Holistic and traditional care tips and useful information for dogs and cats
You’ve probably heard a couple different opinions on feeding table scraps to your dog or cat. Some say, “Sure, why not? I’ve always fed my dog table scraps and he’s never had a sick day in his life.” Others—especially if they’re from a pet food company—will say, “Absolutely not.”
Before I tell you why my answer to the question is “It depends on what you mean by table scraps” let me tell you a little story.
My cat Eliot's appetite is always a barometer for how he's feeling. Here he's devouring his food a few days after hospitalization.
Part Two: My Personal Decision
As the pet parent to six beloved dogs and cats over the last 18 years, the most heart-wrenching decisions I’ve had to make revolved around my cat Eliot and my dog Hans.
Eliot suffered a stroke almost five years ago due to a careless medication error on the part of a new vet. Another vet was able to get him past the worst of it, and a few days in a large university animal hospital brought him around.
I was pressured to euthanize, and I was shocked. The rehearsed words of several veterinarians still echo in my brain:
Part One: The Options
When your beloved dog or cat becomes seriously ill, you’ll probably have to make many choices concerning care. One of the most painful decisions you’ll have to make is this:
When is the right time to euthanize? How will I know when it’s time?
Awhile back, one of my cats was seriously ill, and I thought I would lose him. He was unconscious after a sudden seizure, and the prognosis was grim.
Despite being told that he had less than a 1% chance of survival after two days of intensive care, I insisted that we give him at least twenty-four hours more. I had a very close relationship with this cat, and I had a gut feeling he wanted to live and would, if only I could get through to him. I visited Eliot as often as I was allowed.
I brought clippings of dog fur and cat fur from other members of my pet family. Canned tuna fish. A can opener. A rubber ball with a bell in it. Canned cat food and dry. A grooming brush. Anything with familiar smells and sounds that would stimulate his senses enough to help him regain consciousness.
“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet.”
~Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet
What are you going to call that new puppy or kitten or older dog or cat you’ve adopted? The possibilities are endless.
If you’re like many dog lovers, you’ll go with something common and cute, like Max or—surprise, surprise—Bella. Molly ranks high in popularity as does Buddy, Jack, and Lady. Smokey and Shadow are popular names for cats along with Molly, Bella, and Tiger.
My sister Janet (above) recently adopted a gorgeous German Shepherd Dog puppy and, at a loss for a name, sent me an email asking for help.
I keep a compost pile—actually two—in my back yard. They’re very basic and simple, but they work for me: four sturdy metal fence posts wrapped twice in fine mesh fencing. The wire mesh is sunk six inches below the ground, and it’s three feet high and about three feet wide in any direction.
One compost pile is within the bounds of my garden, which is also fenced in, but the other is close to the house, by the shed. This is what I call my “active” pile because it’s the one that gets all the fresh stuff: kitchen scraps, grass clippings, leaves, and so on.
Whenever I dump my scraps from the kitchen—banana peels, coffee grounds, old grapes, cantaloupe rinds, onion peels, apple cores, and the like—I bury them within the decomposing pile and cover it all with grass clippings or straw or anything that will hide the scraps and help disguise the smell. Why?
Constipation? Diarrhea? Maybe your veterinarian has suggested that you increase the fiber in your pet’s diet by giving pureed pumpkin to either bulk up the stool or loosen it. Both cats and dogs usually love it, plus it’s inexpensive and a natural, healthy choice.
In either case, you probably went to the grocery store, searched around, and finally found a big can of 100% pure pumpkin—not pie filling—in the baking section. When you got home, you measured out the correct amount and gave it to Tabby or Molly who, hopefully, licked it up eagerly.
Then you might have wondered how long the pumpkin would keep in the refrigerator before it goes bad.
Eventually, a beloved pet becomes very old, seriously ill, or badly injured to the point that his or her end is near, and it may be time to make some very difficult decisions. This isn’t an easy subject for most animal lovers, but I’ve had to tackle it several times, unfortunately. The first time was the worst because I just didn’t know what to do or what was right for me.
If you’re fortunate, you may have some time to think and make plans concerning what to do with your pet’s body. If your pet passes on suddenly, though, and if this is your first experience with the death of a pet, you might not know which direction to turn.
Even the most dedicated cat lover may find that “pilling” a cat is trying, at best. A few cats are agreeable, but most of us learn just how sharp a cat’s teeth and claws actually are when we try to give him a pill.
No matter what technique you use, here are some helpful tips:
As you probably know, so-called swine flu is primarily a human disease, and it doesn’t come from eating pork or being around pigs. Unfortunately, though, it looks like pigs might be able to contract the influenza, known in medical communities as H1N1, and local pot bellied pig enthusiasts, like the owners of Ross Mill Farm, are taking precautions.