Animal wellness
Animalwellness For a long, healthy life!
SPECIAL
Living pawsitive!
NUTRITION ISSUE
Chewing the fat
The case for
kibble
Canine obesity and what to do about it
What to look for in a dry food
Top
10
healing herbs
Switching to raw? Advice on complete frozen diets
Meet “America’s most popular dog”
Preston Casanova Can you over-supplement?
When
Find out inside
disaster
Nutritious recipes!
strikes
How to prepare your dog or cat for evacuation
Food on tap
August/September Display until Sept. 22, 2009
A closer look at automatic feeders and fountains
$5.95 USA/Canada
VOLUME 11 ISSUE 4
AnimalWellnessMagazine.com
animal wellness
Contents August/September 2009
features 18 Is fido finicky?
68
Most dogs are food fiends, but some can get picky. What should you do when he turns up his nose at dinner?
22 Balancing act Can you give your dog or cat too many vitamins? While it is possible to have too much of a good thing, the main culprit behind supplement toxicity is a lack of balance.
26 Step dogs
Too many dogs end up at shelters because of changing family dynamics. When you meet someone new, follow these suggestions to help everyone adapt, human and canine.
30 The case for Kibble
Today’s premium pet food manufacturers make dry diets that pack plenty of healthy nutrition.
34 Raw made easy Raw meat diets don’t have to be messy. Today’s frozen raw foods for dogs and cats are convenient, easy to feed, and offer complete quality nutrition.
44 Are you ready?
Fires, floods and storms can strike at any time, often without warning. Wherever you live, a disaster preparedness plan that includes your companion animals is a must.
animal wellness
47 Caring with crystals One woman’s journey of self-healing led to a business that helps both people and animals.
48 Dinner’s ready! Can’t get home in time to give Fido or Fluffy his supper? An automatic feeder and fountain ensures he has access to fresh food and water when he needs it.
50 Off to the cottage
It’s fun to share summer getaways with your dog, but cottage country can present some hazards to canines. Remember to consider his health and safety before you kick back and relax.
54 Shall we dance?
From living rooms to nursing homes to auditoriums, musical canine freestyle is taking the world by storm.
64 packing on the pounds
Canine obesity is a big problem (no pun intended). Learn how to keep your dog slim and trim – without diet pills.
68 Born to be a star: Preston Casanova
How the irresistible Pomeranian has won the hearts of legions of fans.
74 “where’s the proof?”
It’s what skeptics ask when questioning if holistic and integrative therapies really work. In actuality, a large body of evidence stands behind the benefits of an alternative approach.
80 Top 10 healing herbs
Spice up her menu with these favorite culinary herbs. They add flavor and variety – and some terrific healing benefits too.
86 Dust in the wind
You probably won’t hear about valley fever on the nightly news, but depending where you live or travel it’s something you should know about.
88 Pest control, naturally Organic cedar oil is the winning ingredient in this company’s flea and tick products.
Top: Hogan Carter (page 4), Top: ©Maszas | Dreamstime.com (page 5), Btotom left: Mohamed Aly (page 5).
80
26 Columns 14
Yakkity yak
40 Dr. Martin Goldstein 62 Warm & fuzzy
34
78 Communication 84 Passages
Departments
89 Book reviews 98 The tail end
8 Editorial 12 Mail bag 29 Product picks 58 Wellness resource guide 72 The scoop 91 Ad spots 96 Events calendar
30
97 Classifieds
animal wellness
Raw made easy Raw meat diets don’t have to be messy. Today’s frozen raw foods for dogs and cats are convenient, easy to feed, and offer complete quality nutrition. As with any diet, though, it’s important to look at the list of ingredients.
by Charlotte Walker
C
utting up raw meat is no one’s idea of a good time. Yet there’s no denying that a raw food diet offers excellent nutrition to dogs and cats. It used to be that if you wanted to feed your companion a raw diet, you had to make it from scratch, and that meant buying all the ingredients, cutting up the meat,
34
animal wellness
adding veggies and supplements, and putting it all together yourself. A lot of people still prefer to do that, but it’s not the best solution for those who are strapped for time or just don’t like handling raw meat.
carnivores consume organs and bones when they eat their prey, so including these ingredients in a raw diet makes good sense.
Premium pet food manufacturers have responded to this issue by making frozen raw diets that offer the same quality nutrition as home-prepared raw food without the hassle and mess. Freezing not only keeps the diets fresher longer, but also helps preserve the nutrient value of the natural proteins, fats, minerals and vitamins in the ingredients.
2. Complete nutrition
Here’s a look at the benefits these tasty, convenient and healthful products give your dog or cat – and yourself!
Title photo: ©Frenc | Dreamstime.com (page 34), Bottom left: ©Szakaly | Dreamstime.com (page 35).
1. Meat matters As carnivores, dogs and cats need whole meat in order to thrive. Cheap commercial pet foods don’t offer enough of this valuable protein source. A raw frozen diet made by a premium manufacturer is guaranteed to include fresh whole meat as the food’s base, without the by-products and grain fillers that make up many commercial packaged foods (excepting canned and dry foods made by premium companies – turn to page 30 for more on today’s healthy dry diets).
Even carnivores need some greens, not to mention other nutrients that raw meat on its own doesn’t offer, such as essential fatty acids and certain vitamins and minerals. Those who make raw diets at home need to educate themselves about canine and feline nutrition, and make sure they add the correct proportions of vegetables and supplements to the food to ensure optimum health. Most frozen raw diets are formulated to include all or most of these additional nutrients, and in the right amounts, so you don’t have to worry about whether or Continued on page 37.
Makes of raw frozen meat diets know the importance of variety, and draw on a range of protein sources, from chicken, turkey, lamb and beef to venison, duck and salmon. Organ meats and ground raw bones are also included in most complete frozen raw diets – wild
animal wellness
35