Recent House Guests

Some of our recent house guests...

Buffy

Tipsy

Daphne

Lady - Then & Now

Lady is a young pit that was at Okefenokee Humane Society for several months.  When the animal control officer found her, she was chained to a tree and was basically starving to death.  She was so weak that she collapsed on the way to the officer’s truck and had to be carried. 

She was nurtured back to health by a group of wonderful, caring volunteers at the shelter.  Last week Lady was transported by a group of dedicated individuals who drove many, many miles to see that she made it safely to a no-kill rescue in Minnesota. 

 This is the difference love and care can make in an animal.

National Kids & Pets Day

April 26 is National Kids & Pets Day, a day dedicated to furthering the magical bond between children and animals and to help bring awareness to the plight of pets in shelters awaiting new homes. National Kids & Pets Day encourages you to ADOPT rather than shop. Millions of orphaned pets sit in shelters awaiting new homes. There are many reasons for a child to have a pet for a companion but one of the biggest reasons is a child that learns how to be compassionate towards pets will most likely be compassionate towards pets and people when they are adults. When children care for a pet, they learn responsibility which is vital for their social development. Children that care for a pet while growing up are more nurturing and compassionate which creates a more dedicated and loving parent and pet owner.

I have had pets, both cats and dogs, my entire life and believe I got my love of animals from my Daddy.  That's me in the picture, holding one of the many, many dogs that have crossed my path over the years.

"GoD and DoG" by Wendy Francisco

National Puppy Day

National Puppy Day is a special day, recognized on March 23rd annually, to celebrate the magic and unconditional love that puppies bring to our lives. But more importantly, it's a day to help save orphaned puppies across the globe and educate the public about the horrors of puppy mills, as well as further our mission for a nation of puppy-free pet stores.

National Puppy Day was founded in 2006 by Pet Lifestyle Expert, Animal Behaviorist and Author, Colleen Paige, who is also the founder of National Dog Day and National Cat Day. This holiday, as well as others, are part of Colleen Paige's Animal Miracle Foundation & Network, a non-profit organization which offers financial assistance and educational programs ranging from pet cancer to fire safety and travel safety for kids and pets alike. AMF also hosts many wonderful holiday festivals and trade shows throughout each year and brings local shelter pets to these events hoping to find them a forever home.

Jude 1:2

How Could You?

RIP Binky

 

How Could You?
A dog's letter

Copyright © Jim Willis 2001, all rights reserved

When I was a puppy, I entertained you with my antics and made you laugh. You called me your child, and despite a number of chewed shoes and a couple of murdered throw pillows, I became your best friend. Whenever I was "bad," you'd shake your finger at me and ask, "How could you?" -- but then you'd relent and roll me over for a belly rub.

My housebreaking took a little longer than expected, because you were terribly busy, but we worked on that together. I remember those nights of nuzzling you in bed and listening to your confidences and secret dreams, and I believed that life could not be any more perfect.

We went for long walks and runs in the park, car rides, stops for ice cream (I only got the cone because "ice cream is bad for dogs" you said), and I took long naps in the sun waiting for you to come home at the end of the day.

Gradually, you began spending more time at work and on your career, and more time searching for a human mate. I waited for you patiently, comforted you through heartbreaks and disappointments, never chided you about bad decisions, and romped with glee at your homecomings, and when you fell in love.

She, now your wife, is not a "dog person" -- still I welcomed her into our home, tried to show her affection, and obeyed her. I was happy because you were happy. Then the human babies came along and I shared your excitement. I was fascinated by their pinkness, how they smelled, and I wanted to mother them, too. Only she and you worried that I might hurt them, and I spent most of my time banished to another room, or to a dog crate.

Oh, how I wanted to love them, but I became a "prisoner of love." As they began to grow, I became their friend. They clung to my fur and pulled themselves up on wobbly legs, poked fingers in my eyes, investigated my ears, and gave me kisses on my nose. I loved everything about them and their touch -- because your touch was now so infrequent -- and I would've defended them with my life if need be. I would sneak into their beds and listen to their worries and secret dreams, and together we waited for the sound of your car in the driveway.

