Thanksgiving Foods - What's safe for pets?

Thanksgiving is upon us, and that means tons of turkey, stuffing, veggies and desserts. For your pet, it means a house filled with delicious smells that may have them mooching for a taste. There is no harm in sharing parts of your holiday meal with your pet, but you need to choose which parts wisely. Certain foods on your Thanksgiving table could be extremely harmful to cats and dogs. The ASPCA lists the foods that your pet can and can’t eat this holiday:

Turkey– A nibble of the classic Thanksgiving bird is fine for pets, but make sure it is completely boneless and well cooked. Cooked bones have potential to splinter if ingested, and raw or undercooked turkey could contain salmonella bacteria. Also, to be extra safe, remove the skin. A well-seasoned turkey could contain essential oils from certain herbs and spices that could give your pet an upset stomach.

No raw dough or alcohol – A lick of the cookie dough bowl or a sip of wine may be sweet indulgences for humans, but both can be dangerous for dogs and cats. Batter that contains raw eggs poses the same threat as undercooked turkey: salmonella. Raw dough also has the potential to rise in your pet’s stomach, leading to vomiting or other internal problems. Alcohol has a much stronger effect on our pets than it does on humans, so even a small amount can lead to serious symptoms.

Less is more – Foods with minimal seasoning tend to be safer for pets to eat, so stick with potatoes and string beans over other rich, mixed options that may contain unsafe foods or seasonings. For example, some stuffings or cranberry sauces can contain raisins, mushrooms, onions or sage, which are dangerous for pets’ digestive systems.

Everything in moderation – It’s easy to overeat on Thanksgiving, but no one likes to feel like a stuffed turkey at the end of the night. The same goes for your pet. Don’t allow them to overindulge in these rich holiday foods, they could wind up with an upset stomach, gastrointestinal problems, or worse. Stick with small portions, and continue to feed them their regular diet.

Pet treats are still treats – Just because there are festive foods available, doesn’t mean your pet won’t appreciate their everyday treats! Offer your pet a dog bone or a stuffed Kong (with maybe just a few steamed vegetables or spoons of mashed potatoes inside) to chew on during your meal. This will also help keep your pet calm and preoccupied during an otherwise busy evening.

We all want to include our pets during the holiday, which is why dogs lodging at Morris Animal Inn over Thanksgiving won’t miss out on the tasty fun! Pets will receive their own Thanksgiving dinner of freshly cooked turkey, mashed potatoes, string beans and regular stuffing.

Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving from all of us at Morris Animal Inn!

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Bowls to go Bow Wow For!

What is the best material for your dog's dinner bowl? Plastic? Ceramic? Stainless Steel?

Plastic:
Advantage: Inexpensive, many designs and colors
Disadvantage: Material may become scratched and harbor bacteria, some dogs are allergic to plastic, may leach chemicals into your dog's food and water

Ceramic:
Advantage: heavy weight so they aren't easily pushed or tipped, available in many designs
Disadvantage: May break and chip, also may breed bacteria, some ceramic glazes, or stoneware bowls, may contain amounts of lead

Stainless Steel:
Advantage: Unbreakable, sturdy, rust-free, non-leaching
Disadvantage: If used outside, they become hot to the touch

Here's an even better option---bamboo!

Bamboo is natural, 100% recyclable, and biodegradable.
We were sent two sets of these awesome BambuBowls (TM) by Loving Pets to review-- large for Ike and medium for Kelly.
The bowls are durable and dishwasher safe, too!

One of the most interesting things I learned about bamboo bowls is that they have natural antibacterial properties.









Review:  The bowls are attractive and strong. The cut outs in the sides make them easy to pick up. And they are easy to clean. We are delighted to trade in Kelly and Ike's old bowls for these great, new, earth friendly bamboo bowls. That's 8 paws up!

Kelly's new Bambu bowls.

We also received a Gobble Stopper by Loving Pets to review. Ike is a gobbler. He had a metal bowl with a hump in the middle to prevent him from gulping down his food. It did slow him by a few seconds. The Gulp Stopper is a slow feeder device that can be placed inside any bowl. Lucky for us we have new BambuBowls to try it out!

Review:
Pros: The Gobble Stopper design was definitely effective.  Ike had to work harder to get the food than he does with his hump-style slow feeder bowl, so it definitely slowed him down even more. I liked that he had to work harder to get at the food. The suction cup stuck well, especially in metal bowls.

