What’s Cookin’?
Pros and Cons of Home-cooking for Your Pet
By Cal Orey, South Lake Tahoe, CA
It’s normal for pet people in the land of healthy cats and dogs to be scared by the recent pet food recalls. Federal agencies, manufacturers, veterinarians, and more have been racing to the defense of America’s cats and dogs. However, the pet food scare hit home - whether you live in California, Iowa, or New York.
More so than before, many people might ask, “Should I feed my pet homemade meals?” Some people do it, and have done it all along, others have never thought about it. Here’s a look at the up and downside to hitting the kitchen to home-cook for your pet.
The Upside of Homemade Meals:
• It’s Healthy: A fresh, unprocessed diet based on whole foods is healthful. “The best food for your pet (and you) is least processed,” points out veteran holistic veterinarian William Pollak, DVM, in Fairfield, Iowa.
• It’s Additive-free: Turning to all-natural, home-cooked pet food will ensure that it is additive-free. Truth is, it’s hard to know what you’re buying. Additives are used for a variety of reasons. They are added to food, for example, to enhance taste or color or to prevent spoilage.
• It’s Chock-full of Love: A tasty home-cooked meal contains tender loving care. Translation: Your pet can sense when you make food for it. Fact: It smells good and is yummy, too.
The Downside of Homemade Meals:
• It’s Tricky to Make a “Healthy” Meal: Spokesperson Tom McPheron of the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) based in Schaumburg, Illinois, says, “The AVMA warns that it is not always easy to make a healthy meal for your dog or cat. Pets have complex nutritional needs that are unique to their species, age, and other factors.” While home-cooked food recipes for pets can be found online and in books, Dr. Tony Buffington, DVM, PhD, an Ohio State University College of Veterinary professor of clinical sciences adds, “These recipes are all generally fine, but certainly home-cooked diets are not created with the care that these commercial pet foods are.”
• It’s Inconvenient: Let’s face it. In the fast-paced 21st century most of us don’t have time to cook for ourselves, let alone cook for our pets. Instead of just pouring out a portion of pre-packaged pet food, it takes time to buy the ingredients, and it takes time to cook it up.
• It’s a Change to a Pet’s Diet: Also, “Any changes to a pet’s diet could cause intestinal upset, particularly a change as significant as switching from commercial to home-cooked food,” cautions McPheron. He adds that table scraps are not a good option because some human foods (i.e., garlic, onions) can be toxic to pets.
Pet owners need to weigh the pros and cons of home-cooking for their cats and dogs, and before making any changes to your pet’s diet, consult with your veterinarian.
For more information about pet food recalls, log onto the U. S. Food and Drug Administration’s Web site at
www.fda.gov, the AVMA’s Web site at
www.avma.org, or Menu Foods at
www.menufoods.com/recall or call Menu Foods at 1-866-895-2708.
Pet Food Recipes
The following recipes are created by William Pollak, DVM (www.healthyvet.com).
Continental Canine
1 cup raw rolled oats
3 eggs (shells crushed and baked at 350 degrees F for 12 minutes)
1 tsp. bone meal or calcium/magnesium powder
½ cup cottage cheese
1 cup raw vegetable (whatever is on hand)
1 cup lightly cooked chopped meat (turkey or beef)
Bring 2 cups of water to boil. Add raw oats, cover, and cook 2 minutes. Turn off heat and let stand about 10 minutes. Stir in remaining ingredients. Mix in some brewer’s or nutritional yeast, and ½ tsp. olive oil. Feed 1 ½ cups per 35 pounds of dog per day. Needs vary based on activity level and age of dog.
Chewy Cat Cuisine
1 cup oatmeal
2 eggs
4 cups lightly cooked ground turkey or lean chuck, hamburger, liver, giblets, fish, or other lean meats
4 T. vitamin/mineral powder
2 T. bonemeal or chopped, softened, or ground eggshells
1 T. olive oil
15,000 IU vitamin A
200 IU vitamin E
600 mg. taurine (optional)
1 tsp. fresh vegetable, ground, include fresh with each meal
Bring 4 cups (1 quart) of water to a boil. Add the oatmeal. When thoroughly blended, cover and simmer on low 10 to15 minutes. Stir in eggs and oil. Mix in remaining ingredients. Serve fresh for two days. Feed ¼ to ½ cup per day for a medium-size cat. Divide the rest into meal-size portions and freeze.
