Dogs and chocolate are two of life’s greatest joys. Though by now, most pet owners realize the danger of mixing the two. Continue reading “Poison Safety: What to Do if your Dog Eats Valentine’s Chocolates”
Ask yourself if you’ve ever been in this situation before.
You’re just about to drift off to sleep when suddenly you feel a familiar tickle in the back of your throat. Your stomach sinks knowing that when you wake up in the morning, your tonsils will be inflamed and your head will feel foggy. Continue reading “Staying Healthy During Winter– Can You Get Your Dog Sick?”
Dear Readers: Today’s post discusses the death of companion animals, which may be upsetting for some folks—especially those who have very recently suffered a loss of their own. If this topic is too painful for you to think about right now, then please consider perusing this entry at a later date. Meanwhile, you can click here for a light-hearted list of ways to celebrate National Dog Day, here for an irreverent essay about preventing cat hairballs, or here for a hilarious recap of Muenster Milling’s Annual Halloween Costume Contest. Continue reading “Coping with Loss: Unique Ways to Memorialize a Family Pet”
“Sharing is caring.” It’s a concept that most of us learned at a very young age. And if you own a dog, chances are, you’ve shared your food with him or her on more than one occasion. Maybe you leave a small bonus in her dish on some mornings, or maybe you always offer him your mealtime leftovers. Continue reading “Is Human Food Safe for Dogs?”
Since the days of Ancient Rome, health conscious humans have utilized the roots of a bright blue flower from the plant Cichorium intybus, otherwise known as chicory, to bolster their digestive systems.
Within the last few decades, the same gastrointestinal wunderkind has made the jump to dog food. This prebiotic is known for its ability to enhance the intricate and complex systems of our canine companions.
Continue reading “Featured Dog Food Ingredient of the Month: Chicory Root”
In cool northern climates, like Montana and Canada, grows a special teardrop-shaped seed known as flax. For centuries it has been helping horses supplement their essential fatty acids.
Continue reading “Featured Horse Food Ingredient of the Month: Flaxseed”
Many of us wish that our animal friends were capable of human speech.
How much easier would our lives be if Fluffy could just walk up and say, “My belly hurts,” or “I want to go outside,” or even “What was that scary noise?!” It would prevent so many misunderstandings and hard feelings!
Unfortunately, that’s not the world we live in. But the good news is that our animal companions often do have ways of expressing their thoughts and emotions, even if their meanings aren’t immediately obvious!
Let’s be honest: nobody really “enjoys” paying their bill at the end of a vet visit.
In fact, handing the receptionist your credit card and telling her to charge whatever you owe can be especially painful if a serious health issue brought you and Whiskers to the office in a hurry—emergency treatment, after all, can cost hundreds of dollars or more. Taking your pet to the vet for an annual checkup and round of vaccinations is part of being a responsible owner, so there’s no avoiding that. But some common maladies that strike our pets are completely avoidable…and, for the sake of your budget, you’d be wise to try to avoid them!
Continue reading “10 Most Costly, But Avoidable, Vet Procedures”
May 30th is Memorial Day, which means that a lot of folks reading this probably already have plans to attend (or host) a party in the very near future. Before you drag your grill out of your garage or decide which stars-and-stripes shirt to wear to the company picnic, though, let’s take a moment to talk about safety; more specifically, safety for dogs.
Continue reading “Memorial Day Weekend: Keeping Your Dog Safe”
Spring has sprung, and for many of us, that means rolling up our sleeves, putting on a sun hat, and doing some gardening! It can also mean bringing home new potted plants to live indoors, just to improve air quality and “brighten the place up.” Before you head out to exercise your green thumb, though, it would be wise to brush up on your knowledge of poisonous plants.
Continue reading “Do You Know Which Plants are Poisonous to Pets?”
