Joe Tosini knows how to command a room. When he shakes your hand with an iron grip and leans in to stare you in the face, you know right away that whatever it is he’s about to say, he feels it from his temples to his toes.
“I used to be a preacher,” he said to me, and I believe it. He has that ability to grab a group of people. I first watched him do it at an ACES session at the Helen Woodward Animal Center, when he was there to tell a group of animal rescue advocates from around the country about his company, Ark Sciences, and how he wanted to change the world.
His subject now is not religion but unwanted pets, but he brings the same fist-clenching conviction to the topic that one would expect from any passionate believer. “We’re going to change the world,” he says, while talking of the pain he felt travelling all over the world and seeing the suffering resulting from animal overpopulation. The room felt it too.
With no background in animal science to speak of, Joe founded Ark Sciences and assembled a team of veterinarians, scientists and animal experts to move forward with his goal. They acquired the patent for a form of chemical castration, which had languished as Neutersol, and re-vamped the protocol under a new name, Esterilsol. (more…)
First, a note: I fully support the efforts to bring awareness about the dangers of SOPA. And if you happen to have no idea what I’m talking about, or why Wikipedia and reddit don’t work, well, the info is all out there. SOPA/PIPA stinks, and as a small potates blogger, the implications horrify me.
That being said, I decided not to black out the site for two reasons:
I doubt this site going dark is going to be the tipping point for anyone to say, “well, I thought SOPA was a good idea, but the thought of life without pawcurious is just too much, so I’m changing my mind.” I’ll leave the hand wrangling to all the high school kids freaking out over a day without Wikipedia.
Most importantly, I couldn’t figure out how to make the blackout plugin work. Seriously. So here we are. Happy Wednesday.
Monday, I got to go on our local Fox station to talk about ways to keep healthy with your pet. It was a perfect opportunity: I have Brody, who is action central, and Koa, who is a couch potato. There’s something for everyone and dogs of all fitness levels out there.
I brought both of them, unsure of which dog I was going to end up using in the segment. Both Brody and Koa had gotten a turn on the GoPet treadmill that we would be using in the piece (which is entirely deserving of its own post, by the way); I was leaning towards Brody, since he had just gotten his feathers crimped and was looking especially fluffy that morning. Plus he runs faster on the treadmill than Koa does. (more…)
OK, so we haven’t tried canicross yet, though the concept that “your dog is actually supposed to be pulling you” is quite compelling since that is kind of how it goes now anyway. The thought of tying Brody to a bicycle seat, scooter, or anything with wheels fills me with a deep sense of dread. I think for now, in order to keep it simple, I have two main goals for us in the next few months:
1. Learn to paddleboard (me first, then I’ll throw him on and see what happens.)
2. Get back into running. He’s fine, I’m the one who needs to ease back into things. Maybe I should get those sneakers the kids wear with the wheels on the back so I can run, but then when we hit a big hill, flip down the wheels and let him drag me along.
I’m dying to doga and do all the other crazy stuff too like skijoring, but I have to rein in my enthusiasm until I get some of the basics out of the way, like, you know, running technique. Boring stuff. But I’m always up for something new and exciting instead.
And then I saw this: I’d thought I’d seen it all in terms of crazy dog exercises, but somehow Canine Freestyle eluded me until just this very week. Why didn’t anyone tell me?
I got all excited when I heard the word “freestyle” because I thought it meant you got out there and did your thing, and your dog did their own thing, and I thought to myself, “We could totally do that.” I can do the running man in the middle while Brody runs around in circles and barks. It would be epic. But no, you actually do have some serious choreography in the freestyle event. All right, we’re out for now. But just wait- I think Brody could do the Cabbage Patch with a little practice.
As fun as this was to watch, the thing that mesmerized me the most was the happy attitude displayed by the dog. That is joy, right there. And that’s what it’s all about, right?
Or is it about the costumes? I really can’t tell.
I’ll be honest, I know Brody loves it but I find running kind of a slog. I want to come up with something we both love to do. We need to find our freestyle. Preferably one that does not involve coin belts or purple lycra.
