Jumping the Moon Dairy - the next chapter

[ragdollcatlady]

While not AAFCO tested.... my number one favorite food is Solid Gold. I cost a few gold pennies to buy it, but my ragdolls have done well on it for 20 years so I highly recommend it. Halo, my original rag, was allergic or sensitive to chicken (did a small food trial to figure it out) and I have found some of her kittens seemed to share the sensitivity, but they have all handled the original formula from Solid Gold just fine. Rinky Dink, our little chow/pom (RIP) was plagued with hotspots and alfalfa allergies that caused his skin to break out. Thankfully he was tiny so he stayed on Solid Gold to with great results too.

While also not AAFCO tested, the food we sell at my work, science diet is a really good food too. Being into nutrition, when I see a pet with a phenomenal coat, all shiny and plush, I always compliment and ask what they are feeding. It used to be that the animals that were in the best shape were actually the ones fed very small amounts the owners fat from the steak or whatever in addition to a decent dog food, but it turns out that every one, and I mean every one, of the animals I have asked about has been on the science diet food.

XDH used to get irritated that my rags couldn't eat cheap food, but diarrhea wasn't worth the cost savings... besides, with diarrhea you go through more litter so you spend the same in the end. But he had a dog, Charlie, that would get gross skin and had issues. He always fed whatever was cheap and on sale. I made a deal with him. Feed 2 bags (about 2 months worth) of a better food, not super expensive, just better, Purina One is the brand I chose, and if there was no improvement, I would leave the nutrition conversations about his dog food alone. If there was an improvement, he could of course still fee the cheap stuff if he wanted, but he had to leave me alone about what I fed my cats... He was better before the first bag was gone. Brighter, perky, spring in his step like a much younger version of himself. Fur came in nice and soft....

 

[babsbag]

My cats eat Nature's Variety Ultimate Protein. I had a cat with horrible diarrhea, he often only made it close to the box. He is also my kitty that had feline distemper as a kitten so he walks with a swagger and can't run. I was seriously thinking that I was going to have to put him down as his toilet habits were out of control. We ran some blood tests and tried Vit B injections and nothing helped. I tried grain free food, nada. Tried this cat food and within a few days no more diarrhea. The cats all look amazing.

@Latestarter Mia is getting back to herself as far as guarding but she doesn't want the other dogs in her space, or the goats. She likes to hang out under the feeder when she is off duty and yesterday I tipped the feeder over on its side to clean it out and goats were walking where she normally sleeps and I thought she was going to take its head off. Hormones I guess....hope they straighten out soon. Francis even gets growled at and he backs away, he never does that so I guess her growl is real.

The fires are devastating. I will say that we are used to them but those ones in Nape and Sonoma are really wrecking havoc; complete city subdivisions have been destroyed. The winds were really bad last weekend...good day for a fire. It is very possible that they were started by arson as it seems that the fires that start on very hot windy days are arson, they just wait until conditions are prime to do their nasty deed. A couple of them may have been started by a downed power line, there were 75MPH winds that night. Time will tell what started them but knowing the how won't undo the damage. I think that this is one of the fastest moving fires in a highly populated area that I can remember, usually infrastructure like roads and lawn help with the effort...not this time. Very sad; I think 17 people have died too. The fact that they started at night made it all more difficult.

 

[Jeanne Sheridan]

My cats eat Nature's Variety Ultimate Protein. I had a cat with horrible diarrhea, he often only made it close to the box. He is also my kitty that had feline distemper as a kitten so he walks with a swagger and can't run. I was seriously thinking that I was going to have to put him down as his toilet habits were out of control. We ran some blood tests and tried Vit B injections and nothing helped. I tried grain free food, nada. Tried this cat food and within a few days no more diarrhea. The cats all look amazing.

@Latestarter Mia is getting back to herself as far as guarding but she doesn't want the other dogs in her space, or the goats. She likes to hang out under the feeder when she is off duty and yesterday I tipped the feeder over on its side to clean it out and goats were walking where she normally sleeps and I thought she was going to take its head off. Hormones I guess....hope they straighten out soon. Francis even gets growled at and he backs away, he never does that so I guess her growl is real.