There had been a time, when others asked you if you had a dog, that you produced a photo of me from your wallet and told them stories about me. These past few years, you just answered "yes" and changed the subject. I had gone from being "your dog" to "just a dog," and you resented every expenditure on my behalf. Now, you have a new career opportunity in another city, and you and they will be moving to an apartment that does not allow pets. You've made the right decision for your "family," but there was a time when I was your only family.

I was excited about the car ride until we arrived at the animal shelter. It smelled of dogs and cats, of fear, of hopelessness. You filled out the paperwork and said, "I know you will find a good home for her." They shrugged and gave you a pained look. T hey understand the realities facing a middle-aged dog, even one with "papers." You had to pry your son's fingers loose from my collar, as he screamed, "No, Daddy! Please don't let them take my dog!" And I worried for him, and what lessons you had just taught him about friendship and loyalty, about love and responsibility, and about respect for all life.

You gave me a good-bye pat on the head, avoided my eyes, and politely refused to take my collar and leash with you. You had a deadline to meet and now I have one, too. After you left, the two nice ladies said you probably knew about your upcoming move months ago and made no attempt to find me another good home. They shook their heads and asked, "How could you?"

They are as attentive to us here in the shelter as their busy schedules allow. They feed us, of course, but I lost my appetite days ago. At first, whenever anyone passed my pen, I rushed to the front, hoping it was you that you had changed your mind -- that this was all a bad dream... or I hoped it would at least be someone who cared, anyone who might save me. When I realized I could not compete with the frolicking for attention of happy puppies, oblivious to their own fate, I retreated to a far corner and waited.

I heard her footsteps as she came for me at the end of the day, and I padded along the aisle after her to a separate room. A blissfully quiet room. She placed me on the table and rubbed my ears, and told me not to worry. My heart pounded in anticipation of what was to come, but there was also a sense of relief. The prisoner of love had run out of days. As is my nature, I was more concerned about her. The burden which she bears weighs heavily on her, and I know that, the same way I knew your every mood. She gently placed a tourniquet around my foreleg as a tear ran down her cheek. I licked her hand in the same way I used to comfort you so many years ago. She expertly slid the hypodermic needle into my vein. As I felt the sting and the cool liquid coursing through my body, I lay down sleepily, looked into her kind eyes and murmured, "How could you?"

Perhaps because she understood my dog speak, she said, "I'm so sorry." She hugged me, and hurriedly explained it was her job to make sure I went to a better place, where I wouldn't be ignored or abused or abandoned, or have to fend for myself -- a place of love and light so very different from this earthly place. And with my last bit of energy, I tried to convey to her with a thump of my tail that my "How could you?" was not directed at her.

It was directed at you, My Beloved Master, I was thinking of you. I will think of you and wait for you forever. May everyone in your life continue to show you so much loyalty.

A Note from the Author:If "How Could You?" brought tears to your eyes as You read it, as it did to mine as I wrote it, it is because it is the composite story of the millions of formerly "owned" pets who die each year in American & Canadian animal shelters.

Pumpkin Dog Treats

• 1 15 oz. can pumpkin
• 1 cup water (or low-sodium broth)
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 cup oatmeal
• 4 cups oatmeal flour

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Combine pumpkin, water, oil and cinnamon.

Add flour and oatmeal slowly, mixing after each addition.

Roll dough on a floured surface to 1/4" in thickness.

 

Cut into desired shapes and sizes.

 

Bake 40 minutes on an ungreased cookie sheet.

Psalm 4:8

Psalm19:14

Organic Wheat-Free Dog Treats

Ingredients:

1 organic medium sweet potato

½ cup organic peanut butter

½ cup cooking liquid from sweet potato

1 cup organic brown rice flour

1 cup organic oat flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Peel the sweet potato and cut into ½ inch pieces. In a pan filled with 2 cups waters, boil the sweet potatoes until soft. Reserve the cooking liquid and set aside.

