Green household products may not be entirely safe for animals

Green cleaning products are gaining popularity, but owners should know that even environmentally friendly products may pose threats to pet health. “People expose their animals without even realizing the risk,” said Karl Jandrey, an emergency and critical care veterinarian at the University of California, Davis’ Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital. Veterinarian Camille DeClementi, a senior toxicologist with the ASPCA’s Animal Poison Control Center, said any product with a warning for children isn’t appropriate for pets and recommended keeping animals away from any cleaning activity. San Jose Mercury News (Calif.) (free registration)/The Associated Press

LOS ANGELES—As the time nears for spring cleaning and companies offer more environmentally friendly alternatives to toxic cleaners, veterinarians say pet owners should keep in mind that what’s green to a human can be dangerous—even deadly—to animals.

“People expose their animals without even realizing the risk,” said Dr. Karl Jandrey, who works in the emergency and critical care units at the Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital at the University of California, Davis. “That’s the most common thing that happens when you come to our emergency room—the clients put their pets at risk because they were unaware of how significant the damage could be.”

Most household cleaners are safe if used as directed on labels, but pet owners who make their own cleansers using natural ingredients don’t have the warnings or instructions that come with commercial products.

Cats, for example, can get stomachaches from essential oils added for orange, lemon or peppermint scents in cleaners, said Dr. Camille DeClementi, a senior toxicologist at the Animal Poison Control Center run by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Urbana, Ill.

Most commercial green products are safe for animals, DeClementi said, but owners should still exercise the same precautions as with chemical alternatives, such as keeping pets away from an area being cleaned, not using sprays directly on a pet and making sure that dogs don’t chew on the


Advertisement


products.

If a product says “Keep out of reach of children,” keep it away from pets too, DeClementi said.

Caroline Golon, an Ohio mother of two children under 5 and owner of two Persian cats, said she became concerned about cleaning products before her children were born, when she noticed how often the cats jumped between floors and counters. The Columbus resident uses only unscented green products or vinegar and water to clean, a water-only steam mop on floors and washes the cats’ dishes and litter boxes with hot water and green dish soap.

“There are varying degrees of green, and there are a lot of mainstream brands now that have a green version. You have to do a little research to see what you like best,” said Golon, a pet blogger.

The “green” label on products can be misleading because it still can be dangerous, Jandrey added. “Some still have their own toxicities. In general, they probably are a little less toxic, but not free of toxic potential. They just have a need for a larger dose to cause the same kind of symptoms,” he said.

He cited antifreeze as an example. The pet-friendly version of antifreeze, propylene glycol, is “still an antifreeze product. It’s still intoxicating to patients, our dogs and cats. It’s just not as intoxicating as ethylene glycol.”

It takes more of the propylene glycol to be as deadly as the ethylene glycol, “but it is still intoxicating though it might say pet-friendly in the ads or on the bottle,” Jandrey said.

Labels can’t always account for every reaction, Jandrey said. “Each intoxicating product has different concentrations and each dog or cat, each species, has a different sensitivity to that product. So what might be intoxicating to a dog is really, really intoxicating to a cat because cats might be more sensitive,” he said.

Nancy Guberti, a New York City nutritionist and healthy lifestyle coach for the past 15 years, said some products will say green when they are not.

“Natural means nothing. The consumer has to be educated. It’s all about awareness,” she said.

Extra care also should be taken when cleaning around a pet’s area, such as its toys or bedding, the experts say. Don’t use fabric softener sheets that contain cationic detergents because they will give your pet—especially cats—stomach distress, DeClementi said, referring to a type of chemical soap that kills bacteria.

Such detergents and soaps, normally associated with helping to get clothes clean and fresh-smelling, can have chemicals that can sicken humans and pets alike.

Guberti switched to green cleaners out of necessity when her youngest son developed a liver disorder and many allergies. Guberti said the whole family became green—even their family’s 6-year-old Shih Tzu, Flower, because her son can’t hold Flower “if she is full of toxic chemicals or perfumes.”

She recalled how she took the dog to a groomer for the first time, and Flower came out covered in perfume. Guberti washed her again at home, and now she brings her own bottles to the groomer.

