Pet Wellness

PET WELLNESS DECEMBER 2019 | MODERNWELLNESSGUIDE.COM

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Jessie James Decker & Eric Decker are helping veterans find support from service dogs

Take your dog on vacation with these tips from The Traveling Tuna Nala Cat has advice for keeping your kitty happy and healthy

Make Your Holiday Humane: 3 Ways to Help Animals This Season As the holidays approach and the weather gets colder, don’t forget about our four-legged friends. Here are some ways to help pets this season.

Pet-proof your holiday Plan for your pets’ comfort and safety during large gatherings by providing pets with a quiet space. Refrain from sharing food with pets. Chocolate can be hazardous, as is xylitol, a common sweetener. Table scraps, especially bones, can splinter and cause serious health problems including death.

Adopt, don’t shop Thinking about adding a pet to your family? Start with a shelter. Most animals lose their homes and end up in shelters due to no fault of their own, and shelter pets normally come with all of their shots, and are often spayed or neutered.

Cold weather safety for pets If it is too cold for you, it is too cold for your pet. No pet should ever be left outside for long periods of time in freezing weather.

Program the number of your local animal care and control into your phone to call if you see a pet left out in the cold.

Kitty Block, President and CEO, The Humane Society of the United States

Winter Hazards for Pets, Inside and Outside During the holidays, ensure your pets’ safety and be on the lookout for potential winter hazards.

Nothing can spoil holiday festivities faster than an emergency visit to a veterinary clinic. Here are some helpful holiday tips from the American Veterinary Medical Association to keep your pets safe — inside and out — during the holidays.

Inside • Keep people-food out of reach of your pet and ask your guests to do the same. Treats, especially those containing chocolate, xylitol, grapes, raisins, onions, or garlic can be toxic to pets.

• Don’t leave your pet alone in a room with lit candles, a decorated tree, or potpourri. Also, keep holly, mistletoe, and lilies out of reach.

• Secure your Christmas tree to prevent it from falling over if your dog bumps it or your cat climbs up it. Hanging lemon-scented car air fresheners in the tree may deter your cat from climbing it. Consider leaving the tinsel off your tree if you have a cat.

• Provide a safe, quiet place for your pet to escape the excitement (such as a kennel, crate, perching place, or scratching-post shelf ) when entertaining. If your pet is excitable or scared, consider putting it in another room with some toys and a comfortable bed, and check on it regularly.

Outside • Like people, cats and dogs are susceptible to frostbite and hypothermia. Longer-haired and thick-coated dog breeds, such as huskies and other dogs bred for colder climates, are more tolerant of cold weather, but no pet should be left outside for long periods in below-freezing weather without access to water and shelter. Consider using booties for your pet, making sure they fit properly.

• Consider using pet-safe de-icers and antifreeze, and prevent poisoning by cleaning up antifreeze spills immediately. Even small amounts of antifreeze can be deadly.

• De-icers, antifreeze, and other chemicals are toxic and may become trapped on your pet’s paws. Once inside, wash your pet’s feet, legs, and belly to remove these chemicals and reduce the potential for poisoning.

• Check underneath your car, bang on the hood, and honk the horn before starting the engine. A warm vehicle engine is an appealing heat source for outdoor and feral cats.

For more tips on keeping your best friends safe during the holidays and the cold weather months, visit avma.org/ColdWeather or avma.org/Holiday. n Dr. John Howe, President, American Veterinary Medical Association

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We spoke with Pete Vercouteren, founder of The Green Earth Deicer Company, Inc., to learn more about keeping pets safe outdoors this winter.

Why is it important to have pet-safe ice melt?

Dogs’ and cats’ paws are sensitive to chloride ice melters. While magnesium chloride is sold in stores as “pet-safe” ice melt, it is still a chloride. Urea-based ice melters are also rather poor ice melters. Urea is basically fertilizer and contains ammonia. Look for ice melt that’s pure calcium magnesium acetate, which is non-corrosive, chloride-free, and safe around vegetation. It will not burn paws like chlorides will. It is also safe if animals happen to ingest a small amount.

What are the typical dangers that kids and pets face from ice melts?

Chloride ice melts can burn skin and paws. Chlorides are harmful to vegetation and harmful when ingested.

What should consumers look for when they are purchasing ice melt?

Look for ice melts that are safe for the environment and safe around their pets and loved ones.

