01.22.08
Posted in Cat News, Cat Articles at 2:30 pm by Guest Blogger
From our guest blogger, Susan Daffron!
Thank you for letting me write a guest post for your blog about my books Happy Hound (http://www.happyhoundbook.com) and Happy Tabby (http://www.happytabbybook.com).
I wrote these two books specifically for people who have adopted dogs and cats from animal shelters. After years of volunteering and working at animal shelters and at a low-cost vet clinic, I saw what happens when the relationship falls apart between pets and their owners. The reason I wrote the books is simple: I want to see more pets stay in their forever homes!
Too many dogs and cats are “dumped” at shelters. Those people who have stood at an animal shelter intake area and listened to the explanations and excuses people make when they drop off a pet know what I’m talking about. The reality is that people bring animals into shelters complaining of all the “terrible problems” they had. Most of these so-called problems are easily solved with a little understanding of animal behavior. (Or an understanding of human behavior!)
Dogs and cats are motivated by only a few things, I try and explain them in the books and how people can develop a wonderful lifelong relationship with their new pets. In Happy Hound, I cover everything from the reasons dogs bark to how to bond with your new canine. Happy Tabby gives new cat owners answers to common questions like how to “kitty proof” your house and why cats scratch furniture.
Plus, because my main motivation is to help educate people about pet ownership, we are offering Happy Hound and Happy Tabby to humane organizations at a substantial discount. Non-profit groups can use it as a fundraiser or educational tool in a number of ways.
We also encourage those groups with Web sites to join our affiliate program (http://shop.logicalexpressions.com/affiliate.asp). When people buy the books using the affiliate link, the rescue group gets 20% of the purchase price. More information on how the books can be used to raise money is located on these pages:
Happy Hound: http://www.happyhoundbook.com/shelters.htm
Happy Tabby: http://www.happytabbybook.com/shelters.htm
Pet care education is so important, so thank you again for helping me spread the word about my books and how they can be used to reduce the number of animals that are returned to animal shelters. Here’s to saving more lives!
-Susan Daffron
Permalink
06.30.07
Posted in Cat News, Cat Articles at 1:39 pm by pawpathblog
Above: The Felis silvestris on the left, and the Felis catus (Bambi trying to look fierce…or bored, not sure which). See a family resemblance? We do!
New research shows that the domestic house cat is descended from the Middle Eastern Wild cat, uncovering proof of how and when cats first came to supervise so many homes for humans.The DNA of 979 cats throughout the world were analyzed and found that all feral and domestic cats today have a common ancestor: the Near Eastern Felis silvestris.
It is conjectured that cats chose to start living with people around 10,000 to 12,000 years ago, when farmers started growing grain, and cats started to prey on rodents amongst the grain, developing a mutually beneficial relationship with humans. Cats were first domesticated in the Fertile Crescent, an area stretching from the eastern Mediterranean to the Persian Gulf, and then cats were transported around the world by humans.
The earliest archaeological evidence for cats and people living together was found in Cyprus, dating to 9,500 years ago.
These new findings will greatly aid in the conservation of today’s wildcats.
Read more about this:
Permalink
06.21.07
Posted in Cat News, Cat Articles, Cat Sites - Our Picks at 9:35 am by pawpathblog
With the Pet Food crisis simmering down, pet food recalls and relevant issues are no longer front page news. So, what’s the best way for a concerned pet parent to keep track of what’s going on? Even it’s no longer a crisis, it’s still important to keep a watchful eye.
We unfortunately don’t have the time to post up-to-date information, so we compiled links to sites that do have the most recent news. We’ve created a page which you can access by clicking on “Pet Food Recall Information” on the right side navigation bar —>
So visit our Pet Food Recall Information Page for a list of very informative links as well as a list of recalled cat food as of June 7, 2007.
Together we can all make pet food safer and keep it that way!
purrs,
Leo & Bambi
Permalink
05.07.07
Posted in Cat News, Cat Articles, Just For Fun at 10:25 pm by pawpathblog
The horrifying recent pet food recalls have been taken very seriously by Congress. Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) and Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) introduced the Pet and Human Food Safety Act on May 1, 2007 to provide more oversight and regulation of the food industry. In a remarkable demonstration of how important this issue is, the U.S. Senate approved a Durbin amendment on pet and human food safety on May 2 — just one day after the bill was introduced — by a resounding vote of 94 to 0!
Here are some details on what the pet food bill will do:
-
Help regulate the industry by establishing mandatory processing and ingredient standards and requiring more inspections of pet food processing plants.
