A Pet's Ten Commandments...

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1. My life is likely to last 10-15 years. Any separation from you is likely to be painful.

2. Give me time to understand what you want of me.

3. Place your trust in me. It is crucial for my well-being.

4. Don't be angry with me for long and don't lock me up as punishment. You have your work, your friends, your entertainment, but I have only you.

5. Talk to me. Even if I don't understand your words, I do understand your voice when speaking to me.

6. Be aware that however you treat me, I will never forget it.

7. Before you hit me, before you strike me, remember that I could hurt you, and yet, I choose not to bite you.

8. Before you scold me for being lazy or uncooperative, ask yourself if something might be bothering me. Perhaps I'm not getting the right food, I have been in the sun too long, or my heart might be getting old or weak.

9. Please take care of me when I grow old. You too, will grow old.

10. On the ultimate difficult journey, go with me please. Never say you can't bear to watch. Don't make me face this alone. Everything is easier for me if you are there, because I love you so.


Take a moment today to thank God for your pets. Enjoy and take good care of them.

Life would be a much duller, less joyful experience without God's critters

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snopes.com: Xylitol Deadly to Dogs

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Check out this article on Snopes about xylitol poisoning in pets.
snopes.com: Xylitol Deadly to Dogs
If you suspect your pet has eaten a food or candy containing Xylitol, call your local emergency vet immediately to let them know you're on your way, and go straight there for urgent treatment. You can also call the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center for advice, on (888) 426-4435 but it is crucial not to delay medical attention because of the very sudden effects of consumption.

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Warning! Toxic Mulch!

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WARNINGS - DO NOT USE COCOA MULCH IF YOU OWN PETS

(This was verified on Snopes.com)

Here is the email I received:

"Yesterday one of our dog agility friends experienced a tragedy and wanted me to pass a special message along to all of my dog loving friends and family. Please tell every dog owner you know.
Over the weekend the doting owner of two young lab mixes purchased Cocoa Mulch from Target to use in their garden. They loved the way it smelled and it was advertised to keep cats away from their garden. Their dog Calypso decided that the mulch smelled good enough to eat and devoured a large helping. She vomited a few times which was typical when she eats something new but wasn't acting lethargic in any way. The next day, Mom woke up and took Calypso out for her morning walk. Half way through the walk, she had a seizure and died instantly. (more...)

Although the mulch had NO warnings printed on the label, upon further investigation on the company's website, this product is HIGHLY toxic to dogs and cats. Cocoa Mulch is manufactured by Hershey's, and they claim that 'It is true that studies have shown that 50% of the dogs that eat Cocoa Mulch can suffer physical harm to a variety of degrees (depending on each individual dog). However, 98% of all dogs won't eat it.'

Cocoa Mulch, which is sold by Home Depot, Foreman's Garden Supply and other Garden s upply stores, contains a lethal ingredient called 'Theobromine' . It is lethal to dogs and cats. It smells
like chocolate and it really attracts dogs. They will ingest this stuff and die. Several deaths already occurred in the last 2-3 weeks. Just a word of caution, check what you are using in your
gardens and be aware of what your gardeners are using in your gardens.

Theobromine is in all chocolate, especially dark or baker's chocolate which is toxic to dogs. Cocoa bean shells contain potentially toxic quantities of theobromine, a xanthine compound similar in effects to caffeine and theophylline. A dog that ingested a lethal quantity of garden mulch made from cacao bean shells developed severe convulsions and died 17 hours later. Analysis of the stomach contents and the ingested cacao bean shells revealed the presence of lethal amounts of theobromine.

PLEASE GIVE THIS THE WIDEST DISTRIBUTION! !!
Amy Beichler
E xecutive Director, Public Animal Welfare Society, (PAWS)
A Nonprofit Humane Society Serving the Animals & People of Greater
Cleveland
and Cuyahoga County Since 1976

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Merry.....Happy.........something...?

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Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Winter Solstice, Happy Kwanzaa, Blessed Ramadan, Happy Diwali, Merry Yule.......

Did I miss any?

No matter how you say it or what you believe, may everyone have a blessed holiday season and a wonderful new year. Peace and good wishes to all, man and beast alike.

Terri

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Bless the Animals

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I'm not Catholic, but I really like this. St. Francis seems to feel the same way about animals as most of us do. I figure a few extra blessings and prayers, no matter who you pray to, will certainly never hurt.

"A tool in your hands I am, dear God, the sweetest instrument you have shaped my being into. What makes me now complete-
feeling the soul of every creature against my heart. Does every creature have a soul? Surely they do; for everything God has touched will have life forever. And all creatures he has held."

St. Francis of Assisi


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Just what IS in my dog's food, part 7: Flavorings - Yum or Yuck?

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High quality foods do not really need any flavorings, but natural ones are harmless and may even add a little nutritional value. The sole purpose of flavoring agents in pet food is to make the food palatable to the pet.

