A Great Bed For a Great Dog

My dog Sam is a great dog but sadly, he dangles at the bottom of the food chain.. We got Sam twelve years ago at a rescue and were told he was a Beagle cross. I think a Beagle crossed in front of him because never looked like a Beagle. He is a rare breed dog, Carolina Dog or Dixie Dingo. They are found in the southeastern United States and are actual wild dogs He is a wonderful, patient dog who never complains when the cats steal his food or lay on his beds…or on him.

As he gets older he has slowed down and gets really stiff if not using a good pet bed. His bed in my office has started to lose the firmness he needs and he has been stiff when waking up so last weekend I went online and searched for a new bed.

Since it is in a part of the house viewable to anyone who walks in, I wanted it to be not only comfortable for him, but stylish for me. We run our business out of our home so I have customers and business associates in the house and I do not want or need a smelly rumpled pet bed in my office. Some people don’t like animals – amazing I know. I like my home to be smell free and not have pet accessory eyesores. And I found it - Natural Rhino Wicker Pet Bed a great natural pet product and a great price. sweet!


I was so happy when it got here on Friday, it matches my furniture perfectly and is such high quality. Sam immediately put his claim on it as the cats circled – he is not willing to give up on it. He must really like it.

My friend Heidi was over today and walked by my office and stopped and pointed at it and said, “Where did you get THAT?” I started to laugh and told her I bought it online. She whipped out her phone and saved the information on it. Heidi is one of the top realtors in town and is always bemoaning how turned off people get by seller’s pets.

She was really impressed with the style and how it looked less like a dog bed and more like a piece of furniture. In fact, she liked it so much that she is buying a few to put in with the furniture she leases to her home sellers. That is about the highest seal of approval you can get.

My happiness comes from the look of my graying puppy dog, sprawled out, snoring happily (and loudly) and hopefully keeping the cats away from his bed.

You want to know why your cat is obese?

My one-eyed feral brat aka Copy Cat has decided to go on strike against his regular food. Now if I was a one-eyed feral who won’t let anyone touch him despite being a house cat for THREE YEARS I would be happy just to be fed. But he lives in our house so he goes on strike and sits 10 feet away from me and looks pathetic.

So I am on the hunt for food. This happens about once every six months where one of my cats decides it is time for a change. So I pullout my favorite bookmark, Janet and Binky’s Cat Food List. This is a great resource for calories as well as carbohydrates “as fed.” We try to feed food under 8 carbs as fed for Slakk's blood sugar to stay in the zone.

From Slakk’s Diabetes I learned that the labels on the cans are about worthless so I rely on this list for my information. The rule of thumb for the amount of calories a cat should intake everyday goes something like this:

(13.7 x Optimum weight) +70 = daily calories

My cats are ummm good converters, so they actually stay at around 170 calories per day, sometimes up to 200 but a normal weight 12 pound cat should figure eating around 230 calories per day.

So for some reason I went on a website for commercial cat food – VERY well known brand (no I am not going to name them because they do not deserve the publicity) and they recommend 1 can of their over-processed, slaughter house reject, pesticide filled cans of death, oops I mean cat food per every 2.5 pounds. Doing the math that is 4.8 cans per day…FOR ONE CAT.

After I got up from the floor I looked at the calories – about 435 total, assuming any cat could shove all of that in their mouth in a day (Slakk has offered to try), that is 200 calories OVER the optimal calories – and these are the people telling YOU they understand nutrition and you should trust them?

And then lets do the math, each can of death is $.079 times 5 (because you know you will feed 5 cans not 4.8) equals $3.95 PER DAY. That means in 30 days you would spend $118.68 not including tax, but hey you could forget your gym membership BECAUSE YOUR CAT WOULD BE SO FAT PICKING THEM UP WOULD BE A WORKOUT. If you have four cats like me then you would spend more on cat’s food then groceries

So then I look at a better alternative Evanger's Canned Cat Food - Organic Chicken 5.5 oz. Can at $1.49 for a 5.5 ounce can. That is approximately the same calorie count as one day’s allotted calories. I feed this sometimes and honestly my big pig cats only get about ¾ of a can because quality calories mean less calories, but to be fair I will use the proper amount. So that equals $44.70 a month a whopping $74 dollar difference IN FAVOR OF A QUALITY PRODUCT.

