Critter Consulting

What do we have in common with our pets?  Our food supply is one and the same!  And, a quality diet is healthier – mentally & physically.  (For our pets, that translates into fewer vet visits, longer lives & better behavior!)  That’s why we mix pet & human diet info in this post series.  Dig into this informative, fun smorgasbord of foodie news!

Recalls

• “What’s going on with Walmart’s Special Kitty cat food?” by Susan Thixton, 2/23/10.
• “Nature’s Variety pet food issues recall” by Beacon Journal staff, 2/15/10.  (This recall was expanded on 3/8/10!)
• “FDA warns pet owners of salmonella in (Merrick) beef treats” by Lisa Wade McCormick, 1/16/10
• “Pet Carousel recalls beef hooves and pig ears because of salmonella risk” US Recall News, 12/11/09  (Note:  If you get our e-newsletter, you already know about this one!)

Articles & posts of interest

• “Most store-bought chicken contains harmful bacteria” by James Limbach, 12/1/09.
• The truth about Kibbles ‘n Bits dog food and Pup-peroni & Milkbone dog treats:  Read Darcy’s 2/9/10 post on why you shouldn’t fall for manufacturers’ emotion-based advertising.  Get good @ reading ingredient lists on food packaging!  Check our site for more info.
• “Food allergy may be causing feline cystitis” by Dr. Michael Fox, 2/14/10.  (Note:  Another case against corn.  Contact us if your pet house soils!)
• “Fish oil supplements contain PCBs, so eat fish?“  by Deborah Mitchell, 3/3/10.  (Note:  There are healthy fish oil supplements that can benefit you & your pet.  Read on, and, as always, consult your vet.)
• “Feline feeding ‘faux paws’” by Amelia Glynn, 3/1/10  (Note:  We are as skeptical as the author is about 9Lives being a spokes-company for “wholesome” & “highly nutritious” cat food.  But read on….)
• “FDA concerned about substance in food packaging” by Denise Grady 2/15/10.  (Note:  The latest on BPA in food/beverage containers.)

Tasty & safe

• New FDA widget! A glimmer of hope from the FDA comes in the form of their new “Pet Health & Safety” widget, designed to update you on the latest news on pet food, including recalls.  Find it on our homepage:  Scroll to the bottom of our sidebar.  Check back often, as it self-updates!
• We love “Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual” by Michael Pollan.  Read or watch interviews with the author about his new, quick-read book on human food safety.  Follow his simple rules to easily choose healthy, natural (single-ingredient) foods over what Pollan calls “edible, food-like substances” (processed foods in the modern, Western diet).   Example:  Rule #2 from the book is “Don’t eat anything your great grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food.”  Good advice that applies to your pets, too!
• Did you know this is National Peanut Butter Lovers’ Month? Odds are your pup knows!  Here’s a recipe for Peanut Butter Cups to help Fido celebrate, courtesy of threedog.com.  Dogs-with-thumbs will love eatingwell.com’s Peanut Energy Bars.  Yum!
• Easter safety for pets

Video-goodness

Three of our favorite foodie flicks: Slow-motion dogs catching treats.  (A sweet video, but we don’t recommend Pedigree products.)  Joris eating dinner.  (Good for a belly laugh.)  And, in the spirit of spring & Easter, Baby bunny eats tiny flower.  (Kids will love this one!)

Information provided on this site is not a substitute for veterinary care. See your vet before you begin a complementary health care or exercise plan. The statements on this website have not been evaluated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration/Center for Veterinary Medicine, and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

© 2010 Critter Consulting

Everyday should be Valentine’s Day:  Give a gift from the heart, and you’ll brighten someone’s day, as well as your own!  We listed a few ideas to get you started, along with some heartwarming heroics to watch….

• Help others locally: Donate time, money or supplies to shelters & rescues.  Offer to walk or care for the pets of a neighbor-in-need.  Adopt a pet from a shelter or rescue, or foster a pet until it finds its forever-home.  (We can help your adoption or foster go smoothly.)
• Help others globally: Donate to trustworthy organizations working in Haiti, as they continue to need funds.  Visit American Red Cross‘ site to aid the people of Haiti.  Read their blog for progress updates.  Or, join the ASPCA in supporting ARCH (Animal Relief Coalition for Haiti).  Stay updated via ASPCA’s ongoing field reports & slide shows on the animal relief efforts in Haiti.

Do what you can to make a difference in others’ lives, and it will be returned to you ten-fold.  Need more inspiration?  Watch these amazing animal rescue videos.  (Nail-biters, we know.  But they all have happy endings!)

