Tempting a Finicky Eater

Yesterday my co-worker came to me for advice. A friend of hers had just brought her puppy back from the vet after being neutered. The dog was whimpering and could not seem to settle down. The owner had called the vet who, in my opinion, was rather dismissive. From what I could gather, he basically said that the pain killers would take effect if the dog ate something, and there was no reason to bring him back in because all that would mean was that he would be alone and in a cage. My very first tip was to find another vet.

I have some experience with picky pets. My parents’ Puli would eat anything that came his way, while their Komondore was known to turn her nose up at steak. Jade (my dog) eats dog food as a last resort (only after he is convinced that no treats are coming his way), and Shana (my parents current dog) will eat if she’s hungry or if she thinks that Jade is going to get to the food or treat first (when I house/dogsit she will frequently gather up every bully stick and bone she can find, pile them up on my parents’ bed where she sleeps, and wait for Jade to innocently come along so she can pounce on him. Jade, who usually has no interest whatsoever in bully sticks, just looks bewildered while Shana settles down to happily munching on whichever chew strikes her fancy).

I have found however two human food items that no picky pet (barring medical problems that forbid the giving of this food product) can resist: chopped chicken liver and rotisserie chicken. Last night my advice was (assuming that the vet was correct and the poor puppy needed to eat something for the pain medication to kick in): stop by the grocery store and pick up a rotisserie chicken and, if they have any, some chopped chicken liver. Forget trying to coax the dog to eat dog food (either wet or dry); for one night, he’ll be just fine. Don’t bother with mixing up kibble with chicken broth or anything like that. Rotisserie chicken - with or without skin just no bones.

Late last night I got a text: The chicken worked perfectly! Dog is sound asleep.

What is your favorite trick for tempting a finicky eater?

About Animal Hoarding

Having only one pet makes perfect sense to me. I’m an only child, so it seems logical that I would also have an “only” dog. I also have plenty of friends who disagree. I know plenty of people who have multiple pets; they have 2 cats and a dog, or 3 dogs, or a dog and a bird, or fish, a cat, and a dog, or some random combination thereof. For the most part, people don’t bat an eye at the person at the park walking his two dogs; no one thinks to call Animal Control when they visit a friend and are greeted by two slobbering Labradors and catch a site of kitty whisking out of site.

On the flip side, we have all seen the news stories about the “crazy cat ladies.” This has become a sort of catch-all phrase for animal hoarders; people who are not always women and who do not always hoard cats. So what differentiates someone who simply loves pets and happens to have a lot of them from someone who is genuinely in need of professional help?

First and foremost it is important to realize that a true hoarder is someone who is in need of professional help. According to the ASPCA’s article, Uncovering the Truth About Animal Hoarding, a true hoarder typically suffers from some from of attachment disorder, combined with paranoid, depression, or another type of mental illness.

A true hoarder will typically live in squalid conditions. The animals kept by the hoarder are usually in poor physical health. Human clutter and dirt and debris (including animal feces and urine) will usually cover the floors in an animal hoarders house. And a true hoarder will usually have dozens of animals. A hoarder frequently “collects” animals to fill a deep sense of need or loss. And contrary to what would seem to be the case, a hoarder does not deliberately mistreat his or her pets. It is just that hoarders are incapable of caring for themselves, let alone their animals.

Because hoarders are mentally ill, simply removing the animals from their care will not solve the problem.  A hoarder needs counseling, access to inexpensive health care (such as mobile shot clinics and the spay/neuter services offered by local shelters), and frequently a good cleaning service. With the right help and support, hoarders can change their lives. If you believe you know someone who is a hoarder, start by contacting your local animal control center and ask if they can help - or at least tell you who talk to. By reaching out, you will help the lives of both the hoarder and her pets.

