omidog

Foods you should never feed to your guinea pig…ever!

omidog — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 22:38:50 +0000

Just like cats and dogs have dietary limitations and unsafe foods to eat (chocolate, for example), guinea pigs have some special food needs too! When you think about a guinea pig, you probably don’t think too much about what they eat. Hay and pellets, right? Seems low maintenance enough. But the truth of the matter is, a happy and healthy guinea pig deserves supplementary treats that provide nutrients and taste delicious. The key here is knowing what foods are safe for your guinea pig to eat, and what ones aren’t.

Thankfully, I’ve got a nice list here of foods to NEVER feed your guinea pig, EVER! And there’s an excellent rule of thumb when thinking about what to feed your precious piggie for a snack - if you’re not sure, don’t take the chance. This list isn’t exhaustive, so if you see something in your fridge that you’d love to feed to your little piglet but don’t want to wind up with an emergency trip to the vet, best to eat it yourself and find something else for your little one to munch on.

You can find a more exhaustive list of foods to not feed your guinea pig, as well as foods that your guinea pig will love over at my Squidoo Lens - “Guinea Pig Care 101 part 4 - What Your Guinea Pig Can and Cannot Eat”. Feel free to ask any questions!

Some foods you should never feed to your guinea pig…EVER!

Iceberg lettuce
Any type of cabbage
Potato peelings
Shelled nuts or seeds
Dairy Products
Any processed, sugary foods like candy or soda
Chocolate or other caffeine-containing products.
Cookies/bread*
the full list and the explanations behind many of these no-no foods.

Many of these are common sense, but some like cabbage or iceberg lettuce may be confusing when you start to think about it. When in doubt, reach for a nice big slice of red pepper or a baby carrot to feed to your guinea pig and they will be your friend for life!

Cape Ann Animal Aid is on their way to a new shelter

omidog — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 20:30:10 +0000

As I sat and watched the 4th of July parade go by yesterday afternoon with my extended family, I was thinking of how strange it was that we gathered together every year to watch a parade that, with a few exceptions, always seemed to follow the same pattern. A few marching bands (though less this year for some reason), some cutely decorated floats, the town selectmen, the bagpipers, and loads and loads of firetrucks (I was blocking my ears as usual, haha). But this year, one float slowly passed by and it was very simple but the most exciting one of all for me - Cape Ann Animal Aid.

Cape Ann Animal Aid is a no-kill animal shelter located in Gloucester, MA that has some wonderful employees and a great mission. They treat the pets like their very own, and they actually have a few cats that they don’t even allow people to adopt because they’ve been there so long it’s like their home with their family. The only problem has been that it’s so tiny. It’s a very very small shelter so even though the atmosphere is wonderful, there hasn’t been enough room to really accomplish what they want to accomplish.

The float passed by and there was a van with a bunch of stuffed animal cats and dogs on top (very cute), and a big sign that had a construction drawing of a huge hospital-like building. I nearly took a double take and said, “WHOA….are they going to build a new shelter for Cape Ann Animal Aid?!” Sure enough, the plans are in the works for a 2 million dollar, 7500 square foot animal rescue center to be built. I couldn’t be more happy for them, and for the animals that will have such a wonderful facility to stay at while they await a new and happy home!

If you’d like to learn more about the plans for the new center, or to donate, or even just learn more about Cape Ann Animal Aid in general, I definitely encourage you to check out their newly updated website. Or maybe you’ll be inspired to get started in finding out ways you can promote better facilities for shelter pets in your hometown.

Dogster covers some hot weather safety info, too!

omidog — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 00:21:22 +0000

I just found a blog post on Dogster that appends the previous post here perfectly. Turns out the dangers of keeping pets in hot cars has been recognized enough to be made illegal in some areas. Though the laws aren’t as strictly enforced as they could or should be yet, it’s awesome to see that precautions are underway to keep our animals safe in the warmer months.

10 Tips for protecting your pet from hot weather

omidog — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 15:43:56 +0000

Whew!! Do you feel that? Here in weather-fickle Massachusetts, it was raining and in the upper 50s on Friday. What a change on Saturday when temperatures skyrocketed to 90. Today it’s already 93, and tomorrow is supposed to be even hotter! Looking at a map from weather.com, it looks like there aren’t too many places in the entire country who aren’t experiencing a heat wave, and that means that it’s important to think of our pets just as much as ourselves when the temperatures start to climb.

