Emergency Care for Pets

I received some good advice from the pet emergency care veterinary clinic near my home. When our pets are having an emergency we often don't remember what we should do. Here are some tips to post in your house in case your pet has an emergency:

1. Remain calm so you can think clearly and help your pet.
2. Call you vet first and follow his instructions and explain the nature of the emergency.
3. If your pet has been poisoned you may also want to call the local poison control. Call information for the number or better yet post it on the frig for emergencies.
4. Remember, even loving pets can bite when they are injured. Place a muzzle, towel, or blanket around their head so they can't bite you. Make sure there is plenty of room so your pet can breath.

Exactly what conditions require emergency care? Here are some conditions to be aware of:

1. Difficulty breathing
2. Unstoppable bleeding
3. Inability to urinate or defecate
4. Heatstroke
5. Bloated or distended abdomen
6. Inability to deliver kittens or puppies
7. Loss of balance, unconsciousness, or seizure
8. Pain
9. Major trauma or injury (hit by a car, etc.)
10. Shock
11. Poisoning
12. Vomiting and/or diarrhea
13. Lameness
14. Eyes: injured, sudden blindness, cloudiness or abnormal discharge.
15. Allergic reactions: swollen face, hives, red skin, difficulty breathing, severe itching or a rash.
16. Diabetic: shaking, excessive salivation, abnormal behavior, excessive vomiting, seizures.
17. General: severe lethargy, anorexia, fever greater than 104 degrees, etc.

I must put in a plug for proper feeding of your pets everyday. If your pet was born of a mother who was feed properly, it will grow up with better chances of having good health. If your pet is feed good healthy, well balanced food during it's life, it will have excellent chances of living a long life with good health.

Unfortunatly, all pet foods are not made the same. Many commercial dog and cat foods are made with toxic ingredients, contain meat by-products, artificial vitamin K3, foreign objects, and many other ingredients that over time will cause ill health and even death.

The only foods you feed your pet should be natural, organic, holistic dog & cat foods. You can find foods of this quality at www.EverythingNaturalPetFood.com along with all the pet supplements to keep your pets healthy. Many people want to cook their own pet food. You can find books full of homemade pet food recipes at http://www.everythingnaturalpetfood.com/PetEducationBooks.html. When we feed our pets proper food, we "Feed them life!"

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Winterize Your Pets

Fall is here and we are slipping into cooler wether. Depending on what area of the country you are in, there may be some freezing nights and cold days. I live in Washington state where winters are milder than other northern United States areas. No matter where we are, we have to prepare our pets who go outside in the cold. This picture is of "Sally", who is a very special dog who lives with my friend Jodie. You can tell it is getting cooler by the picture. Fall leaves on the ground and Sally in her special coat. Not all dogs are equiped to handle the cold and need some help from their human companions.

There are a variety of coats online and in the pet stores. This is the time to look for your dogs winter coat now. If you live where it is not too cold you might start with an old sweatshirt. I go to Goodwill and buy sweatshirts for $3.00. I cut the arms off and leave just enough to cover their shoulders and upper arms. Then for the boys dogs, I cut out part of the bottom so they can go to the bathroom. By the way, sweatshirts fit dogs best if you put the front on their backs and the back on their tummies. That way, their neck area fits better. Then I either safety pin up the loose baggy areas or sew it to fit. As it gets colder, I put two shirts on them. And of course, the winter coat when necessary.

My dogs are outside most of the time during the days. Each dog has a dog house with lots of blankets and foam bedding to lay on. The bottom of dog houses are very cold to lay on without lots of padding. It is too cold and hard for arthritic dogs or dogs with joint problems. With their shirts, coats, and layers of cushy bedding, they can cuddle up and stay warm. For very cold areas you can buy dog houses that have heating units. Some people put light bulbs inside to raise the temperature. It is very important to keep out the cold winds which chill the dog and can make them sick. Igloo dog houses sell swinging doors and floor padding. You can assemple a wind block with strips of heavy carpet and nail them to the door top of wooden dog houses. That way the dog can go in and out but it keeps out the cold and wind. Face the dog house entrance away from the direction of the wind.