• “Baltic” the dog rescued from atop an ice floe 15 miles from land in the Baltic Sea.  Read & watch!
• “Spikey” the dog rescued from the raging L.A. River.  Watch the rescue.  (Yes, Spikey was so terrified he bit the firefighter who rescued him, but everyone’s fine, and all is forgiven.  Watch the interview with the rescuers & the follow-up report.)
• “Sky” the cat rescued by Kay Leclaire.  Sky’s one lucky kitten:  Kay just happens to a champion climber who scaled Mt. Everest @ age 60!  Read & watch.

Happy Valentine’s Day – every day!

© 2010 Critter Consulting

How are your New Year’s resolutions holding up?  If you’ve let them go already, don’t despair – you’re not alone. A new British university study shows that less then 25% of people who make resolutions keep them.  Successful folks have a plan & help themselves stick to it.  They break their ultimate goal into smaller steps, and reward themselves after achieving each step.  (Wow – sounds like pet training!)  They are accountable to themselves & their friends along the way because they journal their efforts & tell friends about their goals.  If you’re in the majority who’ve blown it already, don’t give up.  Renew your resolve with a plan that will benefit you & your pet!

Two of the most popular resolutions are losing weight & improving relationships.  Accomplish two of your goals @ once:  Get out & get moving with your dog! You’ll bond with Rover while you both get healthier, mentally & physically.  (For Rover, that translates into better behavior!)  Make it a priority:  Put it on your calendar & schedule around it.  Invite friends to go with you.  Go even if you don’t feel like going.  Soon you’ll find it’s the best part of your day!

We gathered some articles to inspire you to reach your goals:

• Lose Your Holiday Weight: Walk Your Dog – from petplace.com
• The Best Walking Partner: Man vs. Dog – from nytimes.com
• Walking Your Dog ‘Better than a Gym Membership’ – from newser.com
• Getting Off on a Fresh Paw in 2010 – from upi.com
• Spend Quality Time with Your Dog – from dogchannel.com
• New Year’s Resolutions for Your Pet – from aspca.org
• 11 Ways to Get Moving with Your Pet (Kitty, too!) – from dogtime.com
• 21 Ways to Boost Energy – from webmd.com (Hint:  Your pets can help you with @ least 3 tips on this list!)
• The Hidden Benefits of Exercise – from online.wsj.com

Contact us to improve Rover’s leash manners & behavior, or if you need help with Kitty.  We wish you & your pets a happy, healthy 2010.  Remember, any day is a good day to make and keep a resolution!

© 2010 Critter Consulting

This year, we found the holiday spirit captured in a lovely video sent to us by a client.  A gift to us, passed along to you.

• If, like us, you find yourself thoroughly charmed by Ricochet (aka Rip Curl Ricki) & her “mom”/trainer’s insight, visit their website.  Or follow Ricochet on Facebook!
• Put that holiday spirit to use locally.  Donate what you can (goods, time, money) to local shelters & rescues.  Your generosity helps homeless pets find their bliss, too!
• For more seasonal fun & important tips, visit our posts:  “Happy Howlidays!” (2008) and “Seasonal Stress”.

Warmest Christmas wishes to you & your family: humans, canines & felines, alike!

© 2009 Critter Consulting

Enjoy these turkey-time tips:

• Thanksgiving safety tips – from aspca.org
• Soothe seasonal stress
• “Talking turkey with your dog”
• “People-food” for dogs – Read about safe portions & treats for Fido.  (Avoid fat, salt & sugar.  Our holiday foods are loaded with these, but they can make pets sick.  For example, fatty Thanksgiving table scraps can give Pup pancreatitis.)
• Turkey & sweet potato recipe for Fido
• “Is Your Pet Ready to Greet Holiday Guests?”

Speaking of greetings, we are absolutely charmed by Gracie! Watch Gracie welcome her “dad”, Captain Andrew Schmidt, back from service in Afghanistan.  Andy says, “Gracie is half golden retriever, half corgi.  We rescued her from the pound in 2004.  She’s six now.   She was found neglected in a pen in West Virginia …. She is a hell of a good friend.  She is six now and still gets a ton of attention even now that my wife and I have a young son …… I can promise you that she doesn’t do this every time I come home, LOL.  This was a first.”  Watch Andy & his wife interviewed on the Today Show.

Warmest Thanksgiving wishes to you & your family: humans, canines & felines, alike!

© 2009 Critter Consulting

Here we go!  The impending holidays can turn even the calmest of us into stress balls.  If you’re anxious & overwhelmed, so is your pet.  We hope to put you @ ease with the info in this post.  Refer back to it often in the next 2 months, ideally before you or your pets are @ wit’s end!

