Wednesday, July 25, 2018

Who's in Charge?

The FDA warned Mars Petcare a roach infested pet food plant is a "regulatory violation", but then the agency just walked away taking no enforcement action. This is typical of what happens within the big pet food industries and why you can't trust them. It's like the fox guarding the hen house.

Here's a one minute video message from our pet food advocate, Susan Thixton with TruthAboutPetFood.com:



Thursday, July 19, 2018

Pet Food Consumer Alert from FDA


Here's a good example of why you should save your pet food bags instead of dumping the kibble into a container, and why it's important to read the ingredients. 


The FDA issued the following pet food consumer alert on July 12, 2018:


The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is alerting pet owners and veterinary professionals about reports of canine dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) in dogs eating certain pet foods containing peas, lentils, other legume seeds, or potatoes as main ingredients. These reports are unusual because DCM is occurring in breeds not typically genetically prone to the disease. The FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine and the Veterinary Laboratory Investigation and Response Network, a collaboration of government and veterinary diagnostic laboratories, are investigating this potential association.

Early reports state that the dogs consistently ate these foods as their primary source for months or years. Does your dog's food contain these items listed early in the list of ingredients? Time to change food!

Canine DCM is a disease of a dog’s heart muscle and results in an enlarged heart. DCM often results in congestive heart failure. Heart function may improve in cases that are not linked to genetics with appropriate veterinary treatment and dietary modification, if caught early.

For more details about this warning please check out our pet food consumer advocate Susan Thixton's article by going here: https://truthaboutpetfood.com/fda-investigates-potential-connection-to-diet-and-heart-disease-in-dogs/

In this article Susan also reminds us of how pea protein, pea starch and pea fiber actually got put into pet foods in the first place. Thanks for all you do in advocating for healthier pet foods, Susan!

UPDATE 8/10/18: The FDA has provided an update to their investigation into a potential link between diet and heart disease in dogs and also answer some frequently asked questions.

Wednesday, July 11, 2018

Calculating Daily Calories


With today's pet obesity epidemic, I highly recommend not only measuring your pet's food portions with a measuring cup, but also calculating your dog or cat's daily caloric needs to keep them at a healthy weight or to help them lose weight to achieve a healthier weight and maintain it. It's not hard to do but does require a little math.

To calculate the kcal (kilocalorie) requirements for your pet, first you have to figure out what is their ideal weight. If you don't know what the ideal weight is for your pet, the Association for Pet Obesity Prevention provides a chart of ideal weight ranges for popular breeds of dogs and cats or ask your veterinarian.

To use an example, let's say your dog🐶 is 60 pounds and his/her ideal weight is 50.

Daily calories (canine) = Body Weight (kg) x 30 + 70
To use this formula, first you need to convert his/her weight from pounds to kilograms.
One kilogram = 2.2 pounds, so divide her ideal weight (not her current weight) in pounds by 2.2. 50/2.2 = 22.7, so you dog's ideal weight in kilograms is 22.7.
Now our formula looks like this: Daily calories = 22.7 (kg) x 30 + 70
And finally, it looks like this: Daily calories = 751
If your dog eats 750 calories a day he/she should drop steadily to his/her ideal weight of 50 pounds and maintain it.

Experts recommend the total daily calories should be split between two or three meals.

The formula for cats has a slight variation to account for the very sedentary lifestyle of most house cats:
Daily calories (feline) = Body Weight (kg) x 30 + 70 x 0.8
Let's say your cat🐱 is 12 pounds and should be 10.
Divide your cat's ideal weight (not current weight) in pounds by 2.2.  10/2.2 = 4.5, so your cat's ideal weight in kilograms is 4.5. 
Formula looks like this: Daily calories = 4.5 (kg) x 30 + 70 x 0.8 = 164

If your cats eats 164 calories a day he/she should drop steadily to his/her ideal weight of 10 pounds and maintain it.
Of course the calories don't have to be exact, but you can get it pretty close, and they may vary a little with each meal if fed a variety of foods. It's best to divide the daily calories into two or more meals a day.

Now that you've figured out how many calories they need per day for an ideal, healthy weight, you have to figure out how many kcal are in the portions of the foods you currently feed, INCLUDING any treats given throughout the day and modify accordingly.

If you're feeding a dry kibble, the serving amount will be listed on the back of the bag and is usually a cup. The calorie content will be listed per serving, such as 373 kcal/cup in the example below.


On can foods, the calorie content is usually listed per can, like 131 kcal per 5 oz can, as shown below:


Treats will usually list the kcal per treat. Most pet foods and treats will have the kcal listed on the back of the package. If not, you can usually find it on the manufacturer's website.

Now add up the kcal of foods and treats you give your pet in a day based on the portions they are currently given. Are you feeding too many calories? Not enough? You may have to do a little math to figure the amounts you need to cut back (or add in) and should be feeding each meal for a healthy weight. And this may vary a little if you feed a variety of foods or change foods, etc.

As pet guardians it is our responsibility to educate ourselves on how to properly care for them, including what and how much we should be feeding. They depend on us for their well-being. 

And we can't leave out the importance of daily exercise for your pets too!




Tuesday, July 3, 2018

7 Suggestions for Dog Anxiety

Does your dog suffer from separation anxiety when you travel or are gone for more than a few hours?

It really saddens me to see how our society has carried over the pill-will-fix-it syndrome onto the pets.Here are seven recommendations to try before considering the use of pharmaceuticals, which can have serious side affects and should be the last resort:

🐶Classical music or pet music. Studies have shown that pets prefer classical music. Now there are CDs that were made specifically for pets. You'd be amazed of how many are listed on Amazon now. I have several of them. They are great for playing in the car when transporting pets as well as for at home. Music is healing.

🐶Dog pheromone plug-ins - like the ones for cats, but contain dog pheromones. We cannot smell it but dogs can. It's the calming pheromones their mothers put out when they are puppies. It has helped other client's dogs with separation anxiety. No side affects. It plugs into an outlet. Refills available. One lasts about a month.

🐶Diffusion of Lavender essential oil (safe for pets, links are to vet's site) is a wonderful way for people and pets to experience a pleasant smell that calms and relaxes. I've been doing this for years. Can also put one drop of Lavender essential oil on a dog bandanna and tie it around their neck so they can smell it on an on-going basis. (One drop is all you need!) If you are allergic to or don't like Lavender, try Frankincense or Melissa essential oils. There are others good for anxiety as well.

🐶Dietary supplement Zen Pet created by a holistic veterinarian and contains safe and healthy ingredients. For both dogs and cats.

🐶Rescue Remedy for Pets is a homeopathic remedy that is alcohol free, easy to administer and safe for many different kinds of pets. There is also a human version.

🐶The Anxiety Wrap for dogs is not just for fear of thunderstorms. It's also for separation anxiety.

🐶An extra pet sitting visit/walk once or twice a week in the middle of the day to break up the monotony for those longer trips, if your dog is receiving twice a day visits from us.


We want your dog to be like this while you're away!  😉