Cal Orey is the author of 202 Pets’ Peeves, The Healing Powers of Vinegar, Revised and Updated, and
The Healing Powers of Olive Oil (Feb. 08). She has a cat, Kerouac, and Brittanys Simon and Seth. For more information log onto
www.calorey.com
Emergency!
Would you know what to do?
By Amber Martin, Reno, NV
What you would do if your beloved pet became seriously ill or injured? Since you cannot call 911 for your pet, it will be up to you to administer the first life-saving emergency care. Knowing the proper actions to take can significantly increase the chances of survival and reduce the extent of injury to your pet before transporting them to your veterinarian. Unfortunately, pets are at greater risk of death or injury from preventable accidents than any other reason.
With summer’s warm days, we head outdoors to hike, throw Frisbees, or go to the lake – all great fun for you and your pet, but if we’re not careful can also be very dangerous for our pets.
Heatstroke is dangerous and kills many pets every year. They cannot sweat as we do and can become overheated quickly. They cool off by panting and have very small cooling systems to cool off their whole bodies. If your pet cannot cool off heatstroke can develop and can cause irreversible damage, even death. The most common cause of heatstroke is leaving your pet in a car, which can heat up to 160 degrees in minutes, even with the windows partially rolled down.
Some signs of heatstroke are uncontrollable panting, foaming at the mouth, depression, lethargy, agitation, vomiting, and/or loss of consciousness. Tongue and gums initially can be bright red, then as the pet gets worse, become progressively blue or gray.
First-aid actions for pets with signs of heatstroke is to cool the pet down – place in a cool bath, or hose with cool water, or place them in a cool ventilated space and wrap in a cool wet sheet or towel. Then, transport your pet to your veterinarian for additional medical treatment.
Many of our pets are indoors most of the time and walk on carpet and grass. Their paw pads can’t withstand the intense heat of summer asphalt, concrete, even dirt. Asphalt can get so hot that even the toughest paws can burn. So, we need to pay close attention to conditions around our pets.
We must also be aware of what our pets are doing. Even good swimmers like our water dogs should wear life vests when boating. Our pets love to eat smelly stuff like old fishing bait along shores that could have a fish hook in it, and broken glass can cause serious injury to our pet’s paws. Snakes, spiders, scorpions, bees, and wasps can be highly dangerous, and some yard plants are poisonous to our pets.
Environmental hazards exist throughout the year. Winter presents its own hazards, as do holidays, and knowing what to do during an emergency situation could mean the difference between life or death for your pet.
Knowing first-aid procedures won’t guarantee your pet will survive a particular emergency situation but it will improve its chances and will give you peace of mind that you did everything you could to help your beloved pet.
Knowing what to look for can prevent many emergencies, but when an emergency does occur, knowing what to do can be a life saver.
Amber Martin, Critter Sitters of Northern NV, is a certified instructor of the Pet Tech Pet Saver Program. Spending time with her pets is her favorite thing. She started Critter Sitters of Northern NV in 2004 and thinks of her client pets “as an extension of my own critter family.” Contact her at 775-677-0560, or by e-mail at
crittersitternnv@gmail.com
Breed Profile:
The Rottweiler
Is this breed right for you?
By Janet Miller, Carson City, NV
The Rottweiler is definitely not for everyone, nor is he even close to being a golden retriever.
Developed in Rottweil, Germany, the breed drove cattle to and from market, pulled milk carts, and protected farm and family. The Rottweiler is from 22 to 27 inches and 80 to 130 pounds.
The American Kennel Club (AKC) standard describes the Rottweiler as a “calm, confident, and courageous dog with self-assured aloofness that does not lend itself to immediate and indiscriminate friendships.” Steadfast and usually serious, the Rottweiler tends to “respond quietly and with a wait-and-see attitude to influences in his environment.” This muscular dog needs some space and exercise.