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PHOTO: COURTESY OF @TUNAMELTSMYHEART

Why You Should Buy Pet-Safe Ice Melt

The Traveling Tuna’s Tips for Pet-Friendly Hotel Stays Traveling with Tuna is one of my greatest joys, and throughout our adventures we have stayed at some incredible, pet-friendly hotels.

Below are some tips for bringing your pups with you on your travels.

Where to book Since Tuna is usually traveling with us, it is very important that we stay at a pet-friendly hotel. I also look for a central location, a well-designed interior, and a property that has great food and beverage outlets. To find a great place, you can filter “pet-friendly” hotels on search engines, or visit thetravelingtuna.com for a curated list of Tuna’s favorite pet-friendly places to stay in the United States and United Kingdom.

Call to confirm Before booking a reservation, I recommend calling the hotel to verify that it is pet-friendly because assuming will leave you inconvenienced. Trust me. I’ve been there. Also, some hotels have weight and breed restrictions, and oftentimes there is a pet fee. So when you call

to inquire, specifically ask for a complete list of their pet policies.

Pack the essentials If your dogs are anything like Tuna, they like to sleep in the main bed, but if they (or you) prefer their own cozy space, most hotels provide pet beds.

They also usually provide food and water bowls, and sometimes they offer other complementary goodies depending on the hotel’s pet program. I always bring two collapsible bowls just in case and enough dog food for the duration of our stay, along with poop bags, treats, and Tuna’s favorite toy.

Ensure security I personally refrain from posting on social media where we are staying until we’ve checked out, and I recommend this for your

pup too for it’s security. If you need to leave your pup in the room alone, leave the “Do Not Disturb” sign on the door and notify the hotel that you’ll be leaving. Additionally, if you own a dog or nanny cam that is internet-connected, this is a great way to check in on your dog while you are away from the room.

Know your dog Tuna leaves rooms better than when he found them, which makes traveling with him easy. If your dog is a chronic shedder, doesn’t hold its bladder well, or is an incessant barker, I would encourage you to look into leaving it at home with a trusted sitter so as not to disrupt the experience of other guests staying at the hotel. n Courtney Dasher, Tuna’s Mom, @tunameltsmyheart

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Pet Products You Need This Holiday Season 4

SPINA ORGANICS

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You brush your teeth. Shouldn’t your dog have cleaner, stronger teeth and fresher breath too? We uncovered the real reason dogs dig in dirt. It’s not to bury their bone; they are trying to clean their teeth and freshen their breath. Yes, dogs may be smarter than us when it comes to dental care, but Paleo Pets figured it out and created the best toothpowder for your dog, made from the ingredient they have been digging in — dirt! This revolutionary toothpowder takes the conventional toothpaste formula and sets it on its ear, utilizing earthen clay to produce a teeth-cleansing product your dog will love. >> brushyourpetsteeth.com

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4 CORNERS CANNABIS

4 Corners Cannabis Pet Tincture has helped thousands of pets with numerous ailments. Made with hemp extract that is organically grown and extracted, this product is simple, safe, and effective. >> 4cornerscannabis.com

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Available at participating Ace Hardware, Do It Best, Hardware Hank, True Value, and Trustworthy stores as well as online at Amazon.com, HomeDepot.com, and Walmart.com! >> intruderinc.com

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PET RELEAF

Kick-start your pets’ New Year with Pet Releaf, the pioneer and No. 1 most-trusted company for CBD pet products. We believe that your pets deserve the best, which is why we control the entire process — from seed to sale, from plant to pet. Our organic CBD hemp oils contain a full-spectrum hemp extract derived from our certified USDA organic hemp, PR-33, grown specifically with pets in mind. Available in three potencies to best meet the needs of your dog or cat. Join us in our mission to change what healthy means for pets. >> petreleaf.com

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MADDIEGIRL

MaddieGirl Organics Stinky Dog Refreshing Body Spray for dogs is a beautifully designed daily fur refresher made with organic green tea and ginger extracts and organic lavender essential oil that doubles as a rest-inducing spray.

MaddieGirl Stinky Dog can be used anytime to instantly refresh your dog’s fur and leave your dog smelling amazing. It’s like a bath without the bath. It can also be used to freshen up your dog’s bedding and can even be used on your own bed to help you get a good night’s rest. >> maddiegirl.com

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Owning a pet provides many benefits to both the owner and the animal, including boosts to emotional, physical, and social well-being.

Anyone who has visited a shelter or rescue knows how cute, cuddly, and loving the animals are. Just looking at their faces makes us want to take them all home. That is the first step of the human-animal bond and the positive impact of unconditional love.