Doggy Day Camp

I loved camp when I was a kid. For years I went to day camp and then at 9, I announced to my parents that I was ready for sleep-away camp. And for the next 9 years I went every year (once I left for college I started spending summer vacations at home). Yesterday, while I was out for a walk, a bus bearing the name of my beloved day camp passed me and made me nostalgic. And since I don’t have children to send to camp, I decided to investigate if there is actual camp for dogs! Now if you type “dog camp” or “camp for dogs” into Google, you come up with a lot of places that advertise themselves as “camp,” so after reviewing a number of these places, I decided to put some criteria into place (that the place was certified, vaccines required licensed etc. - tha for me is a given).

1) The organization had to offer a mix of structured and free-time activities

2) Development of socialization skills are a must

3) There must be indoor and outdoor play areas

And much to my amazement, there are a ton of places that are what I truly consider to be “camp for dogs.” The best of the best offer huge places for the dogs to romp and run, agility courses where dogs and humans can either take classes, or dogs can use at whim as a huge doggy playground, and  some even have restaurants and spas that cater specifically to their canine clients! For a great list of doggy day camps, check out campsfordogs.com. Have a wonderful summer!

Three Companies Recall Treats, Food, and Supplements

This past fourth of July weekend brought food, fun, fireworks, and a surprising number of pet product recalls.

Merrick Pet Care issued a voluntary recall of their Beef Fillet Squares (10 oz bag, Item #60016, Lot #10084TL7, Best By March 24, 2012) after a sample tested by the FDA tested positive for Salmonella. According to the site OregonLive.com - Merrick recalled this same product in January for the same reason.

Feline’s Pride, a manufacturer of raw, frozen cat food issued a recall of its Feline’s Pride Raw Natural Chicken Formula with ground bone for cats and kittens ground. The recall, which affects all  2.5 lbs. containers bought between June 10-17, was issued because of possible salmonella contamination. Feline’s Pride ships direct to customers, so consumers are urged to call 716-580-3096 with questions, or to request a replacement or refund.

United Pet Group, which private labels its supplements and vitamins for dogs and cats and sells to companies such as Drs Foster and Smith, has issued a recall for over 30 of its products because of possible salmonella contamination. All of the affected products are in tablet and powdered form. These products are being removed from retail stores and consumers should immediately stop feeding these supplements to their pets. The affected products are those with expiration dates that include and are between “01/2013″ and “06/2013.” Products with expiration dates earlier than 01/2013 or later than 06/2013 are not included in this recall. The expiration date can be found imprinted vertically on the right side of the product label. Please visit the FDA’s recall website for a full list of the recalled products. Consumers may contact United Pet Group at 1-877-399-5226, Monday through Friday, from 8:30 am to 5:00 pm EST.

Pets with Salmonella infections may be lethargic and have diarrhea or bloody diarrhea, fever, and vomiting. Some pets will have only decreased appetite, fever and abdominal pain. Infected but otherwise healthy pets can be carriers and infect other animals or humans. If your pet has consumed the recalled product and has these symptoms, please contact your veterinarian.

People who handle these products can become infected with Salmonella, especially if they have not thoroughly washed their hands after having contact with them or any surfaces exposed to these products. Healthy people infected with Salmonella should monitor themselves for some or all of the following symptoms: nausea, vomiting, diarrhea or bloody diarrhea, abdominal cramping and fever. Rarely, Salmonella can result in more serious ailments, including arterial infections, endocarditis, arthritis, muscle pain, eye irritation, and urinary tract symptoms. Consumers exhibiting these signs after having contact with the product should contact their healthcare providers.

Sunscreen for Your Pet

Let me put this in perspective. Jade, my 8-year old Cavalier has been known to run for cover at the sight of a leash. I have attempted to take him for a walk when it’s a gorgeous 70 degree sunny day and he hasn’t been out in a week - and we only get anywhere because I leave a trail of Liver Biscotti in my wake and Jade follows, vacuuming them up as he goes. So you can imagine my complete bewilderment when today, at 2:15pm (read “heat of the day”), when it’s easily 90 degrees outside (read: entirely too hot to be outside), my dog does everything put break down the front door trying to convince me to take him outside (he has a dog door so I knew this wasn’t a simple “I need a bathroom excursion). This is the same dog who feels the need to sleep for 6 or 7 hours after making the strenuous trek from the bedroom to the kitchen where we keep the treats.

