The raw food pet industry is in full bloom.That is a wonderful thing because raw food can help your pet thrive in ways you could not imagine. A raw diet can help your pet get off insulin, heal their inflammatory bowel disease and we could go on for a week. But...before buying what you believe is a "balanced" diet for your pet, especially if it is your cat, you need to get just a bit educated. Cats and dogs have vastly different dietary needs. Feeding your cat raw food designed for a dog, (and many manufacturers will not make the distinction) can be harmful to your cat.

When deciding on purchased raw food for your cat, (as opposed to you making the food yourself) some essential details to look out for is the:

1.The Calcium and Phosphorous Ratio. Cats need a diet that is very precise in the bone to meat ratio. Calcium is found in bone, and phosphorous is found in meats and organs.The ideal range, or balance, for felines is 1.2-1.4 parts Calcium to 1 part phosphorous. Dogs, on the other hand do not have these requirements. Most raw food is targeted to dogs. Buying a "Balanced Raw" diet appropriate for a dog could cause harm to your cat. If the Ca/Phos ratio is not available on the website of the manufacturer, nor on the package you will have to email or call them. What you want is numbers. You want the result of the analysis they did. If they did not do an analysis of their mineral balances, I would not buy their food. The Ca/Phos ratio can cause damage to your cat if it is off.

2.Amount of Vegetable matter. Adding some vegetables to a feline diet is OK as long as it is a small percentage. 3-5% is OK. The food you feed should contain max 10% veggies. The percentage may not be available and you may need to contact the manufacturer. Garlic and onions can cause anemia in cats and should never be used. Tomatoes can exacerbate arthritis and most vegetables will raise the urinary pH which can cause urinary tract issues. Herbs should never be used long term and are frequently added to raw prepared diets.

3.Organ meats. Optimally felines should consume somewhere about 10% of organ meats. Does the food contain organ meats and at what proportion? What type of organs are included? Organs provide important vitamins and other nutrients vital for the cat.

4.Taurine. Taurine is an essential amino acid. Cats are unable to synthesize Taurine, therefore it needs to be provided in the food. In the wild cats naturally consume meats and prey high in Taurine. Mice are naturally very high in Taurine. A cat eating plenty of mice would be assured of their Taurine requirement. But what cat eats fresh mice regularly? While all meats contain Taurine to some degree, handling and freezing the meat diminishes the amount. Some meats, like rabbit have a dangeroulsy low amount of Taurine while chicken hearts have a high amount. Why keep track of all that when it is so easy to add some taurine yourself? Not only is taurine inexpensive it takes a second to add some to the food at the time of feeding. We recommend about 1000 mg per pound of meat. In the early days of commercial pet food, thousands of cats died before the pet food companies discovered that they have to add taurine. Taurine deficiencies can cause blindness and heart disease which can be fatal.

Feel free to contact manufacturers if information is not available on their websites or on the food package. If the food does not meat the standards, then find a food that does.

Posted under Dogs

During pregnancy the bitch must have plenty of exercise, without taxing her strength, and plenty of minerals and vitamins in her diet. About a month before the expected arrival of the puppies you may give the bitch a mild worming cure as the puppies may become infected by parasites while still inside the mother's body. Naturally all must be made ready for the whelping. The bitch usually gives birth in a whelping box. The sides must not be too high, so that the pregnant bitch can enter it easily; nor should they be so low that the puppies can fall out.

Naturally the bitch must be of the required age. An expert from vow particular hired club will advise you and help you to select the most maw. Most countries have different rules and regulations concerning, do is and their breeding, and it is recommended that you seek Kennel or breed society advice as to the conditions you must fulfill.

Sometimes the bitch may get an attack of convulsions several days, or as soon as several hours, after the arrival of the puppies. This is called eclampsia and is caused by a sudden drop in the level of calcium and phosphorus in the blood. In such a Case the bitch must he given a calcium injection immediately.

The most suitable time to take the bitch to the dog is usually between the ninth and thirteenth day of this period. The exact time depends not only on the age of the bitch but also varies according to the individual. The bitch is always taken to the dog for mating and not the other way round. (In a strange environment a dog is often more interested in his surroundings than in a bitch.)

After the dog has mounted the bitch the two remain locked in position for some time because the dog's penis is swollen and can only be withdrawn from the vagina after it has returned to its normal size. Pregnancy lasts 58-65 days - you can count on an average of 63 days. Twenty days after mating the fertilised eggs become embedded in the lining of the womb and the placentas through which they receive nourishment are formed.

In the sixth week give the puppies oatmeal or rice gruel together with ground or finely minced meat and vegetables. By the seventh week or at the latest the eighth week, the puppies should already be accustomed to solid food and the mother will stop nursing altogether. In breeds where the standard specifies that the tail be docked it is necessary to ask your vet to do this when the puppies are only two or three days old.

Posted under Dogs

The other week I saw something totally new to me. First I thought it was somewhat ridiculous, but then as I thought about it I realized it made a lot of sense. I'm talking about strollers for pets.

Maybe you have yet to see one of these. They are rapidly becoming the new "In Thing", and while you may wonder about this new rage and why in the world anyone would want one for their cat, rest assure that your cat will get a new life with one!

Cat pet strollers may seem like an extravagant luxury, but they're not. You're probably thinking, oh, come on, who ever takes their cat out for a walk? But that's the whole point.

Dogs love going out for walks. They'll go with you all day long. The truth is cats love going on walks as well, they just don't conform well with walking on a leash.

Walking your cat on a leash IS possible, but does have risks associated with it. Were your cat to freak out over a dog or something else that frightens her, she could cause harm not only to herself, but also to you. With a stroller though, all that would be avoided.

The wonderful thing with a stroller is that now you can bring your kitty along woth you when you go for a walk, or when you go for a jog while your feline friend is safely within the stroller.

And they're not just for walks. They're great for visits to the vet, and for traveling in general. In fact, once you get one of these cat pet strollers for you own cat, you'll find yourself wondering how you ever got along without it.

Posted under Dogs