Every once in a while, I come across a great quote that expresses “the bond” between people and animals. Here is the latest one I just discovered.
The bond of a true dog is as lasting as the ties of this earth can ever be.
(Konrad Lorenz)
A friend sent me this cool article this morning:
Nearly everything Oprah Winfrey does is newsworthy—and what she eats is no exception. When she announced on her show that she was going to forgo all animal products—as well as wheat, alcohol, caffeine and sugar—for three weeks in order to become a more “conscious eater,” I heaved a huge sigh of relief. I’ve been trying to convince people to go vegan for more than 16 years, but my voice is merely a whisper compared to that of the queen of daytime TV. When Oprah speaks, people listen. Even if only a fraction of Oprah’s fans are motivated to try a vegan diet—for three weeks, three months or forever—it will make a world of difference for animals, for people and for the planet.
So far, Oprah is not only embracing her vegan experience, she’s raving about it.
During the first week of Oprah’s “cleanse,” vegan chef Tal Ronnen—who graduated from New York City’s Natural Gourmet Institute and started the nonprofit program Veg Advantage to help food-service professionals integrate vegetarian options into their menus—prepared a meal that had Oprah gushing about being “baptized in Vegan Land.” “Wow, wow, wow!” she wrote in her blog on Oprah.com. “I never imagined meatless meals could be so satisfying.”
On day four of the 21-day cleanse, Oprah said, “I just cleaned my dinner plate, down to the last grain of brown rice left under my oh-so-deliciously seasoned soy chicken. I cannot believe how tasty, spicy and wonderful it all was. I’m ever more surprised at how I don’t miss anything and feel so satisfied at every meal.”
In her blog, Oprah opens up about her quest to find a higher level of awareness and explains what has influenced her to become a more conscious eater. She raises one particularly insightful point, something I hope others will ponder too: “How can you say you’re trying to spiritually evolve without even a thought about what happens to the animals whose lives are sacrificed in the name of gluttony?”
The answer, I believe, is simple: You can’t. Animals must be included in our efforts to make the world a more peaceful place and Oprah is setting a great example. Animals feel pain every bit as much as we do, are terrified by the sights and smells of the slaughterhouse and are afraid to die. Yet every year, billions of them are confined to feces-filled cages, stalls and sheds, separated from their families, mutilated—without the use of painkillers—and killed. Many are scalded alive or dismembered while they’re still conscious.
Only time will tell if Oprah will remain vegan—or at least eat significantly less meat, eggs and cheese—after her 21-day cleanse, but her food revelations will likely have a profound effect on the way many Americans eat. We may not all have a personal chef preparing meals for us, but anyone can whip up simple vegan fare like mock meatloaf, grilled vegetable skewers and black bean chili. Since vegan foods are cholesterol-free, low in saturated fat and higher in fiber, they’re a healthier alternative to animal products. And by going vegan, we can help reduce pollution and greenhouse-gas emissions, and we can each save more than 100 animals every year.
So, follow in Oprah’s footsteps—at least for seven days. Take the one-week “veg pledge” on GoVeg.com. It’s easy. Oprah wouldn’t steer you wrong—and neither would I.
(Source: PETAPublished: Friday, June 27, 2008)
We live about an hour south of Iowa City where so much flooding has been going on. Cedar Rapids is an hour and a half north of here.
Today I read in CCNMoney.com that Petsmart Charities is helping with emergency pet supplies for the animals that are in need in those areas:
“PetSmart Charities will dispatch its Emergency Relief Waggin’ stocked with emergency pet supplies to Cedar Rapids, Iowa today to help the pet victims of recent flooding. The 53-foot trailer contains enough pet products, food and supplies to support up to 500 companion animals.”
Once again Petsmart Charities to the rescue…they are really doing some great work on behalf of animals in southeastern Iowa.
I just went on our shelter ~the Noah’s Ark Animal Foundation ~ website and saw that a total of 189 dogs from southeast Iowa have been accepted in the Petsmart Charities Rescue Waggin’ program. This is really fantastic.
We have so many dogs that are abandoned around here and without the Rescue Waggin’, many of them would still be sitting in the shelter waiting for their forever home. There just are not enough good homes in this area for all the great dogs that, for one reason or another, have found themselves homeless.
The Waggin’ picks up dogs from the shelter once or twice a month and brings them to one of two shelters in WI where the adoption rate is very high. Most of the dogs are adopted within 48 hours. (amazing).
