Pet Momma

Check out an article I found about leaving your dog alone during the day, and the new poll I set up on  Facebook about it. How long do you think it is OK to leave a dog home alone?

Who doesn’t love to give their pet treats? Mine are all spoiled with treats a few times a day.

Last week, my husband picked up some great pet samples for me at PepCom Tots & Tails in New York. Today’s treats are from Pet Ness. According to their website, Pet Ness developed because the owners wanted to give their pets the best possible quality of life. They have treats, biscuits, and tinctures, including a tincture for cats, all containing full spectrum hemp oil. The hemp oil is sourced in Colorado.

There is so much news lately about the benefits of CBD and hemp oil, so what’s the difference? In basic terms, hemp oil is a broad combination containing cannabinoids, flavonoids and terpenes to give the full benefits from the plant while CBD Oil is one cannabinoid that is isolated.

Cali, my 11 lb. morkie, has some anxiety and also some joint issues. I’ve been giving her CBD oil for several months now, and it definitely seems to help. I use it twice per day, dropped on her food.

Pet Ness offers tinctures that you can add to your dogs’ food, like I do, but they also offer treats that can be used for specific situations. For example, if you have a dog that stresses about visitors, or vet appointments, you could feed their calm treats about an hour before the appointment.

With names like Mobility, Thrive, Calm, and Happy, Pet Ness makes it pretty easy to figure out which treat might be the right one for your dog. Mobility is for joint care. Thrive is formulated for heart health. Calm has ingredients to help with anxiety, and Happy helps boost mood.

The first treat I checked out was Happy biscuits.  Happy contains 1.5mg of hemp oil per treat. Small dogs would get one treat while larger dogs could have up to three. I picked up the cute package and was overwhelmed with delicious smells when I opened it. Cali came right over to see what I had. I was trying to decide if I should taste one of these myself, they smell SO good! Happy treats are a vegan blend of oats, sweet potato, pumpkin, carrots and more. They smell and look like a delicious little cookie. The treats are about an inch in diameter, and a lovely orange color with flecks in them, probably from the oats. They are hard and crunchy, but softer than a typical dog biscuit. My little Morkie had no trouble chewing it up. It didn’t take Cali long to learn the smell of these treats, and the second the bag opened she would appear from wherever she was napping hoping for another. They were definitely a hit!

Calm was the next treat I checked out. These have 4mg of hemp oil each along with chamomile, lamb, and palm fruit oil. These treats are formulated to help with anxiety, sleep issues, and to help calm tummies.  Like the other treats, it is recommended you feed 1-3 treats depending on the weight of your dog. The Calm treats have a stronger smell, a bit mineral-ish, kind of earthy. They are softer and smaller than the Happy treats.  Each one is a small little nugget, maybe half an inch long. They are drier and more crumbly than the first treats.

What did Cali think? Well, she didn’t come running when I opened the bag. The first time I fed her one she sniffed it and jumped back.  I wish I had a video! She picked it up in her mouth and kind of tossed it and then did a silly little doggy dance around it. Finally, she started rolling on it! I know others have dogs that find things outside and roll all over them, maybe trying to mask their own scent? Cali loves to roll on things, but I’ve never seen her roll on a treat. Why she chose to roll on this treat, I have no idea.

I’ve offered her the Calm treats a few more times, and they just aren’t her thing. Maybe it’s the lamb as it isn’t something I usually feed? Whatever it is, there is no way for me to see how she reacts to the ingredients if she won’t eat it.

Bottom Line: Happy Biscuits were definitely a hit. I like the all natural ingredients, my dog likes the taste, and the little bit of hemp oil is a nice bonus. I wouldn’t go out of my way to buy the Calm treats, but maybe that is just my picky dog that won’t eat them. I do feel the crumbly soft chews are a little messy compared to the Happy Biscuits, and with the hemp oil concentration, I would like them to stay together better so I have a good idea of how much oil my pet is getting.

Both the soft Calm treats, and the Happy Biscuits are available on the Pet Ness website for $34.99 for 120 gm/4.23 ounces.  This seems a little pricey to me, but not out of line for a quality treat with lab-tested hemp oil.