Had it been any other dog, there is simply no way I would have gone for a walk in the heat of the day. Taking dogs for a walk in this kind of heat greatly increases the risk of their becoming overheated. In Jade’s case however I wasn’t too worried. Jade’s idea of a neighborhood “walk” (which was all I was prepared to do) consists of going around the corner to the park - and even that takes him up to 45 minutes because he has to stop and smell something every 2 feet. At that pace, I was significantly more worried about me becoming sunburned than I was about Jade overheating. And as I searched for my sunscreen, I started thinking about sunscreen for pets.

As it turns out, certain pets do benefit from the use of sunscreen. Pets (cats and dogs alike) with light-colored noses, those with very thin or missing fur (for example if your pet has a shaved area - just be sure to check with your veterinarian before putting sunscreen on over a wound or stitches), or pets who like to expose their bellies to the sun all benefit from the application of sunscreen during the hot summer months.

If you plan to use human sunscreen on your pet, choose one that is hypo-allergenic and fragrance free. Avoid using human sunscreen in a place your pet is likely to lick it off; licking off the sunscreen not only defeats the purpose, but ingesting sunscreen can be harmful to your pet. For lickable areas and/or for easier application, opt for a pet-specific sunscreen (you can find a good one at doggles.com).

Does Your Cat Tweet?

If you’re on Twitter,  you know that some pets have twitter accounts. However it’s a pretty safe bet that their humans are the ones doing the actual tweeting. Last month however, Sony released a device that will allow cats to do their own twittering.

This device is an actual collar that your cat wears around his or neck, and contains an accelerometer, a GPS, and a built-in camera. The accelerometer (a fancy word for motion detector) for example is designed to detect when your cat is on the move, sleeping or eating. Once it has detected your cat’s activities, it will send a tweet via Bluetooth.

The prototype contains 11pre-set phrases, although Sony plans to add more over time. My only question: is Sony planning to make these collars break-away for maximum safety?

The Continuing Adventures of the Billion Dollar Dog

I sometimes marvel at the fact that Shana is still alive. Shana is my parents four (maybe she’s five by now) year old Coton; and she is 11lbs of mischief. In the time that my parents have had her, Shana has needed rescuing because she marched down a long slope to a lake to go swimming and couldn’t climb back up (my mom says “she jumped off a cliff” which is a gross exaggeration - but she and my husband, who went after her, both needed rescuing as Shana couldn’t climb back up by herself, and my husband couldn’t climb up holding her), tangled with a raccoon, had foxtails extracted from various orifices (including her nose), and was in emergency care for a week because she was bitten by a rattlesnake.

Earlier this week Shana added another mishap to the list. Monday afternoon, she started limping. By Tuesday morning, her right front foot was bleeding. So it was off to the vet. This time, Shana managed to tear off one of her toenails. Based on the results I got googling the phrase “dog with torn toenail,” this is a surprisingly common mishap. Keeping your dog’s nails trimmed is a critical part of helping to prevent this type of problem from happening, but the vet said that Shana’s nails were not too long, so in all likelihood she simply snagged it on something while she was hiking with me or running around outside (probably chasing a raccoon or a rattlesnake or looking for a cliff to jump off of).

The good news is that torn toenails are very treatable. Shana has her foot bandaged up and she’s on a round of antibiotics to prevent infection, but the nail should grow back over the next few months. In the short run, Shana has adapted extremely well to running around on three legs.

As well, I’m pretty sure our veterinarian has been able to purchase his own island based on all the fees we paid him for treatment for former pets; with Shana, I fully anticipate he will buying a yacht to sail to and from said island.