Here are some more tips you can follow to keep your pet safe in the heat, and to help everyone feel a bit more comfortable while the weather is sizzling.

NEVER leave your pet in a hot car, even with the windows cracked. If the temperature is above 80 degrees, the inside of your car can climb to temperatures near 200 degrees in a matter of only minutes.
Make sure your pet has plenty of fresh, cool water to drink. If you have a dog, be sure their water bowl is full if they spend any time outside. If you have smaller pets that drink from water bottles, be sure that they have enough to drink at all times.
If you have a small pet that’s susceptible to heat stroke like a guinea pig, or if you notice your dog or cat is panting and showing signs of heat exhaustion, a great way to help soothe them is to provide a water bottle filled with ice water wrapped in a small towel or wash cloth. They can snuggle up against it and cool off.

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June is National Adopt a Cat Month!

omidog — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 15:14:45 +0000

June has officially begun, and in addition to being the month that we welcome warm weather, it’s also National Adopt a Cat Month from the American Humane Association! The AHA says that the number of homeless cats in our country is about equal to the number of adopted cats. Isnt’ that awful?! Because of this overpopulation, over 70% of homeless cats are put to sleep because they can’t find homes quickly enough. If you’re thinking of adopting, remember how short a cat’s life can be in a shelter and be inspired this month to take action. You can celebrate your neighborhood shelter cats this month even if you’re not at a point where you’re able to adopt. You can help spread the message in lots of ways.

You could:

volunteer at your local animal shelter and pet the shelter cats and talk with the prospective adopters that come in about the cats they’re having a look at.
talk with your local pet store to ask if they might be willing to put up a flyer in their window or on a bulletin board advertising National Adopt a Cat Month
leave some messages on your favorite online pet messageboards like petfinder or catster/dogster letting others know and offering to get together in your local area for discussion groups or pet events
adopt a cat or kitten!

Of course, each month of the year hopefully people are thinking about adoption and are finding loving companions at their local animal shelters. Springtime seems to be a season when people are really excited to find a pet, whether they’re looking for baby kittens and puppies, or are longing for a full-grown cat or dog to keep them company in the warmer weather. Everyone is out and about walking their dogs in the park, so it can be very tempting to want to join in and have a companion of your own! Just be sure before you adopt that you’ve really thought through the long-term commitment of a pet and know the proper care involved.

Hey, June is also a great month to adopt a guinea pig (okay there’s the bias coming in again, haha). If you end up adopting a cat this month or organizing any National Adopt a Cat Month activities, I’d love to hear more about it! Leave a comment or email and I can feature you on the blog!

Slentrol - Diet pills for dogs?!

omidog — Thu, 29 May 2008 14:38:46 +0000

As I was settling in to watch some of the always entertaining Colbert Report last night, Stephen Colbert introduced a segment entitled “Pet News”, wherein he introduced a product known as Slentrol - an anti-obesity medication for dogs. Apparently, Slentrol is the first medication of its kind that’s a prescription pill directly targeted toward combating excess weight in our pudgy pooches. Of course, since Stephen Colbert was talking about it, I don’t think anyone was supposed to take it seriously, haha. A little photoshopped picture of a pug with a doctor’s outfit on popped up as Colbert said, “Slentrol has been hard to get a prescription for since it’s been particularly difficult to find a dog with a Ph.D.”

After the initial shock and hilarity wears off, though, we have to remember that this is, in fact, a real product. What’s even more important is that dog obesity is common and serious enough that an entire company and product have been created because of it. The whole concept of this medicine is alarming on many levels. First, there’s the fact that a company has created a pill for pets that’s being presented just like all of the other advertised, prescription medicines for humans. It makes you question the integrity of the product, and skeptical that they’re merely out to make money.

Second, like many human medications, there is, of course, a disclaimer of side effects with Slentrol. (more…)

Important foods to never feed your Dog or Cat

omidog — Fri, 23 May 2008 18:48:44 +0000

In the spirit of the long weekend coming up for Memorial Day, I thought it would be the perfect time to talk about what foods you shouldn’t feed your dog or cat. With so many people barbecuing and spending time with their families (and pets!), it’s a prime time for table scraps. While you and your vet know your particular pet’s dietary limitations the best, there are some specific foods that are very important to avoid. (I have an entire Squidoo lens dedicated to this same topic for guinea pigs as well. They’re close to my heart so I have quite a bit of information developed for you cavy slaves out there if you like! I’ll be pulling some of those over here in the not too distant future)

So, while you’re gathered ’round the grill for a hot dog or firing up some s’mores on the beach this weekend, keep this list in mind and save your pets from a potentially life-threatening snack.