“I have a bottle of shampoo and a bottle of conditioner with her name on it. I always remind them: ‘No perfumes whatsoever,'” Guberti said.

Golon, who uses a maid service once a month, said she had the same problem when they brought their own products when they first started cleaning the house.

“I hadn’t thought about it but the smell was so overpowering, it really bothered me. I can just imagine what it was doing to the cats with their sensitivity to scents,” she said.

 

Map your cat: Interactive tool links felines around the world

Feline lovers around the world are invited to add their cats to a new Cat Map. The Zoological Society of London is using the Cat Map to promote a new zoo exhibit featuring two endangered Sumatran tigers. The exhibit opens later this month, but the Cat Map is live now, allowing people to search, learn about and add to the collection of information about the world’s cats. FastCoCreate

Cat lovers, the day we have been waiting for has finally arrived!

A Cat Map pinpointing the exact locations of all of the world’s housecats is now live courtesy of the Zoological Society of London.

Well, actually, it doesn’t include all of the world’s cats…yet. There are just over 3,000 on the map now, but that number will surely grow. While the Zoological Society initially put out a call for Londoners to add their cats to the map, kitty lovers from around the globe are also welcome to submit photos and a few bits of info about their felines for inclusion.

The new map is searchable, so if, say, you are interested in checking out adult male tabbies, you can simply input that request into the search engine, and up pops a map full of adorable cat faces indicating the whereabouts of known tabbies, and some quick-hit info about them.

I clicked on a cat face situated above Italy and was treated to a photo of a handsome fellow named Ibra. He was sitting in a bag and described as a “natural bird killer.”

A search for blue-grey females led me to Sammie, a cute London cat said to have “used up more than her share of nine lives.”

In addition to providing a valuable service to those of us who enjoy oohing and ahhing over pictures of cats, the map–similar to those used by field conservationists tracking animal populations–is also designed to get people thinking about animal conservation and planning visits to the London Zoo’s new Tiger Territory.

Opening on March 22, the enclosure will be home to two Sumatran tigers, Jae Jae and Melati, both of whom are featured on the Cat Map. Sumatran tigers, native to Indonesia, currently number only 300 and are an endangered species, according to the Zoological Society.

Veterinary medicine’s central role in public health

Veterinarians are known by most as compassionate practitioners of animal medicine, an important role, but veterinarian Joan Hendricks explains that they are also uniquely poised for crucial roles in public health. Veterinarians are the only medical professionals comprehensively trained in comparative medicine and human-animal interactions, she writes, and they have a deep background in infectious disease. This contributes to treatments for humans, solutions to global hunger, improved food safety and production, and surveillance and prevention of potentially devastating infectious diseases  The Huffington Post/The Blog

Most people think that veterinarians are doctors who treat cats and dogs, provide compassionate, expert care but also charge amply for their services.  This narrow view means that a vet’s work is underestimated and, often, not respected.  In reality their role is substantially broader and yet their leadership potential is generally overlooked.

While many vets are caregivers for our domestic animals — and it’s very important work — a larger mission is to focus on minimizing the transmission of infectious disease and help tackle world hunger issues.

Vets are trained as rigorously as doctors of human medicine; four years of college, four of vet school and additional internships and residencies if they become specialists.  Uniquely trained in comparative biology, veterinarians are the only members of the clinical profession — including physicians — who see many different species, and understand medicine fundamentally such that all species benefit.

Veterinarians approach medicine with a global perspective and support public health, enormously impacting people’s well-being. They also play an integral role in food safety and food production.  Since people share many of the same diseases and biology as animals, veterinarians have a large role in preventing and controlling diseases, as well as providing research that helps treat diseases like cancer, neurological disorders and immune diseases.
In fact, veterinary medicine is the profession that stands between all of humanity and plague and famine.