Check them out at Pet Ness

Not pet related, but I can’t help thinking about Beulah the elephant today. Beulah  spent her life traveling around in small trucks and living in parking lots for the enjoyment of humans. She showed up at the Big E Fair in Springfield, MA this year sickly, and yet her owners were still collecting money from people to take selfies with her.

Poor Beulah was photographed sleeping in a parking lot on her side this week, clearly ill.  She soon disappeared from the public eye, and now we find out that poor Beulah actually died at the Big E.

Please consider signing this petition to help stop fairs and circuses from taking advantage of wild animals.

Circus Petition

What do you use? What do you love? I plan to start reviewing pet products here. I’ve got a couple that I use regularly that I plan to start with, but what are you interested in?

CBD Oil seems to be on everyone’s mind lately.  I’ve been using it with my dog for several months now, I’ll do a post about it soon. Anyone else use CBD for their pets?

Another one of my favorite pet products is my Water Fountain. I know it seems a little silly to have a water fountain for your pets, but I have grown to love mine! I’ll do a post soon about why it’s really a practical thing.

 

My history with pet birds starts in middle school.  My first bird was a little cockatiel named Rosie, not the most original name since she had “Rosie” red cheeks. Rosie was cool, she whistled and loved to fly across the living room. She was a sweet little bird that loved to have her head scratched.

While taking care of Rosie, I met Maverick, a Red Lored Amazon Parrot. He belonged to the local pet store where I bought supplies, and he was not for sale.

Poor Maverick, (that was my name for her, the pet store hadn’t bothered to name her) lived in a too small, dirty cage perched high on a shelf in the back of a strip mall pet store. She would stare down at people when they walked in the store, and had learned a lovely string of swears courtesy of the local teens that would come in and pester her. I always spent extra time in the store when I shopped there talking to Maverick. I dreamed of having a big bird some day.

Eventually, I noticed a sign that the store was closing. What was to happen to the parrot, I asked? You want it? Of course! Maverick came home with me. First task was a new and bigger cage.  Second was reading up on parrot diet and care.

Maverick wasn’t the friendliest bird, but I could pick her up, she would ride on my shoulder if she was in the mood, and she would bite my ear if he wasn’t. She watched TV with us, laughing along and often imitating noises she heard. Maverick quickly became part of the family. When we ate dinner, Maverick had a place at the table. If she wanted something, she would run across the table and grab it off your plate. She loved to climb down from her cage and bite toes as someone walked by. If you screamed when she bit you, she would laugh!

After a couple of years, I headed off to college, and my mother took care of Maverick. When graduation came, I moved into my own apartment and Maverick came with me. Unfortunately, Maverick was not built for apartment life. I found myself feeling bad I wasn’t home enough to give her the time she needed, and my neighbors felt that Maverick was too loud.  Although it broke my heart, I knew Maverick needed a new home. I found a bird sanctuary and breeder that was interested in taking Maverick. They promised a large aviary, lots of good food, and even some birdie friends for Maverick to hang out with.

Over the years, I always wanted another pet bird, but I knew how long they could live, how much attention they needed, and how messy they were! I was also afraid to get into a situation of having one and not being able to keep it again.

Many years later, married with my own home and quickly growing children, I saw an article that the local animal shelter had seized dozens of lovebirds that needed new homes, I felt it was time. I went to look at them and loved their cheerful little tweets and pretty colors. My husband, who knows me very well, was afraid that a tiny little lovebird was only going to make me long for a big parrot again. He mentioned to a friend how he would probably regret saying it, but he felt I should get another big parrot, maybe even an African Grey like I had always wanted instead of a little lovebird. Yup, you read it right, my husband convinced me NOT to adopt a little lovebird and instead to wait for the right opportunity to bring my dream bird, an African Grey, home.

Check back soon for part 2 – Hector Comes Home…

Unable to sleep tonight, so it seems like a good time to catch up here. I have been wanting to post some of the stories of how we got our pets. Hector D. Byrd is the oldest age-wise, at 26, but Logan the cat, has been with us the longest, so I think I’ll start with her.

Logan and I met when I was volunteering at the local animal shelter. I love volunteering and have done many different volunteer jobs over the years.  I’ve walked dogs, cleaned small animal cages, done some Humane Education, exercised and cared for horses, and I’ve fostered cats.

