Dog Tidbits

If you have a cat and live in Loveland, Colorado, you might want to know that Proctor and Gamble (P&G) just recalled “a small number” of their Iams Proactive Health Indoor Weight & Hairball Care dry cat food.

Fortunately, the recall only affects one or two pet stores.

The reason for the recall? You guessed it. The food might be tainted with Salmonella, although no one’s reported any illnesses from the food yet.

Here’s the text of the full recall:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – August 29, 2010 – CINCINNATI  — Procter & Gamble (P&G) is voluntarily recalling a small number of bags of its Iams Proactive Health Indoor Weight & Hairball Care dry cat… Continue reading

Photo by Erick Pleitez via Wikimedia Commons

Animal shelters all across the country are being swamped with unwanted dogs and cats.

The reasons for the deluge vary. When some people lose their homes, they move into rental houses or apartments that don’t allow pets. So they either abandon their pets or drop them off at shelters. Other people simply don’t want their dog or cat anymore and dump the unfortunate pet somewhere. And some people don’t neuter their pets.

Folks in the part of Tennessee in which I live are notorious for not neutering their dogs and cats. For example, a couple just down the street keep two unneutered dogs –… Continue reading

Photo by Nhandler via wikimedia.org

A recent incident the other day made me think about why it’s important to adopt dogs and cats from high kill animal shelters instead of no kill ones.

The day began with a phone call from the local builder Lisa and I bought our house from. He told us that the couple who had just bought a house he’d built the next street over had a stray dog — a juvenile, black Lab/Hound mix — on their hands. Someone had dumped the dog in the woods near their house.

The couple already had two dogs and couldn’t keep this one.They didn’t want to call the animal… Continue reading | 1 Comment

Merrick’s recall of its 10-ounce packages of Beef Filet Squares and Texas Hold’ems just went from bad to worse to worst.

On July 10th, Merrick recalled a single lot because it might be contaminated with Salmonella. Then on August 13th, Merrick recalled a second lot.

Now, on August 13th, Merrick recalled all lots of Beef Filet Squares and Texas Hold’ems.

Fortunately no one’s reported any cases of Salmonella from the food.

Here’s a copy of the recall notice as it appears on the FDA web site:

(Merrick posted the recall notice on their web site on the 13th. The FDA posted the notice on their web site on the 16th… Continue reading

Does Faith Have PTSD?

The other day, while Lisa was reading the newspaper, she cried out, “This dogs seems just like Faith! Listen to this.” She went on to tell me about a German shepherd named Gina who was trained by the Air Force to sniff out bombs. After a tour of duty in Iraq, she came home a wartime casualty — one of a growing number of dogs with PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder).

PTSD in dogs? That’s right. But it’s not that dogs (and cats, too) have suddenly become susceptible to coming down with PTSD. It’s just that trainers and vets are recognizing that pets as well as soldiers and civilians… Continue reading | 2 Comments

Last month, I mentioned that Merrick Pet Care had recalled its Beef Filet Squares for a second time in six months. Yesterday Merrick extended that recall to include 83 cases of 10-ounce Beef Filet Squares for Dogs pet treats, which also are called “Texas Hold’Ems.” The filet squares come in 10-ounce plastic bags.

If you have a 10-ounce plastic bag of Merrick Beef Filet Squares, check the top or bottom of it to see if the package contains the following identifying information:

• Item No. 60016
• Lot No. 10084TL7
• Best by March 24, 2010

If you find the information, then that package is included in the recall.

Merrick extended the recall to those bags… Continue reading