Can one person make a difference?

In a recent conversation I had with another veterinarian, we were talking about the humane slaughter of animals. My friend was arguing that she can help ensure that meat animals are slaughtered humanely by purchasing meat only from butchers who assure her that the meat they sell is only from animals that were slaughtered humanely. I was highly suspect of her method.

My argument was that by refusing to eat meat, I'm making sure no animals were killed in order for me to eat. But she said that there will never come a time when everyone stops eating meat; that it's wishful thinking on my part, so my approach doesn't really have any force of impact.

Why I disagree. One of my past jobs was as a government regulator of food safety. In fact, I completed the USDA's Food Safety Inspection Service's (FSIS) Public Health Veterinarian training. All meat inspection, by federal law, has to be performed by a veterinarian who has completed this training. As a result I've been to a lot of slaughter plants. I have first hand knowledge of our meat and poultry industries in the US. I can tell you that all animals (poultry are not considered animals under this law, by the way, so they have even less protection) are required by federal law to be slaughtered humanely. So you see, every butcher can tell you that all the meat they sell is only from animals that were humanely slaughtered.

I'm sure it's no surprise to you that what's required by law, and what actually happens are not one and the same. (Here's a link to a gruesome video of what initiated the largest meat recall in this nation's history - an undercover video taping of inhumane treatment of cows at slaughter. The meat of those cows, over 140 million pounds, entered our food supply.) Have these butchers been to the slaughter plants where the cows', sheep, and goats' meat comes from that they sell? Doubtful.

We both wonder about the other's method for affecting change in how animals are slaughtered. But hey, we're both trying. Can either one of us make a difference?

According to President Kennedy: "One person can make a difference. And every person should try." Keep trying girlfriend, and I will too!

Wondering Why

I just read two letters to the editor in one of my veterinary medical journals that upset me. Both of them were belly-aching about clients who love their pets like children, one even went so far as to make fun of a client who had a profound attachment to his cat. I found myself wondering why these two vets even bothered with all the hard work of vet school? What kind of service do they provide their clients? More importantly, what kind of care are they providing their patients? Why are they even vets?

I love my clients who love their pets. It's only because of dedicated, loving animal guardians that I can do my life's work. I love people who love animals. I would never make light, or worse, make fun of them. If you want a vet to care about your animals the way you do, be selective in who you take your business to. Is it a big, slick corporate type place where innumerable vaccines are pushed and homemade diets are advised against?

I'll answer those questions for you here. Yes, I make homemade meals for my animals. No, I don't feed them the same food day in and day out. No, I don't vaccinate my dog or cats every year. It really isn't necessary. Unless, of course, they're in it for the money.

Free dog pictures from freefoto.com

what do you think?

Delta Society and Raw Dog Food in the news

Anyone familiar with therapy dogs? These dogs and their handlers visit patients in hospitals and nursing homes. The Delta Society is one of the groups that certifies therapy dogs for these patient visits.

The reason they are in the news of the animal world is that they recently adopted a policy of banning all dogs fed raw food diets from being therapy dogs.

Curious that a woman who works with the Delta Society also works for Nestle Purina - a manufacturer of commercial pet food. How much you wanna bet Purina does not make any raw pet foods?!?!

Bad policy. Shame on you Delta Society.

Disappointing

Pet Food and Supplements Recalled

The following are from the FDA's recall website. It's amazing and disappointing the number of recalls.

All the more reason to feed your pets homemade food! Who can keep track of all these recalls!

From June 22, 2010 it began with a limited recall: United Pet Group Voluntarily Recalls Pro-Pet Adult Daily Vitamin Supplement for Dogs Because of Possible Salmonella Health Risk

and was expanded to include a whole heck of a lot more supplements on July 2nd, 2010.

And that was only the supplements. Now for the foods recalled, note that both raw and processed foods/treats were also recalled.

Merrick dog treats and Feline's Pride raw cat food

And that's just pet products. You should check out all the human food and supplements that have been recalled within the last two weeks alone. It's scarey, unacceptable and a disgrace to our country. This is a problem.

so much happening

WOW - I leave Friday for my first class with Shiva Rea at Kripalu in Massachusetts. I'm so excited i can hardly stand it!

Today is the 11th day after the last full moon. I think some people fast on this day, but I didn't. Instead I ate only fruits and veggies - some from my container garden! For lunch I had a sliced tomato sprinkled with two kinds of fresh basil - both from my garden! It was sooo good! Then I went to the local farmers market and bought some fresh blueberries, corn on the cob, kale, cukes, and some fruit spreads made with honey and fruit, rather than sugar and fruit. Can't wait to try them out! Oh, and of course, how could I forget the carrots. I made some carrot juice as soon as i got home and have been sipping it and eating the blueberries all afternoon. Very refreshing in this HOT HEAT wave!