In a large bowl mash the sweet potatoes. Then add ½ cup of the cooking liquid, and ½ cup peanut butter. Mix until well blended.

Next mix together the baking powder, brown rice flour, and oat flour in a small bowl. Then add to the sweet potato mixture, and mix until the dough comes together.

Lightly flour your work surface with either brown rice flour or the oat flour. Roll the dough out about ¼ inch thick. Cut into shapes with a cookie cutter. Place the treats on a cookie sheet- It’s ok to have the treats close together they won’t stick to each other.

Bake the treats for 20-30 minutes until golden brown or slightly hard. The treats will crisp as they cool.

http://www.organicsoul.com/organic-wheat-free-dog-treats/


** To make your own oat flour or brown rice flour...

Measure 1 cup of rolled oats  or  brown rice into a blender or food-processor. (I use a coffee grinder).

Blend the oats/rice on the "pulse" setting until the oats/rice are ground into a powderlike consistency. Depending on the speed and power of your blender, this process should take 60 seconds or less.

Stop the blender and stir the flour to ensure that all the oats/rice have been finely ground.

One cup of rolled oats will yield approximately 1 cup of oat flour. Your yield may be slightly higher with steel-cut oats, which are larger than rolled oats

  

Foster Failure

 

After fostering "Lefty" for three weeks, I was contacted by the shelter manager who told me he needed Lefty back so that he could be prepared for transport to a rescue in Minnesota. I knew it would be tough but I was prepared to let him go. I even fixed him a going away bag with his favorite stuffed toy and dog treats, along with a knotted toy I made out of an old t-shirt.

The more I thought about letting him go the more he tugged at my heart. I thought about how well he gets along with Sophie and Dakota and how happy he seems here with us. Later that night I emailed the shelter manager and asked if it was too late for me to adopt Lefty. Thankfully it wasn't.

This shelter doggie got a new name and a new home for Christmas! His name is now Rocco and he now shares a home with his doggie siblings - Sophie and Dakota, and six cat siblings - Maeka, Isabelle, Jasmine, Coco, Moka, Fonzi.

Raw Meat Diet For Dogs and Cats

Fast Food is Bad for Pets Too

The first bags of commercial pet food entered the market about a hundred years ago. From a historical perspective, processed dog and cat food is a relatively new phenomenon.

However, your pet's GI tract has not evolved in those hundred years to make good use of an entirely kibble-based diet – and it never will. Fortunately, the bodies of dogs and cats are amazingly resilient and therefore capable of handling foods that aren't biologically appropriate, like most dry pet foods. Unfortunately, this adaptability has led to a situation of 'dietary abuse' among the veterinary community.

Commercial pet foods – especially dry bagged foods – are so convenient the majority of vets recommend them to all their patients. Processed dog and cat food is convenient, inexpensive, and there's no preparation or cleanup required. You stash the bag in the pantry, scoop out a portion at meal time, drop it into your pet's food dish and you're done.

Because commercial pet food has been so successfully marketed (dog and cat food products are a multimillion dollar industry, after all), and because pets' bodies are resilient and can survive, if not thrive on the stuff, we have been lulled into a sense of complacency about the food we feed our precious four-legged companions.

Most veterinary students don't learn about species-appropriate pet diets in vet school. The only food discussed is processed, commercial pet formulas.

The concept of feeding a living food diet is foreign to many vets. If a client mentions he feeds raw, the vet will ask, 'Why don't you just feed your cat regular cat food, for crying out loud? Why do you need to make food? Why do you need to feed living foods?'

It doesn't take much research to uncover the fact that dogs and cats are designed by nature to eat living foods – unprocessed, raw, nourishing foods. Feeding a commercial formula is a bit like deciding your child can be healthy on an exclusive diet of meal replacement bars. No real food, just meal replacement bars.

A meal replacement bar is fine now and then, but no sane parent would ever consider raising a child on just those alone. Yet that's what we're doing when we feed our pets nothing but commercial, processed foods.

Living foods in your pet's diet are necessary for successful overall immune and organ function.
 