• Breathe easy. In a recent post we discussed how routine changes affect your pet.  Exercise is a great stress-buster for pets & humans, alike.  Conscious breathing is also calming.  (Think yoga or meditation.)  We love Real Simple’s “How to Relax and Breathe” (video & article).  You can use these techniques anywhere, anytime – no matter how busy you are.  Your pet mirrors your energy level & state-of-mind.  To calm your pet, calm yourself.  And get moving – schedule time to play or walk with your pet in the lovely fall weather!
• Want more ideas on beating stress? We also love Real Simple’s articles:  “Manage Your Stress”; “Relax in an Instant“; and their reader poll, “How Do You De-stress During the Holidays?“.
• The fewer H1N1 worries, the better. Are your pets safe from this flu?  We recommend:  Be informed about H1N1 @ your pet, but don’t panic. Check avma.org for updates; take measures to keep you & your pet healthy; and talk with your vet.  Read more from chicagotribune.com.  (Note:  We updated these “swine flu” links on 11/22/09.)  
  
• House training woes? We’re checking in on this subject again because it’s so common for pets to house soil in the winter.  Small breeds; puppies who haven’t experienced a winter before; unreliably house trained dogs; and indoor/outdoor cats are all likely to regress in their house training.  Get a handle on this now – before your guests arrive for Thanksgiving!  Contact us for help.

Laughter is great medicine.  Relax & enjoy these videos: A sneezing baby panda & baby elephant demonstrate that the sniffles can be cute.  (Tell yourself that if you catch a cold this season.)  And – breaking news:  Apparently Bo Obama’s house training isn’t going well on Air Force One.  The Washington Post & NBC’s Brian Williams report.  Oops!

© 2009 Critter Consulting

Halloween is good spooky-fun for humans.  For pets, it’s just plain spooky.  This year, help your pets enjoy Halloween – from their points-of-view.

• A truly happy Halloween for pets includes lots of exercise & play, followed by relaxing away from the chaos of treat-or-treating.  Watch this video, and visit our post from last Halloween for important pet safety tips.
• Step away from the Halloween haute couture for Fluffy & Fido! They much prefer to go au naturale.  Don’t believe us?  Check the abundance of videos & pics of costumed pets online.  One look @ their faces tells the “tail”.   Perhaps this video of Pixie & Wicket will convince you.  (Their owner – and videographer – notes that “a minute after recording the video, Pixie peed in place, and Wicket bit his left hand”.)  Not happy puppies!
• Having said that, in the “spirit” of  the season, we suspect that if dogs did do Halloween, it would look like Splash & Kiko’s treat-or-treating adventure! (FYI:  No chicken bones for dogs!  Kiko’s owner/trainer said Kiko doesn’t have any teeth, so she couldn’t chew the bone.  That bone was the only thing they could get her to take in her mouth from the “mean guy”.)

Boo!

© 2009 Critter Consulting

More foodie news for you & your pets, including the latest in pet food recalls & meat safety:

Recalls

• “Wysong Dog Food Recall” by Susan Thixton (truthaboutpetfood, 10/14/09).
• “Diamond Pulls Premium Brand Cat Food from Shelves” – by Lisa Wade McCormick (ConsumerAffairs.com, 10/5/09).
• “NUTRO Pulls Some Puppy Food from Shelves” – by Lisa Wade McCormick (ConsumerAffairs.com, 9/30/09).
• “Ground Beef Products Recalled in California:  Salmonella contamination” (USRecallNews.com, 8/6/09).  Check your freezers…..

Food source safety

• Ditch those hard, plastic drinking bottles.  A new Harvard study says the plastic used leaches BPA.  While you’re @ it, switch Fluffy & Fido to stainless steel or heavy glass food/water bowls.  Avoid plastic or ceramic food bowls.
• Understand how E.coli gets into ground beef, despite inspections & regulations.  Watch the nytimes.com video, “Tainted Meat“.  Read the accompanying article, “E.Coli Path Shows Flaws in Beef Inspection”.  We recommend purchasing whole cuts of beef and having them ground for you @ the meat counter.  It’s not perfect, but it’s a start.
• Can you prevent E.Coli contamination @ home when you prep ground beef for cooking?  NYTimes.com explores this question in their video, “Hamburger Confidential“.  (Not recommended viewing for hypochondriacs!)

Fall fun!

• Coffee cat stencils for the cat-loving, caffeine fiend in your life.  A nice way to warm up! 
  