And I've been working on some of my business ideas - vet, food, and yoga-wise! It's all very exciting and has me energized.

I envision developing a couple of different kind of businesses, all of them energy-efficient, environmentally green, vegan-animal compassionate. I'm reviewing a few web designers at the moment and have even thought of a few domain names as well. Just need to find the perfect place, afterall, locatio is everything! Location, location, location.

Until next time,
infinite blessings to you,
Pood

Light on Slippery Elm

Today's spotlight is on the botanical herb slippery elm.

What a wonder drug! Slippery elm (Ulmus fulva) is considered a Western herb (as opposed to a Chinese or Ayurvedic herb). It comes from a hardwood tree native to North America, and it's the inner bark that's harvested and powderized for medicinal purposes. It was used topically in salves for wounds, burns, and skin inflammations by Native Americans. It was taken by mouth as well to relieve coughs, sore throats, diarrhea and upset stomachs.

Holistic veterinarians will use this herb to treat a variety of gastrointestinal (GI) disorders such as inflammatory bowel disease, stress colitis, and some cases of vomiting in dogs and cats. And I will recommend it to my clients' animals topically for certain skin conditions and burns.

It's an herb that should not be given to pregnant animals and since it coats the stomach it could decrease absorption of other medications given by mouth. But otherwise, it has a reputation of being a safe herb.

If your dog or cat is suffering from chronic GI or skin problems contact Dr. Busch for advice on ways to help your animal return to radiant health!

Heartworm preventives not working?

The Companion Animal Parasite Council issued a statement in May 2010 noting reports of resistance to heartworm preventives (e.g. Heartgard, Interceptor, Sentinel) in cases involving dogs in the south-central US.

Additionally, the American Heartworm Society has assembled a commission to publish recommendations for the development of protocols for heartworm preventives to minimize the potential for resistance.

Heartworms are transmitted to dogs and cats by mosquito bites and can cause heartfailure and death. It is fairly safe and easy (for the moment at least) to prevent, but can be costly and dangerous to treat once an animal is infested.

This is one disease that I still recommend giving monthly preventives to your dogs in order to prevent. The only kind I recommend is the kind given by mouth (oral, PO) and specifically NOT the topical or injectable formulations, except in extreme cases. And in Southeastern Pensslyvania, I recommend year round heartworm preventive, that is, give a dose every month on the same day of each month, year'round.

All that said, with increasing reports of resistance to the preventives, good nutritional and immune support should not be overlooked in terms of their importance in preventing heartworm infestation and disease. This is relevant because not all unprotected dogs bitten by heartworm carrying mosquitoes become infested, and overall health is likely a significant a factor for this.

I'm not convinced that most cats need heartworm preventives, perhaps cats that spend the majority of their time outside, but probably not cats that live entirely indoors. Of course, there is a safe preventive available for your cat should you prefer to have your cat on a heartworm preventive.

Pood

Who owns what?

I'm sure it's available online somewhere, but suffice it to say that there are some very big corporations that own a large number of pet food brands. Del Monte (manufacturer of Milk Bone, Meow Mix, Kibble and Bits brands of petfoods, as well as human snack, fruit cups, etc), Proctor and Gamble (who just bought Natura petfood products, also manufactures Iams and Eukanuba brands), Colgate Palmolive (the maker of Hills, Science Diet - including prescription diets - petfoods), Mars (also the maker of Snickers candy bars). Amazing isn't it?

Another one bites the dust

Another high quality, independent pet food company has been bought by a big, no make that HUGE, corporation that also happens to sell pet foods. Proctor and Gamble bought out Natura, the maker of Innova, EVO, and California Naturals among others. You can read P&G's press release if you like. Here is the press released letter from Natura's President Don Scott commenting on the acquisition.


Why am I upset about this? Well, because it's been one of the commercial products I've fed my own cats and dogs over the last several years. But why would I be upset just because it was bought out? Because in the past, when the big corporations bought out small, independent, high quality pet food companies the quality deteriorated, in my opinion.

But the good news is that I've found another high quality, independent pet food company to replace the one that was bought. So now, on those days when I don't prepare the food I feed my pets myself, I know I can rotate among Wysong and Orijen and they will have good food, almost as good as homemade! It's good to have options.

pood