Eliminating Parasites

It seems the biggest problem most people have with a raw meat diet revolves around parasites.

Parasites – roundworms, hookworms, tapeworms – are passed up the food chain and wind up in the guts of animals.

We don't feed guts to our pets! If you buy a commercially available raw food diet, you will not find guts in the formula because guts contain parasites.

If you prepare a homemade raw diet for your dog or cat, you don't include guts. Do not feed the stomach and small and large intestines. Those are the parts of the prey we get rid of, because those are the parts that harbor parasites.

Muscle meat – the part of the prey used to prepare raw food diets – is sterile except in rare instances when parasites escape the GI tract (guts) and travel there.

Certain parasites, like toxoplasmosis, that get into muscle meat can make your pet sick, which is why you should freeze raw meats for three days before feeding them to your dog or cat.

By freezing meats three days before serving (a lot like how sushi is handled), and by removing the guts of prey species, you can successfully avoid exposing your raw fed pet to parasites.
 
Salmonella and Your Pet

The second most frequently asked question I get about raw meat diets is, 'What about salmonella?'

The most important thing to understand about salmonella or any other potentially pathogenic bacteria is that contamination absolutely does occur. It's a fact of life.

Salmonella is the reason for most recalls of dry pet foods (and human foods as well). When a salmonella outbreak occurs, there has been contamination in the food chain.

The word Salmonella is used to describe over 1,800 serovars (species) of gram-negative bacteria. This bacteria lives in many species of mammals. The most common bacteria riding around in your dog or cat is Salmonella typhimurium.

I want to quote from an article titled Campylobacter and Salmonella-Associated Diarrhea in Dogs and Cats: When Do I Treat? It was written by Stanley L. Marks, BVSc, PhD, DACVIM (Internal Medicine, Oncology), DACVN, Davis, CA, for the Veterinary Information Network (VIN):

"The clinical significance of bacteria such as clostridium and salmonella causing diarrhea or illness in dogs and cats is clouded by the existence of many of these organisms as normal constituents of the indigenous intestinal flora. The primary enteropathogenic bacteria most commonly incriminating in canine and feline diarrhea is Clostridium perfringens, Clostridium difficile, Campylobacter, and Salmonella.

Veterinarians are faced with a quandary when attempting to diagnose small animals with suspected bacterial-associated diarrhea because the isolation rates of these pathogenic bacteria are similar in diarrheic and non-diarrheic animals, and because the incidence of bacterial-associated diarrhea is extremely variable. Salmonella species are commonly isolated from both healthy and hospitalized dogs and cats."

What this is saying, in a nutshell, is dogs and cats naturally have some Salmonella in their GI tracts much of the time – it's not some unknown foreign invader but rather one their bodies are familiar with.

If you're familiar with reptiles, the situations are similar. Reptiles are known to naturally harbor Salmonella in their GI tracts.

In an article written by Rhea V. Morgan DVM, DACVIM, DACVO for the VIN, the doctor asserts the following about illness resulting from salmonella:

"Factors that increase the likelihood of clinical disease from Salmonella include the age of the animal, poor nutrition, the presence of cancer or neoplasia, and other concurrent diseases and stress, as well as the administration of antibiotics, chemotherapy or glucocorticoids [which are steroids]."

The bottom line is potentially harmful bacteria reside in your pet's GI tract whether you feed raw foods or the processed stuff. In other words, your pet is already 'contaminated' with Salmonella.

Dogs and cats are built to handle bacterial loads from food that would cause significant illness in you or me. Your pet's body is well equipped to deal with heavy doses of familiar and strange bacteria because nature built him to catch, kill and immediately consume his prey.

Your dog's or cat's stomach is highly acidic, with a pH range of 1-2.5. Nothing much can survive that acidic environment – it exists to keep your pet safe from potentially contaminated raw meat and other consumables.

In addition to the acid, dogs and cats also naturally produce a tremendous amount of bile. Bile is both anti-parasitic and anti-pathogenic. So if something potentially harmful isn't entirely neutralized by stomach acid, the bile is a secondary defense. And your pet's powerful pancreatic enzymes also help break down and digest food.

