Mambo Sprouts and Wellness® Natural Food for Pets have teamed up together to help our fellow critters and they need our help! Gather up your pet (or pets) crazy, cute photos this season and enter them to win some great Wellness products. Each time Wellness receives an entry, they will donate $1.00 (up to $1,000). The Grand Prize winner will get to choose which animal charity the money will go to. Now, how fun is that? This is a very generous offering!
Contest ends December 31, 2009
How to Enter: Tell them how you take care of your pet’s wellness – naturally. Enter your favorite photo(s) of your pet (or pets) along with a pet wellness tip. Click here for more entry information.
Prizes and other great stuff: Five (5) first place winners will receive a great gift package for natural pet food from Wellness®, worth $25. One (1) Grand Prize winner will get a $100 gift package — plus the special privilege of choosing the animal-related charity to which Wellness’ donation will be granted! Wellness will update Flickr daily with your photos, along with your tips.
Join in the fun for an excellent cause. Start sending your photos and tips now, and don’t forget to tell family and friends. Helping our fellow critters get a better start to the new year helps us all.
Learn more about Wellness Natural Food and Treat for Pets, too. I see some good noms there! What do you think your favorite natural food would be?
Dear Fisher,
Well, it’s here again. The holiday festivities and much excitement around the house, people showing up from nowhere – or so it seems – and tons of food and goodies. Mind you, none of the food and goodies are for me! I call it the Annual Salivation Season. Some years it seems to last forever. Do people not know dogs have a keen sense of smell and some – that would be me – can smell a chocolate chip cookie from several yards away? I don’t want to be a downer, Fisher, but I’m looking at more than a month of feeling like I’m starving. All those yummy smells and the food never makes it to my bowl. How should I handle this? I think I can open the refrigerator door if I try real hard, but….
Marko
Dear Marko,
Oh, my dog! Do not under any circumstances open the refrigerator door. What do you suppose would happen if that one chocolate chip cookie you so crave was in the very back of the fridge? You crawl in with the best of plans, and wham. Door closes and you are stuck. Humans usually do not look in a refrigerator for many hours after looking everywhere else for a lost pet. Most will, eventually, after sheer desperation sets in, but by that time, well, just think about it.
It is most important that you understand you are not given many human food choices because they can raise havoc with your digestive system, make you very sick, and in some cases, kill you. Now that is a strong reason to let your humans control your intake. Here are a few substance you must avoid:
- Absolutely no alcoholic beverages. Drunkenness is not a funny animal trick. The hops (included with beer) are very dangerous and could cause seizures.
- Onions can cause anemia and even if they do not make you sick, you will likely find yourself very alone on the couch.
- Chicken bones, as we all know, are dangerous because they splinter and can cause lacerations to your internal organs. No fish bones, either!
- Stay away from cat food. Your digestive system is very different from the cat’s, and it probably will not kill you, but you might get quite sick. Or scratched abundantly.
- And the chocolate – good news here – you do not need it! There is a substitute for chocolate called Carob and it smells and tastes like chocolate with no harm to you.
Your humans can find all sorts of very neat, healthy and tasty treats on the internet. Try to urge them to bake special treats for you while baking their own holiday cookies. A great site for this (and never mind the title) is The Poop Pantry. Look for some very easy and yummy recipes there. Cooking is often a family affair, and I vote for the family dog participating in the venture.
Your friend,
Fisher
Wart: What’s going on in there?
Fisher: Planning a menu for Thanksgiving dinner.
Wart: Are we going to get samples?
Fisher: No, She is just making a plan.
Wart: Are there goodies in there?
Fisher: Probably.
Wart: Do we get samples?
Fisher: No!
We all love food and love to eat a lot, but there are some cautions we pets must take. Our friends at the ASPCA give expert advice on food safety and pets:
- watch the diet – even “safe” foods in massive quantities can upset the tummy
- Visit the Live Chat on the ASPCA community to find out about the hazards of turkey dressing!
- …and no chocolate!
What is YOUR favorite holiday treat?
Dear Fisher,
I have two very important questions about my eating habits. The first is, my owner tries to feed me in the morning but for some reason I don’t want to eat. If my beloved owner coaxes me into eating then I eventually eat. Sometimes my beloved owner will try to make me hungry by not feeding me to see if I’ll eat on my own but I’ll just sneak some of the cat’s food, hehe.
Secondly, my owner will give me a chewy treat that I really cherish. When he tries to touch me or get the treat from me I will growl at him and sometimes bite him. I don’t bite too hard so he won’t get mad at me.