-
Create an early warning system to help identify possible contaminants earlier and penalize companies that don’t report possible contamination.
-
Ensure that any future recalls are conducted quickly by giving the Food and Drug Administration the power to order mandatory recalls of tainted food.
Take action here >>
You can help make the food supply safer.
TAKE ACTION IN THREE EASY STEPS!
1. Make a short polite phone call to your U.S. Representative, Maurice Hinchey, at (202) 225-6335. Urge Representative Hinchey to support and quickly enact the DeLauro/Durbin Pet and Human Food Safety Act.
Making a call is easy. A staff member will take your message and pass it to your legislator. When you call, you can say:
“Hello my name is [your name] and I’m calling from [your town and state] to urge Representative Hinchey to support the DeLauro/Durbin Pet and Human Food Safety Act (H.R. 2108/S. 1274). The ongoing pet food recall has revealed that there is very little regulation of the pet food industry. We need to change this to ensure that the food consumers are feeding their pets is wholesome and safe. Thank you.”
2. After you make your call, send a follow up email in support of safer pet food.
3. Tell your friends how they can help. The more people who contact Congress, the more support this legislation will receive and the better its chances of being quickly passed into law.
If this act is passed, we’ll be on our way to making all pet food safe! - Bambi
Permalink
Posted in Cat Articles, Just For Fun at 12:02 am by pawpathblog
 |
|
 |
|
|
Mother’s Day is Sunday, May 13. Still searching for the perfect gift? The Humane Society has some great gift ideas that show mom how much you love her, while helping animals at the same time!
Organic Bouquet has created a gorgeous bouquet of two-dozen long-stemmed Yellow Sunshine roses exclusively for The HSUS.. Receive a free vase. a $9.95 value, when you purchase a bouquet for Mother’s Day. Add dark chocolates, nuts, teas, or a splendid gourmet gift basket to make your message even more special!
To delight the mothers in your life with a personalized gift, design custom gifts with Zazzle. You can create customized postage, mugs, totes, t-shirts, mousepads and more!
  
Make sure Mom has plenty to read all year long by giving or renewing her subscriptions to her favorite magazines at The HSUS’s Magazine Store. Save up to 85% off newsstand prices on more than 600 titles.   
“Loyal” soy candles made by issimo international are made with pure ingredients and essential oils, Loyal’s lovely scent will please everyone, including pets. As an added bonus, it will mask pet odors. Encased in glass and boxed in biodegradable packaging, it makes a great gift.
And finally, here are some really quirky and fun gifts for cat moms! Humane Domain is the place to shop for unique Mother’s Day gifts for cat lovers (& dog lovers too), including a whimsical She Who Loves Cats sleepshirt, sterling Meow Mom cuff, adorable cat lover jewelry and lots more!
  
Shower all the moms in your life with love, and feel good knowing that you are supporting the Humane Society of the United States at the same time. Visit HSUS’s Shop for more ideas. Happy Mother’s Day!
|
|
|
Permalink
04.07.07
Posted in Cat News, Cat Articles at 1:45 pm by pawpathblog
As of April 5, 2007, Sunshine Mills is voluntarily recalling its dog biscuits as a precautionary measure, including These brands include: Nurture Chicken & Rice, Nurture Lamb & Rice, Pet Life Large, Pet Life Extra Large, Pet Life Large Variety, Pet Life Large Peanut Butter, Lassie Lamb and Rice, and Pet Life People Pleasers Dog Treats. Private label biscuits for six of Sunshine’s customers were also affected. A complete list of affected biscuit brands, sizes, and codes is available below or at our website, www.sunshinemills.com. Sunshine’s other biscuit brands and products that include small and medium sized biscuits were not affected. It is also important to note that dry dog and cat food and soft and chewy treats for dogs or cats manufactured by Sunshine are not affected and not included in this recall.
Read the Sunshine Mills Press Release >>
Also, the FDA said that Menu Foods, the manufacturer from which the recalls originated last month, will be amending its original recall to extend some product dates. The extended recall now covers products dated from November 8, 2006 through March 15, 2007. The original recall spanned products dated from December 3, 2006 through March 15, 2007.
Bookmark & check the AVMA Pet Food Recall Page for up-to-date information.
However, only about 1% of commercially available pet food has been contaminated with melamine, a substance used as a fertilizer and in the production of plastics, such as kitchenware and whiteboard surfaces. Read the FDA Press Release about melamine >>
Please keep in mind that many common household foods and products can be dangerous for your pet. Check out the Cat Fancier’s Association Page’s Ten Tips for A Poison-Safe Household. It also lists human food & household plants that can be deadly to cats.