Disease

For instance, many of the infectious diseases (e.g. avian flu, swine flu, AIDS, West Nile Virus, Lyme disease) that spread in humans come from animals originally. The CDC estimates that number to be 75 percent. Preventing new diseases in humans, as well as potential plagues, is crucial, and well-trained animal care professionals play a vital role. In Pennsylvania, veterinarians developed surveillance technology that provides the ability to stem an outbreak of avian influenza.  Within one month, a potentially devastating outbreak was stopped at a cost of $400,000, while a similar outbreak in Virginia at the same time cost the state over $100 million. Undoubtedly, it is safer, cheaper, healthier and more effective to identify a disease before it appears in people.

Beyond infectious diseases, many veterinarians transcend the animal world by applying the knowledge they have gained through their research to develop better treatments for animals and people.  For example, Dr. Ralph Brinster became in 2011 the only veterinarian ever to win the National Medal of Science.  He developed a reliable in-vitro culture system for early mouse embryos.  Now the system is used in embryo manipulations such as human in-vitro fertilization, mammalian cloning, and embryonic stem cell therapy.  And vets are leading the way in critical advances in gene therapies — including cures for two forms of blindness in animals and humans, one of which is now in human trials. The American Academy of Neurology cites more than 12 neurological diseases or disorders that animal research has helped cure, treat, prevent, or further understand.  Clearly, human and animal health are more connected than most people realize, and doctors can learn much from the breakthrough work of veterinarians.

Famine

Not only are we concerned about diseases of epidemic proportions but as our world population grows, we also are increasingly faced with issues related to famine. Hunger is the world’s number one public health threat — killing more people than AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria combined, according to James T. Morris, Executive Director of the U.N. World Food Program.  Food availability, safety and production are key areas of research and service for veterinarians. Our food sources need to be safe, healthy and plentiful.  Veterinarians, for instance, have developed a food safety system whereby poultry eggs can be tested for Salmonella 10 times more swiftly, saving millions of dollars and ensuring public safety.  And by gathering information from dairy farms, vets can examine this data and advise farmers on how to modify their feed formulations and additives and change milking schedules.  Not only does this tremendously increase animal well-being, it also positively impacts the economics. Eating “local food” is a direct result.

And beyond eating local, this knowledge has global implications and can be shared with developing countries who demand a higher quality of food and more animal protein, such as meat, milk, and eggs. While the number of dairy cows in the U.S. has decreased, milk production has grown. This isn’t the case in developing countries — the number of cows continues to grow while milk production doesn’t. Our knowledge related to increasing yield per animal for dairy cows can help feed developing countries.

The Importance of Human-Animal Interaction

It has been well-documented that the human-animal connection provides a powerful healing bond. Service and therapy dogs really do enhance our quality of life. A common situation that develops among the elderly is the repercussion of a pet’s illness. Often times, this event leads to the pet needing to leave the home. An additional outcome may be that the person ends up in a nursing home with little animal contact, which has been shown to improve their quality of life as well as, at times, their health.  The human-animal connection extends into other areas as well.

We have a moral obligation to study our companion animals on this planet; it’s a practical issue that the animals that serve us, feed us, and take care of us be healthy. In doing so, we must redefine the veterinarian’s role.

Vets will always be needed to treat cats and dogs. But it is their ability to link animal science to human well-being, advance food production and safety, and provide critical defense from global pandemics that needs to be better understood.

It is far and away today’s and tomorrow’s veterinarians who are best suited to tackle important issues such as these.

Study measures the life expectancy cost of size among big dog breeds

Large-breed dogs age faster than small-breed dogs, and larger breeds’ risk of death increases more with age than it does for small breeds, according to a recent study of 56,000 dogs representing 74 breeds. The study found that a 4.4-pound increase in body weight is associated with lowered life expectancy by one month. The researchers plan to study the leading causes of death among large-breed dogs. LiveScience.com

Big dogs apparently die younger mainly because they age quickly, researchers say.

These new findings could help unravel the biological links between growth and mortality, the scientists added.

Normally, across species, larger mammals live longer than their smaller counterparts; for instance, elephants can get up to 70 years old in the wild, while house mice reach only 4 years. Puzzlingly, within species, the opposite seems true — in mice, horses and perhaps even humans.

The apparent cost of bigger bodies is especially conspicuous with dogs, a species that people have bred over the millennia to come in an extraordinary range of sizes. The heaviest known dog may have been Zorba, an English mastiff that weighed 343 pounds (155 kilograms), while the smallest dog alive may be Meyzi, a terrier less than a quarter-pound (110 grams) in size.

