Satin Balls - Raw diet

[Danté Vivi & Bella's Mom]

Hello Ladies and Gentlemen of the forum!

Question - does anyone have experience feeding these to puppies as a supplement to kibble? I made up a batch before I considered that they may not be a good idea for pups.

My little one is on the thin side so I decided to supplement. He seems to like his kibble but he is such a busy body that he won't eat more than a few bites before he is off running around. He just doesn't take meal time seriously just yet and only eats about 1/2 of the amount of food he should have in a day. As you would imagine, he focuses on the satin ball until it is gone

 

[Kandie]

what is a satin ball?

 

[BlackShadowCaneCorso]

The link I post I think had their vet nutritionist analyze it and it was a nutritionally balanced diet that could be fed exclusively but you are also feed kibble so I don't see the harm in it. We fed some to other other dogs when they arrived here and had no issues. I have a female that is doing the same thing...she looks like I am not feeding her enough when in fact she is just too busy focusing on everything else to take the time to worry about eating We are going to make some Satin balls up to have on hand but we also started adding a bit of yogurt mixed in with her kibble (vanilla flavor) and that helps to get her to take in some more calories.

Satin Balls can be a high calorie treat or food that is eaten by dogs who need a high calorie intake for some reason, some just don't like kibble or are training so burn much more then they take in as calories from kibble and a lot of shelters have them for dogs that come in mal-nourished and need to add some weight to them. They seem to be irresistible to all dogs so they are recommended by a lot of shelters, show people, rescues and lots of others

 

[Cody]

Satin balls are usually used to add weight quick. Most people feed to their dogs before shows when they want to fatten them up... I personally wouldn't feed to a pup as they are high in fat, protein and calories. I prefer to keep my dogs as lean as I can to prevent health issues down the road.
I really don't see the point in fattening up a pup, IMO too many people want BIG puppies to brag about weight and size, the problem is is most of those pups are obese. We keep it so that we can see our pups ribs, she is not starving by any means, just lean and muscular.
We use kibble, but once or twice a week we do a day of Raw, chicken wings, liver, tripe, beef from my moms ranch...
I also add plain (I find there is too much sugar in flavored) yogurt to their meals as well as an egg once a week and a can of Sardines (the ones in Olive Oil or water) to their kibble to "spice" it up. We also do a carrot and a banana rotating days, our pup LOVES them.
Our pup eats slow as well, she pokes around but eventually will finish her food, after coming and going from her dish. Personally I don't mind as I would rather a slow eater then bloat down the road. Good luck with your baby

 

[Kandie]

Thanks for the info!

 

[Danté Vivi & Bella's Mom]

Cody, I understand your point that a good amount of people look to fatten up puppies ... I won't speculate as to their reason for doing so because I have no clue of their intentions and I'll leave them to it. All I can do is take care of my baby.

My reason is entirely different from that and I in no way seek to fatten up my pup. I, and quite a few would likely agree that ribs being visible is fine and can be considered a healthy weight but my pup is actually underweight. I'm not talking visible ribs, but bones beginning to protrude at the bottom of his rib cage and at the croup. As I mentioned, he is only eating about half of the recommended amount of food for his age and size so that just isn't enough food, especially on a day like today when he ate about a quarter of that amount. My use of the satin balls is to ensure that he takes in adequate nutrition in a day. Hopefully the satin balls will aid in achieving that until he can get enough daily exercise in to increase his appetite providing it doesn't increase sooner than that time. I can certainly make adjustments up or down along the way.

I don't prefer to add anything to his kibble as he really seems to like it well enough. I do believe age appropriate exercise is the key and will stir his appetite to the point that he will eat more kibble in a sitting. I simply needed a supplement until he gets there and I conclude that satin balls are a decent one in moderation of course.

 

[Cody]

I had the same trouble with Cribs, she wouldn't eat that much kibble and her ribs were sticking out as well as you could see her hip bones, so I do know what you mean. She would eat raw but kibble she really wouldn't care about. Actually as a baby her breeder had to feed her separately so she would get some food, she was such a painfully slow dainty eater, lol. Silly princess
It is just recently that she has started eating the amount that she needs and is finally putting on some weight.