But for now- running! Training! Endurance building! I hope with enough exclamation points I will actually begin to believe my own enthusiasm! That’s OK, Brody is enthusiastic enough for the both of us. Well worth every blister to keep the house from another Jimmy Poo incident.
So here’s the interesting thing about pet food nutritionists, and this is the same across the board in terms of the big companies I have talked to: they don’t mind corn. They have in front of them the data from years of research and can say with assurance that based on science, it’s not an evil thing.
But here’s the other thing: there are lots and lots of people out there who do not like corn, and no matter what the studies may say, it is not an ingredient they want to feed their pet, for a variety of reasons.
I get both sides, actually. I like data and numbers and science but I also can’t help but intuitively feel certain ways about foods based on my own anecdotal experiences, and at the end of the day, I still encourage people to trust their instincts, as long as they are leading you in the right direction.
I am a veterinarian with a scientific mind sometimes, but I’m also a person who does exactly what drives scientists batty, which is ignore studies and go with my gut. Why not? As long as it’s balanced either way, companies would be out of their minds not to give people what they want. That is what sells.
So I’m happy to see Hill’s add meat first, grain-free, no corn products to their line, because it means this: companies are listening to what consumers want. And the more options there are out there for consumers, the better, I say.
Hill’s has provided me with ten coupon codes, each of which are good for a 12-15 pound bag of either of the above diets from Pet Food Direct. (Note: the dog diet is grain free, but the cat one is not. Check the links for full information.) The coupon code includes shipping, so each is a $49 value.
Want to try it out? Or if not, want to give a bag to a friend or your local shelter? It’s easy to enter, but do it while you’re thinking of it: the codes expire 12/31/11 so this is a short giveaway ending 12/27.
One of my primary goals when I am invited to tour a pet food manufacturer is to see their animal welfare policy in action. It’s probably one of the most commonly asked questions when it comes to pet foods: do you use animals to test your foods? And how do you use them?
There was a time, a little over a decade ago, when animals were used quite a bit by various companies. They were used in various ways, including terminal studies in which the animals were euthanized at the end of the study. (Though I was told by Dr. Karen Johnson at Hill’s Pet Nutrition that as far as she knew, Hill’s has never participated in or funded terminal studies.) How things have changed.
Animal Welfare Policies have become the norm with pet food companies, usually readily available on the company website. Hill’s policy is to use only non-invasive methods for which there is an equivalent human comparison, which is limited to data collection via physical exams, bloodwork, and fecal and urine evaluations. This has become, as far as I can tell, the standard in the States- and I am glad for it.
So why do companies still use animals? And what’s their life like? (more…)
Last week I had the pleasure of joining some of my favorite pet bloggers out in Topeka to tour the Hill’s Pet Nutrition campus. I really enjoy going to these types of events for a lot of reasons: one, I always learn something. Two, it’s really helpful from my perspective to get to meet the individuals behind a brand and get a feel for who these people are and how they embody a company’s vision.
(I own a grand total of two sweaters, by the way, neither of which actually provides any actual warmth. Good thing we spent all our time indoors. I’m such a wuss.)
The Hill’s vision is this: “to make nutrition a cornerstone of veterinary medicine, which builds on Hill’s heritage of leading-edge research.” Hill’s was founded by a veterinarian in 1948, and they now employ over 120 vets on staff. This is a science driven company, and that philosophy permeated every presentation we had during our daylong tour.
I want to cover a couple of things in the next few weeks that will answer questions a lot of you had for me, about how Hill’s uses animals in research and something really cool about how they used genetics research to show there isn’t a reason to make a breed specific diet, but my attention span is short so I’m not covering it all today.
Today, I’m revisiting one of my favorite topics that was covered by Hill’s Principal Nutritionist Bill Schoenherr: Ingredients. Let’s focus on one of the more, shall we say, controversial ingredients and why a company uses them in pet food.
By-products
When I was little, my grandfather and father used to hunt deer. They would come back from Maine with a big buck strapped to the hood of the Buick, tell me it was Bambi (I know, right?) and hang it in the garage. Then, while I was sobbing in the corner until my grandmother realized what had transpired and whop them with her big purse, my grandfather would dig in to his very favorite part of the meal: the kidneys.