A reader wrote to us telling us about her cat, Charlie, who unfortunately was poisoned last Christmas when he broke a snow globe and ingested the liquid inside which contained antifreeze. She asked us to share her story. Our hearts go out to you, Charlie!
Here is a link to the Antifreeze Warning issued by the ASPCA and National Animal Poison Control Center.
So please remember that although you should monitor the pet food recall carefully, there are many more common household products you need to protect your beloved pet from.
Permalink
04.04.07
Posted in Cat Articles at 10:04 pm by pawpathblog
With all this recall business and new products being added periodically, what should our humans do to protect us from harm coming from commercial foods? It’s a fact that it’s very difficult for humans to make us any home-cooked meals that can meet our nutritional needs (as yummy as table scraps are). What can we say, we are more complex animals than people!
Read an interesting article about humans who never considered cooking for their pets a possibility now running to get copies of pet cookbooks (one which sold out on Amazon!) on the New York Times: “Home Cooking For Pets Is Suddenly Not So Odd”
A widely recommended website - recommended by the The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) and the ASPCA, which we’ve had trouble loading (probably due to its sudden popularity, is www.petDIETS.com… it’s a website with nutritional advice and homemade diets from veterinary nutritionists.
But before you beg your humans to cook meals for you, check out this page on Problems With Homemade Diets. Apparently, even the recipes in the pet cookbooks out there may not have been tested properly by nutritionists, and a survey found that almost 90% of homemade diets prescribed by veterinarians were nutrionally inadequate for adult dogs and cats!
So the bottom line is, Leo & I are sticking with Fancy Feast dry food…since we feel pretty healthy.
“If your pet is healthy and doing well on the pet food it is currently eating, and the food is not on the recalled products list, there is no reason to change their diet,” said AVMA President Roger Mahr, DVM. Read the entire press release with his quote in context here.
purrs,
Bambi
Permalink
04.02.07
Posted in Cat News, Cat Articles at 11:47 pm by pawpathblog
We took a brief respite from blogging, but we are back and will try to be more regular with our posting!
Here’s something that we should have posted a while back, but here it is anyway:
Hill’s Prescription Diet m/d dry added to recall list
We were lucky that we only eat Fancy Feast cat food, which is currently not on the recall list. We hope all you cat bloggers out there are safe and sound! For an updated list of the cat foods that have been recalled, go to http://www.menufoods.com/recall/product_cat.html. You can also visit http://www.avma.org/aa/menufoodsrecall/default.asp for update news on the recall.
Here’s some more info:
Of the cats that suffered renal damage from eating contaminated foods, the following clinical signs were seen:
If your cat is known to have eaten one of the foods on the list and is showing any of the signs listed above, we recommend that you schedule an appointment as soon as possible with a veterinarian so that they can evaluate your cat for kidney damage.
If your cat was fed one of the foods, but has no clinical signs of illness, it still might be a good idea to have the cat evaluated and the kidney function assessed.
Hill’s Prescription Diet m/d dry has been voluntarily recalled by the Hill’s Company. Cat owners should stop feeding dry m/d (canned is fine).
Scary business. Hope none of you are sick!
purrs,
Leo & Bambi
Permalink
02.22.07
Posted in Cat News, Cat Articles at 6:00 pm by pawpathblog
Spay Day USA is a national campaign to promote spay/neuter as a simple, humane and effective way to end the tragedy of euthanizing homeless pets, and events will take place across the U.S. on February 27, 2007.
Thousands of kittens and puppies are born every hour in the United States. While these baby animals are adorable, the fate of most of them is tragic. Spaying or neutering our pets and feral cats is the most effective way to reduce the vast numbers of animals who are born only to die prematurely and without a family who loves them.
Go to the Humane Society Spay Day USA Page to learn more, including information about organizing an event, volunteering at an event near you, becoming a sponsor, offering your veterinary skills and more.
To get a banner to put on your blog like you see above, CLICK HERE!
Now I’m going to take a nap and dream of a future where needless euthanizing is a thing of the past! Thanks for reading - Bambi
Permalink
02.21.07
Posted in Cat News, Cat Articles at 6:18 pm by pawpathblog
We saw this in the news a few days ago and didn’t get around to posting it until today…
Cat adopts abandoned puppy
At the Meriden Humane Society in Connecticut, this wonderful mama cat Satin, who just had her own litter of kittens, adopted a 6-day old rottweiler puppy that was rejected by its mother. Now that’s a story to purr about!
Read more about this on USA Today >>
Permalink
« Previous entries ·
