Pet talk

As a response to the Menu Food’s recall of tons of pet food due to contamination, I am now getting questions about the home preparation of your pet’s food.  And the short answer is:  don’t do it.

The long answer is that if you dedicate your time to getting a degree in animal nutrition, and you have the time to apply your new degree to your own pets, it can, and is done.  But as anyone who owns a pet with food allergies knows, cooking for your pet is time consuming, and requires knowledge beyond boiling hamburger and rice in water.

Long ago, pets were commonly fed table scraps as their main source of food.  That meant that whatever was not suitable for the family to eat, was given to the dog or cat.  When I think about what is left on my plate after a meal, (think bones, cartilage, chicken skin, and the fruit/veggies that I didn’t like), or the stuff I throw away while cleaning out the fridge, it becomes pretty clear why our pets can not live on table scraps.  The stuff we do not consume is either not edible, or very high in fat, or may be toxic to the animals as in the case of the mystery food in the fridge or the grapes your dog loves.  

This does not even address the different nutritional needs of dogs and cats.  Cats actually require a pretty high fat content in their food, where as a dog will eat fat because it tastes good at the expense of a more nutritional tomato.  When Alpo pet food was first marketed, it actually caused nutritional deficiencies because they simply made the food taste good to animals, and did not do the research needed to figure out how to meet the nutritional requirements of a healthy dog.  Veterinarians do not see nutritional deficiencies in pets fed with adequate amounts of commercially prepared pet food nowadays.  The research has been extensive and the knowledge has been applied to even the cheapest dog foods out in the market.  (Not that all foods are the same–on the contrary, some companies do only the bare minimum and others are dedicated to the pets longevity and special breed conditions).

 Because of the Alpo situation, laws have been passed that assure that pet food must be able to sustain the health of the pet, and be free of contaminants that harm the pets or people that eat the food.  Yes, I said people.  The government has known for a long time that poor people eat pet food.  That is the reason why the Food and Drug Administration has the regulatory authority over pet food as opposed to the United States Department of Agriculture.  

My advise:  follow the events as the unfold in the media.  Carefully examine the pet food you feed to make sure it is not the affected type.  If it is, stop feeding it and take your pet to a veterinarian immediately along with an unopened portion of food.  If you do not feed the food involved in the recall, keep using the food you and your pet are happy with.        

Recently Chef Wolfgang Puck announced that he was not going to serve foie gras at his restaurants any more.  This is the result of a multi year, well organized effort on the part of an animal rights group called Farm Sanctuary.  They have been conducting protests and had even set up a web site called wolfgangpuckscruelty.org for the past 3 years specifically targeting him to change his ways. 

So, with the pressure from the protests, he decided to become “more socially responsible”.   He contacted the Humane Society of the United States and developed a menu that ensures that the chickens were housed cage free, the calves were able to roam before becoming veal, and the lobsters have been removed from the crowded holding tanks as quickly as possible.  His restaurants will only serve seafood that is sustainable instead of destroying the worlds populations of “tasty” fish.  

In my mind, the people of the United States, especially those living in the cities, need to become more informed about the food they eat.  Children have no concept of what “meat” is and where it comes from.  And the more shameful thing is that many adults do not know either.  Before ordering foie gras, a person should know not only what it is, but how it is produced.  Thousands and thousands of geese have a feeding tube shoved down their throats (often times tearing it and causing death), and are forcefully pumped with a high fat gruel.  This is done many times a day until the liver is filled with fat and can no longer function as a bodily organ.  Before the geese die of liver failure, they are killed and the fat filled liver is harvested for foie gras.  Sound appetizing?  

When you ordered veal, did you know that the newborn calves were on short chains, (to prevent movement), in total darkness to keep the muscles white and tender?  Still interested in the veal Parmesan?  Know what you are eating, and make sure your conscience can handle the truth.   If more people would learn what food is, and how it is produced, they would not allow the inhumane treatment of these animals.  It isn’t necessary, and it never was.  Just cheap and convenient.  We have come too far to allow these practices to continue.  I applaud Chef Puck for taking the time to learn about the origins of food and his effort to serve only the best.  

Last week there was a very small article in the Detroit Free Press about a laboratory that has successfully determined the sex of an entire litter of puppies.  The test litter came out exactly as they had determined–Y amount of male puppies and X amount of females.  Pretty significant in that now that puppies can be determined, the techniques used can be applied to other species…..until one day when humans will be able to chose the sex of their children. 

This might not be a problem in our country, but imagine what it would mean to a country that values male children over females.  In a place like China, instead of abortions and adoptions, there just would not be any girls left in the country.  What a shame.

