Carma Poodale : 01/01/2013

Goodbye Little Grey Kitty

Last week was a ruff week.
Ma had taken one of my fur friends, Daisy a kitty, to the vet because she had a bump on her lip that needed to be checked out. Daisy got a boo boo shot and was released to go back to the Humane Society. The doctor said it would be fine. Ma stopped by the house and asked Scooby and me if we wanted to ride with her to take Daisy back to the Humane Society. She didn't have to ask twice. We jumped in the car and enjoyed our ride. When we got to the Humane Society's parking lot , there was a car driving away. We thought it was just someone who had signed up for spay/neuter clinic but it wasn't.

Daisy waiting to see the Dr.

It was 2 ladies who had dropped off a sick,sick kitty. Ma had the lady who was working to call the president of our humane society to tell her about the kitty. As soon as she heard about it said "Get that kitty to the vet NOW!" The lady called the vet to tell them a kitty was coming in as a emergency and we thought maybe it had been poisoned by the way it was acting. Ma already had the crate in her hand and out the door we ran. She put the kitty crate in the front seat and Scooby and I got in the back seat and after we got off the property , ma put the pedal to the medal. I don't think I have ever went that fast in a car but this was serious. This kitty's cries were so heartbreaking, it was beyond words. I put my head on the crate and ma talked to the kitty all the way to the vet's office. I couldn't touch the kitty but I hope it knew I cared.
When we got to the vet's office , ma jumped out the car said "I will be right back" and grabbed the kitty and was gone. She came back out of the office and got me and Scooby. We went in to the office got a seat and we waited. We waited and waited then waited some more. The vet came out and told us he didn't know what was wrong with the kitty but they were doing test and trying to warm the kitty up. Its really cold here in Ky. He went back to check the kitty ,so we waited some more. Then he came back out and said that the kitty needed to stay there for a while but he would call when he knew more.
We came home. Ma said we would know more the next day but we would say a prayer for the kitty. I kept thinking about that kitty and I couldn't get the sound of it's cries out of my head. Only thing I knew was that if it could be saved, it would have a home at the Owensboro Humane Society where it would have food, a warm home and the love of the staff and volunteers.
Late that night we found out the kitty didn't make it. The vet did everything he could to save it but the body temp had gone to low and the kitty didn't have the strength to fight. Poor kitty. I so sorry we couldn't get you help in time. We did what we could but it wasn't enough.
The ground here in Ky has been so frozen that we couldn't dig the dirt but because of the warm weather we have had the kitty got the proper burial today. The president had asked the vet to put the kitty in a proper box for burial. The vet's office could have thrown that kitty away in the garbage but that kitty meant more to the Owensboro Humane Society than that. Today the kitty got laid to rest in it's forever home. I am so sorry kitty. We really tried. You were just a baby and should have had a long life ahead of you but something happened that took you away. After the kitty was buried, I wanted to go say goodbye.

Why did kitty have to go to kitty heaven?

I sniffed the freshly dug grave and then I sat down. I said a prayer to the big dog in the sky to take care of the kitty and I knew that kitty would never be neglected, hungry or cold again.
My fur friend Jade, who had been helping me be a door greeter at the spay/neuter clinic today came over and I told her about kitty. She sat down with me. We wanted to show our respect for the life that was lost.

The last time I sat by a grave it was the grave of my human papaw. I thought of him while I was there. I know that when this kitty went to heaven that my papaw welcomed it and it is probably sitting on his lap because he loved kitties and all animals. This weekend ma and I are going to get something special to put on the grave. She says grave markers are important because they mark those who should never be forgotten. I agree.

Dear Little Kitty,
I am so sorry you had to go.

I am sorry you had to feel the pain that you felt

but I want you to know that you meant something

to me , ma ,my fur friends ,volunteers and staff

all of the Owensboro Humane Society,

You were important to us.

Run free little kitty

Say hello to my papaw and give him a purr too

we just wish we could have saved you

I want to thank my humane society and the vet's office for trying to save the little kitty's life. I am proud to be a spokesdog for the Owensboro Humane Society.

The Owensboro Humane Society cares about the well being of animals. They are a true NO KILL facility but this time the big dog in the sky decided to take this little kitty to live with him. I don't know if this little kitty was a girl or a boy and it didn't have a name but I will call it "Heaven" because that is where it lives now.

