Susan Hoke

Has anyone used SENTRY Natural Defense? It uses natural active ingredients such as peppermint oil, cinnamon oil, lemon grass oil and thyme oil. I've been researching it & thinking about giving it a try. Using a spot on product would be easier with 2 dogs & 7 cats!

Has anyone had any success with Neem Oil?

Here's a link to their website. It gives the analysis for all their products.

http://www.redmondnatural.com/


There are no dealers near me so I've written the company to see if I can order from them.

One website states that Honey Bees are considered domestic livestock and are not native to North America.

I didn't know this.

This website says 2 miles.

http://www.beekeeping.com/articles/us/organic_standards.htm

How can honey be certified organic? Unless there's a giant dome covering your property how can you control where a bee gets pollen?

paul wheaton wrote:
If you are raising a lot of your own meat, around harvest time there is always the idea of feeding the offal to the dogs.

Feeding the offal is good but you shouldn't give it to them every day. A few times a week is ok. I freeze the excess for future meals.

If you'd like to learn more about RMB here are a few websites with good information & links.
http://www.rawlearning.com/

http://www.rawmeatybones.com/


I have a book that I bought about 25 years ago called "Dr. Pitcairns Natural Health for Dogs & Cats". It contains some recipes for meals & supplements.

I think that depends on a couple of factors.

What do you feed now? The cheap stuff or a premium quality kibble?

If you fed the Barf diet, would you feed what you raise yourself, store bought organic or what's on sale at the grocery store?

On the surface, organic does cost more. But when you think of the hormones & antibiotics in most commercial meats it may be cheaper in the long run. They may cause illnesses in your pet that require visits to the vet.

I personally would like to feed more Raw Meaty Bones. But I can't afford that right now. As we start raising more meat birds that will change. Right now I feed my dogs a good quality holistic kibble, RMB (mostly chicken & fish), veggies, oatmeal, rice, yogurt, molassas & oils rich in Omega-3. They don't get all of that in one meal. Each meal is different. I also bake them biscuits for treats.

Is it more expensive than just kibble? Yes, but they are happy and healthy. I am striving to give them a more natural diet. I hope to one day eliminate the kibble altogether.

paul wheaton wrote:
Leah, have you done much canning with apple juice instead of sugar?

Hi Paul,

Do you have any recipes or pointers? Apple Juice & Beets sounds like a good combo.

Leah Sattler wrote:
I have been in full swing canning this month. Green beans, tomatoes, some potatoes and also chicken and stock. I really love to see rows of home canned food stocking the pantry. prior to this year I only canned things I could water bath and froze anything that needed pressure canning. spurred partly by the loss of electricity due to the ice storm this winter (and facing the potential loss of all my frozen food) This spring I stepped up and bought a pressure canner. It really has proved to be simple and rewarding. I was always a little intimidated by the thought of pressure canning but now I see it really is no big deal. What is in your canner this month?

Since I don't have a pressure canner I'm looking for a good used one, an All American would be a wonderful find) I've only been canning pickles, tomatoes & jam. A neighbor told me she used a steam canner for all her canning. That may be too risky.

Do any of you give your animals Redmond Natural Trace Mineral Salt? Is it the same as the All Natural Real Salt they make? This is what we use in the kitchen. Just wondering if the 2 are the same thing just one packaged for animal use & the other for human use.

Edited later to add:

I found out that the 2 are the same. What I use for table salt is the smaller screenings of the larger stuff.