WHOLE fish

**Apollopuppy** · 03-12-2008, 09:43 PM

Been looking for a place to buy WHOLE rainbow trout for my cat (Zephyr) and ferret (Mizu). Every place I got has whole fish (except for the guts). Anyone know where I could buy a WHOLE (gut-in) fish? The people at the store and fish market said that they dont get in whole fish because they go bad too fast. Where do you buy your whole fish?

-Giuli

**ObedienceLabs4Me** · 03-12-2008, 10:44 PM

I found a vendor at a show who was selling packs of frozen whole fish. Of course, I cannot find her information anymore.

**Kzunell** · 03-13-2008, 12:01 AM

Just make sure that you do not buy Salmon (or Trout?) from the pacific Northwest as some of them have flukes that can infect dogs with deadly results. Freezing any fish for 30 days is a possible way to kill the Flukes but I am not sure how effective it is and just avoid trout and Salmon all together.

Kelly and Amber

JustineNYC · 03-13-2008, 12:53 AM

Originally Posted by Apollopuppy

Been looking for a place to buy WHOLE rainbow trout for my cat (Zephyr) and ferret (Mizu). Every place I got has whole fish (except for the guts). Anyone know where I could buy a WHOLE (gut-in) fish? The people at the store and fish market said that they dont get in whole fish because they go bad too fast. Where do you buy your whole fish?

-Giuli

Asian supermarket.

**CaliforniaLabLover** · 03-13-2008, 02:55 AM

Originally Posted by Kzunell

Just make sure that you do not buy Salmon (or Trout?) from the pacific Northwest as some of them have flukes that can infect dogs with deadly results. Freezing any fish for 30 days is a possible way to kill the Flukes but I am not sure how effective it is and just avoid trout and Salmon all together.

Kelly is referring to "Salmon Poisoning" which is, indeed, caused by an organism carried by the flukes but is also quite treatable if the veterinarian knows what to look for (you would see copious amounts of fluke eggs in the stool of the infected dog). I believe the fluke is called nanophyetus salmincola, but the organism that actually causes this disease (potentially deadly if left untreated) is a rickettsial organism. The treatment is typically 2 drugs- an antibiotic for the rickettsia and a dewormer for the fluke. As an interesting side-note, only canids (dogs, wolves, etc) are susceptible to this disease- bears and bobcats, etc. are not, and yes- freezing (though for usually 60 days or 14 days at a much colder temperature) have been found to prevent the disease from occurring even in infected fish.

**Apollopuppy** · 03-13-2008, 03:43 AM

ONLY canids can get flukes? Im feeding a ferret and a kitty cat here, so should I not worry about freezing my salmon for 30 days then?

-Giuli

**ObedienceLabs4Me** · 03-13-2008, 08:25 AM

Originally Posted by Kzunell

Just make sure that you do not buy Salmon (or Trout?) from the pacific Northwest as some of them have flukes that can infect dogs with deadly results. Freezing any fish for 30 days is a possible way to kill the Flukes but I am not sure how effective it is and just avoid trout and Salmon all together.

Kelly and Amber

I have fed salmon but I let it in the freezer more than the suggested 30 days. Caleb loves it. I have bought salmon for us, put it in the freezer and forgot about it. What a treat! Now, granted I don't feed it often, but once in a while but only after it has been frozen for more than 30 days. Closer to 90 or 180 for me.

**Baloo317** · 03-13-2008, 08:31 AM

Do you guys feed bone-in fish? I did but saw a couple people saying not to on another board because the bones are sharp?

I went ahead and fed it whole and now I'm a little worried that I shouldn't have.....? :-\

jlab · 03-13-2008, 10:03 AM

Originally Posted by Baloo317

Do you guys feed bone-in fish? I did but saw a couple people saying not to on another board because the bones are sharp?

I went ahead and fed it whole and now I'm a little worried that I shouldn't have.....? :-\

What other board was that on? The other Lab board or one of the Yahoo raw feeding lists?

Do you remember what kind of fish they thought had sharp bones? Or was it just a general comment? I've fed whole trout, salmon, mackerel with no problems. My guys have pulled large mouth bass right out of a lake and eaten them whole also with no problems.

**imported_eastcoastmom** · 03-13-2008, 10:34 AM

Angus gets the whole thing, eyes, head, bones & all. I usually get his at thefish market or the farmer's market. Sometimes I get one right off the boat. He's had no trouble with fish bones.