This Morning’s Encounter

I’ve decided that along with sick days, mental health days, and vacation days, employers need to implement a new type of day off “yuck factor” days. Because after this morning’s events - I really need one. The morning started off perfectly ordinary. I had decided to walk Jade and Shana (for those of you knew to this blog Jade is my 7 year old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and Shana is my parents’ 4 year old Coton - think Bichon Frise but less fluffy). I like to take both dogs to a local state park which has miles of trails and where the dogs can be legally off leash. With the weather warming up, I tend to stick with one particular trail that I call “The Creek Trail.” It has an official name but I have no idea what it is. I call it “The Creek Trail” because you have to cross a creek at the end of the trail before you return to the parking lot.

I especially like this trail in the summer because it’s shady, and because Shana loves to play in the creek (Jade is deathly afraid of water - I can only assume the Wicked Witch of the West is a distant relative as he is convinced he will melt if he so much as puts a toe nail in the water). I also like this path because Jade will actually walk on it. Jade does not like to go for walks. While Shana could happily go twice a day, Jade feels that twice a week is more than sufficient.

On this day we were walking along, making surprisingly good time. The dogs were happily sniffing various trees, sampling the local greens (Shana likes to snack on various long-stem grasses as we walk) and chasing the occasional squirrel, and I was engrossed in This American Life’s latest podcast (yes I am an NPR addict I admit it). And then we turned a corner and I stopped dead. Approximately 100 yards in front of me there was an older, heavy set, gentleman, standing next to a tree. Completely naked except for socks and shoes.

Jade - who translates any stopping on walks as “oh good treat time!” started begging. Shana however launched into her “I’m a vicious guard dog” routine and started barking hysterically. The naked guy didn’t even turn in my direction. That spurred me into action. I had passed a ranger not too far back, so I turned and started running back up the trail. Shana, thinking this was part of the game, was hot on my heels. Jade however gave me a disgusted look that plainly said “You have to be kidding. Not only are you running, but you are going BACK, AWAY from the end of the trail, AWAY from the car.”

With some coaxing, I managed to convince Jade to break into a fast amble, and I went running up to the ranger who was fortunately still parked where I had seen her last. I greeted her with something sensible like “There’s a heavy-set naked man on the path back there. I think he might have Alzheimer’s or something. Thought you should know.”

The ranger goggled at me for a moment. Then, after confirming that I was okay (I assured her the man had not even looked in my direction let alone tried anything; and if he had a weapon of some kind he must have swallowed it), she reached for her radio. “Okay - can you give me a description of the man?”

I stared at her. “Medium-height; heavy-set; NAKED! Kind of hard to miss!”

In the end, her partner (a male) walked back along the path with me. He stayed about 100 feet in front of me at all times. As we neared the end of the trail, I saw that he had paused. I figured the man had disappeared bu the ranger called out “I saw him. Either that or there is more than one heavy-set naked guy running around on this trail.” In the end, the police greeted him as he was preparing to drive out of the park. The officer (who was extremely pleasant) pointed to the man in the car and asked if that was the gentleman I had seen.

“Well I’m not sure - would you mind asking him to get out of the car and drop his pants? I wasn’t really studying his face!” Okay I didn’t actually say that - but I did think it! I explained that I had no desire to press charges - that I was more concerned about the gentleman’s mental state than anything. The officer showed me the gentleman’s Arizona driver’s license, and said the gentleman had told him he was moving back there today. Then with what I can only describe as a wicked grin, the officer said to me “perfect - Arizona can deal with him.”

Man’s Best Friend? More Like Man’s Best Traitor.

I want to know if anyone else has had this experience:

From the time Shana was brought home, she spent the vast majority of her time with my mom. My mom played with her every morning, took her to work, took her on walks, fed her, and took her to puppy training class. My dad spent time with her of course, but he was still grieving the loss of their previous two dogs who had died about a year and a half ago. So he spent very little time with Shana. As a result, you would think Shana would adore my mom right? Wrong. Shana hero-worships my dad.

