Friday, March 5, 2010

Whose Mouth is Cleaner - Yours or Your Pug’s?

This is one of those questions that it is probably best we don't ponder too often. The short answer is that both our mouths have roughly the same amount of bacteria - just different kinds. You can read the whole post here to get all the "germy" details and also find out a few other tidbits like why dogs rarely get cavities.

Friday, March 13, 2009

Plants that Poison Pets

Sunday kicks off National Poison Prevention Week and the ASPCA is doing their part by releasing a video describing plants that are dangerous to four legged friends.  Be sure to check out the ASPCA’s 17 Plants that Poison Pets video.

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Sugar Substitue, Xylitol, Dangerous to Dogs

Fellow pug lover, Linda, recently sent in a link to an article about Harley the pug and his near death experience after eating a few breath mints.  The breath mints contained the sugar substitute, xylitol, and within hours after eating the breath mints Harley was experiencing acute liver distress.

Xylitol is found in many foods, but is commonly found in items like gum, breath mints, toothpaste and mouthwash.  As the sugar substitute is becoming more popular it is appearing in more and more food items.

In 2006, the AVMA released an article on the dangers of xylitol if ingested by dogs.

Stephanie Lam, Harley’s mom, hopes to raise awareness about xylitol and the dangers it poses to animals so that no one will have to go through what her and Harley experienced after he treated himself to a few breath mints.

Wednesday, August 8, 2007

Summer Safety Tips for your Pug

The dogs days of summer are officially upon us in the US and many parts of the country are in the middle of a heatwave.  I hope everyone is finding ways to beat the heat.  Don’t forget that pugs are extremely sensitive to heat and that our furry friends need extra care during the summer months.  Here are some tips to make sure you and your pugs stay safe this summer.

Friday, April 6, 2007

ASPCA Pet Food Recall Resource Center

With new information being released everyday about the Menu Foods pet food recall it is hard to stay current and keep up with what is safe to feed your pug.  The ASPCA has put together a great resource center that will help keep pug owners in the loop and answers many of the common questions pet owners have about the pet food recall.

Check it out and bookmark it.  I have a feeling the Pet Food Recall Resource Center is going to be a vital resource for pet owners over the next few months.

Saturday, March 31, 2007

Hill’s Recalls Prescription Diet m/d Feline Dog Food

Hill’s Pet Nutrition has voluntarily recalled its Prescription Diet m/d Feline Dog Food because the food included wheat gluten purchased from the same supplier as Menu Foods.  Yesterday, the FDA announced that scientists had found melamine in samples of Menu Foods recalled pet food as well as the wheat gluten used in as ingredients in the recalled food.

Friday, March 30, 2007

Melamine Found in Recalled Pet Food

The Food and Drug Administration has released the results of their testing of samples of contaminated pet food that was recalled by Menu Foods earlier this month.  Here is a synopsis of the FDA’s results:

• The FDA found melamine in samples of the recalled pet food.  Melamine is a chemical used to make plastics.  It is also used as a fertilizer in Asia.
• Melamine was also detected in the wheat gluten used as an ingredient in the tainted pet food.
• FDA Officials confirmed that the contaminated wheat gluten was also shipped to a company that manufacturers dry pet food.  The FDA Officials will not release the name of the company at this time as they cannot confirm if the company has used the wheat gluten.
• Melamine was detected in the urine of cats that got sick after eating the recalled food and it was also found in the urine of one cat that died as a result of eating the tainted food.
• Scientists do not have enough data on mammalian toxicity levels of melamine to conclude it caused the death or sickness of pets eating the contaminated food
• FDA scientists did not find evidence of aminopterin in the samples they tested.  Scientists at the New York State Food Laboratory found aminopterin in the samples they tested.