I May Have A Raw Food Hoarding Problem.

[1 bruce 1]

I picked up some dog and cat food today and barely made space. I have a full sized upright freezer packed full, a chest freezer packed full, and random objects crammed in OUR freezer.
We have large soup chew bones, trachea chews, and tripe chunk chews for the dogs and chunks of meat, chunks of bone in meats, grinds, boneless grinds, tripe and organ grinds, organ blends, ground random body parts (lung, etc.), and all that with barely an inch of room for dogs and cats both. We have turkey, chicken, beef, elk, bison, moose (I think that thing I found in the back is moose?), duck, lamb, etc.
We are not rich. I...I just...I have a hoarding problem.
(and I love a good deal.)

 

[LAL]

I picked up some dog and cat food today and barely made space. I have a full sized upright freezer packed full, a chest freezer packed full, and random objects crammed in OUR freezer.
We have large soup chew bones, trachea chews, and tripe chunk chews for the dogs and chunks of meat, chunks of bone in meats, grinds, boneless grinds, tripe and organ grinds, organ blends, ground random body parts (lung, etc.), and all that with barely an inch of room for dogs and cats both. We have turkey, chicken, beef, elk, bison, moose (I think that thing I found in the back is moose?), duck, lamb, etc.
We are not rich. I...I just...I have a hoarding problem.
(and I love a good deal.)

In case of an apocalypse, your furry friends won't have to worry! Your taste buds might get a shock though!

 

[Tobermory]

I can see it now.

*Knock, knock*

*@1 bruce 1 answers door*

Police officer: "Could you step outside?" <not really a question> "We've had a report of suspicious activity here. Body parts. May we see your freezer?"

*1 bruce 1 gives police officer wide-eyed look*

"What? No. I have cats. Really. Cats. They eat..."

"You're feeding cats body parts? Okay. That's it. You're coming with us."

Don't worry, 1 bruce 1. We'll come bail you out.

 

[lisahe]

It's true, 1 bruce 1 , it'll be all over as soon as you tell them you have trachea chews in your freezer.

 

[1 bruce 1]

I can see it now.

*Knock, knock*

*@1 bruce 1 answers door*

Police officer: "Could you step outside?" <not really a question> "We've had a report of suspicious activity here. Body parts. May we see your freezer?"

*1 bruce 1 gives police officer wide-eyed look*

"What? No. I have cats. Really. Cats. They eat..."

"You're feeding cats body parts? Okay. That's it. You're coming with us."

Don't worry, 1 bruce 1. We'll come bail you out.

This is NOT too far off the mark, LOL!!!
I'm so terrified I'll get pulled over for a traffic violation or safety check and the officer will see a box labeled "40lbs. necks" or "20lbs. hearts"!! Oh geez I'd have some serious explaining to do. Luckily the bags are always labeled "pet food" xD
Worst was when we actually got 10 lbs. of goat testicles. Good Lawd how would I *EVER* live that one down

 

[1 bruce 1]

In case of an apocalypse, your furry friends won't have to worry! Your taste buds might get a shock though!

Well, if I ever hop on the "whats for dinner" thread and write "...you don't wanna know" you'll all have a good laugh!

 

[orange&white]

I join you in the Meat Hoarders' Club. All 3 freezers packed with pet food. When there are meat sales I buy as much as the freezers will hold, fearing "What if meat never goes on sale again? I'd better buy it all today!"

In fact, my grocery store was out of stock most of April on chicken frames, and I can't make cat food without chicken bones. So I ordered a 40lb case of chicken backs from a raw meat supplier who does truck runs around the state. I was barely able to lift the case, which was odd. I can surely lift 40 lbs. It turned out to be a case of whole carcasses with necks attached, not just backs, and it was 40 carcasses weighing a total of 60 pounds!

So in addition to having pre-weighed freezer bags labelled, "cat - liver", "dog - butt roast", "cat - shoulder steak" etc., I now have half a freezer full of "dog - frames" and "cat - frames".

What would the neighbors think? Especially if I invited them to stay for dinner after putting some "dog - tenderloin" in Charlie's bowl and then throwing a piece in a cast iron skillet for my dinner.

My freezer bag labels certainly point to a clear case of cruelty to animals.

 

[lisahe]

What would the neighbors think? Especially if I invited them to stay for dinner after putting some "dog - tenderloin" in Charlie's bowl and then throwing a piece in a cast iron skillet for my dinner.

Yes, our cats have to share with us, too!

 

[Tobermory]

Yes, our cats have to share with us, too!

Yup. Just made five days worth of food for three cats. Three pounds of pork for them, one for us. I know we’ll eat ours. Not so sure about them. It’s their first all-pork batch.

 

[abby2932]

Allll cat food... It will take my little girl forever to eat all of it

 

[lalagimp]

if I had the resources, then maybe I would develop a problem.
I keep roughly 22 lbs of food made for the month in a box in the bottom of the upright freezer, and I hold up to 36 lbs of ground rabbit on the top shelf, and sometimes 20 lbs of turkey in the bottom drawer.
What happens when I get livers? I eat them. Necks? I eat them. Hearts? I eat them. Gizzards? I eat them. $1.97 lb pork butt? Mine.
Okay. Maybe I do have a problem.

 

[lisahe]

Yup. Just made five days worth of food for three cats. Three pounds of pork for them, one for us. I know we’ll eat ours. Not so sure about them. It’s their first all-pork batch.

I hope they eat the pork! Our cats love it.

 

[Tobermory]

I hope they eat the pork! Our cats love it.

Well, as usual, Lily and Mocha liked it and Iris wouldn’t eat it. In fact, Iris wouldn’t eat it even when I tried all of the different toppers I typically have to rotate through to get her to eat any non-chicken meals. Frustrating since the vet has asked me to stop giving Lily and Iris chicken because he suspects it may be causing their scratching issues.

