Over the last nine years of being a professional pet sitter, I have seen and tried all kinds of pet products. I get the benefit of trying products out without having to buy them since chances are, I probably have or have had a client who had one, whatever it may be. I have come across many wonderful and helpful products and would like to share my favorites with you. My intention is to share a different favorite pet product each month.
This month's favorite is Fool-A-Bug Pet Bowls. Feeding feral cats outside or any pet outside for that matter, can be a problem because of ants. I have had the problem of ants getting into the pet bowls inside the house as well. So how do you keep those pesky ants out of the bowls? The Fool-A-Bug Bowl is the solution! The design is very simple. It has little legs on the bottom that keeps the bowl off the ground just enough to keep the ants from crawling in. Though I've only found them in one size (large), you can put a smaller bowl inside of it. Best of all, they now have them in stainless steel. (Stainless steel is easier to keep clean and doesn't harbor bacteria like plastic, or leach toxic chemicals. Some cats are allergic to plastic too.)
I have tried the bug-proof bowls that have a mote around them but the problem with those is you have to keep filling the mote with water and the water gets all yucky. The Fool-A-Bug Bowls work great! You can find them at Amazon.com, Walmart, Academy and many on-line stores. You may have to do some searching to find the stainless steel as most places stock the plastic.
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| Einstein turns 15! |
We're celebrating two of our dogs' birthdays this month. Our oldest, Einstein is 15!!! He recently had his wellness exam and is very healthy for an old guy. Except for some arthritis and loss of hearing he still runs and plays with the other dogs. Of course having three other dogs helps keep him very active!
We adopted Einstein when he was 4-1/2 years old. He has certainly lived up to his name; he is so smart and the most loyal dog I've ever had. He is dedicated to knowing where I am at all times. My little protector. He loves cats and other dogs. He has the most calm demeanor around other animals and they usually take to him right away. He's like the wise, old, calm one. He is quite a character. We hope to have him around for more years to come.
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| Ellie turns 13! |
Our Miss Ellie turns 13 years old. We adopted Ellie from a shelter when she was 2 to 3 years old. Also known as "Wiggle-Butt" (as most Australian Shepherds are, due to their absence of a tail), she loves everybody and everything! Especially food!
Ellie has been through a lot in the last four years. She had surgery on her elbows, two surgeries to remove tumors and most recently she had a tumor and her spleen removed. She's back to feeling her old self again and is doing very well. She just got her wellness exam and except for some arthritis she is very healthy for an old gal.
To celebrate their birthdays I made them a cream cheese dog birthday cake made with all organic ingredients including cream cheese, applesauce, honey and wheat germ. Yum! They loved it! So did Duke and Cali (our other two dogs), who were happy to share in the celebration!
A federal judge has entered an order for preliminary approval of class action lawsuit against Natura Pet Foods (Innova, Evo, California Natural, HealthWise, Mother Nature, and Karma). The suit will award any U.S. pet parent that purchased a Natura product(s) from March 20, 2005 through July 8, 2011 two hundred dollars; the suit claims Natura made false and misleading statements about the human grade quality of its food.
If you'd like to file for your $200 (were a Natura pet food purchaser from March 20, 2005 to July 8, 2011), click here to visit the pet product settlement website. To read the 'Notice' including some answers to questions regarding this settlement, click here.
You do not have to have a receipt to file a claim with the class action lawsuit. To file a claim, click on "submit a claim" and then click either "on-line" or "by mail" on this page.
(Not all products are shown in the picture above.)
Did you know there is an Official Dog of Texas? Declared the official dog breed of Texas on May 25, 2005, the Blue Lacy is the only breed of dog that originated in Texas. Also referred to as Lacy Dog, Lacy Hog Dog, Blue Lacy Game Dog, Texas Blue Lacy Game Dog and the Texas State Dog.
The beginnings of the Blue Lacy breed date to 1858, when the Lacy brothers from Granite Mountain, near the present-day Texas city of Marble Falls, were looking for a dog tough enough to handle the job of herding and gathering hogs on their free-range hog and cattle ranch. Over time, the brothers refined the breed, developing a high-energy dog that is happiest when it has a job, whether it's herding hogs, cattle or following a scent trail. Powerful and very intelligent, it is a common saying that one Blue Lacy can do the work of five mounted cowboys. Though the exact mix is unclear, historical documents say they are a mix of greyhound, English Shepherd (or scent-hound) and a wolf or coyote.
The decline of the family owned ranching industry along with new technologies brought the Lacy Dog near extinction; however it's rediscovery in the mid 1970s as a masterful hunting companion and search-and-rescue dog has dramatically increased the demand for Lacys. They are now the most common breed used by United States Trappers. The recent explosion of Texas' feral hog population has also helped boost the dogs' popularity as hunting companion.
To learn more about this breed, visit http://bluelacydogs.org/
Proactive Veterinarian Dr. Karen Becker explains in these two short videos how to choose a good quality pet food. Quality food makes all the difference! Thanks Dr. Becker!
