Info on homemade dog food..to keep your dog healthy!!!

One of the most important things to remember if you make the choice to be the chef for your dog is that there are nutritional requirements which your dog needs and you should discuss these requirements with your dog’s vet!!! Also, it is advised that dietary changes are integrated into your dog’s meals slowly so as to not disrupt the dog’s digestive system.

While we know that dogs love bones, it is best advised not to feed your dog bones. When the dog chews the bones, they shatter into fragments and these fragments can cut and become lodged in the dog’s digestive track. Dogs in the wild ate bones, but these bones were often surrounded by the hide as well as some of the fur of the prey and this cushioned or wrapped the bones, so that they passed through the digestive track more easily.

Below are a couple of recipes that may appeal to your dog and are easy to cook. Remember check with your vet!!

Doggy Casserole
1 cup boiled poultry, chopped

½ cup cooked brown rice

½ cup boiled mixed vegetables

3 to 4 Tbsp unsalted chicken broth

(Note: Salmon may occasionally be substituted for boiled poultry, with chicken broth omitted.)

Stir together and serve at room temperature. A good doggy multivitamin/mineral supplement may be added for good measure. Be sure to store unused portions in a covered container in the refrigerator and discard remains after 3 days.

Doggy Fish Dinner
1 can of salmon (bones removed)

1 egg beaten

3 Tbsp cornmeal

1 potato

1 carrot

1 stick celery

1 Tbsp peanut butter

Combine salmon, egg, and cornmeal and mix well, form into patties, and coat them with a little more cornmeal. Fry in a tiny amount of canola oil until brown on both sides. Chop patties into small bites and stir together with chopped and boiled vegetables. A spoonful of cottage cheese may be stirred in for moisture if desired. Finish off dinner with peanut butter as dessert.

This is Cash...Irvin Stovroff's golden retriever...similar to the dogs he hopes will be helping returning vets!!

Well, there is a gentleman by the name of Irvin Stovroff who is now 85 years old. He currently resides in Boca Raton, Florida, but over sixty years ago he was a bombing pilot who was shot down in enemy territory. He knew he was going to be captured by the Germans, and being a person of Jewish descent, threw out his dog tags, so his German captors wouldn’t know. He was a German POW for a year before he was freed by Allied forces.

Living though his experiences gives Stovroff a drive to do what hasn’t been done for vets coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan. He feels that the vets coming home with disabilities should be able to quickly be matched with service dogs that will help them both physically and emotionally. “It is a shame.” Stovroff says about the lack of an official federal program that pairs up battle-injured veterans with guide and therapy animals that can greatly improve their rehabilitation. “I wanted to do something about it.”

And he has. Stovroff has raised $2,000,000 to match up service canines with wounded combat vets. Stovroff also feels that the federal government should be putting forth more efforts and funds to do this for the returning vets. It appears that his message has not fallen on deaf ears. Earlier this month, Rep. Ron Klein (D-Fla.) introduced legislation to help train guide dogs and other service animals for wounded veterans. It looks like Irvin has a lot of fight left in him for the vets he cares about and respects and the dogs that could help them!!!

Michael Vick...given a second chance...surprise...I think not!!

However, I was both surprised and disappointed to learn that Roger Goodell was giving Vick the opportunity to come back to the NFL. Vick can immediately take part in preseason practices, workouts and meetings and can play in the final two preseason games — if he can find a team that will sign him. Vick left the Falcons when he admitted his guilt regarding the dogfighting crimes. Goodell said the following in his letter to Vick, “I accept that you are sincere when you say that you want to, and will, turn your life around, and that you intend to be a positive role model for others. I am prepared to offer you that opportunity. Whether you succeed is entirely in your hands.”

I understand that Michael Vick has paid his debt to society according to the law and perhaps he is entitled to a second chance. However, I find that ironic since so many of the dogs that he maimed and killed will never experience a second chance.

Vets performing a laprosopic procedure on a dog!!!