Keeping Your Pet's GI Tract in Good Shape

To help your pet's digestive system remain strong and resilient enough to handle a heavy bacterial load and to support overall immune function, there are several things you can do.
Number one, minimize stress by feeding a species-appropriate diet, the kind your dog or cat is meant to eat. It's important to feed vegetarian food to vegetarian animals, and meat-based food to your carnivorous dog or cat.

Minimize the drugs your pet takes, such as antibiotics. Reseed the gut during and after antibiotic therapy with a probiotic. It's also a good idea to maintain your dog or cat on a daily probiotic to balance the ratio of good to bad bacteria (gut flora).

A good-quality digestive enzyme will help promote your dog's or cat's body to get the most out of the food you feed.

Providing your favorite pooch or feline with a balanced, biologically sound diet, a healthy lifestyle, digestive enzymes and probiotics, will nourish your pet, support healthy immunologic function, and bring overall vibrancy to her body.

This is in direct contrast to feeding a commercial formula of highly processed rendered byproducts, chemicals and grains – the typical mainstream pet food sold today. The sooner you transition your dog or cat to the kind of diet she was designed to eat, the sooner she will be on her way to vibrant good health.

Fostering Lefty

  
This beautiful boy was brought in to the Okefenokee Humane Society with a broken leg after being hit by a car.  He had surgery Wednesday, November 23, to have his left front leg amputated.  I picked him up at the shelter the following Friday and will be fostering him until a forever home is found for him.  He's a really, really sweet boy and gets along very well with Sophie and Dakota.  

 

Fostering an animal is one of the most rewarding ways to help a homeless pet. Because of overcrowding, many shelters are continually in need of room for incoming animals. Without foster programs, some dogs and cats might have to be euthanized. Foster parents provide a temporary home and care for animals that may be too young for adoption, are recovering from injury or illness, or may need some behavioral training prior to being put up for adoption. Dogs and cats who are fostered in positive, nurturing environments by people with basic training and behavior knowledge are more likely to be adopted, less likely to be returned to the shelter and more able to adapt to life in their new homes.

Anyone who cares about animals and is willing to donate their time and provide lots of tender love and care would make a good foster parent. If you are interested in fostering for the Okefenokee Humane Society, email Ben Hood at kefenokeehumanesociety@gmail.com or call 912-283-4214.   

 All he wants is to be loved.

 Hanging with Sophie and Dakota.

 Taking a break from exploring the first day he was here.

The Top Companies Who Use Animal Testing

According to PETA:

Arm & Hammer (Church & Dwight), P.O. Box 1625, Horsham, PA 19044-6625;
609-683-5900; 800-524-1328; www.armhammer.com

Bic Corporation, 500 Bic Dr., Milford, CT 06460; 203-783-2000; www.bicworld.com

Chesebrough-Ponds (Fabergé, Ponds, Vaseline), 800 Sylvan Ave., Englewood Cliffs, NJ 07632; 800-743-8640; www.pondssquad.com

Church & Dwight (Aim, Arm & Hammer, Arrid, Brillo, Close-up, Lady's
Choice, Mentadent, Nair, Orange Glo International, Pearl Drops), P.O. Box 1625, Horsham, PA 19044-6625; 609-683-5900; 800-524-1328; www.churchdwight.com

Clairol (Aussie, Daily Defense, Herbal Essences, Infusium 23, Procter & Gamble), 1 Blachley Rd., Stamford, CT 06922; 800-252-4765; www.clairol.com

Clorox (ArmorAll, Formula 409, Fresh Step, Glad, Liquid Plumber, Pine-Sol, Soft Scrub, S.O.S., Tilex), 1221 Broadway, Oakland, CA 94612; 510-271-7000;
800-227-1860; www.clorox.com

Colgate-Palmolive Co. (Hills Pet Nutrition, Mennen, Palmolive, SoftSoap, Speed Stick), 300 Park Ave., New York, NY 10022; 212-310-2000; 800-221-4607; www.colgate.com