The following is the mission statement of the Owensboro Humane Society:

MISSION STATEMENT:

"The Owensboro Humane Society operates on the belief that all of mankind has a responsibility to respect the creatures on this earth. To that end, we strive to improve the life, health and habitat for the rejected, abused and neglected animals in our Owensboro-Daviess county area."

Please hug your fur kids tonight and tell them you love them. This is something I don't think this kitty never had the pleasure of feeling. This is a shame. Every animal should know what it is to be loved.

#WW- Cool Carma

Sunday B/W -Scooby doo

Does What You Feed = How Much You Love Your Pet?

Recently on Facebook, one of the sites that I follow made a comment on how they went to a big name pet store to buy a dog sweater but cringes each time they walk in there knowing those big name pet stores sell nothing but junk food. A huge amount of comments started pouring in. Some agreed , some didn't. A few even started fighting about which big brand store was the best and it turned bad.
I asked her why she would even say that knowing that these stores did carry high quality food like the higher end brands and I told her what I ate. She politely told me I was eating a sub par food that she would never recommend. Boy my ears perked. I asked why she was against it and she said because it only got a 3.5 rating. With that being said I asked where she got this rating and she said http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/ so I went to the site and I started reading. One thing that got under my fur was the fact that they don't even test the food themselves. They look at the label that is on the food to come up with their rating. There are hundreds of sites like this one and if you go to them they will all probably have a different rating.
Then she made the comment to me that if you are going to own a dog then you need to feed it only the best food that is available. Of course me being the inquiring poodle I am, asked what brand she fed. She told me, Yes it got a 5 start rating on this site, yes it got raved reviews from people who used it but the price was a little steep.

The ingredients are listed has having:
Fresh deboned wild boar*, fresh deboned lamb*, fresh beef liver*, fresh deboned pork*, lamb meal, peas, salmon meal, russet potato, herring meal, fresh whole eggs*, fresh deboned bison*, potato starch, fresh deboned salmon*, pacific whitefish meal, fresh deboned walleye*, salmon oil (preserved with mixed tocopherols), sun-cured alfalfa, pea fiber, dried organic kelp, pumpkin, chicory root, carrots, spinach, turnip greens, apples, cranberries, blueberries, licorice root, angelica root, fenugreek, marigold flowers, sweet fennel, peppermint leaf, chamomile, dandelion, summer savory, rosemary, vitamin A, vitamin D3, vitamin E, niacin, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, d-calcium pantothenate, pyridoxine, folic acid, biotin, vitamin B12, zinc proteinate, iron proteinate, manganese proteinate, copper proteinate, selenium yeast, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Enterococcus faecium. * DELIVERED FRESH, preservative-free and never frozen. No dry dog food on earth can match the quality, quantity and freshness of our fresh regional poultry, fish and meat ingredients.Made with great care and pride in our award-winning factory here in Canada, free range chicken, wild caught fish and free range red meat. Its all safe for humans to eat according to Canadian standards.

How much does this amazing food cost? a 29 pound bag is $117.00 but if you buy two bags its only $112.00 a bag. Are you ready to order?

Now I am all for a quality food, I like a lot of the ingredients but I don't know what Canadian standards are or if I like the fact that wild boar and others are being killed each day. I have tried a sample bag of this food before and like a lot of other food it got thrown to the birds and our possum. Yes I am a picky eater, I will admit it but I found a food that I really like and it has made a difference in my health.
I eat Nutro and in just a month I have seen a difference. I have more energy, my anal gland problem is improving and even though I have a few spots still on me I don't have anymore appearing, My spots have nothing to do with my diet its what some older poodles get. I am 7 now so I am a older poodle. Doc says that it could have been something that ran in my family.

The next day the site I followed made a post that said that because of the fire storm that happened on that topic and the fact she lost some followers by her comments about feeding only the best, she deleted the whole post. She made a statement that she knew everyone could not feed food that cost over $100 a bag but that didn't mean that people didn't love their pets any less.

Sometimes with social media, we have to watch our words. I have found this out a few times but it doesn't stop me from speaking my mind. I just try to word things different.