Now, laprosocpic surgery is available to some dogs at specific animal hospitals in the country. As an example, a standard poodle named Whisky was brought into a veterinary hospital on Long Island when she fell ill with chronic liver disease. Her owners, Ricky Riva and Nanjoo Joung wanted to find alternatives to what most doctors were saying and that was invasive surgery to determine the extent of liver disease and damage. That can be very invasive and any type of open surgery has certain risks involved!!

After speaking with Dr. Louise Murray, the Director of Medicine at the ASPCA Bergh Memorial Hospital, she suggested a laparoscopy, a much less aggressive approach to examine the severity of the dog’s illness. Whisky underwent the laproscopic procedure in January of 2008 and suffered none of the conditions associated with major surgery. A biopsy of the dog’s liver was taken during this procedure and after several days it was determined that the dog had a mild inflammatory condition of the liver, treatable with medication.

This is a major advance in veterinary medicine. In addition to providing the dog with a safe and less painful alternative to major surgery, it provides owners with a much more peace of mind.

Tim Racer, one of the founders of Bad Rap, playing with one of the adoptable dogs named Jet!!!

All together that are over 500 pit bulls from the states of Missouri, Illinois, Texas, Iowa, Oklahoma, Nebraska and Mississippi that are currently being evaluated to determine their ability to be adopted or worst case scenario, have to be euthanized. The calls to take some of these dogs for possible adoption have been few and far between. The raid on the dog fighting operations that found these dogs was a result of a telephone tip, but no one realized the magnitude of what the raids would ultimatley produce. According to Debbie Hill, the Humane Society of Missouri’s vice president, “We’re going to need a whole lot of new friends to help the animals in this case. There are so many more in this unprecedented raid.”

Shortly after the raid, when desperate phone calls and emails took place across the country, about 10 pit bulls were sent to California, courtesy of Bay Area Doglovers Responsible About Pit Bulls, or Bad Rap, which helped evaluate the dogs taken from NFL star Michael Vick’s dogfighting operation.

Of the ten, about half of the dogs will be adoptable with training and socialization, as they appeared starved for human love and will thrive in a family environment. One is still being evaluated and unfortunately due to the aggresiveness and lack of socialization, about four will have to be euthanized.

All 500 dogs will be evaluated and unfortunately many may end up having their lives cut short, not by the hands of these caring individuals who came out to help, but by the barbarians who continue to subject these wonderful animals to the horrible conditions in which they are forced to exist.

The Nevada SPCA has some great supporters!!!

Cyndee Platko is a personal trainer who lives in Nevada. She has two dogs, Tigger and Daisy and considers them her kids. She says, “My dogs are my life. I don’t have kids, so they are my kids. I would do anything for them.” Her love of dogs goes beyond her own dogs. Understanding the plight of the dogs and the needs of the over populated shelters, Platko had undertaken a great task. She is going to run a 50 mile race in order to raise $5000 for the Nevada SPCA. Platko says the following of her efforts, “I kept hearing about how many animals they’re getting because there are so many foreclosures, so many people having to go to apartments and not being able to afford the dog fee.”

Officials at the NSPCA are thrilled with the assistance they will receive from Platko’s efforts. The main shelter is packed to capacity with 800 dogs and they are taking in an average of 30 dogs per day. Some are dropped off, some found by others and some are just found wandering along sides of the road.

Let’s hope that more people are inspired by the efforts of Cyndee Platko and help those animals and the people who dedicate their lives to caring for them.

The canine flu...get your dog vaccinated!!!!

However, last month, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service granted a conditional product license for Intervet/Schering-Plough Animal Health’s Canine Influenza Vaccine, H3N8. The vaccine will reduce the severity of the effects of the virus and minimize the duration of coughing and viral shedding.