Large breeds often die young compared with smaller ones, with a 155-pound (70-kg) Great Dane having an average life span of about 7 years, while a 9-pound (4-kg) toy poodle can expect to live up to 14 years. [The 10 Most Popular Dog Breeds]

To shed light on the possible tradeoffs of large size, researchers analyzed ages at death in 74 breeds, using data from more than 56,000 dogs that visited veterinary teaching hospitals. The researchers focused on why large dogs lived shorter lives on average.

“My main scientific interest is life-history evolution. I’m also a bit of a dog nerd in private life,” said researcher Cornelia Kraus, an evolutionary biologist at the University of GĂśttingen in Germany.

The scientists found that large breeds apparently aged at faster rates; the speed at which the risk of death increased with age was greater with larger breeds than smaller ones. Indeed, among dog breeds, an increase of 4.4 pounds (2 kg) in body mass leads to a loss of approximately 1 month of life expectancy.

“Their lives seem to unwind in fast motion,” Kraus told LiveScience.

The investigators now want to follow the growth and health histories of a large number of dogs and pinpoint the leading causes of death for large dogs. For instance, bigger canines apparently suffer from cancer more often, which could make sense; large dogs grow more than smaller breeds do, and cancer is rooted in abnormal cell growth.

“This research should be feasible in dogs, since I found that dog people in general seem very open, interested in and interested to contribute to research on their favorite species,” Kraus said.

Kraus and her colleagues Samuel Pavard and Daniel Promislow detailed their findings in the April issue of the journal American Naturalist.

Popular pet car restraints fail in safety test

Subaru teamed up with the nonprofit Center for Pet Safety to test four popular brands of pet car restraints, finding that none conferred protection in a 30 mph crash that used crash dummy dogs, and the devices may actually cause serious harm or death to pets or drivers. Further testing is planned, and researchers are working to develop standards for the restraints. MediaPost Communications/Marketing Daily

Subaru of America Inc. is partnering with the Center for Pet Safety to fund testing of car safety  restraints for pets.

Currently, there are no performance standards or test protocols in the U.S.  for pet travel products. Although many manufacturers claim to test their  products, without test standards, these claims cannot be substantiated. Subaru  and the Center for Pet Safety will create standards for testing restraints,  while announcing those that perform best.

The center, a non-profit research and advocacy organization based in  Washington, is dedicated to companion animal and consumer safety.

The Center for Pet Safety conducted a pilot study which showed that the  majority of pet safety restraints currently on the market do not provide  acceptable protection in a crash situation, says Michael McHale, Subaru’s  director of corporate communications.

“As many of our owners have dogs, we feel it’s our responsibility to help  them keep their pets as safe as possible when they journey with us,” McHale says  in a release.

The center conducted rigorous crash testing on commonly available pet safety  restraints using realistic, specially designed crash test dogs, not live  animals. A 55-pound crash dummy dog was used to see how the seatbelts would hold  up in a collision at 30 miles per hour, patterning the same motor vehicle safety  standards used to test child seats.

Of the four popular dog car harness brands, none held up in the tests. All of  them demonstrated that they either could lead to plausibly serious or fatal  injuries for not only the canine but the driver too.

Lawmakers in Subaru’s home state of New Jersey are the first to consider the  requirement of pet restraints when riding in vehicles.

The center has received requests from all over the world from manufacturers  who want guidance on developing a safer harness, says Lindsey Wolko, the founder  and CEO of the Center for Pet Safety, which is not affiliated with the pet  product industry.

“Through this partnership, we can finally conduct additional testing to help  develop a suitable standard, provide the needed knowledge-base to manufacturers,  as well as determine the top performers,” Wolko says in a release.

Read more: https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/194956/subaru-funds-pet-safety-restraint-testing.html#ixzz2MtpCJIxJ

 

David and Kiki running the cove

David Alvarez has a real love for his minpins.  He got his first dog Coco about four years ago and loved her personality so much that he didn’t hesitate when his cousin called offering to give him another one.  She had two little, active girls and having an active minpin in the house just wasn’t a good fit for her.  So, last summer David brought home his second minpin and promptly named her Kiki.