Being accepted into the program has really made a difference for the homeless dogs in our area! Programs like this show what can be accomplished when people work together for a good purpose.
Another one of our customers called this week to thank us for ThePetCheckup.
They were surprised to find that the test showed blood in their dog Emma’s urine. It was a moderate amount and after taking Emma to the vet, the diagnosis was a urinary tract infection. Because ThePetCheckup catches potential illnesses before symptoms appear, they were able to catch it very early and the treatment should be simple and effective.
Urinary tract infections in both dogs and cats are really common…wish there were some statistics to see if the numbers may be increasing. I know Kate had one awhile back…the only illness that she has ever had since she was rescued almost 2 years ago.
There are other causes for a positive test result for blood….stones, tumor, internal injuries–or even something as relatively harmless as chewing some tough grass that caused an irritation to the lining of the digestive system.
The important point is that blood is not normal in the urine and should always be checked out by a veterinarian.
About 10 days ago, we shipped ThePetCheckup kit to a customer in Australia. Although we have shipped to Australia many times, this package was held for 5 days by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry.
They sent a letter to our customer who explained to them what was in the kit (a home urine test for dogs and cats) and the package was then released to her.
Apparently, the woman at the Department was very interested in ThePetCheckup as she has two cats — one who has a recurring bladder infection. Maybe she will become our next Australian customer!
Chloe had her yearly veterinary exam last week…I brought her in a few months early as I suspected an ear infection–which she has.
She was prescribed Mometamax–4 drops per day for the infection. Chloe is extremely difficult when it comes to giving any type of medication. I think the memory of her early years when she was very sick and required alot of care have stayed with her. She seems to have a second sense when it comes to knowing I am about to give her medicine. She usually manages to outsmart me and the ear drops are no exception.
To make it even more difficult..the bottle that you are supposed to squeeze for the drops to come out is so stiff, you can hardly get anything out. I tried using another type of dropper, but that didn’t work either.
She may think she has won this round, but with an infection, I will have to persevere and find a way to get the drops in her.
Wish me luck!!
Best Friends Animal Society in Utah has been doing some great work with their campaign to close down puppy mills. I don’t know the numbers on how many have been closed down throughout the country this past year, but they state on their website that there is one closed almost every week.
And eBay Foundation has pledged $330,000 in seed money to set up a puppy care center at Best Friends. Puppies and their mothers will be able to go to Best Friends puppy care center to get healthy and socialize so that they can be adopted into good homes.
When I keep my attention on all the positive things that are happening in animal welfare, it is really heartening. It feels like there is a momentum that has been created and will keep growing.
Our volunteer spay/neuter group here in Fairfield is growing too. It’s like we had to struggle all these years to lay the ground work and now bigger organizations and groups are catching on and providing some support.
I wonder if we will ever be able to figure out how to get people to fix their animals BEFORE they breed. We get so many calls from people who just don’t get it. They wait until they are overwhelmed with animals and then call for financial help. It gets very frustrating.
Skin problems are one of the imbalances that a pet home urine health test will not be directly helpful with, unfortunately. Usually the problem becomes apparent when the dog or cat is itching like crazy or developing bald spots or scabs somewhere on their body.
My cat Oliver used to have some problems on his paws years ago–he would lick and pull at the hair creating bald spots. I changed the kitty litter and the problem went away.
I did lots of research on skin problems during that time and learned some basic things:
1. The first outward sign of something wrong is excessive licking…so it is best to take action as soon as you notice that change in behavior.
2. A good diet (no animal byproducts) is critical.
3. The immune system is weakened during this time, so find a good supplement that will support the immune system and give it regularly.
4. Administering a vaccine during this time can make the problem worse.
5. Study some of the natural remedies for fleas and ticks and start them early before the flea season starts. I am investigating some of these now and hoping to find something that is effective. I will keep you posted.
As spring is potentially arriving (we are getting about an inch of snow or slush today!), I have been doing more research into natural flea remedies. There seems to be several new products out there.
One is Nematodes..which are actually naturally occurring predators that live under the soil’s surface. They are not harmful to people or animals, or birds, plants and the rest of the environment, and I have read that they kill fleas in the yard or garden.
Nematodes start killing fleas within a day of their application, but it takes about 2 weeks for them to reach their full effect. An application lasts about 90 days and there are specific ways that they should be applied.
Has anyone had any direct experience with Nematodes? I like that each application lasts for 3 months and it seems like a safe way to keep fleas out of my enclosed cat pen in the summer and early fall.