Cover Girl (Procter & Gamble), One Procter & Gamble Plz., Cincinnati, OH 45202; 513-983-1100; 800-543-1745; www.covergirl.com

Dial Corporation (Dry Idea, Purex, Renuzit, Right Guard, Soft & Dri), 15101 N. Scottsdale Rd., Ste. 5028, Scottsdale, AZ 85254-2199; 800-528-0849; www.dialcorp.com

Johnson & Johnson (Aveeno, Clean & Clear, Listerine, Lubriderm, Neutrogena, Rembrandt, ROC), 1 Johnson & Johnson Plz., New Brunswick, NJ 08933; 732-524-0400; 800-526-3967; www.jnj.com

Lever Bros. (Unilever), 800 Sylvan Ave., Englewood Cliffs, NJ 07632; 212-888-1260; 800-598-1223; www.unilever.com

L'Oréal U.S.A. (Biotherm, Cacharel, Garnier, Giorgio Armani, Helena
Rubinstein, Lancôme, Matrix Essentials, Maybelline, Ralph Lauren
Fragrances, Redken, Soft Sheen, Vichy), 575 Fifth Ave., New York, NY 10017; 212-818-1500; www.loreal.com

Max Factor (Procter & Gamble), One Procter & Gamble Plz., Cincinnati, OH 45202; 513-983-1100; 800-543-1745; www.maxfactor.com

Mead, 10 W. Second St., #1, Dayton, OH 45402; 937-495-6323; www.meadweb.com

Melaleuca, 3910 S. Yellowstone Hwy., Idaho Falls, ID 83402-6003; 208-522-0700; www.melaleuca.com

Mennen Co. (Colgate-Palmolive), 191 E. Hanover Ave., Morristown, NJ 07960-3151; 973-631-9000; www.colgate.com

New Dana Perfumes, 470 Oakhill Rd., Crestwood Industrial Park, Mountaintop, PA 18707; 800-822-8547

Noxell (Procter & Gamble), 11050 York Rd., Hunt Valley, MD 21030-2098;
410-785-7300; 800-572-3232; www.pg.com

Olay Co./Oil of Olay (Procter & Gamble), P.O. Box 599, Cincinnati, OH 45201;
800-543-1745; www.oilofolay.com

Oral-B (Procter & Gamble), 600 Clipper Dr., Belmont, CA 94002-4119;
415-598-5000; www.oralb.com 

Pantene (Procter & Gamble), One Procter & Gamble Plz., Cincinnati, OH 45202; 800-945-7768; www.pantene.com 

Physique (Procter & Gamble), One Procter & Gamble Plz., Cincinnati, OH 45202; 800-214-8957; www.physique.com 

Playtex Products (Banana Boat), 300 Nyala Farms Rd., Westport, CT 06880; 203-341-4000; www.playtex.com 

Procter & Gamble Co. (Clairol, Cover Girl, Crest, Gillette, Giorgio, Iams, Max Factor, Physique, Tide), One Procter & Gamble Plz., Cincinnati, OH 45202; 513-983-1100; 800-543-1745; www.pg.com 

Reckitt Benckiser (Easy Off, Lysol, Mop & Glo, Old English, Resolve, Spray 'N Wash, Veet, Woolite), 399 Interpace Pkwy., Parsippany, NJ 07054; 973-633-3600; 800-333-3899; www.reckittbenckiser.com

Richardson-Vicks (Procter & Gamble), One Procter & Gamble Plz., Cincinnati, OH 45202; 513-983-1100; 800-543-1745; www.pg.com

Schering-Plough (Bain de Soleil, Coppertone, Dr. Scholl's), 2000 Galloping Hill Rd., Kenilworth, NJ 07033-0530; 800-842-4090; www.sch-plough.com

S.C. Johnson (Drano, Edge, Fantastik, Glade, OFF!, Oust, Pledge, Scrubbing Bubbles, Shout, Skintimate, Windex, Ziploc), 1525 Howe St., Racine, WI 53403; 800-494-4855; www.scjohnson.com 

SoftSoap Enterprises (Colgate-Palmolive), 300 Park Ave., New York, NY 10022; 800-221-4607; www.colgate.com 

Suave (Unilever), 800 Sylvan Ave., Englewood Cliffs, NJ 07632; 212-888-1260;
800-782-8301; www.suave.com 

Unilever (Axe, Dove, Lever Bros., Suave, Sunsilk), 800 Sylvan Ave., Englewood Cliffs, NJ 07632; 212-888-1260; 800-598-1223; www.unilever.com

Notes:

Bic are currently observing a moratorium on (i.e. a current suspension of) animal testing.

