idea.

Being diligent about stock rotation is a good idea. Also keep a close eye on your storage area for signs of infestation. Keep floors and shelves free of spillage. Look for holes in bags, particulate matter on surfaces where the bags are stored, excessive dust in the bottom of bags, or cast skins, live or dead moths in the storage area, and so forth. It's a good idea to store your dog food (unless canned) in a different area from your other foodstuffs. Here are a couple of articles on what to look for:

How to Get Rid of Bugs in Dog Food

Finding bugs in your dog's food can be traumatic! Most of these pesky bugs are harmless but some can cause allergic reactions and gastrointestinal upset. Read on to learn what these bugs may be, how to prevent bug infestations in your dog's dry food and what you should do when you find them in...

gooddogpeople.com

Bugs in Dry Dog Food Preventing Infestations and Eliminating Pests

Have you noticed some creepy-crawlies in your pet's food? We connected with experts to help prevent and eliminate those nasty bugs in dog food for good.

blog.homesalive.ca

Neither one is great but they're OK for the basics.

 

[thekingoftroy]

Number 10 cans of freeze dried chicken mixed with rice. I know maybe a bit expensive but shelf life is many years and you can eat it as well.

 

[Burt Gummer]

 

[DunRanull]

Years ago, one night at dinner I solemnly promised my kids that they would never starve- if it came to it I would feed them the neighbors... mom gave birth to a small calf... and 2 out of 3 kids immediately lost their appetites, the youngest just grinned and said "Please, sir, may I have some more?" heh-heh not really...

 

[Barfly]

I have a modest stock of my dog's food that we buy at Costco. I use 5 gallon buckets with Gamma lids to keep it safe in the garage. I do need to buy a few more buckets and extend our supply for him though. He does eat a lot of human food though, so I think I could stretch out what we have a bit longer with rationing and sharing our scraps.

 

[Stomper]

And yet you still opened it. Lol

Even @Unka-Boo gets a little hungry ever now and then…

 

[Koda]

Learn to feed raw, then just factor their meals into your survival rations.

Lots of info including some free nutritionally balanced for dog (and cats) recipes using people food from the grocery stores: https://perfectlyrawsome.com/raw-feeding-dog-guides/

 

[Burt Gummer]

This is the best - love this cat - I wish he were mine!

 

[CountryGent]

It hasn't really been a consideration in our preps though good idea to plan accordingly. We now have a cat, largely for rodent destruction, and a pet for the kids. There is no way we're having a dog, so moot point there.

Parenthetically, I've read the British euthanized hundreds of thousands of dogs and cats during the early war period to conserve food for human consumption. Here's hoping the situation never becomes so dire.