Sure enough, Kiki has a spectacular personality of her own.  Quiet during the day when she and Coco are home alone, Kiki becomes energetic and up for anything when David arrives home.  As soon as Kiki sees the leash, she goes bonkers with anticipation for the walk to come.  Usually David takes his two dogs for a long walk down to a cove near where he lives and lets them run around.  The favorite part of his day is seeing Coco and Kiki tearing off after each other.

About a week after David brought Kiki home, Kiki began vomiting and stopped eating and drinking.  Concerned, David brought her to his vet at Santa Margarita Animal Care to see if they could discover what was wrong with her.  Dr. Amy Parker was the attending veterinarian on this case and remembers it well.

When I felt her belly, I could feel a little mass effect in her abdomen associated with her GI track,” recalls Dr. Parker. “David had told me that she had torn apart a peepee pad and we worried that perhaps she had eaten some of that.  We wanted to do x-rays, at which point David informed us that he was financially constrained and probably wouldn’t be able to afford much.  Since Kiki was just a four month old puppy, we wanted to find a way to work with her and David, so we went ahead and ordered the x-rays which ended up indicating that she had a foreign contaminant in her body.”

The cost of the surgery was far beyond anything David could afford on his own. Although he just started working at the time he first got Coco, David’s finances were still in a bind.  David didn’t know what to do and couldn’t bear the thought of letting Kiki go.

“I told Dr. Parker I didn’t have any money, says David.  “When they told me that they would help me and that there were some foundations that might be able to help, too, I just couldn’t believe it.  They asked me to fill out paperwork, which I did right away, and I worked out a plan with them to get Kiki the help she needed”.

Between Santa Margarita Animal Care, the Angel Fund, and David, enough funds were collected to enable the surgery that Kiki so desperately needed.  Thankfully, the operation was a success and Kiki is back to running around the cove with David and Coco.

“We were very grateful to be able to help David,” says Dr. Parker.  “We just couldn’t euthanize this four month old baby, and this owner is working and trying to make a great life with his pets.  We wanted to help him in any way possible and we’re thankful the Angel Fund was part of that.”

David echoes the feeling of gratitude and has a message for Santa Margarita Animal Care and the Angel Fund. “I want to say thank you for helping me keep my pet around.”  He says, “She’s my companion, and it means the world to me that there are people out there who are actually willing to help other people with their difficult situations.”

Consumer pet spending projected to increase

Pet owners are projected to spend 4% more on supplies for their pets this year than they did last year, according to the market research firm Packaged Facts. “We are certainly seeing more health-related and preventive health products on the market that help pets maintain healthy lifestyles,” said Bob Vetere, president of the American Pet Products Association. Hot items include products geared toward aging pets, pet dental care items and natural and organic pet food. Drug Store News

February 25, 2013 | By Barbara White-Sax

Pet supplies may have had limited growth this past year, but the stars of the segment are healthcare-related products. Pet supplies saw a 2% increase, bringing sales to $11.1 billion, according to Packaged Facts. The market research firm projects that this year, pet supplies will grow 4% over 2012 sales.

Like their owners, the pet population is graying. Pets are suffering from age-related conditions — including joint, coronary, cognitive and immune system-related, as well as diabetes and cancer — and consumers are snapping up products that can make their pets healthier.

“We are certainly seeing more health-related and preventive health products on the market that help pets maintain healthy lifestyles,” said Bob Vetere, president of the American Pet Products Association. The explosion of health-related products coincides with a drop in veterinary visits recorded in the past few years, suggesting that pet owners are preemptively caring for their pets’ health issues with pet OTC products.

Such products as Nylabone — a rawhide chew alternative that is fortified with vitamins and minerals — are driving growth in the pet products category, according to a recent report from Mintel. Mintel expects chews, toys, grooming products made with natural ingredients and other supplies that contribute to the health and well-being of dogs and cats to drive sales in the pet supplies segment.