Water dishes need to have the ice removed daily and fresh water filled. Keep food and water dishes under a area where rain, wind, and snow cannot get into them.

Never leave a dog chained up outside in the dead cold of winter. That is cruel and you can go to jail for that. All dogs need proper shelter. If at all possible, in the coldest of winter, keep your dogs in the house. Prepare a place for them to keep warm. Remember to let them outside often to relieve themselves. If properly potty trained, they won't make mistakes in the house and you won't mind keeping them inside in the cold winter.

Don't forget your cats. They should not be outside in extreme weather either. Find a warm place inside during the winter where they can be warm. Keeping your pets healthy means winterizing their surroundings for the cold. By dong these simple things, you can save yourself lots of vet bills. Unless your dog is a sled dog from Alaska and is outside a lot, the chances are they are not used to the cold and can get sick or die if left unattended.

Make sure the nutrition is full of enough calories, vitamins and minerals to keep your pets healthy in winter. Feed them all natural, human grade, organic, and holistic pet food. You can find some of the best brands at http://www.everythingnaturalpetfood.com/NaturalDogFoods.html. Remember, our animal companions depend on us for proper care so "Feed Them Life!" Have a warm winter.

ALERT Pet Food Recall

The Food & Drug Administration issued this announcement today, August 15, 2008. If you have this type of pet food in your house, do not feed it to your pets. Take it to the store for a refund or dump it. Here is the FDA announcement:

Mars Petcare US Issues Voluntary Recall of Limited Bags of PEDIGREE Complete Nutrition Small Crunchy Bites at Albertsons in Southern California and Las Vegas due to Potential Salmonella Contamination (August 8) Fri, 15Aug2008 08:35:00 - 0500

Mars Petcare US today announced a voluntary recall of limited bags of PEDIGREE Complete Nutrition Small Crunchy Bites sold in Albertsons stores in Southern California and Las Vegas, Nevada. The pet food is being voluntarily recalled because of potential contamination with Salmonella. There have been no complaints or reports of injury resulting from consumption or handling of the recalled product.

Pet Food Ingredient Artificial Vitamin K3

How many times have you read food ingredient articles that really made you think about what you eat, drink, and prepare your food? Did you stop to think that those same ingredients are also harmful and potentially fatal to your pets? If you did, you were right. Most of the time what is bad for humans is bad for pets. Most of the time, with some exceptions, what is good for humans is also good for pets.

When we are armed with wisdom, we are powerful consumers. Wise consumers are starting to change the pet food industry by refusing to buy harmful pet foods for their pets. They are writing letters and emails to pressure pet food companies into changing their methods of providng food for pets. Some citizens of Victorville, CA picketid the Nutro pet food plant and brought national attention to what was going on at this factory. See http://video.aol.com/video-detail/nutro-dog-food-plant-protest/552407059 for the video. Many reports were published online stating that dogs & cats who ate Nutro had bloody stools, vomiting, & diarrhea as well as deaths. This public outcry has brought much attention to the fact that we need to stay on top of the pet food industry. It wasn't over after the China incidents of 2007. It conitnues today.

Most of us know we should not feed our pets chocolate, onions, garlic, grapes, or raisons. These foods have chemicals in them that cause major illness or even death. These are natural ingredients of which we need to be concerned. There are many more chemical ingredients we also need to watch. Most of them we can't even pronounce. We certainly don't know what they are or if they are harmful. It is usually very confusing.

This is one very bad chemical ingredient that you should never feed your pets. "Menadione Sodium Bisulfate." This chemical is artificial vitamin K3. Also known as Menadione Dimethylpyrimidinol Bisulfate, vitamin K3, K3, and Menadione. The Material Safety Data Sheet on Menadione Sodium Bisulfate says:

Potential Chronic Health Effects:

CARCINOGENIC EFFECTS: 3 (Not classifiable for human.) by IARC
MUTAGENIC EFFECTS: Not available
DEVELOPMENTAL TOXICITY: Not available.
The substance is toxic to kidneys, lungs, liver, and mucous membranes. Repeated or prolonged exposure to the substance can produce target organs damage.