She follows him all over the house. If he isn’t home, she sits on a pillow and stares out the front window watching for him. Some mornings I come over to take her and Jade on a walk. I usually have to extract Shana from my parents’ bedroom and then I have about a 3 minute window to get her in the car before she decides that nothing sufficiently interesting is happening and she would rather be sleeping in bed - next to my dad.

My parents recently went on vacation to a place that allowed dogs so of course they took Shana with them. On the few occasions where my dad run into a store to pick something up and mom stayed in the car with Shana, Shana whined at the window until my dad came back. The one sure-fire time Shana prefers my mom to my dad? When mom has food.

I always found this behavior somewhat amusing (Shana is also extremely partial to my husband - but I think that’s partly because he gives her so many treats), until my own beloved Jade (my 8 year old Cavalier) started exhibiting similar behavior. Jade is extremely attached to me - I have no doubt about that. However, lately if given a choice between my co-worker Laurie and myself, he’ll take Laurie.

Now I grant you, Laurie DOES keep a stash of treats in the desk drawer. So that accounts for the fact that Jade spends half his day in Laurie’s cubicle pawing at Laurie’s desk (and sometimes Laurie) asking for treats. If pawing fails, he’ll resort to making a variety of odd sounds that I have never heard issue from another dog’s throat (it’s Jade’s version of barking). What amazes me is that somehow Jade has decided that if it comes from Laurie, it must be delicious. Me on the other hand, he doesn’t totally trust.

We’re currently in the process of choosing product for our next catalog - and naturally enough we try out various treat flavors on Jade, Shana, Milan and any customer’s dog who happens to walk through the door at the right time. Last week, I offered Jade a treat in consideration. Jade sniffed it and then turned his nose up at it. Laurie offered Jade the exact same treat and he gobbled it up. This morning, I offered Jade a piece of a different treat (one he hadn’t tried before). Jade sniffed it then turned his head away. I broke the treat into smaller pieces. This time the piece garnered an actually lick before Jade turned away. Laurie held out the exact same treats to Jade - and he hoovered them up.

Has anyone else been sold out by their beloved canine?

Proctor and Gamble Buys Natura Pet Leaving Quality of Food in Question

I personally believe (warning: blatant Petlane product promotion coming up) that Petlane’s Pure Woof Gold and Pure Purr Gold is the best commercial food avaialable for dogs and cats. If I did not believe that, I would not sell it and I would not feed it to my own dog. That being said, I will admit (just the tiniest bit grudgingly) that are several other very good quality pet foods on the market. Coming in second to Petlane, I must give a shout out to NaturaPet (the makers of the Innova and California Natural brands of pet food), Wellness, Canidae, Blue Buffalo, and Natural Balance (my favorite choice for dogs with severe food allergies who can’t be on Petlane’s food). These pet foods, more commonly food in speciality stores in the big box retails stores (like Petco and PetSmart), use quality ingredients and genuinely seem to care about the overall health and well-being of the pet (as opposed to simply making food as cheaply as possible and to heck with quality).

Jade was actually raised on Innova and I only switched him when Petlane started carrying its own brand. I have a lot of respect for the Natura Pet brand - and was therefore absolutely horrified to learn that Natura Pet Products has officially been bought by Proctor and Gamble, makers of everything from Tide Detergent to IAMS pet food. According to an article posted on the Examiner.com(the online version of the San Francisco Chronicle), current Natura Pet consumers share my fears: that the quality pet food ingredients currently used by Natura Pet will be replaced with cheaper and less healthy ingredients (IAMS uses ingredients like by-products which are never found in quality pet food).

Natura Pet has made the statement that “By joining the P&G family of brands, our intent is that we will have more resources to raise awareness for the benefits of natural and holistic pet foods. Our hope is even more pets will then experience the benefits of Natura’s high-quality, super-premium brands.” I imagine that joining with P&G will give Natura Pet access to new markets (which is wonderful), however I question how much control they will actually be able to retain over their quality. The question that lingers in my mind is: If Natura Pet is SO committed to quality, why would they partner with a company whose dog and cat food is anything but that.