My other grandfather was from Quebec. Though he didn’t hunt, he sure did savor his pigs’ feet. And chicken necks. And liver. “More for me!” he’d gleefully declare when everyone else in the room declined to have a bite. No wonder my grandmother was so tiny.
By-products, all of them. Viscera, to be more specific. Giblets. I call it nasty, but they called it delicious. My point is, while we are culturally inclined to be grossed out by anything that isn’t nice filets of skeletal muscle, by products can be very nutrient-dense sources of proteins, vitamins, and minerals.
Liver, for example, used to be recommended to pregnant women as a source of iron, like that’s just what every nauseated pregnant woman wants to choke down. But I digress.
I have in my hands a copy of the 2011 AAFCO Official Publication (thanks Jason! Told you I would use it!) that gives the legal definition of all the ingredients you see on pet foods. Here is the definition of poultry by-product:
Poultry By-Products must consist of the non-rendered clean parts of carcasses of slaughtered poultry such as heads, feet, viscera, free from fecal content and foreign matter.
Kind of a broad definition, right? I asked Bill if there was any sort of official stipulation as to what percentage of by-products would be feet versus livers, and he said no.
So here is where it gets tricky: by-products can be a good source of nutrition, a nutrient dense protein source. Or it could be a pile of chicken feet, which is good as a calcium source, but not much else.
According to Bill, Hill’s deals with this by making additional stipulations on their suppliers for minimum protein requirements for their by-products- if it’s just feet, a big pile of calcium, it won’t pass muster and the product is rejected. There are high quality by-products and poor quality by-products. All by-products are not made the same.
Now here’s where it gets even trickier: here’s the definition of poultry:
Poultry is the clean combination of flesh and skin with or without accompanying bone, derived from parts of whole carcasses of poultry or a combination thereof, exclusive of feathers, feet, heads, and entrails.
So everyone wants to see a named meat as the first ingredient- that’s what all the label reading guidelines tell you to do. Something that says, “chicken” could be what you get in the grocery store. That’s what you picture, right? Or it could be a pile of bones and skin of which all the good parts were pulled off to send to the local Krogers, with a little bit of back meat hanging on. You know, the carcass you toss in the trash after you’re done eating your roast chicken. There’s no official minimum requirement for muscle or protein on that, either.
Depending on the quality of your sourcing, by-products could actually be a higher quality ingredient with more meaty stuff in it than something labeled chicken. Now it’s getting Inception-level complex.
Who do you trust? And why do you trust?
So how do you, the consumer, know what a company is using? You don’t. It comes down to trusting the company and the people who make the product, whether or not you believe they are making those choices to select a high quality ingredient from an ethical supplier.
And that, my friends, is a tricky proposition, isn’t it? This is why companies are asking bloggers and journalists in and promising transparency, in an attempt to create that trust in a world where information is much more readily available than it was a decade ago. People want that. I know I do.
I will say this: Hill’s did promise transparency in their presentation, and I believe they provided it. Everyone I heard from was very honest about the process, both good and bad, and answered every question put to them. I hope they continue to provide that and to use bloggers as a conduit to answer questions and continue a dialogue.
I’ll touch on organic versus human grade and holistic labeling in another post. This may or may not have you on the edge of your seat, but really, I find it all utterly fascinating. It’s like some crazy sleight of hand trick.
To see what the other attendees had to say, check out their blogs:
In the meantime, since I have a manual in front of me, are there any product definitions you’re dying to know about? Ever wonder what leather hydrolysate is, for example?
Lots of people like to cook for their pets, but most people don’t do it every single day. Of those who do, most do so because they have to, a pet with kidney disease who also has food allergies and diabetes, that sort of thing. Occasionally there is the person who just likes to do it, like the chef who makes seared sea bass for his two incredibly spoiled schnauzers every day. I admire that dedication, which is significant.