Dental care products are growing in popularity as consumers become more aware of how important gum care is to a pet’s health. Brian Collier, a spokesman for Naturel Promise, manufacturer of the Fresh Dental line of pet dental care products, said oral care products are the fastest-growing segment of the pet business.

Since 80% of dogs show signs of periodontal disease by age 3 years, Collier said the category has a huge upside because currently only 10% of pet owners purchase pet dental care products. Those who do purchase oral care products buy four to six oral care products a year, a number that significantly outpaces turns on other pet grooming products, said Collier.

Naturel Promise’s line of dental products contains a brushless gel, dental spray, water additive, liquid floss and a brushing gel, which retail for between $6.99 and $9.99. The products contain all-natural ingredients, a key selling point in the category.

In the pet food segment, the fastest growing area of pet food is natural and organic products. “It’s the first section that sold out in our show, and it’s clearly the hot performer in the food arena and will continue to be so for the foreseeable future,” Vetere said.

Vetere said another hot segment within the category is convenience products that allow people more flexibility in feeding and caring for their pets.

Helping Murph

by Alice Villalobos, DVM at Animal Oncology Consultation Service and founder of Pawspice, hospice for pets.

Since Murph was a special needs dog since puppyhood and neurological issues, it probably took everyone much longer to figure out that something was wrong.

Murph developed a strange awkwardness with his right front foot.  At first he seemed to just be swinging his foot out wider than his normal clumsy gait.  When x-rays were taken, Murph was diagnosed with bone cancer and it had already spread extensively to his lungs resembling a “snow storm”.

We entered Murph into Pawspice right away during our first visit because he had advanced metastatic bone cancer. Murph’s family wanted to help him live as long as possible with no pain and with a good quality of life.  We started gentle combination treatment.  Murph received a few palliative radiation therapy treatments to his bone cancer lesion on his right front foot.  He also received gentle oral and IV chemotherapy and immunotherapy with T-Cyte and supplements.

To our delight and surprise, Murph’s lameness went away and he was feeling great.  It was a joy to see that Murph’s awful pain was gone; the swelling of his right front paw and wrist was gone and he appeared to be back to his normal happy self.  At his 9 week recheck chest x-rays, we had the most amazing and surprising find!  Murph’s new chest x-rays were almost completely clear!

The horrible snowstorm of tumors in his chest had disappeared!  What a happy surprise for all of us to win such unexpected good news for Murph.

Another big bonus was that Murph, who seemed defensive at first, started to always feel just great during his cancer treatment visits at our Pawspice practice at ACCESS in Woodland Hills, CA.  as long as one of his stuffed toys was nearby!

Sadly, after having enjoyed his remission for several months, Murph’s chest tumors returned with vengance.  Of course, we never expected Murph to go into remission and thrive with advanced bone cancer but he did just that for months before his bone cancer was able to complete it’s fatal agenda.

That goodness Murph’s family had th courage and compassion to provide him with the final act of kindness, the gift of a peaceful and painless passing, with the gift of euthanasia when he needed it.

Sibmitted by Murph’s oncologist, Dr. Alice Villalobos, DPANP, www.pawspice.com

 

Angel Fund Grant Recipient – Seven, a lucky guinea pig

Leslie has always had a special place in her heart for guinea pigs. “I’ve been loving guinea pigs since I was a little girl,” she said. “They are the most affectionate, most grateful, cuddly, little animals in the world. I especially love watching them move around when they’re happy, they hop straight up and down and it’s called popping corn. These animals are just so much fun.”

She got her first guinea pig, Nibbles, when she was ten years old. “When I was young, guinea pigs didn’t live very long,” she reminisced. “They never seemed to make it past six months. I know a lot about them now and am much more educated on what they need. I probably give them much better care now than I did when I was young.”

