How to handle BARFing when out of town

[rglogan]

We are heading out of town. A friend of ours normally house sits for us and takes care of the zoo of animals we have.

We feed a BARF diet. I am worried that it will be too much for our house sitter to handle. What are your thoughts on feeding Solid Gold for the week we are gone? I am worried switching back to the kibble will cause digestive upset. Which is worse: switching back to kibble or feeding only RMBs for one week while we are gone? I think he can handle that, but don't know about the goop dinner. I would rather have them at home rather than at the kennel where they are stressed that also.

[Roscoe's dad]

I make my veggie stuff in quanities that last a week, changing the ingrediants weekly. Can you make the meals ahead of time and freeze in daily sizes?

[MJAYK]

I just got back from a week vacation and had no problem with my pet sitter feeding raw. It did take time to prepare it all, but worth it in the end because their diets didn't have to change.

Basically I divided everything up in zip lock bags and labeled them all. I froze everything with instructions when to take them out so they would defrost in time. So that the sitter wouldn't have to worry about cutting up chicken backs (I also have two smaller breeds) I just bought chicken wings for the week. As for the organ meat/veggie meal, I mixed the meat with the veggies, made small patties, wrapped each one individually and put them in the freezer. So each dogs breakfast chicken was in a bag with their name on it and each dogs meat/veggie pattie was in a bag with their name on it. I also divided out all their supplements for each meal in zip lock bags.

Mealtime - the sitter just had to put the contents of the appropriate bag into the appropriate bowl, add the supplements plus flaxseed & cod liver oils (from refrigerator), stir and serve.

Like I said, it was a lot of work to prepare it all, but the sitter said it was pretty easy to serve.

Good Luck
MJ

[DixieGrl113]

I took a trip recently with one of my dogs and left the other 3 at home with dad. (who is totally BARF ignorant;) ) What I did was put enough veggie mix in the food processer for the week , then i added everything that gets mixed in with veggies. enough for the week. i mixed it. finally, I added 2 cans of jack mackeral to entice them in case they tried to go off feed because their pack was missing 2. (They get upset when I leave, extra upset when I take the alpha dog, who happens to be my favorite all round because of manners and temperament and for road trips). When all of this was mixed together, I portioned it out into daily rations for each dog. Each daily ration in its own zipper bag. Enough for each dog for the week. My chicken backs are already bagged in individual portions. I just add more or less when I get the backs depending on which dog its for so each dog has their own zipper bags of chicken with their names on it already. It alot of work when trying to put away 160lbs of chicken but it saves time at feeding. If you don't do this already, do it after you do the veggies for the week. That way, whoever is dog sitting can just dump the bag in the bowl and thats it. I guess my method is similar to MJAYk's. Glad to know I'm not the only super planner out there.

Now, the dog I took with me was fed kibble on the trip. It was easier to pack because I had to take my car not the Tahoe. I just didn't have the space for a cooler. She did great on the Wellness, had no allergy flare ups or digestive upsets. If you want to feed kibble while away, or youdon't think the sitter can handle the grossness of RMB's (sometimes I still get woozy myself ) Solid Gold should be OK. What I did with roxanne was start feeding it as her AM a couple of days before I left. That way she would be ok when on it totally while we were gone. If you're gonna feed kibble though, i would leave instructions for them to soak it ina litttle water. I was worried about her eating food that was so dry after eating food with such a high moisture content for so long. I also added yogurt for more moisture. She still drank a ton of water. It was noticeable immediately. I mean like right after the FIRST meal at home. But, all in all, she didn't have any problems. I on the other hand was grossed out about how it stuck to her teeth. I had forgotten about kibble being like doughy glue on their teeth! But, that's nothing a couple of marrow bones didn't take care of. I broke down though while there and bought a pack of chicken wings at the store for her. I wouldn't have a problem feeding Wellness again. I think it was a good kibble, and the most important part, it didn't have any corn, wheat, or by products, and she liked the taste. Go with your gut. Do what you are most comfortable with and what you think is best. If you don't think the sitter will feed BARF correctly (how can you miss with just dumping a bag in a bowl though;) )go with the Solid Gold. Its not like you'd be feeding Old Roy or something ;) They'll be fine :)

[rglogan]

Hey Guys,
Thanks for the advice. I am going to talk to our sitter and see what he's most comfortable with. I am OK with setting up the packs of food. The biggest thing I was worried about was pulling the food directly from the fridge and dumping in the bowls. Currently, I warm up the backs/necks with warm water before feeding, and I am concerned that our sitter will not do that. I am going to think about it and see what he says.

Thanks again!