#WW wuv

Sunday B/W 1/20/2013

Announcing a Partner Spokespawson For My Shelter

As most of you know I am the spokesdog for the Owensboro Humane Society, here in Owensboro, Ky. My humane society is a no kill, non profit small shelter that has many pets and it seems to stay full. We have a waiting list so adoptions are really important because when 1 is adopted then that leaves room for 1 to come in. We have programs such as obedience classes, FREE nail clipping clinics and low cost spay/neuter clinics. We work hard to make a difference in our community. We want to help stop over crowded shelters by educating more on spaying and neutering your pets.

Over the week, I had a lot of meetings with my fur friend. He is a cat. CAT! WHERE? I am going to get it! Oops, sorry that word gets me everytime.
Anyways, after many many talks I have convinced my fur friend to help me out with all the things that a spokes dog has to do.

I am proud to announce that my fur friend, Lydsander, will be the official spokeskitty of the Owensboro Humane Society!! I am so excited that he has accepted the position.

A little about Lysander: Lysander and his sister Georgie (who lives in the same house together ) are one of the first group of animals the Owensboro Humane Society took in at their permanent location. The guy that had them wasn't taking care of them and blowing pot in their face and laughing...10 years ago. The man thought that was so funny. This is what the man's parents told OHS he did in when they contacted the humane society in a abuse case report. Lysander and his sister now lives with the President of our Humane Society and he has the best life a kitty can ask for!

Lysander is a "good" kitty. I can tell you horror stories about bad kitties but he is a good guy that I look forward to working beside to help spread the news of spay/neuter, nail clinics, and more.

Frankly, I needed a kitty spokespawson to work with because kitties just don't listen to me. But now maybe Lysander can talk kitty stuff and then they will listen.

Welcome aboard Lysander!! I look forward to working with you because WE can make a difference!

#WW Fun

Since I am using a different computer because ours has passed to Laptop heaven ,we haven't had time to transfer photos to this one so I am using a older photo of my sissy spaniel, Jenny Sue. Her shirt was purchased from Letsbepets.com

And just for fun

Sunday Black and White 2013

What Meat to Eat?

As you can tell by my Barkday photo I love KFC Chickyum but its not something I get all the time. It's a special treat for me on my special day. We do however get a special meal every couple of weeks and lately that has been those packs of Chickyum (chicken) livers, gizzards and hearts.

Recently on a chat that I attend on Monday's I was told that I needed to stay away from liver. So that got ma thinking about what other treat meat she should introduce to us. On a recent grocery trip, she browsed the meat aisle to see what she could find. She came home with a package of ground lamb. She offered it to us raw but none of us fur kids would even give it a try so she saute'd it. She didn't add any salt or seasoning to it and when it was done she divided it on to separate plates and let it cool a little. It was still warm when she gave it to us but after a couple of sniffs I decided to take a tiny bite. Jenny Sue scoffed hers down in a heartbeat, Scooby looked to me for guidance. Appawently he never had it neither. One nibble and I was hooked. I ate everything on my plate and so did Scooby. That was really good. I can't believe ma expected us to eat it raw.When she offers raw food like that we all act like she is trying to poison us. Now I know she would never do that but we still act like she is.

We looked up the nutritional value of the lamb and this is what we found:

Calories
(g)

Protein
(g)

Fat
(g)

Saturated
(g)

Poly-unsaturated
(g)

Mono-unsaturated
(g)

Cholesterol
(mg)

Ground, broiled

240

We ate 3 pounds of lamb but it was proportioned between us all. Scooby got 1/2 pound , Jenny Sue got a 3/4 of a pound and I got the rest. We did see that lamb chops are lower in fat than ground lamb. That will be the next thing we try. Lets face it Lamb is expensive. Sometimes it can be twice the cost as beef but there are times that we can catch it on sale.

There were some other meats that ma thought about getting but really wanted to do some research before buying it. There was Ox tail, Tongue and beef hearts. None of these are really pretty to look at but when it comes to our special meals , looks don't matter.

Has anyone ever fed these to your canines?

If not, what types of meats do you recommend?

We won't eat raw meat. Ma has tried to mix it with our kibble but I will pick out kibble and leave the meat in the bowl. Jenny Sue will not touch it and Scooby Doo runs and hides when he smells raw in his bowl. Ma has to saute our meat. She does leave it medium raw so its not totally cooked through.

So now its your turn. What types of meats do you feed your pets? Do you allow any types of bones?