Amazing huh?

If you really want to see your head explode look at the as fed calories for dry food, one cup equals 350-650 calories – ONE CUP. I will not even discuss the carbs...you know that is bad.

Raise your hand if your idea of feeding your cat is to take a bag of kitty crack and dump it in a self feeder…Don’t worry that was me before Slakk went diabetic. I ask you this - Do you think your cat is only eating what they need or are they gorging on the calorie heavy, carbohydrate-ridden pesticide filled bags of death (yes, related to the over-processed, slaughter house reject, pesticide filled cans of death).

So back to the web, I went to one of the lower calorie, yet highly-publicized dry cat food bags and read that my darlings should eat one cup or 362 calories – yes 150% of the recommended calories for a healthy 12 pound cat. Assuming my cats would self regulate at one cup (yeah sure) the kitty crack would cost a smidge over $1.20 per day.

Well until Slakk’s diabetes went out of remission and I was spending $100 dollars on his insulin alone. But again the cancellation of the gym membership would help out. Until one of the others went on the juice too...

But if you are feeding your cat on the calorie heavy, carbohydrate ridden pesticide filled bag of death or over-processed, slaughter-house reject, pesticide filled cans of death know this. IT IS NOT YOUR FAULT. We have been told that these companies know best and love our pets - well they are loving our pets to DEATH. My husband has banned me from the pet food aisle because I become an evangelist for proper feeding.

Kudos to companies like PETCO.com who have seriously started not only offering, but showcasing healthy alternatives to the cans/bags of death. Baby steps folks, babysteps.

I was in your shoes at one time and it took almost losing my sweet baby Slakk to learn his food was killing him. But now I know better and know feeding healthy is CHEAPER and your cat feels better and your vet bills go down and their coat shine goes UP. And maybe just maybe they will shed some weight.

What's missing in this list?

So I am always on the lookout for great websites. I do web design as well as work as a Project Manager for large financial institution's eCommerce in real life.

I was looking for a new halter for my horse and found a great site Horse.com, I was not familiar with it until I found out it used to be a store called Country Supply which I regularly went to. So they have sister sites, kind of like Organic's sister site Natural Pet's Store (it is just coming online and sells non-organic pet food and supplies but still high quality). Their other sites are:

Bird.com
Dog.com
Ferret.com

Hmmm anything missing? Oh yeah what about CATS. So because I am nosey I email and ask, I see you have a website for everything but cats. Slakk's nose is out of joint too so he is sitting on my desk waiting for an answer. The lady tells me that Catepillar the heavy machinery company owns it and won't sell it. Too funny. SO I guess they are out trying to figure out a name.

Slakk was not amused as heavy machinery equals noise and the only noise he likes is a cat food can opening. I liked the people so much I am linking them here...check them out they have great products for everyone but c-a-t-s.

Glad Slakk cannot spell!

Cat Recipes Blog

I found a great blog on cat nutrition...

http://catfoodrecipesonline.blogspot.com

Dog Food Recipes

Commercial dog food can be hazardous to your dog's overall health. This type of dog food is generally processed food that contains preservatives and additives that you may not want your dog eating. These foods can increase the chances of health problems for you best friend.

A few years back, there was widepsread pet food recalls across the U.S. This incident led to a spike in people wanting to learn how to better protect thier pets by finding dog food recipes and cookbooks. While the reports of tainted pet foods has subsided, the interest in providing a high quality food to your pet hasn't.

By using some all natural dog food recipes to feed you pet, you can be assured that if another incident happens with the processed dog food, your pet will be safe. Feeding your dog homemade pet food is not has hard or expensive as it sounds. There are several books on the market that shows you how easy it can be.

Is Your Dog Green?

No I don’t mean the color green, I mean having your dog live an eco-friendly life that also gives him the best quality of life.

Keeping his insides greenEverything starts with a high quality dog food. When you feed an organic dog food you can rest assured your dog is eating a nutritionally balanced food that does not include poisons or chemicals.

