Monday, February 22, 2010

Back To Pet Food! Petition Against Cabela’s Sponsoring Wolf Derbies.

To address Vickie’s, Mom of Bark+Bite, comment:

“Penny, I need your help. Sam the boxer has a food digestion problem. I had him on Blue Brand Dog Food. Very good, but for budget reasons I changed to Natures Recipe. I have not had any problems this past year. The bag reads Easy Digestible Nutrition, No Beef Corn or Wheat. No By Products or Fillers, No Artificial Preservatives.
I went to buy a bag a few days ago. On some of the shelves at Pet Smart there were bags that had a whole new look. They did not have any of this information on them. They had change to telling you what -good- things were in the food. I think one line said something about tomatoes?
You keep up with this and I value your opinion. Do you know if they have change their product? I thought it was a good dog food but now I am not sure. A 65 lb. dog eats a lot.”
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Here are the reviews for Nature’s Recipe: http://hubpages.com/hub/Natures-Recipe-Healthy-Dog-Foods-Reviews-and-News  It depends which flavor you were feeding, as they range from 5/10 - 8/10.

Vickie, I do not know if they have changed their recipe, as I do not use it.  But it is made by Del Monte, so maybe they are trying to use up any unused tomatoes!
Are you sure they were both Nature’s Recipe, there are several brands with similar names?
Believing the large print on pet food bags is like believing an RV salesman, or the packaging on people food!  You have to read the fine print.

 Sometimes the filler is disguised, they might have a small percentage of several filling ingredients, which added up would become the main ingredient.  Meat or chicken should be the first ingredient percentage-wise.  Not meat or chicken meal or by-products.

“Tomatoes, rhubarb, citrus fruits can be bad for pets.”  From: http://www.paw-rescue.org/PAW/PETTIPS/DogTip_FoodAndKitchenSafety.php  which also has A LOT more important information.

To help Sam get over this, here is a good remedy.
One thing that is good for people and pets when they have an upset tummy of any kind, is canned pumpkin.  Not the pie filling spiced one. 
I opened a can, and put it in several little plastic sealed containers, like the ones your condiments come in at a restaurant take-out, and froze them.  Now I just have to defrost one if I have an animal with an upset digestive system, or diarrhea.  If you have trouble getting it down them, put it in the side of their mouth.   If you have a syringe, without a needle, that is an easy way to do it.

As with any animal, a change in diet should be done gradually over a week or more.

People and pets aren’t supposed to eat so much when they are on a better food, so often it is false economy to go to a cheaper food.

If you can’t get Blue Buffalo or Wellness for your dog, here are some cheaper ones:
Lassie is available at Krogers.    Lassie Lamb and Rice gets the best review at 8/10:  http://hubpages.com/hub/Natural-Way-Dog-Food---Lassie-Lamb-and-Rice-Review

Or Exclusive, find out where to buy near you here:  http://www.pminutrition.com/main.html
Exclusive Lamb and Rice, their best rated one:  http://hubpages.com/hub/Exclusive-Lamb-Rice-Adult-Formula-Dry-Healthy-Dog-Foods  8/10

Pet Food Reviews: http://hubpages.com/hub/Dog_Food_Review
The link to the cat food reviews is on that page, too

Here are people foods that are bad, or poisonous, even deadly, for your pet: http://www.petplace.com/article-printer-friendly.aspx?id=4773
I like this article because it also gives the symptoms of overdose.
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Help Save America's Wolves from Hunting Derbies.
“It's one thing for a company to sponsor an event like, say, the Olympics, but to throw their corporate dollars behind a slaughtering competition seems like a riskier public relations move. Unless you're a major outdoor retailer like Cabela's or Sportsman's Warehouse, who are the proud sponsors of three recent predator derbies.” From: http://animals.change.org/blog/view/cabelas_proud_sponsor_of_killing_sprees
Please sign the petition urging Cabela's and Sportsman's Warehouse to withdraw their support for wolf derbies.
 http://www.thehungersite.com/clickToGive/campaign.faces;jsessionid=C398192ADE3BA80214E1F0FC6F35B6C5.ctg-b?siteId=4&campaign=DOWWolfHuntingDerbies&pageNum=443
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I could tell that Mindi had been a bit lax with her flea/heartworm medicine.  Poodles, Sheba and Jakey, both had those pinky patches on their white fur where they had been biting and licking.    Their saliva is what discolors their coats.  This is unusual for Mindi’s dogs, so she must have switched brands or something.
I bathed them with a whitening shampoo, but those pinky patches will really have to grow out.  I clipped their face, feet, and tails, too, but left their body hair long, as we are going to have another cold spell.

So by the time I had groomed them, cut Precious’ nails, and fed everybody, I had enough for today.

1 comment:

LakeConroePenny,TX said...

Mom of Bark and Bite wrote this:

"Penny, I look at your link on Sam's dog food - I have been feeding my dog manure! How could I do that!. When I change brands (in a hurry) I thought it was a good brand.That site rated it 6/10 bad. Thank you.I will get something much better. I read about the pumpkin. At my house pumpkin is an everyday thing. Did you know there is a shortage on pumpkin? (not pie filling) Could not find it before Christmas and now even WalMart here doesn't have it. Frisco has a anal gland problem. Vet said give him green beans or pumpkin. He hated green beans anyway I tried them. After trying a number of ways we ended up with pumpkin. I take one slice of 97% fat free ham cover it with pumpkin, fold it in half, take a knife and cut it into small pieces. Frisco is still not thrill with the pumpkin but we do get it down. It helps. We adopted Sam. As I was feeding Frisco I started feeding Sam a small piece. Dogs are as different as our children. SAM thinks pumpkin is as good as vanilla ice cream with chocolate syrup AND a cherry! He loves it. I wonder if any of your other readers are as "mother hen" as I am with my boys.
As you know my husband is in the hospital with cancer. I return home after a long day fill with anxiety sadness uncertainly and just plain brain dead. There they are jumping up and down glad to see me home. They warm my heart these two strays that nobody wanted. We have 4 children that are always here off and on.They are only a phone call away. They have families and need to go home. At the end of the day it is me and the boys. The day doesn't seem so bad when there is someone waiting for a belly rub or to give you a wet sloppy kiss. Yes it is true that if you come to my house and I didn't invite you Frisco will wake up the whole neighborhood. Yes if you try to come in the door Sam will take a bite out of your ass. But if I invite you in, you will find two gentle loving good dogs.I curl up and go to asleep I know they will take care of me. They don't -make my day--they save me and my day. Vickie"

Well, Vickie, I hope Sam is better now?

Best wishes, Penny.