How pets help Our furry family members improve our lives in countless, remarkable ways, by: • strengthening social connections • increasing mental well-being • enhancing emotional health • encouraging physical fitness • easing loneliness • improving relationships • helping to overcome trauma • boosting confidence • raising self-esteem • providing a new perspective The benefits of having a pet are emotional, social, and physical.

Individuals with strong and rewarding social connections are happier, have fewer health problems, and live longer than those who do not. Dogs are especially good at this.

Just by going on daily walks, pet owners are more likely to meet and engage with others thanks to the built-in conversation starter of their four-legged companions. Taking care of our pets gives us a purpose.

Physical health Not only do our animal companions improve mental well-being, they can actually boost overall health. When petting an animal, we experience a release of the hormone oxytocin into our brains, creating a sense of calm, regulating breathing, and lowering blood pressure and pulse rate. Health is further improved through shared physical activity such as walks, hikes, runs, and playing games like fetch.

Pets never judge; instead, they offer only unconditional love, support, and a feeling of safety. All pet owners know that life is better together with our pets, whether we have a dog, cat, rabbit, fish, hedgehog, gerbil, or hamster.

Clarissa Black, M.S., B.S., CPDT-KA, PPG, Founder and Executive Director, Pets for Vets® 6 • MODERNWELLNESSGUIDE.COM

Eric Decker and Jessie James Decker Are Supporting Veterans With Service Dogs

PHOTO: GABRIEL CHRISTUS

Life is Better Together: The Benefits of Pet Ownership

How can dogs provide help to our former troops? We spoke with NFL player Eric Decker and his wife and country music star, Jessie James Decker, to hear about their work on behalf of a foundation that retrains shelter dogs as service dogs.

What inspired you to start the Eric and Jessie Decker Foundation?

Eric Decker: In 2013, when I was playing for the Denver Broncos, we attended an event and heard military veteran Lon Hodge share his unique story. Lon served in the military from 1973 to 1981. He spoke about his struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder and how a service dog named Gander turned his world around for the better as a civilian.

Jessie James Decker: We had been searching for a cause for our foundation to support. It brought tears to our eyes. We thought, “This is it. This is what we have to do.” It was a perfect fit for us as we love animals and I grew up in a military family.

How do these dogs improve the quality of life for the veterans you work with?

JD: Simply put, they help remove the boundaries that make life tough for our veterans. Many veterans struggle with extreme social anxiety and stay indoors as much as possible. That makes working out of the home or just running errands very difficult. The dogs are trained to watch their partners’ “six,” which means to watch their back. If they see someone approaching too fast or too close, they move to their back and block.

ED: The dogs are trained to nudge veterans to interrupt flashbacks and nightmares, and, as Jess said, create a buffer zone around them to reduce anxiety in public places, and more. It gives the veteran the comfort that allows them to enjoy their lives.

As public figures, how have you both been able to use your platforms to bring attention to this important cause?

ED: While I was playing in the NFL, they allowed us to wear unique cleats with our causes painted on them. The NFL often allowed me to share this message as a Salute to Service and Walter Payton Man of the Year Award-winner.

JD: Country music fans are the best fans.

They have supported our foundation since the start, and even wear foundation shirts to my shows to represent!

How important are your dogs for your family?

ED: Well, they are family. Jake and Jenny Gump are amazing golden retrievers who are so wonderful with our kids. They are gentle but playful, and the kids adore them.

JD: I think it is so important for kids to grow up around animals. It teaches them patience, loyalty, and responsibility for caring for them. n MEDIAPLANET

Nala Cat Is Leading the Movement for Better Pet Nutrition Known as the “Kim Kardashian” of cats, Instagram superstar Nala Cat is on a mission to raise awareness about animal rescue, pet health, and nutrition.

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rom being a tiny five-month-old kitten in the shelter to having a loving family and Instagram platform with over 4 million followers, Nala knows firsthand the importance of a balanced, nutritious diet. When welcoming a cat into the family, here are a few important things Nala and her parents have learned along the way:

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Get regular check-ups Consulting and building a trusted relationship with a veterinarian is the first step to ensuring your cat is on the right track to living its best life. Your vet may recommend certain diets and regular physical exams that include blood pressure checks and blood and urine tests to check internal functions. As your pet ages, it may require more frequent

check-ups as activity levels and dietary needs change.

