Please Hold the Antibiotic Residue

By now you’ve probably heard the great news that stores are pulling China made chicken treats from their shelves. Over the past week, Nestle Purina issued a withdrawal (not a recall) on their chicken jerky products.  Milos Kitchen owned by Delmonte, Publix Super Markets and IMS Trading all issued a voluntary recall of their chicken jerky products due to possible contamination with antibiotic residue.

According to a statement by IMS Trading Corp…
“There is no indication that the trace amounts of antibiotic residue are linked to the FDA’s ongoing investigation of chicken jerky products. “The trace amounts of antibiotic residue (in the parts-per-billion range) do not pose a health or pet safety risk.”

While researching the various recalls, I found a lot of interesting information on the FDA’s website:

·       “Since 2007, the FDA has become aware of increasing numbers of illnesses in pets associated with the consumption of jerky pet treats. The majority of complaints involve chicken jerky (treats, tenders, and strips), but others include duck, sweet potato, and treats where chicken or duck jerky is wrapped around dried fruits, sweet potatoes, or yams” (September 14, 2012).

·       “The FDA has received approximately 2,200 reports of pet illnesses which may be related to consumption of the jerky treats. The majority of the complaints involve dogs, but cats also have been affected” (September 14, 2012).

 

·        “In the past 10 years, there has been a dramatic increase in importation of pet food from China. Human consumption of poultry in China largely consists of dark meat, leaving a large amount of light meat poultry products available for export.” (September 14, 2012).

 

·       “Based on the FDA’s review of the NYSDAM results, there is no evidence that raises health concerns, and these results are highly unlikely to be related to the reports of illnesses FDA has received related to jerky pet treats” (January 9, 2013).

So, in summary, The FDA still has not found the link between the China plants and the thousands of illnesses and deaths related to China made chicken jerky. In my opinion, the latest recall seems to be an easy way for the offending companies to save face and recall their products without admitting fault to any of the previous claims. But at least stores are not selling the product and that is a great start!

Ok, now one little plug for The Yellow Dog’s Barn and Joey’s Jerky. Joey’s Jerky can be purchased at TYDB store and other local businesses. It is made from good old USA chicken and made fresh right here in New Hampshire! Check it out on facebook: https://facebook.com/joeysjerky.  I can tell you that my dogs love it and yours will too!

Christmas Picture

Hello and Happy Holidays!

So, I’ve been wondering if anyone reads my blogs… I really don’t care; it’s fun to have a place to write stuff if I’m in the mood to write something, kinda like facebook, but not so annoying. And I'm pretty sure my mother reads them :)

There are days when I think I really should post a new blog, but maybe it’s not in me… so I don’t. I think you would thank me for that.

Today, I was a little bored, so I checked the site where I can see how often my blogs are read. I had 11 views yesterday… I think that’s a record. That tells me that I should try and post on Thursday since people are bored on Fridays and looking for something to do when they should be working. I'll try, but I cant make any promises.
 
I really didn’t plan to post anything today, but I feel I owe it to the eleven people who checked in to see if I’d shared any new details on my life… life is good, but nothing exciting enough to write about. I would like to share a picture with you though. We got this picture with a trail camera on Christmas. Isn’t he cute?

Shooby Doo

 

 

A little update on Shooby's ACL recovery:

It’s been 6 weeks since his surgery on October 31^st and he is doing awesome!

Two years ago, my youngest dog Eddie tore his ACL. As a matter of fact, it was also in October and Eddie’s Halloween costume was just like Shooby’s was this year:



When researching how to best deal with Eddie’s torn ACL, I found a very informative website:  Topdog Animal Health & Rehabilitation. The website is: www.topdoghealth.com.

So, once again, I combed every page of the website and I found an excellent (and FREE) Home Rehabilitation Guide. The guide is a step-by-step booklet that takes you through every phase of ACL rehabilitation.  It starts out with how to prepare the house for the homecoming post-surgery and thoroughly explains when and how to perform various exercises to strengthen the dog.
On the website, I also found many short videos on how to perform the exercises suggested in the booklet.

In addition to our in-home rehab, Shooby has been for several visits to Tails of Rye, a state-of-the-art canine rehabilitation center in Rye, New Hampshire. At Tails of Rye, Dimitra performs ultrasound/electrical stimulation, laser treatments and aquatic therapy. You can check out her website at: www.tailsofrye.com.    Here are a few pictures of Shooby on the underwater treadmill :)

 

 

Shooby is also receiving acupuncture treatment with Dr. Toolan at Oyster River Vet, in Lee NH. He is not as excited about it as my dog Onyx is, but he is beginning to accept it better with each visit.  
 