Ike's Bambu bowls with Gobble Stopper.

Cons: Depending on the size of the bowl and the size of your dog's muzzle, it may be difficult for your dog to get all the kibble out from under the bone shaped canopy. Some dogs may become frustrated--Ike wasn't deterred since he's highly food motivated, but he did leave one or two bits of kibble he couldn't find.  Also, the Gobble Stopper is made of plastic, which is a negative if you are trying to avoid exposing your dog to plastics.

Overall we are in favor of the Gobble Stopper, as it effectively slows a dog's eating and can help prevent indigestion and bloat.


Full Disclosure: We were provided with two sets of BambuBowls and one Gobble Stopper for our honest review, but this in no way affected our review. The opinions expressed here are 100% my own.


Want more positive pet tips, good news, and special offers? Fetch my free newsletter, Pawsitively Pets. Kelly and Ike hope to see you there!

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New Trends in Pet Food

Pet Food Trends

The Bark recently reported on these trends in dog food

1. Premium ingredients, such as organic and human-grade

2. custom prepared and delivered food

3. weight loss formulas

4. raw food diets

and from New Hope 360.com

5. Wellness products such as allergy formulas

6. Grain-free meals

7. sports nutrition for "optimal endurance"

8. socially conscious pet food companies educating their social media influencers

*Just a reminder! Please blog about anything related to cancer in pets--support, tips, personal stories, at our first Give Cancer the Paw blog hop, Wednesday November 6th. Co-hosted by Peggy's Pet Place and Pooch Smooches.  Hope to see you there!

Fitdog Friday is co-hosted by Peggy's Pet Place, Slimdoggy, and To Dog with Love. Join the hop!

Want more positive pet tips, good news, and special offers? Fetch my free newsletter, Pawsitively Pets. Kelly and Ike hope to see you there!

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Fourth of July Pet Safety

While you may be counting down to fireworks and barbeques on the Fourth of July, these exciting activities can be scary or even dangerous for your pet. As tempting as it may be to bring your pet along to celebrate this summer holiday, the American Kennel Club(AKC) advises against exposing pets to the rockets’ red glare.

In order to help your pet stay safe and calm during your Independence Day festivities, AKC suggests keeping your dog at home rather than bringing them along to your neighborhood party. The noise and reverberation from fireworks can be frightening to dogs, not to mention painful for their sensitive ears. Keeping your pet indoors will help dull the noise. Leave the television or radio on for calm sounds to help drown out the outdoor bangs and booms.

You can help stem the visual stimulation as well by lowering blinds and curtains and, if your pet is crate trained, keeping them in their crate and covering it with a blanket to help them feel more secure. The biggest security blanket, however, is you! If your pet seems nervous, spend some time relaxing with them. Your lack of fear and calm voice will help assure pups that they can feel comfortable.

If you are hosting the celebrations or do decide to bring your pet along, do your best to keep their environment as normal as possible. Avoid feeding your dog any BBQ scraps. Although it may be tempting to give in to a mooching pooch, any change in their diet can lead to an upset stomach and more stress. 

Don’t let your pet ingest any out of the ordinary substances. Human bug spray and sunscreen can be dangerous for pets, as can other celebratory products like matches and lighter fluid.

As a final safety precaution, having your dog microchipped with a permanent ID can help you find your pet should they get nervous and hide or run away. Talk with your vet about preparing for this situation and any specific concerns you may have during this busy holiday.

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Natural Balance Fat Dogs free bag giveaway

When Natural Balance contacted me about their new Fat Dogs dog food, they couldn't have approached me at a better time. These past few months I've been focusing on pet health and fitness, with our new FitDog Friday blog hop, the upcoming K9Kamp starting tomorrow, and my forthcoming new book, The Dieting with my Dog Guide to Weight Loss and Maintenance, full of tips and fun activities for taking off the weight and keeping fit, for people and dogs!

I had a fat dog, our yellow lab Hudson, so I know how challenging it can be to keep a dog in shape. And when Kelly started to gain weight, right along with me, I knew I had to take steps to get us both fit and healthy. One of the steps I took was to take a close look at the food I offered and the ingredients to make sure they were nutritious, healthy, and low in fat. Natural Balance pet foods has a new line you might like to consider. Recently Natural Balance ran a Lovable Fat Dogs and Fat Cat contest and selected two winners and six runners up to help with the process of losing weight. They also feature Fat to Fit videos on their website.