A Rottweiler might be right for you if you want a dog that is:
1. Muscular, powerful, and stocky.
2. Calm, confident, and courageous.
3. Can learn to do almost anything you want them to do.
4. A good watch dog and guardian.
A Rottweiler might NOT be right for you if you are not willing to deal with:
1. Researching your breeder to ensure you get a healthy, good-natured dog.
2. A large dog that thinks it's a lap dog and steps on your feet.
3. Destructiveness when they are bored and not kept as part of the family and exercised properly.
4. A large dog that takes up a lot of space and wants to follow you from room to room.
5. Has high prey drives and can have aggression towards other animals if not properly socialized.
6. Is very intelligent, strong-willed, and will test for alpha status – requiring a confident owner.
7. Slobbering, shedding, and drooling.
8. Gassiness if not fed a high-quality well-balanced diet.
9. Many health issues, such as cancer, hip and elbow problems, and they are short lived.
10. Legal liabilities; public perception, future breed bans, insurance, and housing problems.
If you simply want a family pet, and haven’t the time to properly train, exercise, and socialize the dog, I wouldn’t recommend a Rottweiler for your family because most Rottweilers have protective instincts toward strangers and need extensive exposure to friendly people so they learn to recognize the normal behaviors of "good guys," then they can recognize the difference when someone is acting abnormally. Without careful socialization, they may become suspicious of everyone, which could lead to biting. Some Rottweilers go in the opposite direction and become fearful of strangers, which can lead to fear biting.
A female I rescued from the pound protected me from being robbed; she was the love of my life and constant companion until she passed and my first introduction to this wonderful breed.
I have done AKC confirmation, producing some Top 10 dogs and many champions, and herding and therapy work with my Rotties. It’s been very rewarding and I’ve enjoyed many years with these wonderful animals. Overall, I’ve found Rottweilers to be splendid, loving, and capable companions and would not have any other breed.
Janet works with the Pet Rescue Page by Swift Communications helping find last-chance animals a home, and is always seeking sponsors for the animals on the page. She also distributes Flint River Ranch Premium Dog and Cat foods. Learn more at
www.sierragoldrottweilers.com.
The Importance of Being Consistent
A tool for harmony and happiness
By Leslie Morán, Silver Springs, NV
Ginger was a beautiful purebred German shepherd who adored her family. However, Tracy and Roger disagreed about a few things. The topic which created the most conflict for Ginger was the couch in the television room.
When they were watching television together Tracy always directed Ginger to rest on the dog bed next to the couch. However, when Roger was watching a program by himself he invited Ginger to join him on the couch.
What Ginger hated the most about the couch in the television room was that when Tracy walked by the open door and saw Ginger on the couch next to Roger she began screaming and yelling at Roger. Ginger hated it when they treated each other that way. So she promptly got off the couch and left the room.
As a coping behavior Ginger finally stopped going into the television room altogether. And when either Tracy or Roger would try and coax her to join them Ginger would actually start shaking, tuck her tail between her legs, and disappear to the other end of the house. They had witnessed this once confident and attentive dog change into a frightened and confused soul.
Although Tracy and Roger realized they had to come to an agreement about the couch, they were puzzled that Ginger had become so traumatized over what for them was a minor scrimmage.
For Ginger, when they began verbally attacking each other it took her back to a place of feeling tiny and completely helpless. This brought up feelings for Ginger of being useless and unable to help her family remember that loving each other was the most important job any of us really can have.
When I told Tracy and Roger about Ginger's feelings her healing process began. The lack of consistency regarding the couch in the television room affected Ginger much more deeply than simply becoming confused - she actually began worrying about who she could trust.
Being a German shepherd, Ginger was naturally ingrained with the values of integrity, loyalty, and being dependable. Once the couple understood this, I could convey that because Ginger held them both in such high esteem this dog had started to question the relevance of the values that actually made her who she was.
Aside from the confusion that often arises when a caretaker allows an animal companion to do a behavior a few times but then changes the rules other emotional issues can surface as they did with Ginger. Since each animal can only interpret a situation based on their prior experiences and the related beliefs they have formed, feelings of fear, anger, resentment, mistrust, or abandonment can arise. In my experience, the only way to restore wholeness to an emotionally wounded animal is by working to heal the injury at the source. Then misunderstandings can be resolved, wounds begin mending, and harmony can be restored as it was for Tracy, Roger, and Ginger as she again enjoys the dog bed next to the couch.
Animal Wellness Coach, Leslie Morán of Critter Connection, helps you benefit from a revolutionary approach for improving behavior, emotional healing, health, and well-being. Practical solutions from telepathic impressions. Leslie may be reached at 1-775-577-9676.
www.moranscritterconnection.com
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