In addition to general precautions against excessive “people food” scraps or logically bad foods like candy, some specific foods to never feed your pet include:

onions
mushrooms
chocolate or other caffeinated products
alcohol
grapes or raisins
macadamia nuts
avocado
anything with a lot of sugar or any artificial sweeteners

There is somewhat of a debate over how harmful garlic is for dogs. Some sources say that it’s bad for your dog, and others actually promote it as a healthy, beneficial item in your pet’s diet. I’m not a veterinarian or an animal dietary specialist, so I don’t want to lead anyone down the wrong path either way! Generally, the best rule of thumb is “if you’re not sure, don’t take the chance”.

Have a happy and safe holiday weekend, everyone, and just make sure if you offer your pup a bite of that Memorial Day hamburger, pull the onions out first!

Animal Sightings on the Road

omidog — Thu, 22 May 2008 22:44:38 +0000

Driving home from work today, I had a very strange experience. I was puttering along, stuck in stop and go traffic as usual, and my eyes were wandering about as I rested my foot on the brake. I looked to my right, and there in plain sight right along side the highway not more than 10 or 15 feet from me was a doe eating from a small tree! I couldn’t believe my eyes. I had to take a second look to make sure I was really seeing this. She was just calmly standing there, munching away on some leaves as the slew of cars slowly crept by, completely undaunted. This is the first time I’ve ever seen a wild deer so closely in the middle of the day. I wish I had my camera with me!

This made me then think about how the only other times I have seen deer by the highway have been when they’ve been killed by a car. It made this sighting bittersweet, because while I was excited to see such a beautiful animal so closely, it also made me sad to realize that this is her home, and we’ve run roads right through it. Even as a beautiful rainbow stretched across the sky between the sun and rain showers during my commute, I couldn’t help but feel a bit sad.

During the rest of the ride, I had my eyes peeled for other animals, but things got worse as I kept driving. I passed by a sweet little raccoon, sprawled out dead in the breakdown lane; and a squirrel, or gopher or groundhog…it was hard to tell exactly what since it was mangled… and this morning I had passed by a squirrel, lifeless in the road. It breaks my heart to see animals that have been hit by cars, so I wanted to post something here to just remind everyone to be extra careful on your commute.

Seeing that deer showed me that it’s not just nighttime when animals are out and about. Even birds can swoop down and be struck mid-flight. Sometimes, animal accidents happen so fast that there’s no way you can stop them. But if we all take a bit more time to keep our eyes alert, and not rush quite so much, maybe that second look will save a life (even yours!).

Safe driving, everyone!

The 575 Project

omidog — Thu, 22 May 2008 15:32:22 +0000

A friend just posted about this on her journal, and I was so moved by it that I had to share it here. The website Art for the Animals by Cyrus Mejia features an extraordinary exhibit entitled the 575 project. This art exhibit calls our attention to the fact that 575 dogs and cats (and other animals, presumably) are euthanized every hour in animal shelters. This works out to approximately 5 million unwanted pets every year.

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i can haz lolcat mural plz?

omidog — Wed, 21 May 2008 19:45:44 +0000

It may come as no surprise to you that one of my favorite websites of all time is icanhascheezburger.com. If you haven’t been there before, I strongly recommend it. Some people just don’t get it and aren’t amused, but chances are you’ll be addicted like I am. : )

Well, I just went over there to get my daily fix of lolcat pictures and I saw THIS… a massive lolcat mural in California! The creator of icanhascheezburger.com was even on site to take pictures and witness the momentous occasion. If you ever need proof that social media is taking the world by storm, this is it. A lolcat mural several stories high is now emblazoned forever on a building, commemorating what once started as a tiny amusing meme that has cat-apulted (har har…sorry, couldn’t resist) to insane Internet fame, spawning such spinoffs as the lolcat bible, i has a hotdog, and lolruses.

You can see a bunch of pictures of the mural-making process here. Awesome!