Pet food with 10 year shelf life

[Wildthang]

I am posting this for any of us that have pets, and want to have some preps for them. Actually this is a good idea because otherwise in a SHTF situation, we would have to feed our pets human food! Or just eat the pet I suppose...............only kidding!
I am buying some of this for my preps!

http://www.preparewise.com/food-stor...d-storage.html

[sjj]

edited.....

[hunter63]

I think I would try it to see how they like it and if it agrees with them.

$110 bucks for 30 pounds?...kinda pricey......How long will 30 pounds last you?

Around here usage it kinda low right now, just a lab pup......But when we had three labs.....30 pounds wouldn't last a week.

Breeder I know makes his own with cooked chicken and rice as needed..
Rice can be bulk stored, and chickens, on the hoof....

[Wildthang]

I think I would try it to see how they like it and if it agrees with them.

$110 bucks for 30 pounds?...kinda pricey......How long will 30 pounds last you?

Around here usage it kinda low right now, just a lab pup......But when we had three labs.....30 pounds wouldn't last a week.

Breeder I know makes his own with cooked chicken and rice as needed..
Rice can be bulk stored, and chickens, on the hoof....

But that is still food that humans can eat, but it would be cheaper I suppose!

[hunter63]

As a breeder of AKA English Spaniels, that his wife shows, and they sell pups....they don't scrimp on food and diet is vet regulated.
They buy chicken necks, bulk, grind them up and cook with the rice, so not exactly what people would eat.

Yes, it may be considered people food, I don't see a problem with that........protein is protein.

If you think about this......sounds like a high priced dried dog food, designed to take your money ($110 per 30 pounds?) in the gist of "survival dog/cat food", at least to me.

I don't know how long "Dog/cat food" has been around commercially....but I think it is still an invention of a marketing guy trying to make a buck for waste food items.
Dog and cats have been around a lot longer than Purina.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog_food

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purina_Mills

[1stimestar]

Many up here, especially sled dog kennels feed their dogs raw diets. Salmon and other fish, rice, honey, fat, pumpkin, sweet potato, etc. They get a soup twice a day.

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Kibble, chicken, sheep, horse, fish, fat balls (the pale yellow squares). protein and fat are what these dogs need. Dogs don’t convert carbs well into energy, they need fat!

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Dried salmon

You can build a fish wheel and put it in any river that has fish.

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[sjj]

edited.....

[Rick]

You don't need a food with a shelf life that last longer than your pet. Pets are like people in some regards. A stressful situation plus a change of diet might well wreck havoc on them physically. Especially if they don't like the new food. The one thing we all want when something happens is normalcy. It makes sense to store extra of whatever you feed your pet and even extra treats if that's something you give them from time to time.

[sjj]

Thanks Rick.

[RandyRhoads]

Wow Rick didnt even think of that. Good catch. Unless you have a brand new pup that food would last longer than some animals....

[cowgirlup]

You don't need a food with a shelf life that last longer than your pet. Pets are like people in some regards. A stressful situation plus a change of diet might well wreck havoc on them physically. Especially if they don't like the new food. The one thing we all want when something happens is normalcy. It makes sense to store extra of whatever you feed your pet and even extra treats if that's something you give them from time to time.

+1

I was looking through the Emergency Essentials catalog and saw they have a combined dog/cat food for long term storage. I thought about it but we have cats and some cats will nearly starve to death before it will eat something it doesn't like.

Dogs are so much easier when it comes to food!
I keep a good bit of cat food on hand. Dry and canned. The big problem with dry food is the fat content. I put the bags of food inside a x-large Ziploc bag. I put a dessicant pack in if the original package is paper and I store them in the basement where the lower temps should help keep the fats from going rancid.

[hunter63]

I still am not buying into 10 year shelf life dog/cat food for that kind of money.....for my self yes....Pets No.
....I love my animals but will spend my money on me/us......

Part of a bag of dog food (just your pet store brand (Good stuff $50 buck for 50 pounds instead of $20 buck for 40 pounds) left at "The Place" from December to March in a sealed up metal can, when opened, was full of bugs, some kind of grubs/worms........as was some stored corn meal and flour.

So packing in nitrogen, or freezing may be the only way of saving food both yours and pet ....unless you go with the $110 per 30 pounds.......

[kyratshooter]

Dogs can live on your food, you can't live on kibbles.

When I was a kid we had dogs that had never seen "dog food" and probably would not have identified it as anything they would want to eat in the first place.

We had K9 members in the Army that lived on C-Rats!

The reason dogs were the first animal to be domesticated was due to the fact that while humans sat around a campfire and threw scraps of gristle and bone over their shoulders the dog got a free meal.

If I have a canine friend post event it will probably have to live on a diet of leftover pinto beans, rice, ramen noodles and scrambled eggs with the occasional rabbit, squirrel or spam bits mixed in and on good hunting days he might get the offal of whatever I kill.

I once had a dog that was insane for squirrel eyes! He wanted them popped out of the skull so he could eat them like candy. Best squirrel dog I ever had.

Lets look at it from a survivors viewpoint. If you do not have enough human food in storage to give the dog a few scraps daily you need to be storing more people food, not buying "long shelf life" dog food.

[Rick]

That's okay for some dogs. Others it's not. My dog would be dead in a month on people food. Dogs have similar problems with food, allergies and the inability to digest things just like we'ins do. And some people food is quite deadly to dogs.

[hunter63]

That's okay for some dogs. Others it's not. My dog would be dead in a month on people food. Dogs have similar problems with food, allergies and the inability to digest things just like we'ins do. And some people food is quite deadly to dogs.

How long does 30 pounds last your dog?.......mine, that's not two week's worth when then are grown.

[Rick]

30 lbs? Ha!!!!! That would last her about 2 years. She's 7 and weighs a whopping 8.6 pounds....soaking wet. But I can guarantee you she can pee 16 pounds 'cause she pees 2 gallons easy. More if it's inside.

[hunter63]

Well there ya go....not enough there for a meal anyway.......

I guess my point is, and I understand the value of food for your pets put back.....But,

If they don't eat that kind all the time, it's may be a tough to switch them over....What makes an expensive everyday dog/cat food.
If they can get by with food you prepare for them....not necessarily scraps, may be better for a long term.

We buy dog food in 40 pound bags, and I'm sure that if I were to store several bag ahead, with revolving use, it would make more sense, as it doesn't go bad that fast.

BTW, as we have lost 2 dogs in the last 6 months to mysterious kidney problems.......so the new addition is getting only what the breeder started her on....and treats are just popcorn......we cut out all the package treats.....many made over seas.

Bottom line is, if it gives you a warm a fuzzy feeling go for it.

[Lifer Prepper]

Rick hit the storage secret on the head. But it's not such a secret. "Store what you eat. Eat what you store."
When things go south, and the stress levels go north, you want to retain as much normalcy as you can - and so do your pets.
What do you feed them now? Can it be stored? What's the shelf life - REALISTICALLY?

Store more!

[Lifer Prepper]

Something to remember about stored prepared foods. Oils can and will go rancid. The natural oils in pet foods can degrade the quality. Now, I don't know how to measure rancidity, or its effects, but I understand it varies from nasty to bad. Been thinking about moving my animals over to a basic diet of prepared foods. Good for them if I can source the raw materials in bad times.

Always the trade off, right?

[crashdive123]

Remember - when oil goes rancid it is nothing more than the oil breaking down, often oxidizing. While the taste may be affected, it will not hurt you (provided you can get by the taste).