Do Your Pets Have Stiffness in Their Joints?

Do you love to play and do things together with your pet?... or, like my Sydney, she loves to follow me from room to room.  I just love her company.

Have you ever noticed that your pet may be a little stiff when they stand up or walk?
Sometimes we don’t think about our pets and their flexibility or comfort. We tend to think this is for older dogs and cats.  Unfortunately, this isn't always the case.

Research shows that nearly 1 in 3 cats over the age of eight could use support for joint function and comfort.  For dogs, it’s 1 in 5 that could use support for their joints.  Especially the larger breeds.

What we have found out is that dogs may need support way before their senior years.
Take a moment and watch your pet walk, lie down or stand up.  You may have a dog or cat that is in need of joint support.

Studies show that even kitties as young as eight or puppies just reaching their prime could benefit from support for their joints. 
.

There are a number of things you can do to help improve function and to promote joint comfort in your pet.

•          Help your pet maintain a normal body weight
•          Provide your pet with a human grade diet to avoid added preservatives
•          Provide a warm place for them to lay and sleep
•          Provide appropriate exercise to maintain muscle mass and joint flexibility
•          Visit your veterinarian for wellness checkups
•          Give your pet a supplement to promote and protect hip and joint health

We are finding that preventive health for our pets will help them live a long and healthy life.  Our pets are not that much different then us with their needs.

http://fitpetsandpeople.com/

How to Make a Cat Grass Bed

 For cat lovers.  Do your cats lay in your plants.  This maybe the solution for you. A cat grass bed.


Video and description by  Rain A Window and Coffee

Because cats like to lay out in the yard but my cats are indoors cats it is not safe to let them out so they resort to laying in my houseplants so I thought of making them something they could lay in so I looked around and saw that they had different types of grass and ground cover so I purchase a flat of St. Augustine and a couple of drip trays for a 24 inch pot I drilled holes in one of the trays and then put the grass in to that one then I placed a couple pieces of broken tile in the bottom of the one I did not drill holes in to and then placed the one with the grass in to that one. They do like it but it's a little foreign to them.  Video and description by  Rain A Window and Coffee

Flax in Pet Foods

Flax in Pet Foods

Pet food manufacturers include milled flax in their premium pet foods. As a source of essential fatty acids, flax balances the omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acid ratio of the food. All the components found in the flax seed work synergistically for the well-being of animals in particular. In dogs, especially Labrador retrievers, which need higher amounts of high quality, easily digestible sources of polyunsaturated fatty acids, flax seed supplementation in the diet leads to increased activity, healthier coats and skin and in a higher resistance towards diseases. Also, due to its lignin content, flax prevents tumor formation in pets (Philips T. U.S. Pet foods sales go boom. Rockford, IL: Watt Publishing Co. 2007:9:11. p 23). A lignin such as secoisolariciresinol diglycoside (SDG), exhibits broad biological activities, including antitumor, antioxidant, antiviral and estrogenic and antiestrogenic activities. Pet food products have been manufactured with a wide variety of protein sources and additives appropriate for treating and maintaining pet animals such as dogs, cats, horses, and more exotic animals such as guinea pigs. Pet food products for use in reducing inflammatory and allergic skin responses should contain a ratio of omega-6 fatty acids to omega-3 fatty acids from 5:1 to 10:1, and most preferably from 5:1 to 7.5:1

Benefits for dogs from inclusion of flax seed meal and or oil:

 • Digestive aid

• Fat metabolism - Cholesterol lowering

 • Increased resistance to cold weather

• Improved immune system function

 • Joint health

• Skin health - rashes disappear- full, lustrous and beautiful fur

• Healthy internal organs

 • Stronger and regular estrus cycles

• Reduction in flea and tick dermatitis

 • Reduction in excess inflammatory response

• Better brain and eye structure

Flax supplement recommendations for dogs

 Include 2 mL (½ tsp) of flax seed oil for each 4 kg (10 lbs) of your pet’s body weight, starting with 1 mL (¼ tsp) per kg (10 lbs). In addition, plenty of water should be given. Increasing the amount of ground seed gradually will prevent constipation.

Here is a great dog treat recipe that will help put flax in your pet’s diet.

Doggy Treats

• Mix flour, cornmeal, rolled oats and flax seed in a large bowl.

• Beat eggs or one egg and egg substitute mixture with milk. Add the chicken broth and flax seed oil • Stir wet ingredients into dry. Mix well into a firm dough and allow to rest for 15 minutes.

 • Place dough on a lightly floured surface and roll out to a thickness of 6 mm (¼ inch).

• Using a cookie cutter of your choice, cut into desired shapes.

 • Beat the remaining egg and brush biscuits with egg.

 • Place biscuits onto a lightly greased cookie sheet and bake in a 180°C (350°F) oven 25 to 35 minutes or until they turn a golden color.

• Remove biscuits from baking sheet and allow to cool.

 • Store loosely covered.

 Yield: 35 7.5 cm (3 inch) "dog bone shaped" biscuits

Recalls of Aflatoxin-Contaminated Dog Food Have Begun

Reuters reports high levels of aflatoxins have been discovered in bags of dog food in grocery stores in Iowa. And according to Michael Wright, the CEO of Pro-Pet, a pet food company in Ohio that recently learned some of its product was contaminated with aflatoxins, “Last year’s corn crop – it’s a huge issue. We test every load coming in. And we reject a lot of loads.”

The last week of February, the Hy-Vee Inc. grocery chain recalled five different products in its private dog food line due to high levels of aflatoxins in the corn used in the formulas. The dog food was produced at a Kansas City Pro-Pet plant and distributed across eight Midwestern states.

The behavior of the A. flavus and A. parasiticus molds makes it very difficult to control or minimize aflatoxin contamination, or to accurately assess the extent of the problem. There can be pockets of plants that are heavily contaminated, while the rest of the crop is relatively mold-free, so analyzing occasional random samples of corn plants can give misleading results.

The corn used had been tested before it was added to the dog food, and the finished product was also tested.   Somehow,  the contamination wasn’t discovered until a random bag was pulled from a store shelf in Iowa by an inspector for the Iowa Department of Agriculture.

Hy-Vee officials have pulled the dog food as a precautionary measure.   No illnesses have been reported.  The dog food was distributed to Hy-Vee stores in Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin between October 26, 2012 and January 11, 2013.

If you have purchased a recalled bag of food, you should stop feeding it to your pet.  You may also return the food to the store.  They will give you a full refund for unopened or opened bags