Seems like a nice idea in pets and livestock, and such a bad idea anywhere else!

A pet food maker whose labels include many store brands like Iams, Wal Mart, Safeway, and Kroger has recalled over 60 million cases of pet food. This food has caused the deaths of at least 10 pets and an unknown amount of illness in both dogs and cats due to kidney damage. The manufacturer does not know the reason why the pets died, but they speculate that it may be due to a new source of gluten–a feed ingredient common to most pet feeds.

My friend Ellen is having her large animal vet come out this week and that got me thinking about all the things she should have her vet do while he is at the farm.  No need to waste that farm call charge!

The first thing that comes to mind is the Coggins test–a mandatory blood test which screens for Equine Infectious Anemia.  This test is required any time a horse is ridden, driven, trucked, or lead down a public road.  It is also required for any sale, show, clinic or demonstration.  It must be renewed every year.

Along with the Coggins test, several vaccinations are also recommended for your horse.  It seems like the list keeps growing every year and that is because they are developing vaccinations for all the new diseases that keep cropping up.  Eastern, Western and Venezuelan Equine Encephalomyelitis, tetanus, West Nile virus, Potomac Fever, and Influenza types A1, A2, and KY93, Rhinopneumonitis types EHV-1 and EHV-4, and rabies are all the important ones to me.  Other vaccinations are available, but the need for them varies on the situation at your farm. ( I don’t breed horses or have youngsters around so a strangles vaccine wouldn’t be prudent for my money.)   Remarkably, all these vaccines are available to residents of Michigan from various stores and catalogs, so you can order them yourself.  Of course there is significant risk in vaccinating your own animals and having a veterinarian do it provides much needed peace of mind.  

While your vet is there have him/her check your horses teeth for points.  Horses chew their food unevenly and develop sharp spots on their teeth that catch the cheeks and create sores.  These make the horse reluctant to eat and the horse will either dribble food from his mouth while eating, or stop eating as much and start loosing weight.  All that winter hair will cover up weight loss and you might not know what is happening until it is quite severe.  So check those teeth regularly even on the younger horses.  Magically, riding problems will often disappear when the bit no longer hits a sore spot in the mouth. That is why checking a young horse for tooth troubles is just as important as checking the older ones.

If you have a male horse, have your vet check for a “bean”.  A bean is a collection of debris caught in a pocket at the end of the penis that will eventually narrow the urethral opening and shut off the urine stream.  This obviously can get to be an emergency and there is no need to wait until your horse cant pee to correct the problem.  Although I do not recommend that the sheath be cleaned on a schedule, if a bean is being removed and the horse is already tranquillized, it might be a good time to clean that as well.  After all, it is a spring tune up!

Make sure a stethoscope is used to listen to the heart and lungs.  If caught early, heaves (a disease similar to chronic asthma in horses) can be managed pretty well giving the horse a good quality of life.  Have him/her check the hooves for thrush, and the legs for any obvious underlying bone and/or joint changes as seen in ringbone, splints and bog spavins.  Body condition should be assessed and any diet suggestions should be made at that time.  

Lastly a discussion on worms needs to take place with your veterinarian.  Tell him/her what you are doing for worms both in the horse and in your pastures–you may be surprised at the new information out on worm control.  Worms are probably the biggest cause of equine death due to colic so make sure you are doing everything in your power to keep them under control.  

The warm weather was great–I am SO ready for spring!  

|

|

|

|

|

Inbox

Once you have decided what type of pet you want, and where you are going to get it, the last thing is picking out your pet from the rest of the animals in the enclosure. So we are talking about puppies in a litter, cats in a room in a shelter, or other like animals housed together.

The animals that make the best pets are the ones that absolutely adore you. And the only way to find that animal, is to let it pick you out as its new owner. If possible this is what you do: Get in a room with the litter and allow them to roam freely about. Sit down in the center and watch the puppies that are too busy exploring their new environment to even notice that you are there. Those are the ones you do not want. Remove them from the room and watch the ones left. You want the one most aggressively begging to be noticed by you. The one climbing on your lap and trying to lick your face. That is the puppy who really, really, wants you–and that one will be your most loyal pet.