 

[1 bruce 1]

Well, as usual, Lily and Mocha liked it and Iris wouldn’t eat it. In fact, Iris wouldn’t eat it even when I tried all of the different toppers I typically have to rotate through to get her to eat any non-chicken meals. Frustrating since the vet has asked me to stop giving Lily and Iris chicken because he suspects it may be causing their scratching issues.

So frustrating! =(
Do you bring it to room temperature before feeding? (Put the bag or container in a bowl or sink full of cool water for 30 minutes or so)? Sometimes that helps them decide it's OK to try.
We feed a lot of turkey and duck because everyone can have it. We have one that throws up beef, one that throws up rabbit, one that doesn't care for elk (crazy...elk is the best! Oh well, more for us humans!)

 

[Tobermory]

So frustrating! =(
Do you bring it to room temperature before feeding? (Put the bag or container in a bowl or sink full of cool water for 30 minutes or so)? Sometimes that helps them decide it's OK to try.
We feed a lot of turkey and duck because everyone can have it. We have one that throws up beef, one that throws up rabbit, one that doesn't care for elk (crazy...elk is the best! Oh well, more for us humans!)

Sorry! Didn't mean to hijack your thread! As you said, though, frustrating. But, yeah. I always take the chill off their food: The container spends a few minutes in warm water, and I also add some warm water to the food itself. I've been mixing chicken with the rabbit and the turkey meals to try to con her into eating them, but I still have to add toppers even then. The pork only? No way was Iris going to touch it. What I may have to do since Lily never met a meal she didn't like, is to take only Lily off chicken. If she stops scratching, then that's probably going to be Iris's problem, too, since they're siblings. And then I'll have to get creative.

 

[1 bruce 1]

Sorry! Didn't mean to hijack your thread! As you said, though, frustrating. But, yeah. I always take the chill off their food: The container spends a few minutes in warm water, and I also add some warm water to the food itself. I've been mixing chicken with the rabbit and the turkey meals to try to con her into eating them, but I still have to add toppers even then. The pork only? No way was Iris going to touch it. What I may have to do since Lily never met a meal she didn't like, is to take only Lily off chicken. If she stops scratching, then that's probably going to be Iris's problem, too, since they're siblings. And then I'll have to get creative.

Hijack away!! I don't mind =)
That sounds like a good plan =) Do you source your own food or are you feeding a pre-made grind?
A few of my cats don't care for pork, and even a few of our dogs don't. One of our rabbit-loving dogs turned off rabbit; I realized the supplier we were using had begun using CO2 for euthanasia vs. butchering.
We have artisanally butchered chicken sources and our cats either won't touch, or will pick at, non artisanal chicken, so that's something to consider too.

 

[Tobermory]

Hijack away!! I don't mind =)
That sounds like a good plan =) Do you source your own food or are you feeding a pre-made grind?
A few of my cats don't care for pork, and even a few of our dogs don't. One of our rabbit-loving dogs turned off rabbit; I realized the supplier we were using had begun using CO2 for euthanasia vs. butchering.
We have artisanally butchered chicken sources and our cats either won't touch, or will pick at, non artisanal chicken, so that's something to consider too.

The rabbit and the turkey came from Hare Today--the meat/bone/organ grinds. I add chicken thighs (which I grind) to bring the bone content to 10%. I make the chicken-only meals part ground and part chunks. The chicken comes from a local specialty meat shop that sources almost everything regionally. Probably not artisanal but at least natural with no yuck added.

I probably shouldn't have tried to go full out pork. I made a part pork, part chicken batch a few months ago, and it seems to me that she ate it. Reluctantly. With toppers. But I should have gradually mixed pork and chicken over time until I ended up with entirely pork. You can never get impatient when it comes to kitties. Shame on me! I know better. I just really want to solve their scratching issues. Iris has permanently scarred her little face. Lily's neck is full of scabs.

I envy your large hoard of multiple proteins!

 

[sabrinah]

I'm so jealous of your hoarding space! All I can fit on my allotted half shelf is 4 pounds of cat food. 5 pounds would really be pushing it. There was chicken for $1.68 per lb today and I couldn't get it! I actually almost cried. I never thought I could get so upset about not buying meat!

 

[orange&white]

Planning a meat hoarding run after work today. The grocery close to the office is running pork butt roasts for 99 cents a pound. It doesn't look like I have freezer space for another 24 pounds of meat, but I'm buying 3 roasts anyway.

If all else fails, there is the 4th freezer...the one in the break area at work. My boss may have some questions about why there are freezer bags full of raw pork cubes in it.

We hoarders have our ways!

 

[orange&white]

Fortunately the pork roast sale was "Limit 2 per customer", because I ended up seriously worrying that the 2 roasts (21 pounds) I bought wouldn't squeeze in any of the freezers. I just processed them into smaller packages yesterday, and made 10 pounds of pork/chicken cat food mix this morning.

With a little creative reorganizing, I came up with plenty of space...

Looks like I can even pick up 5-10 more pounds of meat this week, if there's a good sale.

Kitchen freezer (no hoarding here!) This is mostly non-meat "human food".

Garage Freezer 3 cu.ft.,...holds about 75 lbs of meat. Cat food tubs on the bottom, ready to thaw and serve. The rest is all whole meats, mostly for the pets. Room for the 5 lbs of chicken I'm defrosting in the fridge right now to debone/cube and repackage:

Patio chest freezer 5 cu.ft.,...holds about 125 lbs of meat. Room in the basket for the pint jars of pinto beans I'm making to freeze today (though the ice cubes might be sacrificed to the freezer-space gods), plus several square inches of "BONUS" space:

Need to restock chicken hearts, gizzards and liver this week.