Top Rules for Choosing Commercial Foods for Dogs & Cats

1.   Read labels. Call the manufacturer's toll-free number posted on the label with any questions. Check out ingredients with this cool wizard developed by a pet food company http://www.naturapet.com/tools/ingredient.asp to get definitions for ingredients. Find the exact legal definitions at the FDA website.

2.   Buy food that’s closest to fresh.  Frozen, freeze-dried and dehydrated foods are better than canned foods which are in turn better for your pet than dry kibble.

3.   The first ingredient should be one or more “named” animal proteins (like lamb, beef, chicken or venison).  “Meat” can mean anything. Important: manufacturers trick us by putting, say, lamb first followed by corn gluten, corn meal and brewer’s rice; the three carbs added together outweigh the lamb.

4.   Accept no by-products (like meat by-products). Legally, they’re the non rendered, clean parts, other than meat, derived from slaughtered mammals, including but is not limited to, lungs, spleen, kidneys, brain, livers, blood, bone, partially defatted low-temperature fatty tissue and stomachs and intestines freed of their contents. Icky sounding, but not completely horrible if a meat source is named (chicken by-products are far better than poultry by-products) and are better if canned (where they are canned fresh, not rendered or processed) than in dry food. However, this is a cheap product with inconsistent ingredients.

5.   Accept no meat-and-bone-meal and beef-and-bone-meal.  Because of “mad cow disease” scares, meat meals are banned in countries like Japan and France. These are the worst ingredients imaginable.

6.   Accept no "animal" products, such as "animal digest."  Digest is a flavor enhancer which can contain varying parts from animals of unknown origin.  Yum.

7.   Reject all corn products and gluten meals. Corn and gluten are common allergens. Wheat gluten was contaminated in the 2006 major pet food recall in a attempt to boost protein content with melamine.

8.   Reject chemical preservatives (like BHA, BHT, propyl gallate, ethoxyquin, propylene glycol).

9.    Avoid "light" or "senior" or "special needs" or "breed-specific" foods. These variations on regular pet food are mostly marketing gimmicks, sold at a premium, with little or no real benefit to your pet. "Natural" or "human grade" foods are terms generally seen on better-quality foods but have no legal definition.

10.  Feed several brands and flavors with different protein sources your dog or cat tolerates well, and rotate them frequently.

By Jan Rasmusen and Jean Hofve, DVM

National Animal Shelter Appreciation Week

This week, November 6-12, is National Animal Shelter Appreciation Week. This is a great time to express our gratitude to the countless shelter volunteers who work tirelessly in their quest to save the lives of abandoned pets. It is often a tough and often thankless job but the shelter volunteers' dedication to and compassion for the animals is unwavering. Most of the animals that come into shelters are homeless, unwanted or sorrowfully relinquished because their owners can no longer care for them due to major life changes.

Approximately 3,500 animal shelters across the United States serve an estimated 6-8 million homeless animals who need refuge each year. If you are considering a new family pet, please consider adopting from a shelter. If you are unable to adopt a homeless dog or cat, there are many other ways you can help. Donations are always welcome, and while money is always needed, shelters also need other items like food, treats, blankets, towels, toys and cleaning supplies. Please help spread the word about the importance of responsible pet ownership, including spaying and neutering.

For more information, visit theshelterpetproject.org.

Motorcycle Benefit Ride

Pets in Heaven

House Guests

Lexi stayed with us over the weekend.

And Chloe stayed with us last weekend.