Worried about your dog's food? There's something you can do

Oreo on WNBC for Nutro Pet Food Recall (Photo credit: SheepGuardingLlama)

You may have noticed the link to the Animal Rescue Site on this page.  It's part of the Greater Good Network, which raises money for various good causes through advertising.  You click (it's FREE!) on the site, the next page comes up (a combination of ads and real content), the advertisers pay money for the pageview, and the site uses it to aid in animal rescue, in this case.

Well, if you're on their mailing list, they also send you information from time to time about issues connected to animals, and the one I just received is about the possibility that the Food and Drug Administration is proposing new pet food safety regulations, just as they do for human food.   It's about time, but it may not go through, thanks to lobbying efforts by manufacturers who don't want to deal with regulations.  You can send a message to the FDA commissioner, Margaret Hamburg, from the website to put pressure on so that this doesn't just fall by the wayside.

I'm doing it, and I hope you will, too.  If you have a diabetic pet, any contamination in his or her food could be very dangerous, and under the present system it could take months (and animal deaths) before anything is done about it, resulting in more deaths and illnesses.

Some Help for Grieving Pet Owners

Old Man Grieving - Vincent van Gogh
 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Got an interesting email today from Petcentric about National Pet Memorial Day, which is the second Sunday in September (9-8 this year, so they should have sent the message sooner!).  I suppose that some people, even some pet owners, might think that this is somehow unnecessary, but I think I like the idea (not quite sure yet).  One thing that I have no doubt about is that anytime you lose a family member (and most pets count here, I would imagine), you will go through a grieving process.  When Tony died, I was pretty much devastated -- and I was shocked at that.  I never thought that I would take it that hard, or that there would be so many emotions involved, especially guilt.  He enriched my life so much more than I realized when he was still alive, and I think about him often, even now.

Anyway, the article offers some advice that might help you.  Check it out at http://petcentric.com/Inspiration/Articles/National-Pet-Memorial-Day-Helps-Grieving-Pet-Owners-Find-Closure.aspx?articleid=65672b87-4cc1-49dd-8db1-1cd2e02d9a5c&utm_campaign=always+on&utm_medium=email&utm_source=exacttarget_PPEA_092013_02&utm_content=corporate-petcentric-NL_Both

Related articles

• Departed Pets To Be Remembered In Mpls. (minnesota.cbslocal.com)
• Pet Memorial Day is September 8, 2013 (laurellagoni.wordpress.com)
• A First for Buster, Max, Princess and Molly: Pet Blessings (offbeatcompassion.wordpress.com)
• On Mourning the Death of a Pet (thereseborchardblog.com)
• Commemorate Your Pet on Pet Memorial Day (arlboston.org)

When to think about changing vets

cool dog (Photo credit: ּα)

There was an interesting article on PawNation yesterday, titled "5 Things your Vet Should Never Say to You."   Although the 5 things are pretty significant negatives, I often wonder why people will stick with vets they simply don't like (or whatever more or less serious feelings they have for their vet).  Would you keep your own doctor if you felt that way?  I think I've written before about this, a long time ago, because this happened to me.  The first vet I took Tony to was recommended by my brother in law, and her office was very close to home.  However, when she came into the examining room, Tony started to shake (he never did this again  -- the vets who saw him later often commented on how calm he was), and she seemed to take an instant dislike to him as well.  Now, it may just have been a bad day for her, but the impression I got was that she just didn't care for small dogs.  She failed my first test, in fact.  Every person I ever saw encounter my pal for the first time smiled right away, and most immediately began to go on about how cute he was.  I'm not saying she was evil or anything, but it just didn't seem . . . well, right.  I started to tense up myself.  And, we didn't go back.
At any rate, it's something to think about.  

Related articles

• Puppy's First Vet Visit? - Know These 5 Topics To Discuss, What to Expect & Bring (wagthedoguk.com)
• My Bear's at the Vet ... (amstcyr.wordpress.com)
• Dog Training Ideas: Easy Vet Visits (smartdog.typepad.com)