Shooby and I have been working very hard at home to follow his home rehab and continue to visit Tails of Rye and ORV for weekly acupuncture. 
It’s been a lot of work and is pretty time consuming, but I am happy to say that Shooby is well on his way to a healthy recovery and I cannot wait to see him running again in the spring!

Alternative Medicine

I remember when I was growing up, our dog(s) and cat(s) if we could find them, would go to the rabies clinic held at the fire station once a year. That was their vet care. Today, we have many options to consider when choosing care for our pets. One choice I’ve made for my dogs is acupuncture.

According to Wikipedia, Acupuncture is an alternative medicine methodology originating in ancient China that treats patients by manipulating thin, solid needles that have been inserted into acupuncture points in the skin.

Humans have been practicing its use for thousands of years. But research has shown that our pets can benefit from acupuncture as well. Acupuncture can help with many canine health issues such as allergies, cancer therapy, recurring urinary infections, arthritis and hip dysplasia and many other canine problems.

My dog Onyx has been receiving acupuncture treatments for arthritis in her spine for several months now.  The first session was both scary and intriguing. I had no idea how she would react to someone putting tiny needles in her.  She did amazing! 

Here are a few pictures of my baby girl during a treatment. The needles are black, so they are a little hard to see. The wires attached send tiny electrodes to certain points to add stimulation.

 

The day following her first treatment, Onyx was visibly sore and very reluctant to do much at all. Day two was better, and on the 3^rd morning after her treatment, she was the first dog off the porch and led the way on our morning walk!  What a wonderful sight to see!

Onyx now waits by the door every morning, hoping it is “her” day. When she does have an appointment for acupuncture, she cannot wait to get in the office. After a very happy greeting to the girls at the front desk and then to Dr. Toolan, she settles herself on the blanket that had already been set out for her and awaits her treatment.

Onyx will be 12 years old next month. She had always been a very active and athletic dog. Over the past few years, we noticed her become less and less active and more reluctant to go up and down stairs. Before she started acupuncture, most of my walks were spent trying to coax her to come along. Now, she has once again claimed her position in the front of the pack and will even give chase to a  squirrel! I don’t expect her to hike for hours like we used to, but it sure is great to see her enjoying our daily walks again!

Shooby has also started to receive acupuncture treatments. I will have more details on him soon!

A great day!

Yesterday was a great day at The Yellow Dog's Barn Open House and Holiday Pet Portraits! The weather was perfect and we had a nice turn-out. Budd Perry of Memories Studio took so many wonderful pictures. Everyone who had portraits taken left with such a big smile. Thats how Budd rolls :)  
The NHSPCA folks were very happy with the turn out as well. Two very cute little kittens went to new homes yesterday! We had the pleasure of spending the day with many animals from the SPCA: Two dogs, 3 kittens, 4 bunnies, a guinea pig and two rats.  This is Monte and Fergie:

 

They are a bonded pair and hope to find a home together. I spent a lot of time yesterday holding these two. They are wonderful bunnies!

I was quite proud of myself to have not taken any animals home with me. I think I've got a full enough plate right now :)

 

1st SNOW!!!!

I'm always a kid on the first snow of the season (ok... the second, third and all the way to the last snow storm). This morning, I couldnt wait to get the dogs out and set our foot prints in the fresh snow! And to see what else may have left its tracks during the night. I found a fresh set of tracks behind my chicken coop...fox perhaps?

I'm supposed to keep this post dog oriented... so here is a picture of my beloved dogwood tree still sporting its fall and now winter colors and since my dogs were not being very photogenic, I thought this bench really captured the snowy morning.

 

Boo Hoo

When Shooby came in the house two weeks ago, holding his left hind leg up, I was pretty sure what the problem was. A trip to the vets the next morning confirmed that Shooby had a ruptured Anterior (Cranial) Cruciate Ligament. Yes, the dreaded "Torn ACL".
So, then the million dollar question was asked... surgery or not? Well, not really a million, but a several thousand anyway.  My immediate answer was Yes, we would do the surgery.

Shooby had ACL surgery on Halloween. Here is a picture of him, taken just seconds before the little orange guy with him got destroyed.

Shooby will have his bandage removed today. In a few days, I can start my own in-home physical therapy on him. In two weeks, the staples will be removed. Then he will begin swim therapy! He's gonna love it. I also hope to start acupuncture treatment for him in the next few weeks as well. Not so sure how he will do with acupuncture.  I'll let you know!