My very first time fostering, I volunteered to take a mom with a litter that needed a foster home until the kittens were old enough to be adopted. I went to classes to learn about kittens and what they would need, I set up an area of our house just for our new guests. Mom cat’s name was Angel.  Angel had come in as a stray and almost immediately gave birth under the desk of one of the administrators. She only had two kittens, so they thought it would be a nice, easy first litter for me. The kittens were just about two weeks old when we brought them home.

Kittens! My kids were ecstatic! Each claimed one and named it, Pirate for the boy kitten, that looked like he had a black patch over one eye, and Logan for the girl, because my daughter had a doll named Logan and she liked the name. Pirate and Logan were so tiny and soft and my kids loved to snuggle them up in their little hands.

Everything seemed fine for a day or two, the kittens were nursing, and Angel was taking care of them. Very soon, I noticed that Pirate’s eyes looked a little crusty. I called the shelter and they said it would be OK, clean the eyes, and keep an eye on them. The next day he seemed a little sneezy. I brought him to the shelter and the vet there thought he had a respiratory infection and gave me some medicine for him. I was very careful to make sure he got all his medicine on the right schedule, but he didn’t improve. I took all three kitties to the shelter to get checked out again. They asked me to leave them over night, and when I called to check on them the next morning, they told me Pirate didn’t make it.

My son was devastated, that was “his” cat, but I felt it was important to continue with what we had started, so I picked up Angel and Logan and brought them back home. I was told what to look for with Logan to make sure she didn’t have any signs of sickness.

Logan thrived. She grew and played. Before we knew it, Logan was 8 weeks old. Time for the kitties to return to the shelter, get checked by the vet, and then get put up for adoption. This was definitely a hard part!

We all said our good byes to the kitties and wished them a happy life in their new homes. I cried all the way home from the shelter. I knew they would get adopted quickly, but they had been in our home for 6 weeks, it was tough to let go!

My daughter and I cried, a lot. My husband said to just go get the cats if that’s what we really wanted. Our current older cat didn’t really get along with Angel,  so we decided just to go get Logan.

I left a message for the shelter saying that we wanted to adopt her, and to please hold her for us. When I picked my kids up from school, I told them I had to stop by the shelter to do some paperwork.  My daughter tearfully asked if she could visit Logan while we were there. She didn’t know we had decided to keep the kitten! We went in, I did some paperwork (to adopt Logan) and then they brought Logan out to us. My daughter looked so confused. I smiled and handed Logan to her. She cried. She didn’t understand what was going on. She asked me why she had to say goodbye to Logan again. “No Silly Goose, Logan is coming back home with us for good.” She buried her face in Logan’s fur and cried happy tears.

Things were great for a couple of days. Logan settled right in and became part of the family. She seemed to be eating and drinking, but she wasn’t using the litter box. I took her to the vet, but the vet seemed very busy, didn’t really listen to what I was saying, and convinced me that the kitten needed diarrhea medicine. My instincts told me something was off. I kept a close eye on Logan. Just 24 hours after starting her on the new medicine, Logan was in bad shape. She seemed very dehydrated, she wasn’t eating, and I still don’t think she had used the litter box. I was devastated and thought we were going to lose her. I stayed up with her all that night. I fed her water from a dropper, and snuggled her in blankets to keep her warm. I brought her to another vet as soon as they opened in the morning.

Logan wasn’t exactly sick. Logan had been eating cat litter, and it had blocked her intestines. The vet kept her for the day and worked on getting the blockage cleared. We were able to bring her home that night, but things were shaky for a couple of days. Nothing like an expensive vet bill to start things off with our new kitten, but we were just thankful that she recovered quickly.

That was 2008. I did foster another litter of kittens after that. There were five or six of them, they were all grey and all looked exactly the same, and they were terrors! They climbed the walls, curtains, couches, our legs, everything! They didn’t snuggle, they ran all the time. I was happy they were almost six weeks old when we got them, so we only had them for a couple of weeks.  We worked with them and tried to teach them the joys of cuddling, but they were intent on the joys of running.

Now in 2019, we still have Logan, and we haven’t fostered again, (yet.)

Have you ever volunteered for an Animal Rescue Group? Have you fostered? Do you have any interesting stories about where your pets came from? Let me know in the comments.