Saturday, January 26, 2013

Satin Balls

Jedi eats 4 cups of Blue Buffalo Large Breed Puppy a day, yet he gets extremely thin and is constantly hungry when going through a growth spurt. A friend of mine recommended feeding him satin balls during those times. Of course my first question was "WHAT?" I did a search online and discovered that satin balls are homemade nutrient-laden, high calorie supplements used by both the rescue community and dog show community to safely put weight on a dog. An added bonus is that the satin balls make the dog's coat shiny. Here's the recipe that I used.

 
SATIN BALLS
  • 5 pounds ground beef, 80% lean
  • 6 cups Whole Grain Total cereal, crushed
  • 7 1/2 cups uncooked, quick-cooking oats
  • 6 hard boiled eggs, chopped with shells
  • 2 cups wheat germ
  • 5 envelopes Knox unflavored gelatin
  • 2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 2/3 cup unsulfured molasses
  • 1/2 teaspoon fresh minced garlic
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
Mix all ingredients by hand (meat loaf style) in a huge mixing bowl. Roll into 1" balls. Place 2-3 days worth of satin balls into Ziploc freezer bags and freeze. I got approximately 230 satin balls from this recipe.


Reasoning behind these ingredients:
  • Beef adds calories and improves coat.
  • Cereal provides vitamins A, C, D, E, B6 and B12, calcium, iron, thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, folic acid, phosphorus, magnesium and zinc.
  • Oats provide fiber.
  • Eggs provide calories and biotin. Eggs are cooked because of salmonella concerns.
  • Wheat germ provides vitamin E, folic acid, phosphorus, thiamine, zinc and magnesium.
  • Gelatin holds ingredients together and also adds collagen and nitrogen.
  • Oil helps coat.
  • Molasses provides manganese, copper, iron, calcium, potassium, magnesium and vitamin B6.

My problems:
  1. This is A LOT to mix. My giant (32 cup) Tupperware That's-A-Bowl could barely hold everything. I made a mess. (Roxy helped clean it up. What a sweetheart!)
  2. I spent hours rolling balls -- and now my back hurts.
  3. I don't know how much 2-3 day's worth of balls would be. I arbitrarily chose eight, and still used 30 Ziploc bags.
So here are my questions to you: Have you heard of satin balls? Do you use satin balls? Why/why not? What recipe do you use? Can you email it to me? How many do you feed your dog and how often? Thanks for all your help. -- K



P.S. Jedi gives the satin balls two ears up!

3 comments:

  1. Oh, this is the first time I've seen him with both ears up--that is so cute. You could use a clean trash can for mixing.

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  2. I have tried satin balls before, and didn't find them that effective - sorry! I found the same problems as you, spending all my time making balls that it was ridiculous. That being said, I know a lot of people that swear by satin balls, so maybe my experiences are unique! All the best in putting weight on him. It's difficult with puppies with they sneak up on you with growth spurts, so don't feel too bad if it has lanky periods.

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    Replies
    1. Tegan, thanks for your input. I think I'll look for other options as well. One friend told me a horror story about someone she knew who made satin balls and her dogs got sick from bacteria in the raw meat.

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