Salmon Tail

This was the 6th's meal.

Conker did not eat that salmon tail. I ended up giving it to Sasha since she hasn't had one yet.

This is Oncorhynchus nerka, Suk-kegh, or more commonly known as Sockeye. It is wild-caught fish but I do not know it's exact origin, only that is does come from the Pacific Northwest. 

There is a type of sickness that can be caused by eating raw salmon (or other salmonoids like trout) called salmon poisoning. This type only affects canids. 

Salmon poisoning is caused by a combination of two things. First, the fish needs to be carrying a fluke called Nanophyetus salmincola. The fluke carries a bacteria called Neorickettsia helminthoeca, a type of rickettsia. If the fish is carrying this fluke that is carrying the bacteria, the dog that eats it will most likely get infected.

Symptoms can develop a week after eating the fish and can include: diarrhea, vomiting, depression, loss of appetite, fever, and enlarged lymph nodes. Salmon poisoning is treated with antibiotics (to kill the bacteria) and a chemical such as fenbendazole (to kill the flukes).

90% of dogs that do not receive treatment die from the condition. However, many dogs that are treated will be immune from developing the condition again.

Salmon poisoning can be prevented by not feeding any raw salmon(oids) other than those caught in far northern Alaskan waters, by freezing fish below -0 degrees for two weeks, or by cooking the fish. My salmon scraps have been frozen for several weeks.

Many dogs die from contracting salmon poisoning during or after the yearly salmon runs. This is a common occurrence in the Rouge Valley and the vets warn against taking dogs to the rivers and creeks during salmon season since the dogs could eat an infected fish they find on the banks.

Fish Day!

Today I gave the dogs each a headless "Extra Fancy" whiting. The fish were part of the free meat I got off Craigslist, and some of the only actually usable stuff. (I had to pitch most of it as it was way to old or just plain nasty.)

Conker briefly investigated the fish, then decided he wanted nothing to do with them. I put his fish back into the freezer for another day.

Sasha instantly knew what to do with her fish. Before I fed the Girls the baby Beef, Sasha would just hold whatever I gave her in her mouth and gnash it, or would lay on the ground with it. Now, after experiencing the baby Beef, she stands on top of it with both paws and rips off large shreds like a wolf. It's nifty to watch her eat.

Growlyface

At first Juneau didn't really know what to do with her fish. She lay down and licked it all over and wouldn't bite it until I checked on her and told her it was okay to eat it. Then she got right to work on it. Juneau will only use her feet for really large or tough items. She chews off pieces of her food, and once it's small enough, just smashes up the rest as one chunk.


A little while later...

Conker got a frozen hunk of turkey misc. (This is what I mean when I say "Turkey misc." in the monthly expenses posts. Turkey neck, gizzard, liver and heart, or backs.) I was going to give it to Conker after it had mostly thawed but since he almost never eats the gizzard (good source of iron and niacin, as well as potassium and selenium) I decided to try the whole package raw.

Conker was delicate at first. Taking small nibbles here, little tugs there. This is how he always starts out eating raw foods now. I guess he wants to make sure it's safe, or something, before digging in.

I wasn't gonna let him have the whole neck, but after he got over the "is it dangerous?" stage he was crunching and munching happily so I just let him finish it all.

Dork

Conker finished the whole package, including the entire gizzard! Good boy Conker.

An observation...

It's cold outside. But that has never bothered Conker before (except for when it was -45 in Alaska). I noticed yesterday that Conker was shivering when I fed him outside. I thought it was odd, and made a mental note of it. He did the same thing today. He was shivering a lot, actually. This is really strange since he still has most of his undercoat, so the cold (around 35 or so) should not be bothering him at all.

I know that the frozen turkey misc could have contributed, but he was shivering before he began to eat it.

Makes me think he's got a thyroid problem...