Leslie lavishes a lot of love on her companions. They get fed every morning at 5:00am, in the afternoon, and then later in the evening. Not only does she have them on a regular diet of timothy hay, romaine and endive, and timothy pellets, but she also gives them treats of strawberries, tomatoes, and carrots. She cleans their cages every single day with white vinegar and she puts down fresh fleece for them to enjoy. “I hear there are people who clean their guinea pig cages only once every week, and I think that must be awful for the guinea pigs. They get so excited when they get to go back to their clean cages, so I think they must really appreciate that.” Leslie is also dedicated to administering all necessary health measures. She has to give her oldest guinea pig, Herbert, medicine every four hours around the clock, and her guinea pigs visit the veterinarian on a regular basis. Her animals obviously thrive under her care, Hebert has reached the venerable age of 8, Lucy is 6, and Seven is at least 4 years old.

Leslie’s vigilance in watching out for her animals’ health led her to take Seven to the vet when one morning she discovered that Seven’s bottom teeth were gone and his top teeth appeared to be overgrown. “I took him to see Dr. William Ridgeway at the Long Beach Animal Hospital, but we couldn’t figure out why he lost his bottom teeth,” she said. “I was taking him in to have his top teeth trimmed every four weeks, but one day I looked at his face and it was swollen. He had a huge abscess on the left side of his jaw that needed surgery. He also had to have another surgery when we found that he had a tooth coming out of his neck.”

Unemployed and without the funds to pay for the care Seven needed, Leslie turned to the internet to see if she could find any resources that might be able to provide her with some help. “That’s where I found out about the Angel Fund. I called and spoke with someone very helpful there. They told me to tell my vet about the program and they listed everything he needed to do so I could get the help. I am very, very grateful, because even though I love all three of my guinea pigs, it can be expensive with their health problems.”

But the joy and companionship Leslie receives from her pets is absolutely invaluable to her. “My animals mean the world to me,” she said. “I’m a serious lover of all kinds of animals, but my guinea pigs do genuinely funny things that just always make me laugh. Lucy is a very sweet girl who’s a lot of fun. Herbert is a very feisty pig even though he’s eight, and the bond he and Seven have brings tears to my eyes. I can tell my guinea pigs are grateful for the care I give them, and I’m thankful that the Angel Fund helped me take care of them.”

The Honest KitchenÂŽ Voluntuntairly Recalls Limited Lots

info@thehonestkitchen.com

THE LOTS OF OF VERVEÂŽ, ZEALÂŽ AND THRIVEÂŽ PRODUCTS RECALLED DUE TO POSSIBLE HEALTH RISK

SAN DIEGO – February 21, 2013 –

The Honest Kitchen today announced that it is voluntarily recalling five lots of its Verve, Zeal and Thrive pet food products produced between August and November 2012 and sold nationwide in the US and Canada via retail stores, mail order and online after August 2012 because they have the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella. No other Honest Kitchen batches, production dates or products are affected.

Healthy people infected with Salmonella should monitor themselves for some or all of the following symptoms: nausea, vomiting, diarrhea or bloody diarrhea, abdominal cramping and fever. Rarely, Salmonella can result in more serious ailments, including arterial infections, endocarditis, arthritis, muscle pain, eye irritation, and urinary tract symptoms. Consumers exhibiting these signs after having contact with this product should contact their healthcare providers.

Animals with Salmonella infections may be lethargic and have diarrhea or bloody diarrhea, fever, and vomiting. Some animals will have only decreased appetite, fever and abdominal pain. Infected but otherwise healthy animals can be carriers and infect other animals or humans. If your animals have consumed the recalled product and have these symptoms, please contact your veterinarian.

The Company is taking this action after learning that one of its raw ingredients suppliers has recalled a batch of human‐grade parsley that may contain Salmonella. The batch of parsley was shipped to the Company in 2012 and used in the production of five lots of finished Honest Kitchen products.

The Honest Kitchen regularly tests for Salmonella and other pathogens as part of its quality control process and has not received to date any reports of illness associated with these lots of products. Nonetheless, the Company is proceeding with this action in order to ensure the full safety and quality of its products.  “We are committed to providing the highest‐quality human‐grade food available to our customers’ pets,” said Lucy Postins, founder, CEO and CMO of The Honest Kitchen. “While our quality control tests did not find evidence of Salmonella in any of our finished products, we are accountable for everything we make, and are taking precautionary action to ensure the safety and integrity of our products.”

To see the lots being recalled, go to: https://goo.gl/wKpCu