Thursday, September 20, 2012

Pet treats from China

There has been an ongoing issue with pet treats that are made in China, causing problems for pets.  There have been a total of 360 pet deaths to date and over 2000 cases of animals getting sick from these treats.  The brands effected by the issue are ones commonly found in stores such as Wal-Mart.  The FDA has issued a warning to pet owners to use caution when feeding these products and reminds that they are not necissary for a balanced diet-yet the manufacturers still refuse to pull them from the shelves.  If you have not heard anything on this issue, I would urge you to do some reading.

http://seattletimes.com/html/tailsofseattle/2019215698_fda_update_on_jerky_pet_treats.html
http://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/SafetyHealth/ProductSafetyInformation/ucm319463.htm
http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2012/07/fda-releases-data-on-dog-treat-testing-still-no-answers/
http://www.truthaboutpetfood.com/articles/hats-off-to-food--water-watch.html
http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-news/jerky-treats-death-toll/
http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-recall/chicken-jerky-treats-suspects/

If this is news to you, I would suggest a google search!  I have said it before, please be careful what you are feeding your pets.  The truth is, we aren't going to get 100% away from China-though many companies say they are 100% China free, I find that hard to swallow.

I believe they (the companies) have good intentions (and we are talking more about kibble here-not the tainted treats specifically).  The majority of the worlds vitamins tend to come from China-that is for humans as well.  Many pet food companies, in an atempt to do the very best for our pets, and to provide the very best quality of ingredients, will source their vitamin mixes from companies that are not in China-the only issue with that, is that many of those vitamin companies, get their supplies from China.  See what I mean?

The best you can do, is look for something that is as free of Chinese ingredients as possible.  I look for made in the USA, and I like to contact the dog food companies that I use, to find out even more details then just what is on the bag, or what is on the website.

Educate yourself and keep an eye out, it's a shame that this particular issue has gone on for so long....

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Freshpet

I am a huge freshpet fan. They offer fresh foods for your dogs and cats, this can be found not only in petstores but also in your local grocery store.

The boys really enjoy the slice and serve rolls. (Which are available in all life stages!) The only reason I don't serve this full time is cost. Premium kibble is still more affordable. I do use these, however, to suppliment their diet on occasion, as a replacement for one of their kibble meals.

Freshpet also has a wonderful selection of treats available. I have made their peanutbutter cookies, which my boys greatly enjoyed, and I even brought extras to work for co workers dogs. I did not recieve one bad report! These cookies only last about a week, so if you only have one or two dogs, I would either share leftovers or only make partbof the batch and freeze the rest.

As for the frozen treats, the peanutbutter ice cream is a hit in our house, in fact, the boys will be having some as a snack today. (Tucker is teething and it is great for his sensitive mouth) Today's blog pucture shows Rocky finishing off his treat, pretty sure he's fond of it! The frozen yogurt though, he gives up to Tucker without a fight.

Overall, I love these products and would definantly recommend them to other pet owners! Freshpet is one of our favorite brands.

http://freshpet.com/


Saturday, September 1, 2012

What are you feeding them Part I

Do you pay attention to the ingredients in your dog food? If not, maybe it's time to stop and take a look.  The majority of brands available in major stores are made of low grade ingredients and heavily corn based.

There is a bit of a movement towards more natural ingredients in pet foods and there are now several websites that rate dog foods.  These sites can be used as helpful tools to educate you and get you thinking about what you are feeding your best friend.

Dog food Chat
Dog Food Advisor
Dog Food Analysis

Dog food advisor is probably my favorite on the list as they are helpful in that they keep everyone up to date on recalls and such.  These sites are all great to give you an idea of what is out there and exactly how crappy your kibbles and bits or iams might be-however.... I don't believe any of these individuals are nutritionists specifically for dog foods.  That doesn't mean the sites don't have good information and that doesn't mean these people don't know what they are talking about-just take it with a grain of salt and apply it to what works best with you and yours.

Now, if you're feeding something like Pedigree, I'm going to ask you personally to change.  Animal meat, and meat byproduct is mysery meat-you don't know if that's a pound animal that was put to sleep or a diseased cow that was bought on bargain because of the low grade meat and possible effects it might have to whatever eats it.

I feed our boys Fromm. Fromm Foods I like the ingredient list, I like the company, I trust the company, and it is US made.  You really need to know where this stuff is coming from-there have been several warnings regarding pet treats made in China as of late.

If you love your pet, you'll take a moment to look into this and if you're feeding corn and sawdust (yes I said sawdust) you'll take the time and spend a little extra to find something better...




Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Meet the Boys

I like pets a hell of a lot more than I like people. It's true. My dogs make my day, I have no idea how I survived so many years without one! My parrot, well....he's a different story-I am working on repairing our 16 year relationship.

We have two maltese dogs, Rocky and Tucker. They can be utterly obnoxious at times and some days they make me want to pull my hair out, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

There is nothing like a dog, to greet you when you come home, to cuddle with you when you're feeling down... They don't talk back (using words) or steal your shit (unless they can get away with it) and they certainly do not push you out of bed at night...

Haha, ok, seriously, who would have thought a five pound dog would manage to take up half the bed!?