• It’s pumpkin time! We love “Pumpkin Pieces” Kong stuffing recipe from dogs.thefuntimesguide.com:  “Combine some plain yogurt, canned pumpkin, and cooked rice in a small baggie.  Mix well inside the bag, then snip off a corner of the bag and squeeze it into the Kong toy.  Freeze.”  Yum!
• Amy Shojai, CABC, recommends a canned pumpkin treat for cats that can also act as a home remedy for hairballs:  “Divide the pumpkin into tablespoon dollops in an ice cube tray, freeze, and thaw one dose as needed.”  (Cats love the flavor of pumpkin, but often don’t like to eat cold things.  So thaw the pumpkin to room temperature, no hotter.)
• Pumpkin & bananas are good for humans, too.  Try this Low Fat Pumpkin Banana Bread from about.com.  Careful – If you add the chocolate chips, as one reader recommends, keep Fido out of the kitchen!

In case you missed it, we love the SNL short video, “Mostly Garbage Pet Food”.  (We also noticed the uncanny resemblance between the mock food bag in the video & a Pedigree food bag.  Enough said.)

Information provided on this site is not a substitute for veterinary care. See your vet before you begin a complementary health care or exercise plan. The statements on this website have not been evaluated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration/Center for Veterinary Medicine, and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

© 2009 Critter Consulting

We hope you had a great summer!  Now that kids & teachers are headed back to school, maybe your pet should, too. Fall’s routine changes can stress pets.  Days are shorter & families are busier.  If Rover & Fluffy suddenly get less exercise, attention & guidance from you, behavior problems can arise.  We see everything from destructive behavior to aggression, as a result.  Here are some guidelines for a smooth transition into Fall:

• Get moving! Continue (or increase) your pet’s exercise routine. Do this rain or shine, night or day.   A happily, consistently tired pet is less stressed and better behaved.  Interactive play is great for cats, and dogs love puzzle toys.  Both work your pet’s mind & body, even in inclement weather.  (See our cat & dog toy recommendations.)  Play dates & doggy day care also relieve Rover’s boredom & stress.  Contact us for more ideas.
• Train proactively. Don’t let small issues become disastrously bad habits.  For example, nuisance barking, boredom/stress-based chewing, & separation anxiety can quickly escalate.  Been meaning to train Pup?  Now’s the perfect time to get started!
• Watch that pet door! If you’re not sure that Pup will potty outside in the rain, don’t give him the option, via the pet door, of choosing to potty inside where it’s warm & dry.  If your indoor/outdoor cat doesn’t have a litter box because he potties outside, he might appreciate an indoor litter box option in nasty weather.  House soiling regression is very common in the winter, so prepare now.  We can give you a proactive potty plan.
• Family fun: Get the kids involved!  (Keep it safe & age-appropriate, of course.)  If you’re home-schooling, add pet care & training to the curriculum. We’ve got lots of ideas to get you started!

Stay cool in our Fall heatwave. Watch Abby (pit), Lexis (yorkie/poodle) & Caius (pit) beat the last of the summer heat.  And hang ten (or eight) with pups @ the 2009 Surf Dog competition!

© 2009  Critter Consulting

Enjoy our best-of list of summer pet topics, with timely updates:

• Beat the heat! Our post from last summer is loaded with tips on keeping cool.  In addition, aspca.org offers advice on protecting pets from heat stroke.  And mydogiscool.com tells you when it’s too hot to leave your pet in your car.
• Play day:  Read our post on always-updated toy recommendations.  (Plus, we found a new recipe for a frozen Kong-smoothie.  Yum!)
• Help Fluffy & Fido cope with the 4th of July. Fireworks & hot air balloons are unnerving for many pets.  Read our post for calming, proactive guidelines.  Contact us for more help – before your pet panics!
• Travel plans? Don’t forget your pet!  Our travel post is loaded with good info, whether your pet is staying home or accompanying you.  And, we love petplace.com’s printable pet sitter or kennel instruction forms that you can fill out for multiple cats in your household!  (Want more?  This is our current favorite travel video.  It makes us smile, but we caution: Don’t try this @ home!)
• How does your garden grow? With the summer heat, veggie patches are gearing up!  Teach your pet yard manners, and keep him/her safe.  See our advice.
• Why not make everyday “Take your pet to work day”? Pet Sitters International promotes this annually, though you might have missed it last Friday.  If your workplace is pet-friendly, petplace.com offers ground rules for getting started.  (These statistics might help you campaign for a pet-friendly workplace!)  Contact us for help introducing your pet to the office & teaching office manners.  Just for fun:  Read Glenn Close’s blog on taking her dog, Jake, to the set of “Damages”.  (We love the video of Jake.)  Watch a cat-coworker  gone wrong.  And, this video gives new meaning to bring your “kid” to work!)

We wish you a fun-filled summer!  If you want to make pet training a family activity this summer, just get in touch with us.  We’d love to help!

© 2009  Critter Consulting