Frigid Weather Cat Hunting

[wyohunter12]

What is everyone's experience with running cats with temperatures well below zero? Do they tend to cover more territory, or do they usually stay close to a kill and patrol a small portion of their territory? Does it depend on whether it is a dominant male, juvenile, or female?

Anyone have problems with dogs getting frostbite? I had an issue with a male getting some frostbite on his sheath. He lives outside, and should have been used to the conditions since its been nasty out lately.

Thanks

[snakerivercatman]

This weeks weather has undoubtedly been HORRIBLE as far as the temps, but I have to say that where I live I have seen an unusual amount of activity. I have seen toms making long treks, females changing locations by a canyon or two, and a female and kittens moving on the coldest night of the week...
My dogs have run really hard this week, and I have to admit i'm seeing some drastic changes in their appearances....everyone is a rack of bones right now and all are really footsore. Our snow is 3-4 feet deep though and the dogs have worked really really hard to make captures. I feed the best dog food on the planet and they usually hold their weight in the normal cold weather but this has been damn tough on em. I've waited to run tracks until 11 am before turning out since I dont like hunting below -10 but I can still tell it's taken it's toll.

[blackpaws]

if you have any access to any old raw meat feed it to your dogs. no matter what kind of dog food you feed it does not have enough meat in it for these weather conditions.

[Sask_matty]

I would stay away from old raw meat myself. I am a PhD nutritionist, albeit dairy cattle nutrition, however I live in Saskatoon Sk where all week it has been -25 before the wind-chill. Add some fat to your dogs, they definitely have higher protein requirements in the cold weather but energy is their most limiting factor when they are working hard in these cold climates. I add some fat (tallow as I kept the fat from our last steer just for this purpose) on to their kibbles and that will do more good than anything else. I always worry about bacterial growth in old raw meat. If I were going to give a dog raw meat it would be almost human grade, ie. good meat that may have been in the freezer for too long... or something of that nature.

[David_Heimann]

.

[snakerivercatman]

well well david....guess all of us newbies had better just come to you for all of the answers...seems like you're the only guy that's ever been houndin...thanks so very much for your input.

[bluedog4]

I just did the conversion Fahrenheit to Celsius....lol
0F =-17 C
-10F = -23 C
Up hear in Canada we wouldn't get out all winter...........lol
Many mornings we head out its -28 C to -30, even colder 2 hundred miles north of we're I live. -20C by noon we turn loose, Staying as close to the hounds as possible. Please remember our hounds are conditioned to the weather somewhat but it is hard on them especially there feet.
Just drove roads last week when it was -35 C seen a lot of over night lions moving all might including kittens.
Bluedog

[larry]

the cats definately move and get wacked when the temps drop to the negatives. far as running your dogs in that kind of cold its for guys that arent much of a houndsman and dont do it for the dogs. Seems to me the kill hungry are the ones that push the temperature limits. Ask yourself why you are dumping dogs at 20 below??? Whats the point unless yer in a hurry to kill as much as you can.

[blackpaws]

I would stay away from old raw meat myself. I am a PhD nutritionist, albeit dairy cattle nutrition, however I live in Saskatoon Sk where all week it has been -25 before the wind-chill. Add some fat to your dogs, they definitely have higher protein requirements in the cold weather but energy is their most limiting factor when they are working hard in these cold climates. I add some fat (tallow as I kept the fat from our last steer just for this purpose) on to their kibbles and that will do more good than anything else. I always worry about bacterial growth in old raw meat. If I were going to give a dog raw meat it would be almost human grade, ie. good meat that may have been in the freezer for too long... or something of that nature.

i am not disagreeing with you on this but it has worked for me and many houndsmen for a lot of years. i am not sure how much bacteria can grow on frozen meat but i am thinking it is minimal. when i said old raw meat i meant to say frozen old meat. my venison is human grade so my dogs get it too. i wouldn't eat beaver but my dogs love it and perform good and hold their weight. i would bet any amount of money that more dogs have lost their lives due to the poisons or toxins in the dry kibble dog food we all rely on vs old raw meat!!! no matter what brand you are feeding it all has preservatives in them..

[Shorty]

Coyotes and wild dogs eat PLENTY of old tainted meat. You can't hardly kill them. If it's so bad wouldn't they be extinct?

[Dexter]

I have talked to a veteran from what he said the proteins in raw meat can be hard on your dogs kidneys to take care of this may still have your dog to look good but may take years off the end of his life I do not know this from experience because I do feed dry dog food only and have been soaking it in warm water has anyone else heard this

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[dhostetler]

I have talked to a veteran from what he said the proteins in raw meat can be hard on your dogs kidneys to take care of this may still have your dog to look good but may take years off the end of his life I do not know this from experience because I do feed dry dog food only and have been soaking it in warm water has anyone else heard this

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When a dog is experiencing kidney failure they can't process high protein foods and it makes them sick that is why vets prescribe special low protein dog food. The high protein doesn't cause kidney failure.

[Sask_matty]

i am not disagreeing with you on this but it has worked for me and many houndsmen for a lot of years. i am not sure how much bacteria can grow on frozen meat but i am thinking it is minimal. when i said old raw meat i meant to say frozen old meat. my venison is human grade so my dogs get it too. i wouldn't eat beaver but my dogs love it and perform good and hold their weight. i would bet any amount of money that more dogs have lost their lives due to the poisons or toxins in the dry kibble dog food we all rely on vs old raw meat!!! no matter what brand you are feeding it all has preservatives in them..

I would have to argue with you on the fact that more dogs are "poisoned" by mistakes in the kibbled dog food vs raw meat. At our vet school, we see more cases of raw food gone bad than you would like to believe. However, I do know of times when mixers were not flushed properly at a feedmill and some rumensin was accidentally added to a batch of dog food (when rumensin was first brought out for use in cattle), however there is a lot of quality control that happens at feedmills and they are tightly regulated by the government. I know off a mill that this very thing happened to, and it took them a few years to get the permits in place to allow them to sell feed again (livestock and companion animal). All commercial pet foods have preservatives in them, it keeps them from going moldy or spoiling... there is no evidence that compounds such as ethoxyquin have negative effects on pets in general. It just doesn't sound as good as natural as lemon juice.

Even freezing meat will still go bad, thats why they say not to let meat sit in your freezer for more than a year, because it does degrade overtime. I don't have a problem feeding dogs meat, as long as it is cooked. #1- cooking meat makes the proteins more digestible for dogs, and #2- cooking meat will prevent bacterial growth as you are running a risk when your dogs are 'compromised or stressed'... such as when they are dealing with recovery from a hunt as well as cold temperatures etc.

One thing with feeding meat vs commercial food: you have to feed organs (liver and kidney). This is where many of the minerals and vitamins can be found that are not supplied in skeletal muscle (regular meat). Not that dogs need a dose of vitamins and minerals every day, as your body has some ability to store them for a short time (1-2 weeks) but that is the advantage to a kibbled diet. But its whatever works I suppose.