This happened to me a few years back while visiting a bird breeder in Florida. He had several birds all playing on perches or sitting on top of their cages watching the people walk by. There were lots of people there and some birds were sitting on people, being petted and being played with. I noticed one very pretty bird, who kept watching me. As I got closer to her cage she got closer to me until she ran out of cage and was left hanging there just calling me with her eyes. Of course, I knew what she wanted–she wanted me to offer my hand to climb aboard. But I also know the games parrots play. Many lure you over just to bite your hands! ( They have a great sense of humor and love to see the expression on peoples faces when they get bit). I decided to take a chance and she hopped on my hand like she had known me forever. She played with my wedding ring for a while and then climbed up my arm to play with my hair and earrings. We definitely had some chemistry! Because the owner was busy with other people we played for a long time. Finally the owner turned around and saw her on my shoulder and exclaimed: “Oh my God, she isn’t attacking you!!” At that point the owner explained that the bird was normally a very nasty bird and was very good at luring people in just to take a chunk out of their hands. He said she must really like me and lowered her posted price just to get me to buy her. I couldn’t because of my dogs and a long plane ride home, but if I had, that bird would have been a loyal friend for life.

My husband used this method to pick out Tigger (our male Boxer), from the pound. Tigger was the only dog to calmly and quietly walk up to the front of the run and lick his hand. He did not jump, he did not bark, just a quick lick and those soulful eyes told Bill that Tigger was the dog for him. And he was right. Tigger has made a wonderful addition to our family. Tigger picked us out and that is the secret to finding the most loyal and loving pet–let them do it for you!

Once you decide on the pet you want, your next decision is where to get that pet.  And the first place that comes to mind for most folks is a pet store.  Pet stores are fun places to visit, but rarely are they a good place to actually purchase a pet.

Pet stores are places in business only for the purpose of making money.  The people behind the counter may be totally into snakes, but know absolutely nothing about the parakeet on sale.  And unless they are a big box pet store like Petco or Petsmart, their feed sits until it sells–sometimes for years.  Pets eating stale and out of date feed are not getting enough of the valuable vitamins and minerals to keep them healthy.  Many suffer from malnutrition even though they are eating well every day.  

Pet stores also support people who are in the business of making money from breeding animals.  So they breed as many animals as possible to make as much money as possible.  Most of the cats and dogs for sale in pet stores come from “puppy mills”.  These are similar to factory farms in which animals are raised with no regard to confirmation, behavior, and genetically perpetuated diseases.  They churn out cute dogs and cats to sell to pet stores which double or triple the price and sell to the public.  As an animal welfare inspector, I spent years working in the USDA (mostly in Kansas), to get these businesses cleaned up and at least, in compliance with the government standard of humane animal care.  It was an uphill battle and unfortunately, even the mills in compliance with the USDA still had a long way to go to produce a healthy, well adjusted, pet.  So because the industry is very reluctant to reform, (due to the cost of the improvements versus the return),  the best course of action is to boycott their products and just avoid buying pet shop animals all together.  Believe me I know they are cute.  But they can be the most costly cute you will ever fall in love with if you buy from a pet shop.

Where does one get a healthy, well bred pet?  The best place is from reputable breeders.  In dogs, cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, cattle, sheep, goats, horses, poultry,.llamas, pigs, birds,and fish, its as easy as going to a show (county fair, state fair, local farm, and different competitions around the state),  and interviewing the people showing the breeds that you like.  The people exhibiting the animals know a lot about them and can answer a lot of questions you may have.  And if they don’t have animals for sale, they probably can direct you to someone who does.

Another great source of animals is rescue groups.  Rescue groups exist for any animal you can think of.  If it is a pet, someone has given it up and a group of people have decided to seek this particular animal out and find good homes for them.  The best place to find your particular animal is the website petfinders.com.  Most rescue groups advertise on this site and these animals are all in need of good homes.  Knowledgeable people have taken these animals in, evaluated their health and behavior and have decided what places would make the best home for them.  With a rescued animal you are guaranteed to know all about the pets physical, and behavioral problems.  So at least you know what you are getting and if you can deal with the problems.  This is much better than buying a puppy at a pet store only to be shocked to find out it wasn’t socialized properly and it hates your spouse or children.  

Next time:  purebred vs mixed–which is better?

So you think you want a pet huh?  Becoming a pet owner is a very big commitment in a persons life.  But it is well worth the time, energy, money and anxiety just to come home to an entity totally committed to you.  And if you are even thinking about having children someday, pets are a great reality check into the life and responsibilities of a parent.

The very first step is deciding what type of animal is best suited for you and your life style.  Do you live in an apartment?  The country?  Do you have allergies?  Are you interested in competing with, and/or breeding your pet?  Do you long for something a little more exotic than a dog or cat?  How much discretionary money do you have every month?  How much free time do you have?  Are you getting the pet for yourself or is it going to be a family pet?  If it is a family pet, who is most likely going to be caring for the animal?  How old are your children?