Fat Dogs and Fat Cats:
    is Natural Balance's lowest calorie formula yet
    provides a balanced diet of protein and fiber
    helps pets lose weight while maintaining lean body muscle
    contains added fiber to help keep pets feel full
    can be fed for both weight loss and weight maintenance

Natural Balance sent us a sample bag to try, a measuring tape, bone-shaped pedometer, a voucher for a free bag, and one to give away. They provided this strategy for weight loss:

Step 1: Determine whether your pet is at a Healthy Weight.
Check! At 32 lbs, Kelly is at a healthy weight for her (mixed) breed. I'll feed her for maintenance to keep the weight off.

I measured her waistline and it's 21 inches. Good girl Kelly! She's at a good size right now.

Step 2: Weigh your pet regularly

Step 3: Check Feeding Table on the back of your dog food bag for serving size.
**I consult with my veterinarian and consider activity level and other factors to determine feeding amount. For Kelly, it's 3/4 cup twice a day.

Step 4: When introducing new food, transition it into existing food slowly.
We tried the sample bag, and Kelly loves the taste of Natural Balance Fat Dog!

Step 5: Incorporate Exercise. Walk, run, and play with your dog. Also, K9 Kamp is a fun way to exercise too!


Would your dog or cat like to try Fat Dog or Fat Cat? Enter the Rafflecopter for your chance to win a free 10 lb bag!

a Rafflecopter giveaway



About Natural Balance: Natural Balance is a family-owned pet food company and we make super premium, holistic, natural pet food with high quality ingredients for cats and dogs. And because we’re also pet parents ourselves, safety is our number one priority.

*Full Disclosure: We were provided with a Nautral Balance Fat Dog kit including dog food, measuring tape and pedometer and one dog or cat food voucher to give away. This in no way influenced my review. The opinions expressed here are 100% my own. 


Want more, pawsitive pet tips, good news, and special bonuses? Content not already on the blog? Subscribe to my free newsletter.  Kelly and I can't wait to see you there!

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Pounds for Hounds Food Donation Totals Over 1500 Lbs!

You lose some… to win some! Morris Animal Inn’s Pounds for Hounds fundraiser had staff eating healthy and exercising to lose weight for a good cause.

This annual event, which took place over a three month period from January through March, is a popular weight loss inspiration for staff at Morris Animal Inn because it means more than just getting healthy: for every pound our staff loses, we donate 10 lbs. of food to an animal shelter. This year, our food goes to Eleventh Hour Rescue Animal Shelter in Randolph, NJ!

After months of hard work, weigh-ins and healthy eating, our staff went above and beyond for our highest total yet: combined we lost a total of 199 lbs! Our final donation to Eleventh Hour was 45 33 pound bags of Fromm dog food and 33 cases of California Natural canned food. Adding it all together, that’s nearly 1500 lbs of dry food, plus the 33 cases of cans!

This hard-earned food will be put to good use at Eleventh Hour Rescue, a shelter that focuses on saving animals from kill shelters and finding them foster and permanent homes.

This year, our Grooming staff participants topped our weigh-in charts with nearly 5% weight loss. Congratulations to our groomers and all our staff participants on taking healthy steps to help shelter dogs get healthy, too!

To help your dog get fit, sign up today for our next Kentucky Derby themed daycare fit camp! “A Week at the Races” from May 13-17 will have your dog racing to the front of the pack with treadmill trots, saddle pawlates, derby diving and homemade healthy treats. Call 973-539-0377 to book your dog a spot in the winners circle today!

 

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Wednesday Pet Roundup - Happy Thanksgiving to you and your pets

My daughter's cat Cinnamon claims equal time for feline!

Hi and welcome to Wednesday Pet roundup! Kelly, Brooks and I hope all your Thanksgiving preparations are going well. Have a wonderful holiday!

* Do dogs protect homes from burglars? Would your dog? Check out this CBS Atlanta video as a papillon mix, german shepherd, rotweiller, pit bull and other dogs are taped during a staged burglary.

* From Mashable: a gadget that allows you to feed your pets from your phone.

* People reacted in shock and anger at video of skydiving cats on a television ad for a Swedish Insurance Company. Did the cats really skydive, or was it a trick?

* I want to take a moment to give thanks to all of you who've signed up for my new newsletter, the response has been wonderful! If you missed it, you can always subscribe to Pawsitively Pets now, we'd love to have you join us. Thanks!

* Finally, check out this funny flow chart!