According to Cynda Crawford, DVM, Ph.D., clinical assistant professor of shelter medicine at the University of Florida, “Canine influenza is a highly contagious respiratory infection that has a significant impact on dogs housed in shelters, kennels and communal facilities. The availability of a vaccine can help prevent the medical, financial and emotional costs associated with this new virus.”

The virus that causes this virus is so very new, that very few dogs have had he ability to build up immunity to this virus. This has added to the fact that the disease is easy to spread so very quickly in places where dogs congregate. The vaccine can be given to dogs six weeks of age and older and would be given in two intervals two to four weeks apart. The vaccine can be given annually, which will help prevent the spread of the disease over time. Perhaps canine flu will be able to be eliminated in a few short years. In the mean time, talk to your vet and get your dog vaccinated.

Tacos will never be the same without Gidget!!!

Another story out of California that shows the entrepreneurship of a youngster and his love of his dog. Oscar Youd created his own root beer for his kindegarten science project and named it after his dog Margo. Margo is a pit bull-Labrador mix who the family found in a parking lot, abandoned when the dog was just six weeks old. The root beer experiment turned out to be delicious and the Youd family decided to market the mixture commercially and called it Margo’s Bark. The taste of Margo’s Bark has been refined by a food chemist and it will soon be distributed and sold in specialty shops in southern California, Arizona, Nevada, and Hawaii. Due to the love of animals by the Youd family, who have two dogs, three cats and a rabbit, they feel it is very important that Oscar understand the plight of animals. As a result, Oscar has already donated $2000 to two local rescue organizations in southern California. Margo’s Bark root beer will do more that simply make root beer lovers happy!!!

Red, one of Vick's dogs who is now rehabilitated and happy helping his owner train dogs in good behavior!!!

If you recall, Michael Vick was a quarterback with the NFL Atlanta Falcons. In April 2007, Vick was arrested on various dogfighting counts base on evidence found at his “Bad Newz Kennels”. In August 2007, he began serving a 23 month prison sentence as a result of his guilty plea. He actually only served 18 months in a federal prison, 2 months on home arrest and the judge commuted three months of his remaining sentence.

Vick was suspended indefinitely from the NFL back in August of 2007 and they haven’t made up their minds whether he will be reinstated or not. I can’t believe this is even up for discussion. As mentioned, I know that Vick has served his sentence and paid his debt to society, but I have a lot of questions regarding the character of a person who can inflict pain and suffering on creatures who can’t and don’t make the decisions to participate in activities that might kill them.

From some of the pictures I have seen and information I have read, Vick even participated in some of the executions of the dogs which were determined to ineffective for dog fighting. Well, knowing that decisions are often made with the bottom line in mind, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Vick on the football field in the years to come….what a shame!!!

Diagram of a cataract!

Cataracts can be a single condition or can be caused by other conditions. For example in the case of Jakob, the eight year old Tibetan terrier, owned by Nikki Begg, the cataracts were caused by a recently diagnosed case of diabetes. The loss of Jakob’s sight changed his behavior and personality and according to Begg, “..instead of living, the dog merely existed”.

Begg lives in Bermuda and the surgery that Jakob needed to restore his vision would take place in Rhode Island. Summer temperature prevented any airline from allowing Jakob to fly in their cargo area, so the surgery had to be delayed four months. By the time the surgery took place, Jakob was fully blind.

Tests were preformed prior to a final decision about surgery. When it was determined that Jakob’s eyesight could be restored, surgery was scheduled for the following day. Jakob underwent the surgery in the morning, where he was put under general anesthesia and the cataracts were removed.

According to Nikki Begg, there was no greater feeling than returning to the dog clinic that afternoon, opening the door to where Jakob was and realizing that he recognized her, not only by scent, but by sight as well. The surgery had worked perfectly and Jakob could see again. Nikki and Jakob had to remain in Rhode Island for about a week after the surgery for postoperative care, but soon headed home to Bermuda. Even with the expense of the surgery, travel and time away from her job, Nikki Begg says it was well worth the cost to have her dog back and seeing normally!!!