You know the saying: The healthier the food the healthier the dog. And speaking of health, make sure your vet is eco-friendly. Find out their opinions on vaccinations. There is no dispute vaccinations are needed but as your dog ages their built up immunities may make certain vaccinations unneeded.

Also make sure your vet is keeping up to date on new information. In the case of my cat, Slakk, my first vet had no clue about Feline Diabetes and told me to put him to sleep. My new vet (and still my vet) is not only up to date, she is open to many of the ideas I have brought to her.

Keeping her outsides green

Fleas and ticks are horrible and so are many of the poisons that most people use to kill them. Did you know there are some great organic products out there to help your pets rid these awful pets? Why not try one and see how great it is then tell your friends.

The same goes for pet shampoos and grooming tools – organic pet shampoos and accessories are available. A shiny, healthy coat can be accomplished without additives, chemicals and pesticides.

Making green even greener

Simply taking your dog for a walk is an eco-friendly must do. First, exercise is a key ingredient into a healthy dog and secondly it is good for the pet owner. Life can get so stressful and a nice walk with your best can keep you both in tip top shape.

Truths and Myths About Feeding Your Cat

While I was learning about feline nutrition I was astounded at what I thought I knew that was not true. Here are a few of the things I have learned on the way that I thought I would pass on.


Dry Food helps your cat prevent dental disease

False. Dental disease has no correlation to food choices. Studies have shown there is no difference between cats fed canned cat food or dry.

Most cats that get Feline Urologic Disease eat dry cat food

True. FUS can be prevented by feeding your cat a quality pet food with high protein as this type of food tends to raise your cat’s acidic urine. Acidic urine prevents the growth of germs that cause Feline Urologic Disease.

Feeding your cat a high quality food is expensive

False. The lower the quality of food you feed your cat the more you have to feed of it. Most obesity in cats comes from feeding your cat a low quality food. In order for your cat to get the nutrients they need in these foods they need to eat more. The more they eat the more calories they ingest the more weight they gain.

A Grazing Cat is a Happy Cat

False. In nature a cat makes a kill and eats it. They do not have a refrigerator or ability to can. They kill and eat. Automatic feeders cause your cat’s metabolism to slow and cause obesity (my own cat Slakk in his kitty crack days used to fall asleep with his head in the food bowl). As noted above, there are health implications such as Feline Urologic Disease as well.

Cats can get addicted to food

True. There are a couple of the low quality canned foods that I have fed in the past and it was tough to get the cats off of them. Artificial flavors, tuna, salt and sugar are the main culprits.

Reading The Label - What They Really Tell You

I think it is apparent that we all want to feed our pets the best food and many of the large pet food manufacturers have done a great job making us feel they care about our pets. They have even created "premium" brands of food that are incredibly expensive so we as pet owners assume they must be good.

Wrong!

After all of the pet food recalls in the last few years most consumers have learned that it is difficult to find a healthy dog food for their dog. We want to help you become label-conscious and make the right choices for your pet.

Things you don't want to see in your pet food:

• Meat/Poultry by-products, by-product meal
• Wheat/corn gluten
• Grain by-products
• Processed grains like wheat flour
• Fillers like beet pulp
• Artificial colors, flavors and sweeteners

Ingredients listed on the label start with the main ingredient and work their way down. You want the first ingredient to be the meat – not meat by-product or meat meal. By-product is the leftover from the slaughterhouse like lungs, beaks and intestines. A healthy dog food will not have by-products; instead look for human grade ingredients.

Like meat you need to be wary of grains, if you see multiple grain ingredients listed when you add them up they actually make up the majority of the food and you want your pet food to have the main ingredient as meat.

Fats are great for your pet so if you see flax seed or sesame/sunflower seed these are good things.

If you choose an organic dog food understand that many are not completely organic so you need to read the labels carefully. And again don’t let price be the judge. Small companies who do not spend a tremendous amount of money on expensive advertising make many healthy dog foods. These relatively unknown brands can be extremely affordable and are a great option for the savvy pet owner.

Reading your pet food label can be healthy for your dog and save you money.