Satin balls - how much???

[jenni0482]

When we got back from Europe a few weeks ago we noticed that Tiernan has lost weight once again and is looking pretty slim (can see his vertebrae's and ribs). He doesn't look sickly skinny, but just seems to thin for me. He has been eating the Acana Lamb and Apple since discovering his chicken allergy and it has been going well, but he never east much of his breakfast. We give him 3.5-4 cups per feeding, and he hardly touches his breakfast and is never very excited about dinner, but he will finish it. We do the "eat it or its gone" rule by picking it up when he walks away and have always done this. I won't give in to a picky dog but switching up foods because I believe that will only make it worse and a dog won't starve himself.

Tonight, we bought supplies for Satin Balls and my hubby just finished making them. We couldn't find Total, so we used Vector instead, and we couldn't find Kelp (seaweed???) but I think they turned out well and they passed the taste test Thing is, we can't find out anywhere how much to feed! I've read that 1/4 pound a day is good for maintaining healthy coat and energy, but how much to add weight? Is a 1/2 pound a day reasonable?

Thanks!

Jennifer

[DebinSD]

Murphy had a little bout of not wanting to eat right before he went in for his neuter. Then, after a day of fasting before the surgery and not eating the day of surgery he seemed to have lost weight quickly. I could see his ribs, backbone and hip bones.

I made up a batch of satin balls and fed those to him for the next week/week & a half. He got 1-2 satin balls a day. I think they were about golf ball sized, maybe a tad bit larger. I would either give them to him as a snack between meals or mush them up with a little water and pour that over his kibble when I fed him. He loved them!

Within that week/week & a half he gained the perfect amount of weight and had a gorgeous shiney coat.

I gave the leftovers (which had been frozen) to a friend whose dane had gotten out of his yard and had been missing for 5 days before he was found. This poor dog went from 160lbs to 90lbs in those 5 days. I just found out tonight that he LOVED the satin balls as well and has been able to recover quite a bit of the weight he lost!

[crdane]

When I put Reilly on raw diet, we tried it with Carlie, too. She did not do well and puked after every meal. She lost weight very fast, so we put her back on kibble after a week and 1/2. Here is my question. I have a plump lab who we have very limited on her diet and play 1/2 hour of running fetch with every night to try to keep her from being morbidly obese. Why does it seem that danes have issues with keeping weight on? I never really hear about them being obese, but always too thin.

[happytail]

When I put Reilly on raw diet, we tried it with Carlie, too. She did not do well and puked after every meal. She lost weight very fast, so we put her back on kibble after a week and 1/2. Here is my question. I have a plump lab who we have very limited on her diet and play 1/2 hour of running fetch with every night to try to keep her from being morbidly obese. Why does it seem that danes have issues with keeping weight on? I never really hear about them being obese, but always too thin.

I have never heard of "satin balls"...what are they???

I work with the Dane rescue here in Colorado, and a lot of Danes do come in super skinny but a lot of others come in obese. So I know that it is possible. Plus I know several people who own morbidly obese dogs and chose to do nothing about it.

How did you go about switching your dogs to raw? There is a very right way to do it and a very wrong way...which can make dogs unnecessarily sick.

Dogs are carnivores, so any one of them can handle a raw diet....its what they are supposed to eat. Your dog may have been getting sick as part of what some people call the "detox" phase, which is where their body is purging itself of all the waste and toxins from kibble.

[kmoore24]

I have never heard of "satin balls"...what are they???

.

• 10 pounds hamburger meat [the cheapest kind]
  1 lg. box of Total cereal
  1 lg. box oatmeal
  1 jar of wheat germ
  1 1/4 cup veg oil
  1 1/4 cup of unsulfured molasses
  10 raw eggs AND shells
  10 envelopes of unflavored gelatin
  pinch of salt

Mix all ingredients together, much like you would a meatloaf.
Divide into 10 quart freezer bags and freeze.
Thaw as needed and feed raw!


I also will make them using a Jar of penut butter and two large packs of cream cheese - I leave out the shells as my dog won't eat them.

I give Mona at least one of these each day --- We have a show next week so she has been getting three of these per day... They LOVE them!