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Buffalo, Wild Boar, and Blueberries

When I take a look at the list of ingredients on Kelly's dog food, usually I find chicken at the top of the list, maybe some chicken meal, then rice and some veggies. But when I read the ingredients of a new bag of dog food recently, I was really blown away!

Mr. Chewy, online distributor of pet foods and treats extraordinaire, asked me if Kelly would like to sample some awesome dog food, Orijen. This food is protein-rich, carbohydrate-limited and grain-free, "formulated to nourish dogs and cats in keeping with their evolutionary and anatomical adaptation to protein-rich diets that include a broad variety of fresh meats." I  selected Orijen Regional Red All Stages Dry Dog Food, and here are some of the ingredients:
wild boar
lamb
beef liver
pork
peas
salmon meal
bison
pumpkin
spinach
turnip greens
cranberries
blueberries
marigold flowers
dandelion

The food arrived super fast--2 days after my order was placed! Can't beat this service! Now for the taste test. Did Kelly like the food?
You bet!
I don't know if it was the wild boar or the marigolds she liked best, but whatever it was, Orijen dog food was a big hit. Thank you Mr. Chewy for the opportunity to let Kelly sample this food, and we give this experience 4 paws way up, and a tail wag too!
* Tell Mr. Chewy I sent you, and get 10% off your first order! Plus they'll donate $10 to a partner charity with your order!

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Wednesday Pet Roundup

Hi and Welcome to Wednesday Pet Roundup. Here's Kelly trying to help me write my blog. She's pointed me in the right direction to our links this week:


*USA Today reports that United Airlines now requires pets to fly as cargo instead of luggage.  I just cringe at classifying pets as either luggage or cargo. How about a "live animal" classification and more safety precautions for flying pets?

*Interesting article in the New York Times noting a food revolution for pets, indicating that while American mealtimes reflect the financial hard times, a rising trend in pets foods favors spending lavishly on super-premium pet foods. Do you think this reflects indulgence, or an awareness in pet nutrition and health? And, when on a limited budget, where do you draw the line?

* Have you heard of DogTV? A new cable channel with shows for dogs, including scenes of car rides and romps in the park. The channel is only available in limited areas right now, and costs $5/month.

* From Life with Dogs, this video of a dalmatian and a kitten will make you smile.

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Pawsome Mr. Chewy

I never considered ordering Kelly's dog food before. I mean, wouldn't that be inconvenient?

Well...I tried it and turns out I was wrong. I visited this cool site called Mr. Chewy and discovered that ordering pet food can be easy, quick, convenient, and even less expensive than buying it in the store.


 EASY:
Mr. Chewy's site is user-friendly. Photos help you identify all those different bags of dog food easily. You can narrow your selection by brand, lifestages, or other categories such as Organic, Grain Free, or Weight Control. And, the check-out process is simple.

QUICK:
Did I say quick? I ordered my food on a Wednesday, and shortly received an email confirmation. My order was broken into two parts. The very next day a box of dog treats arrived on my doorstep. And in only 2 days, a huge box containing a 35 pound bag of dog food arrived!


CONVENIENT:
 No standing in lines! No fighting traffic! No lugging a heavy bag of dog food! I didn't even have to get up from my chair! Okay, now that's convenient! You can even arrange for automatic delivery based on a schedule you set up.
 Plus, Mr. Chewy carries more than 70 brands of pet food and treats including:
Blue
Nutro
Halo
Science Diet
Taste of the Wild
Honest Kitchen
and more!

 LESS EXPENSIVE:
Check out their prices for yourself! And, shipping is free with orders of $49 or more!

 Why else should you order from Mr. Chewy?
HELPING CHARITIES!
Mr. Chewy's Donation Program is great! For everyone you refer to their site who makes a purchase, Mr. Chewy will donate $10 to a pet charity of that person's choice!(Your referrals get 10% off their first order, too!)

Before this experience, I never even thought about ordering Kelly's dog food. I mean, why not just keep doing things the same way I've done them? Now, Mr. Chewy may just have changed my mind! Mr. Chewy has my vote for a pawsome pet food site that certainly delivers as promised!

*Disclaimer:
We were contacted by a representative of Mr. Chewy.com, a new online pet retailer, to write a review of their ordering process in exchange for a gift card to their site. We received one bag of dog treats and a 30 lb bag of food (courtesy of Mr. Chewy) and asked for our honest opinion of their service. The opinions expressed are 100% my own.

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