JKfish's NPT/ Holistic Pet Keeping Journal

[Olympia]

Hehe I hope he enjoys that! My boxer literally cringed her face when we tried giving her raw food and spit it out immediately. Spoiled dog. xD
Also, curious, are dogs born with diabetes? Or do they get it like people do?
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[JKfish]

Haha, he loved it! No need for tough love XD. The first meal, I was sooo scared he was going to inhale it. He slowed down and probably tasted his dinner, though. Dogs can develop it... I think his is genetic. :( he developed it about a year and a half ago, he was around 9, so middle aged, despite a relatively good kibble and daily walks.

I've requested that my dad make a trip out to the ethnic market that he passes on his way back to work. (i love the variety and how inexpensive the meat cuts are) I need different cuts of unenhanced pork, beef, liver, heart...etc. Chicken is nice, but dogs need the red meats. lol maybe i could even ask for a few whole fish to supplement Omega3...

I'm going to do this right, whether or not the vets decide to help me. I'm still searching on reliable information on good blood glucose levels for dogs, how to use the meters, and so on and so forth.

[Aus]

Gosh, Rex is a lucky dog to have you as a friend, JK! I remember years ago, one of the people who was first loudly supporting the raw meat diet... can't recall his name .. he bred Border Collies, magnificent dogs.. anyway, I loved reading his articles, and he was on TV a few times because apparently feeding your dog raw meat only was a real scandal! Probably was, seeing as most vets get kickbacks from dog food and pharmacy suppliers.. There was heavy criticism. Because.. y'know.. NO dog has EVER survived by just eating RAW meat!!

Your tanks are looking wonderful, btw. How's it all going? Looking forward to more progress & pics!

[JKfish]

NPTs
Today is day 8, and they're doing magnificently! I'm seeing a few rotting just slightly around the root area, so I'm going to do a water change today, then get a toothpick and poke around the gravel just slightly to make sure those areas aren't developing anerobic spots. I might pull those two or three stems up and clip them to a healtheir part where the roots are growing, that way I can rebury them with intact root systems..

Here's the first NPT. Panache is a happy betta, the plants are happy plants, and I'm a happy person~


I had tossed in a few aponogeton bulbs that I wasn't completely sure were alive or not... these bulbs have been with me for over 2 years now, through thick and thin. Recently, several of them had sort of died on me, but I kept the bulbs. Anyways, 8 days later... they're alive! (Insert thunder, lightning and mad scientist laugh here). I see a tiny little green bud.


The hygrophila is doing wonderfully as well... I wish I had a better camera to show you just how bushy it has gotten. This photo does it no justice


I got two more platies yesterday from the same petstore (same tanks even), and decided to toss them in with the other two. 20 more days of qt. They were all over the place, so sizes are not truly as they are. Left to right: Mickey (orange mickey- 3rd largest), Ricky The Bully (Redwag- easily the largest), Pheonix (Marygold w/ mickey tail- 2nd largest), and Flicker (yellow mickey- smallest).


Here is the second NPT. The plants are exploding with growth as well! Draco and Salabite have upped the antie.... They've both got two bubblenests maintained and are flaring quite a bit~



The crypt is doing super well, but that one pennywort is starting to die, it's melting from the leaf down... I'm going to pull it out. :/



Holy cow, the dwarf lily is getting giant! Again, I wish I had a better camera. It's having a hard time capturing the color. It's got a green color with red polkadots and a red sheen in certain lights. Magnificent! I didn't look at it yesterday, and I can assure you that in 24 hours that one super large leaf doubled in size, and the that long leaf sprouted half the tank's height. I'm not sure where I read this, but apparently the long leaves need to be trimmed before the reach the surface, otherwise the lilly tries to send them all to the surface... is this true? Also, I think my little brother chose a bad spot for it! XD If I had known how big the leaves were, I would have made him stick it closer to the center of his side, wheter he liked it or not!


The foxtail is growing well too! I'm finding new branches like this one!


Microswords are starting to grow well~ I'm seeing little leaves starting to poke out from the gravel. :D


Oh, and apparently the malasian trumpet snails like climbing? I'm finding snail poop on all of my plants >.<



Raw feeding!
Haha, thanks Aus :) A scandal you say? Oh my! XD I'd better watch out for pitchforks and torches, I suppose! ...It's incredibly easy and pretty cheap, especially when you take into account the vet bills dropping due to him being in tiptop shape. Porknecks were a tiny bit over a dollar per pound at H-Mart, beef necks were 2 dollars per pound, and chicken livers were slightly under a dollar per pound. People might not always be open to relatively new ideas, especially when it seems like it'll take a bit more time and research than following the norm.

Oh, and I might post pics of him eating raw at my dad's place... I've gotta bring him over there tonight so I can teach my dad how to raw feed and inject him with insulin. If anybody is put off by seeing a dog eat raw pork neck, speak now or forever hold your peace. :)

[Oldfishlady]

Looking good.....

I really love my tiger lily plant....I like to let it send leaves to the surface to float like lily pads. I propagate off mine with a razor blade.

Apons-I have several of the corms too.....and they die back on a regular basis and re-sprout-they really hate to be moved very much....

I got both my lily and apon bulbs/corms from walmart that came in the small package dry- about 8 years ago.....got a 50/50 growth....I don't bury either of them...I just let them sit on the surface and allow them to send their roots into the substrate.

[JKfish]

Algae! D: it's all over my pennyworts and it's invading the glass of NPT number 1. :( I wipe it off easily enough, but it's being persistent. And here I was thinking it'd never come! Lol. Anyways, it's been a bit, but the plant growth is stunning, I'll post pics in a couple of hours once the camera charges!

The plates have internal parasites. They had perfectly normal poop until yesterday. I think the Epsom salt I've been keeping them in as a caution is working. Darn. Well, I'll go pick up fizzing tablets or something, no misses nice lady anymore. Die parasites! Haha, but apart from that, they are happy. They even come to the front of the qt tank to say yellow when they see me :)

As for the raw feeding, I could never be happier. Rex's coat has softened significantly, and his teeth are pearly white ( note that they were pretty much brown when I started!)

[Aus]

Fantastic news on Rex's teeth and coat - seems the raw meat diet is working quickly to improve his overall health. How's he adjusting, insulin and all?

Ugh, parasites. Quarantine is such a good idea, imagine those little nasties in with the bettas. Hope they clear up quick quickly, poor platies.

And yay, tanks! D'oh, algae .. but that should pass. Can't wait for some update pics!