More common are people like me, those who do it every once in a while for giggles at times like Thanksgiving- and yes, I’ll be coming up with something for the dogs because why not, it’s a holiday. And then they will go back to their regular food until Christmas, when I make them gingerbread. Because cooking is a show of love, even if you only do it twice a year.
(Yes, I made those both last year in a peppermint induced fit of insanity.)
For those sorts of occasional treats, balance isn’t a big deal. But when you are making a maintenance diet, a complete and balanced diet is vital.
I recently wrote an article on the topic of home cooking for Good Dog Magazine, and rather than re-invent the wheel I’ll just give you the link because I worked on it for quite a while, and I’m very proud of it, and it has tons of information about how to go about the process if home cooking is something you’re interested in. I had to interview a bunch of people for it, which as you know is a show of journalistic effort I don’t undertake on a regular basis, so you know it’s something special.
For the article, I interviewed Dr. Sean Delaney of BalanceIt.com. Dr. Delaney is a board certified veterinary nutritionist who just happened to be a resident in training when I was a senior student at Davis, and he remains just as friendly and knowledgable and excited about nutrition as he was that day one hundred million years ago when we were in a cramped room in the hospital annex with some Flintstone-era nutrition software doing nutrition consults.
We talked about food. We talked about online recipe sites and books. We talked about kabocha squash (did you know it caused neurologic signs in a group of labradors? Brand new info here, guys. You heard it here first.) I kept the poor doc on the phone for an hour but it was so interesting, and I love nutrition topics, and I know you do too.
Dr. Delaney has since developed newer web-based versions of nutrition software that creates custom recipes for veterinarians as well as for consumers. BalanceIt has about 500 recipes to choose from, all designed by a board certified veterinary nutritionist and best of all, balanced. When clients tell me they want to cook for their pets, this is where I send them because I know they’re getting information from a trusted source. After the melamine fiasco, I’ve been mentioning this site more times than I can count.
It’s a neat site because, as you can see above, you can really customize your options. You select the protein source and the carbohydrate source, enter your pet’s age and weight, and out comes a list of choices that fit your criteria. If your pet has a medical condition, you can ask your vet to create an appropriate recipe on the section of the site that is just for veterinarians.
So here’s their gift to you all: with the holidays bearing down, perhaps you are looking for a little something special for your dog or cat’s festivus plate. Dr. Delaney is offering all pawcurious readersone free recipe from the Pet Lovers BalanceIt site- a $20 value! The diets can be made using BalanceIt supplements or human supplements- you’ll get options for both.
Just enter the code “pawcurious” at checkout. And don’t forget to give them a like over on Facebook and tell them I said hi!
Will you get the English dinner? The Surf and Turf? Which recipe are you going to try? Have you ever cooked for your pet?
Today I’m showing Part 2 of the Ask Dr V series. I believe, though I haven’t checked it against the itinerary, that I should be on my way to the Ngorongoro Crater as we speak. Unless a chimp shoved me off the mountain earlier in the week, in which case these pre-published videos will be on a whole new level of macabre.
Which, by the way, my shade would find utterly hysterical.
I finished a comprehensive course in veterinary acupuncture in 2006. It was intense. Thinking about health from a Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine standpoint as opposed to our standard Western approach is just such a different mindset, but once you think about it, it makes sense. Our bodies are not a collection of closed systems that function independently of one another, yet we’re trained to treat them that way. Once you step back and see the entire organism as a collective effort, your entire approach takes a shift.
August 30th is National Holistic Pet Day, celebrating the myriad ways we take care of our pets’ bodies, minds, and hearts as well as the way we function as part of a larger pet community. Given that I just got back from a conference celebrating that very thing, it’s a perfect fit.
Holistic health its core simply means taking the big picture into account, which makes perfect sense to me. It’s hard to think changing a pet’s diet will make a significant difference if they get no exercise and live in a high stress environment. They’re all puzzle pieces. It’s really not that different from our own lives, right? “I’ll have a double double, a chili cheese fries and a diet Coke. DIET, please. I’m watching my figure.” etc.
A recent survey of 700 pet owners asked them what they currently do to contribute to their pets’ overall well-being.