What can I do; why am I this way? Please help you are my only hope!
Bubs
Dear Bubs,
First on my list of to do’s is for your owner to make sure you have a healthy check up at the vet clinic to determine if there are any underlying health reasons for your refusal to eat. Having cleared all that let us analyze your behavior a little further to determine if your refusal to eat has anything to do with your love for some extra attention. Are you just finicky, or are you focused on receiving an extra treat to compensate for not eating your breakfast? If that is the case, your owner can help change your refusal to eat by deciding you are just not hungry, and ignoring you. Probably not the result you are looking for.
Another take on your behavior, other than vying for attention, is that you are engaging in “the hunt”. As a direct descendent of wolves living in the wild, you are calling up the need to forage for food. By your actions, you are first refusing to eat food put in front of you for the greater adventure of stealing some of the cat’s food. Since cat food is not very satisfying, and the cat could give a you-know-what, your adventure moves on to finding food that you have to work for. Working to get that beloved treat is much more satisfying to you than simply munching on dog food lovingly put in your food bowl – which could be mundane and pretty darn hard to make you feel good about your “catch”.
The hunt becomes successful when your owner offers up the treat. You play out your role as foraging wild critter by growling and biting anyone who comes near your conquest. Very clever and self entertaining! But, as a domesticated canine, you really are more interested in making your owner happy.
To make your owner happy, let him “train” you. By all means, make sure he thinks it is his idea. A few simple strategies from the Sacramento SPCA are:
1. Positive Attention: Give praise when you eat breakfast out of your bowl, or when you quit munching on the cat food.
2. Interrupt and Redirect: Give a shout like “hey!” and a possibly a loud hand clap when you growl at him for touching you while you are eating on your chewy treat.
3. Ignore: If your owner ignores you, you just lost the purpose for your behavior.
4. Negative Attention: Your owner must try not to give negative attention because it is still, after all, attention.
Just remember that if your happy car ride with your beloved owner stops in front of the vet clinic, it was you who made it happen!
Your friend,
Fisher
published in tbt Tampa Bay Out There weekend edition
I’m an inside cat but sometimes I get to go out on the patio with my people. I have to be supervised. That’s what they say. I love all the flowers and plants out there, but they fuss at me whenever I try to nab a bite. They say some plants are poisonous, but how do I know which are good and which are bad? They know I don’t always remember the rules so maybe they should get rid of the poisonous plants?
Waldo
Dear Waldo,
Keep in mind that your humans buy plants because they are beautiful on the patio or in the yard, and they do supervise you so you won’t get into trouble. Sometimes severe weather conditions can cause humans to bring outside plants inside. They are usually under some stress when that happens and might forget about the seriousness of exposing you to plants dangerous to your health.
Campaign for CATNIP! When it shows up as a “special treat” on the patio, make sure to show a great deal of appreciation. Don’t hold back on silly antics that make them laugh. Cuddle up to them and show off your loving nature. That should guarantee a steady supply of catnip and then you must leave the other plants alone. And do not forget!
Several sites on the internet provide lists of poisonous plants. There are a few variations, but when in doubt, just stay away. Some plants on the list that are common in or area are:
• Castor Bean (Ricinus communis)
• Daffodil (Narcissus spp.)
• English Ivy (Hedera helix L.)
• Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea L.)
• Hyacinth (Hyacinth orientalis)
• Lily of the Valley (Convallaria majalis)
• Oleander (Nerium oleander L.)
• Philodendron (Philodendron spp.)
• Rhododendron (Rhododendron spp.)
• Tulip (Tulipa spp.)
Go to Library UIUC Education for an extensive list of plants.
Some of the common symptoms of plant poisoning are loss of appetite, vomiting, diarrhea, pale tongue or gums, swollen tongue, abdominal pain, or worse yet, convulsions. When in doubt, your people should call your veterinarian with as many details and suspicions as possible. They must remain calm and coherent, lest the vet will suspect they have also chewed on a few plants.
As a back up, cut this out and stick it on the refrigerator door:
The Animal Poison Control Center is a unique, emergency hotline providing 24-hour-a-day, 7-day-a-week telephone assistance to veterinarians and animal owners. There is a $50 consultation fee paid by the animal owner, veterinarian or product manufacturer.
Animal Poison Control Center 1-888-426-4435
Your safest plan is to confine your dining to only substances put lovingly into your very own food bowl.
Your friend,
Fisher