Look for premium ingredients Cats are known carnivores.

Most thrive on a diet that includes high-quality animal protein sources such as meat, poultry, and fish. When choosing the right food for your cat, it is important to look for complete and balanced recipes that have essential vitamins

and minerals to keep your cat healthy. As pet parents, we opt for premium recipes that do not contain any fillers, byproduct meals, or artificial preservatives. In addition, Dr. Marty, America’s Veterinarian, says to “avoid giving cats onions, garlic, grapes, raisins, chocolate, milk products, raw eggs/meat, and dog food, which don’t have certain vitamins, amino acids, and nutrients cats need.”

PHOTO: VARISIRI METHACHITTIPHAN

Proper hydration Ensuring access to clean, fresh water every day is essential to a kitty’s health. Lack of water or too much water can lead to all sorts of health problems, so it is important to observe your cat to make sure it is getting the right amount. For starters, Dr. Jennifer Conrad, founder of The Paw Project, recommends “that an average adult cat should be eating and drinking 200 to 300 ml of water throughout the day. Wet food is usually 70 percent water, so many cats get a lot of moisture from there too.”

“As pet parents to Nala and her five siblings, we recognize that every cat has its own unique needs. It is important to take its individual needs into consideration and consult a trusted veterinarian whenever you have questions about your cat’s behavior, diet, and well-being,” say Nala’s parents, Pookie and Shannon. n Shannon Ellis and Varisiri Methachittiphan

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The Benefits of CBD for Pets

How can we debunk the stigma of giving CBD to our pets?

All mammals have the same endocannabinoid system in their bodies as humans do. CBD works on the same CB1 and CB2 receptors in our bodies. Animals react to the same receptors and get the same relief as humans do.

What advice would you give pet owners looking to improve the quality of their pet’s health?

CBD is doing amazing things for pets as well as people. If your pet has joint pain, stress, or anxiety from things like separation, thunderstorms, or fireworks, it will benefit from CBD. Though pets can’t tell us if they feel better, you will absolutely notice a difference in how they feel.

Start off lower than the recommended dosage, which is 2/3 mg for every 10 pounds of your animal, and increase as needed.

It is not going to hurt them, and after a few applications you will find what works best for them!

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Glee the Golden Retriever Is on a Mission to Make America Joyful Glee is on a mission to make people more joyful and to help them live their happiest, healthiest lives with their dogs.

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lee, our golden retriever, is a social media influencer with over 315,000 followers. She’s on a mission to make the world joyful, to change how we live and love. When Glee first came home, we expected to love her to the depths of our souls.

Then we met her and she blew away our expectations. Her deep empathy and seeming ability to peer into the souls of everyone she encountered gave us insight that she in particular, and dogs in general, could be a major force for good in combating the stress, anxiety, and isolation we all encounter individually and the antipathy and discontent we encounter societally.

PHOTO: COURTESY OF @GOLDENS_GLEE

Katherine Tanton, owner and founder of Life’s Balance Enterprises LLC, told us about how pets can benefit from taking CBD as a supplement.

Campaign for happiness So we set out with Glee to make people more joyful through our “What Makes You Gleeful” campaign. We brought her around New York City to meet strangers and asked them what makes them gleeful. She made it easier to ignite conversations about how we are all more similar than we think we are and allowed people to see each other’s humanity, to realize that there is more that unites us than divides us.

In August 2019, we decided we needed to spread this message beyond her social media account and the people she meets in NYC. So we set out across the country to help heal a broken nation. We traversed 4,800 miles, stopping in 13 cities, and launched a digital happiness routine via text message to help people to live happier, purpose-filled lives by connecting more deeply with the lessons that their dogs can teach them and being better dog parents.

Overcoming struggles A universal theme we encountered is that modern life is hard; we’re increasingly inundated with work, Instagram models, stress, and a million things pulling us in different directions. Life feels scary with the amount of discontent nationally and the dire warnings of the end of the planet as we know it.

It can feel impossible to feel happy, to live a life of meaning, to feel calm. We think our dogs can help us fight this fight. If we focus on our relationship with our dogs, pay attention to how they live their lives, attend acutely to what we can control — the quality of the time and care we provide for our dogs — we can learn how to better triumph over our human struggles. In caring for our dogs, we will learn how to handle our own feelings, make the right choices for our own health, and open ourselves to experiencing the world. n Jennifer Kasner, Co-Founder, Goldn

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“True peace of mind that comes with knowing”

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