Out of 700 respondents, 74.8% have dogs and 57.7% have cats
78.7% of pet owners surveyed exercise their pets regularly
2.1% take their dog for Doga (Dog+Yoga!)
26.2% learn about holistic living at their local pet food or natural food store
59.5% use non-toxic household products
48.9% use natural supplements for skin, coat or digestive care
43.7% take their pets for regular dental check ups
54.8% play mind stimulating activities and games with their pets
5.7% take their pets for acupuncture
44.8% help a local rescue or shelter
47.6% use all natural shampoo and grooming products
Well, you all know how I feel about doga, but I’ve done the rest to varying degrees. Do you have a favorite health-promoting activity? Any you’re dying to try?
I couldn’t even get through this whole article without getting the willies. Dogs eating cicadas until they got sick. Eww. Given Brody’s proclivities for partially ingested rodent bits and rotting seaweed, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, but I still manage to be impressed by the gross things our pets decide seem good enough to eat.
A fellow vet once commented, shortly after I posted about Brody’s strange love of earplugs, that he would be having his first foreign body removal before he was one. I am proud to say that here at two, he has yet to create a surgical situation. He still loves earplugs, but for the most part whenever he destroys something he chews it up and then spits it back out. Thank goodness.
Others are not so lucky. I had a client whose poodle loved rocks. Not gravel, mind you, golf-ball sized rocks. After his first surgery at 10 months, they vowed to do a better job monitoring him in the yard. After his second surgery at 18 months, they re-landscaped the yard.
Probably my own worst experience came when my daughter was about a year old. Emmett was still working though his jealousy issues. The nanny was home with the kids, and apparently left a dirty diaper on the changing table, which Emmett promptly ate, contents and all. An hour later, he threw it all back up, all over my couch. ALL OVER the couch.
Of course, I came home about 10 minutes into the debacle, the nanny standing there over the carnage, paralyzed with horror. “I have no idea what he ate,” she said, “and I have no idea what to do.” Translation: you don’t pay me enough to deal with this mess, lady.
Honestly, one whiff and it was pretty obvious what he ate, but given the extent of the situation, I think she was just in shock. I sent her home, looked in vain for a Hazmat suit, and ended up just throwing the entire set of cushions into the backyard to be hosed off until I could call in a professional cleaner. That was a fiasco. Think “Exorcist” level nasty, that one.
Gross, but not unique. I’ve heard of coin rolls, knives, and Power Rangers digested in toto by dogs lacking any discrimination. What’s the worst your pet has eaten?
I feel very fortunate to be in an area where heartworm is not a huge problem. I say huge because we still see it, though not to the extent of our friends in other parts of the country and the world where it is highly endemic.
If you have a dog and you don’t know about heartworms, you need to take the time to learn about them. In short, they are teensy little creatures that infect your dog via a mosquito bite. Those microscopic larvae develop into full-sized worms that live in the pulmonary artery and the heart itself. Untreated, they can lead to heart failure and death.
The treatment is also not without risk. Extreme care must be taken to keep activity low to prevent life threatening emboli or inflammation. The treatment takes place over at least a month with very limited activity on the part of the dog. I’ve gone through this with several clients now, and hoo boy, it is not fun. (more…)
I’ve been following Dog Time’s multi part series about No-Kill with interest. Fascinating stuff. Then I saw yesterday’s piece: “There are no responsible breeders.” I read it, waiting for the twist, waiting for some clarification on the idea, and then I got to the end and realized that the author meant it, as is, in all sincerity.
Even responsible breeders who genuinely love and want the best for their animals you ask? I know this statement will raise some hackles, but it needs to be said: There are no responsible breeders. At least not now, while our shelters are full and perfectly adoptable animals are dying (some of which came from breeders).
It doesn’t matter that you’ve grown up with Collies or that a German Shepherd once saved your life. I don’t care what breed you love above all others. Your passion for wanting to see that breed proliferate is irrelevant when it comes to the welfare of a single animal. Breeding is a hobby for humans. It’s morally intolerable to value the worth of a breed over the worth of an individual. No exceptions.
And, here comes the part where I step in it. (more…)