The food that comes from the manufacturing plant is often so rancid that no dog would touch it. So why does your dog come running when you open a new bag of commercial pet food? Because that overpowering odor wafting from the bag smells like dinner to him. Fat is sprayed directly on the morsels of food, and that is what you and your dog smell. The fat that entices him to eat is gathered from the rendering plant, restaurant grease, and other sources of fats and oils that are too rancid for human consumption. The restaurant grease is gathered from various establishments and stored in huge drums, sometimes outside for weeks at a time in extreme temperatures. Fat is also used as a sort of glue to stick other flavors to pet food morsels. These flavors and the sprayed fat trick pets into eating the food.

While it is true that pet foods must meet certain standards set by AAFCO (Association of American Feed Control Officials) in order to be labeled as "complete and balanced," there are problems with the quality of the standards themselves. (more....)

In addition to these issues with the standards set by AAFCO, there are further problems with the pet food industry's labeling practices. The labels follow a secret code, and consumers do not have the key to decipher it. In fact, most consumers do not even realize that there is a hidden meaning in the label's wording.

The "Flavor" Rule states that a food may be labeled as "Beef Flavored Dog Food" even if it does not contain any beef, as long as the flavor is "sufficiently detectable." This is achieved by using meals, by-products, or various parts from the animal listed on the label.

It almost seems like a company can call a food "turkey flavored" if a turkey just walks past it!!! Okay, perhaps that's a bit extreme, but you get my point.

The following is taken directly from the FDA website section on interpreting pet food labels:

"Under the "flavor" rule, a specific percentage is not required, but a product must contain an amount sufficient to be able to be detected. There are specific test methods, using animals trained to prefer specific flavors, that can be used to confirm this claim. In the example of "Beef Flavor Dog Food," the word "flavor" must appear on the label in the same size, style and color as the word "beef." The corresponding ingredient may be beef, but more often it is another substance that will give the characterizing flavor, such as beef meal or beef by-products.

With respect to flavors, pet foods often contain "digests," which are materials treated with heat, enzymes and/or acids to form concentrated natural flavors. Only a small amount of a "chicken digest" is needed to produce a "Chicken Flavored Cat Food," even though no actual chicken is added to the food. Stocks or broths are also occasionally added. Whey is often used to add a milk flavor. Often labels will bear a claim of "no artificial flavors." Actually, artificial flavors are rarely used in pet foods. The major exception to that would be artificial smoke or bacon flavors, which are added to some treats."

What exactly are these items they refer to? Here are the gory details:

Animal Digest
AAFCO: A material which results from chemical and/or enzymatic hydrolysis of clean and undecomposed animal tissue. The animal tissues used shall be exclusive of hair, horns, teeth, hooves and feathers, except in such trace amounts as might occur unavoidably in good factory practice and shall be suitable for animal feed. If it bears a name descriptive of its kind or flavor(s), it must correspond thereto.

A cooked-down broth made from unspecified parts of unspecified animals. The animals used can be obtained from any source, so there is no control over quality or contamination. Any kind of animal can be included: "4-D animals" (dead, diseased, disabled, or dying prior to slaughter), goats, pigs, horses, rats, misc. roadkill, animals euthanized at shelters, restaurant and supermarket refuse and so on.

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Digest
May also appear as dried, or spray dried. Sometimes the type and part of animals used is specified, such as in "Chicken Digest", "Lamb Digest" or "Poultry Liver Digest"

AAFCO: Material which results from chemical and/or enzymatic hydrolysis of clean and undecomposed animal tissue. The animal tissues used shall be exclusive of hair, horns, teeth, hooves and feathers, except in such trace amounts as might occur unavoidably in good factory practice and shall be suitable for animal feed. .

A cooked-down broth made from specified, or worse, unspecified parts of specified or unspecified animals (depending on the type of digest used). If the source is unspecified (e.g. "Animal" or "Poultry", the animals used can be obtained from any source, so there is no control over quality or contamination. Any kind of animal can be included: "4-D animals" (dead, diseased, disabled, or dying prior to slaughter), goats, pigs, horses, rats, misc. roadkill, animals euthanized at shelters, restaurant and supermarket refuse and so on.

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Flavor
A substance, such as an extract or spice, that add flavor to a product.

The manufacturer may or may not give more detailed information about what is used for flavoring and whether it is made from a natural or chemical substance.

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Glandular Meal
I have not been able to locate an official definition for this product so far.

Since it is used as a "source of liver flavor" in poor quality foods, it is safe to assume that it is a meal obtained from the livers and other glands of various, unspecified animals. As with all generic, unspecified ingredients, it is wise to avoid.

Hmmmm.....sounds more like YUK than YUM to me! So, what do we do with this information now? Study those labels!!

What to look for:
►Specific stocks or broths (e.g. chicken, beef), liver of specified animals

What to avoid:
►Any highly rendered products (e.g. digests of any kind), ingredients of unknown origin ("meat broth"), glandular meal, artificial flavor(ing)
►Onion of any form is toxic to dogs and thus has no place in dog food!

Next time we'll look at colorings and sweeteners.


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