[DebinSD]

I think there are several different recipes out there. The one I used did not use the eggs shells, just the yolks. I used the whole egg as I didnt want to waste the whites.

http://www.holisticdog.org/Nutrition...atinballs.html

5 pounds ground meat
5 cups Total whole grain cereal
5 cups oats (slow cooking type)
2½ cups raw wheat germ
¾ cup oil
¾ cup molasses
6 egg yolks
5 packets gelatin
2 ½ tablespoons Solid Gold Seameal supplement

Mix up, form balls, freeze, feed as treats or food supplement.

Mix all ingredients together thoroughly like you would a meatloaf.
Roll into balls no larger than 1 inch diameter.
Divide into at least 6 separate containers or bags. Freeze. Thaw as needed for feeding.

[happytail]

• 10 pounds hamburger meat [the cheapest kind]
  1 lg. box of Total cereal
  1 lg. box oatmeal
  1 jar of wheat germ
  1 1/4 cup veg oil
  1 1/4 cup of unsulfured molasses
  10 raw eggs AND shells
  10 envelopes of unflavored gelatin
  pinch of salt

Mix all ingredients together, much like you would a meatloaf.
Divide into 10 quart freezer bags and freeze.
Thaw as needed and feed raw!


I also will make them using a Jar of penut butter and two large packs of cream cheese - I leave out the shells as my dog won't eat them.

I give Mona at least one of these each day --- We have a show next week so she has been getting three of these per day... They LOVE them!

You lost me at the box of Total, oatmeal, wheat germ, veggie oil, molasses and gelatin. All species inappropriate ingredients....

Why not just mix up the hamburger meat and eggs together and call it quits? Dogs should love that in the very least! Put some fish oil or flaxseed oil instead...better source of fats and omega 3's.

I can understand the use of all the carbs in these things, since dogs enjoy eating them, but they aren't getting much nutrition out of them...so why add them in?

[TennesseeRose]

You lost me at the box of Total, oatmeal, wheat germ, veggie oil, molasses and gelatin. All species inappropriate ingredients....

Why not just mix up the hamburger meat and eggs together and call it quits? Dogs should love that in the very least! Put some fish oil or flaxseed oil instead...better source of fats and omega 3's.

I can understand the use of all the carbs in these things, since dogs enjoy eating them, but they aren't getting much nutrition out of them...so why add them in?

It's my understanding the amount of carb's is good for weight gain. Think body builder - tons of carbs. This is not meant to be the main diet source - we use this recipie but I add

Flaxseed Oil, Fish oil, and a touch of honey. My rescues put on weight great with this, and my show pup gets about 6 a day 7-10 days before a show!

Tracey

[CarolB]

satin balls

Dogs aren't human body builders. They have no need for carbs. Their bodies don't process carbs, they just poop them out. I have always just fed two cups of raw hamburger an egg and maybe 1/2 can of mackeral and they put on weight rapidly.

[faust]

Yes and no. Dogs can process carbohydrates, but they do not need them to stay healthy as long as there is enough protein and fat in their body to provide adequate fat and amino acids to be turned into glucose. The myth that dogs NEED carbs to sustain energy is completely false, but so is the flip side that they cannot process them. Carbs are the least efficient energy source for canines. Carbs DO NOT turn into muscle. Protein replenishes muscle and carbs, just like in humans, turn into FAT.

I also would not use half of the satin ball recipe. There is no reason to add grains to a dogs diet for carbs or weight gain. I would like Carol does, up the meat and fat intake. I also add cream cheese to mine when I make them and a little garlic. You could add fish or green tripe as well.

[Mom2FiveBIGDogs]

I have used satin balls to fatten up a couple of skinny rescues. I also found a lot of the ingredients rather pointless and let's face it, dogs eat poop, so they aren't overly concerned if you leave out the yummy Total, you know? I use ground beef, eggs, peanut butter, cream cheese...and it worked almost too well.

I made "logs" rather than balls (about six ounces per log) and fed one with each of two meals and then another whole one broken up into treat sized bites thru the day. My skinnies fattened right up.

[kmoore24]

You lost me at the box of Total, oatmeal, wheat germ, veggie oil, molasses and gelatin. All species inappropriate ingredients....

Why not just mix up the hamburger meat and eggs together and call it quits? Dogs should love that in the very least! Put some fish oil or flaxseed oil instead...better source of fats and omega 3's.

I can understand the use of all the carbs in these things, since dogs enjoy eating them, but they aren't getting much nutrition out of them...so why add them in?

I got that receipe on line.. I don't use the oat meal or total either... I did the first time - Mona would not touch it...

So now its meat, eggs, peanut butter, and cream cheese, and ground flax seed.