The fires are devastating. I will say that we are used to them but those ones in Nape and Sonoma are really wrecking havoc; complete city subdivisions have been destroyed. The winds were really bad last weekend...good day for a fire. It is very possible that they were started by arson as it seems that the fires that start on very hot windy days are arson, they just wait until conditions are prime to do their nasty deed. A couple of them may have been started by a downed power line, there were 75MPH winds that night. Time will tell what started them but knowing the how won't undo the damage. I think that this is one of the fastest moving fires in a highly populated area that I can remember, usually infrastructure like roads and lawn help with the effort...not this time. Very sad; I think 17 people have died too. The fact that they started at night made it all more difficult.

My sister-in-law lives a block off the town square in Sonoma and it's been bad enough that the have their critical papers and family photos loaded in their car.

 

[dejavoodoo114]

@babsbag, I hope you guys are not in danger of the current crop of fires.

 

[Bruce]

Yeah sounds just awful out in No Ca! @babsbag is OK, no fires out in the Redding area.

Oh Geez, I just found this:
http://www.fire.ca.gov/general/firemaps

There is a fire not 10 miles east of where my Dad lives in Fullerton!

 

[BlessedWithGoats]

@Bruce hoping he is okay!

 

[Bruce]

It would only be an issue of smoke. The fire is up in the hills, actually not all that far from Disneyland. But a huge amount of So. Cal is asphalt, not much to burn. But those hills, dry brush is about all you ever see unless it had burned recently, then you see black hills. Not a pretty place to me. Not fond of real dry, not fond of asphalt jungles.

 

[babsbag]

My DH used to be a wild land fire fighter and he spent many an Oct. - Nov. in So. Cal fighting fires. When it burns and those Santa Ana winds kick up there is no stopping it. Ugly all the way around.

OK, all you geniuses, I need help. This may not be logical but it is what it is. I have 3 automatic water troughs for my goats (and two for my chickens, but don't tell) that need to be protected by an anti-siphon or back flow preventer. All of them attach to one hose bib. Now in order for this to ever cause a health issue it would have to back flow through the floats (how would it ever do that, the float shuts off the inflow hole when it gets to full), run up hill about 150' (probably 40' in elevation), get through the check valve on my well, and run back down to the dairy. That being said, any ideas?
These are the troughs I use.

I was going to use this...http://www.homedepot.com/p/Orbit-Hose-Bib-Anti-Siphon-Valve-67750/203720437

But I was told it would not work with a float downstream from it. Can anyone explain that to me?

 

[babsbag]

@Jeanne Sheridan Hoping that your family in Sonoma is safe. Such a beautiful area to have destroyed by fire. My DH used to work in Saint Helena, Napa, Santa Rosa...all of that area. We lived in Fairfield at that time.

@dejavoodoo114 all is good here. The big fires in the wine country are about 3 hours away and way over a bunch of mountains. We get the smoke though.

I spent the afternoon tattooing 14 goats by myself...fun and green. NOT FUN. If tomorrow the ladies won't come in to be milked it will be because of the torture I put them through today. Saturday they are getting TB and Brucellosis testing and they needed tattooed. Still have 10 more to do that aren't in the milk lineup but will need help for them but I need to do them tomorrow. I didn't do my herd tattoo, just the one for the left ear. That was enough.

 

[Jeanne Sheridan]

It would only be an issue of smoke. The fire is up in the hills, actually not all that far from Disneyland. But a huge amount of So. Cal is asphalt, not much to burn. But those hills, dry brush is about all you ever see unless it had burned recently, then you see black hills. Not a pretty place to me. Not fond of real dry, not fond of asphalt jungles.

So Cal also has a lot of old shake shingle roofs. If the wind come in the wrong direction they could lose whole neighborhoods like No Cal did.
My sister-in-law in Sonoma, a block from the town center, has been under advisory evacuation for a few days now. They left for a time yesterday but decided to go back in part to give friends who are under mandatory evacuation a place to stay. I talked with her with her Thursday evening and she's worried but feeling better because all three of their daughters with the grand kids have gotten out of the fire and smoke area.