The FDA used to allow it in human foods and vitamins but now has banned its use for humans. So why has it not been banned for pet food? It is used largely in farm animal feed. They assume it is acceptible for out pets who live years longer than chickens or cows. Long term feeding of Menadione Sodium Bisulfate in pets is asking for major trouble. There needs to be testing and take it off the market until the tests are complete.

In humans, K3 can cause, vomiting, toxic liver, weak immune system, skin ittitatios, allergic reactions and much more. If the FDA banned its use in human food and vitamins, then why has it not been banned for pet food? Farm animals who have been fed K3 show up in the grocery stores in eggs, dairy products, and meats. Humans and pets eat those foods! Pet food is made from those farm animals! It's not only added as vitamin K3 but is added through the eggs & meats in the foods. So, FDA, how is that banned for human use? I'm feeling pretty bad for farm animals right now as well as our pets. What about our children who eat eggs, dairy, and meats?

Vitamin K1 & K2 are natural sources of vitamin K. K1 and K2 should be all that we and our pets consume. Vitamin K is responsible for clotting blood in our systems so we need some of it. You can find natural vitamin K1 and K2 in fish, liver, alfalfa, sea kelp & seaweeds, nettle leaf, blue-green algae and spirulina. Suddenly the Nori on sushi looks retty good to me! I purchased a package of Nori and will break it up in my dog food. Maybe I'll roll up some brown rice inside and make us a sushi treat.

Seriously, I believe "Menadione Sodium Bisulfate" is a killer. We need to all write letters and emails to the FDA, AAFCO, pet food manufacturers who use this artificial form of K3, and your politicians. It is up to us to stop this with a huge public outcry. It has already started and several brands of pet food have stopped using artificial vitamin K3 in their foods. Actually, several countries in Europe have banned it also. The United States needs a little push from the educated consumers. Keep up the pressure by starting your letter/email writing today.

For more information on Menadione Sodium Bisulfate, see this website: http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=menadione

Find your Congressman: http://www.visi.com./juan/congress/

Find your Senators: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

AAFCO: http://www.aafco.org/

FDA: http://www.fda.gov/

The good news is that many premium pet food manufacturers are making natural, human grade, organic, and holistic pet foods without artificial vitamin K3 (Menadione Sodium Bisulfate) or other toxic ingredients. You can investigate a large variety of these foods at: http://www.EverythingNaturalPetFoods.com/.

Here you will find a variety of natural, human grade, organic, and holistic dog and cat foods both in canned and dry kibble. You will also find all pet supplies, pet wellness care products, Rx prescriptions, pet health insurance, gifts for human pet lovers, and books on homemade pet food recipes, dog training, pet care, horse training & nutrition, small animal care, etc.

Everything Natural Pet Food is the source of natural, human grade, organic, and holistic pet food. Remember, "Feed them life!"

Pet Food Industry & natural pet food.

There have recently been a couple of people indicted for the Chinese ingredient in pet food that killed thousands of our beloved pets. The fight is not over. First we must find natural, organic, holistic, or vegetarian pet food to feed our pets. Some companies in the pet food industry have developed foods in these categories and they are very safe and healthy. Next, we need to educate ourselves on pet food and what is in it. Lastly, we need to continue to fight for regulations that make testing of ingredients more prevalent, etc. Another ingredient to look up is vitamin K3 which is still approved for pet foods and is an artificial ingredient. Dogs and cats create vitamin K in their intestines. It does not have to be included in pet food, especially the K3. Long term use causes health problems that can be serious. I am looking into this and would like any information that you have. Also, I'm fighting back by starting a website to sell natural pet food. www.everythingnaturalpetfood.com I am interested on your thoughts and what you would like to share on the pet food industry.