by Jean Hofve, DVM Before last week, I had never heard of the College of Integrative Veterinary Therapies (CIVT). But I am tremendously excited about this organization, and I think a lot of our readers will be interested to learn about it. CIVT is an international educational organization that brings science to holistic animal care–a desperately needed perspective!...
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PetMD claims soy is good for carnivores
On a PetMD.com blog, Dr. Jennifer Coates discusses how nutrition impacts the immune system. No argument here, of course what you, your cat, your dog, or your pet elephant eats has multiple effects on the immune system and every other body system as well! http://www.petmd.com/blogs/fullyvetted/2012/dec/nutrition-to-strengthen-immune-system-in-cats-dogs?utm_source=Blog&utm_medium=Email&utm_content=FullyVet,%20Optimal%20Nutrition%20Gives%20the%20Immune%20System%20a%20Boost,October%2023,%202012&utm_campaign=FV#.UNI9VpPjnnw Supplemental arginine (an amino acid) has been linked to...
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Support Holistic Veterinary Medicine!
As a Little Big Cat reader, you know that we love to advocate and support holistic veterinary medicine; and you probably feel the same way. Here’s the best opportunity to support holistic medicine that you’ll have all year! For just one week (March 10-17, 2013) a matching drive will TRIPLE every $1.00 in donations! ...
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New Study Slams Raw Diets for Cats
A brand-new study in the Journal of Animal Sciences (J. Anim. Sci. 2013.91:225–237) claims that raw diets aren’t quite the cat’s meow. Researchers from the University of Illinois and an Omaha zoo fed raw diets to domestic cats as well as African wildcats, jaguars, and Malayan tigers. Let’s see what happened: Our objective was to evaluate...
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Are Dogs Really Supposed to Eat Corn?
by Jean Hofve, DVM Purina was the first to trumpet the results of an letter in the journal Nature reporting an in-depth study of the genetics of dogs vs. wolves. Their findings suggest that dogs have adapted their DNA to be able to digest and assimilate a high-starch diet. Purina is all about how wonderful...
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Funny Vet Stories
A couple of weeks ago, my pal Caroline Golon of Catster.com asked if I had any funny stories from my years as in clinical practice. Oh, yes indeed–and one in particular from the first practice I worked in after vet school. I’m honored to be among the vets included in Caroline’s new article, “7...
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2013 Pet Food and Supplement Issues & Recalls
Welcome to the 2013 log of pet food and treat recalls and problems (click here for the 2012 list). Check back here any time for updates, which sometimes occur daily but almost certainly every week. Click on links for specific product details. New items will be added to the TOP of the list. Note: Chicken...
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Happy New Year!
Ok, so I’m a day late…but I want to share two pieces of good news! First, the holiday sale on all e-books in our Bookstore and on Amazon.com has been extended until midnight on Friday, January 7, 2013! Lots of people have already taken advantage of this super sale, especially since you can get...
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AVMA Resolution Against Homeopathy
UPDATE 1/10/13: http://atwork.avma.org/2013/01/10/homeopathy-resolution-now-what-happens/#comments I was sad to hear that many people who called or wrote to AVMA were rude or even hostile. That is never a good way to get your point across; it marks you as just another whacko. And what we don’t need is to give AVMA the impression that people who...
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Holiday Sale on ALL E-Books!
It was the elves that got to me…they’ve had me slaving day and night to update every single e-book in our collection! Then Santa came along with all the reindeer, and made me lower every single price! (Hey, I’m Norwegian–I can’t argue with reindeer!) But seriously, folks…I’ve gone out and gotten the absolute latest...
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Pets in Pain–Don’t let them Suffer
We are honored to have a wonderful guest blogger today, Dr. Shelley Brown of Harmony Veterinary Center, Arvada, CO. Dr. Brown practices integrative veterinary medicine, including acupuncture, cold laser, and homotoxicology. She is a member of the International Veterinary Academy of Pain Management. I hear it all the time–“My pet’s limping, but she’s not in pain”...
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2012 Pet Food and Supplement Recalls
This list is being kept as up-to-date as possible. The most recent recalls are at the top. Check FDA’s or manufacturers’ websites for detailed information on affected products, lot numbers, and best-by dates. December 6, 2012 1. FDA has issued a warning not to feed Nature’s Deli Chicken Jerky Dog Treats (sold at Costco) due...
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Dr. Jean’s best-selling eBooks on sale now!
Sale ends at midnight on Friday, January 4, 2013! For the holidays, we’re having a crazy sale on all of Dr. Jean’s e-books, including the Amazon best-seller, What Cats Should Eat: How to Keep Your Cat Healthy with Good Food. Normally a bargain at $8.97, you can get it between now and January 4, 2013, either as a PDF ebook...
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These Animals Deserve Better
Some days, I’m ashamed to be a veterinarian. This is one of them. I just got the following action alert from the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), urging me to support invasive research on Great Apes. I agree that action needs to be taken, but I will be doing the exact opposite of the AVMA,...
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Filling Pet Prescriptions at Human Pharmacies
I just came across a very disturbing article in a veterinary publication about the errors being made by human pharmacists when filling prescriptions from a veterinarian. The Oregon Veterinary Medical Association (OVMA) conducted a survey to determine how often mistakes are occurring; and the results are horrifying! Examples of these errors include: • Changing Insulin. Pharmacists...
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Can You Make Your Cat Sick?
This is a question many people would like to know more about! Animal disease transfer to people is called “zoonosis.” Humans transmitting diseases to their pets is called “reverse zoonosis.” How and why this happens is still poorly understood. But veterinarians wonder if pets could be getting sick from humans, and not the other...
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Another cat lost at JFK
It wasn’t that long ago that a cat named Jack got lost at JFK airport; he was not found for weeks, and when he was, he was too far gone to survive. Another cat went missing at JFK on Thursday. A tabby named Xiaohwa was removed from her carrier so TSA could inspect it....
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What Your Vet Must Tell You about Vaccines (but probably won’t)
Many thanks to our good friend Jan Rasmusen for the following video and information. Click here to browse her vast resources on vaccines and more. Please be sure to sign this petition: http://www.change.org/petitions/veterinarians-fully-inform-us-before-vaccinating-our-dogs-and-cats The Darker Side of Pet Vaccination: A Video to Save Lives My sweet Maltese Jiggy died in August. His last moments are...
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Help pass anti-declawing legislation in California!
The California bill prohibiting landlords from requiring declawing cats and debarking dogs has overwhelmingly passed both sides of the state legislature and is on Gov. Brown’s desk for signature. As you may remember, former Gov. Schwarzenegger vetoed it the last time it passed, at the urging of the California Veterinary Medical Association. We are...
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AAFCO August 2012 Report
Thanks to an amazing and heartwarming outpouring of support from so many wonderful people, last weekend I was able to attend the 103rd Annual Convention of AAFCO (Association of American Feed Control Officials), the organization that makes the rules about how pet food is made. These rules are embodied in a book called the...
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Recall: All Catswell Chicken Treats
Many thanks to Susan of www.truthaboutpetfood.com and Mollie at poisonedpets.com for this notice to pet retailers, which has not been released to the public (but it does appear on the FDA recall list): From a Catswell statement issued 7/27/12: “In a communication that you will be receiving shortly, Catswell will be announcing that we are...
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AVMA vs Raw Food
The AVMA recently adopted a policy position against raw meat diets for pets. Their reasoning is wrong and their science is unfounded. Here is my reasoning on why AVMA (as well as the AAHA which adopted the same policy almost as soon as AVMA voted on theirs) is wrong. 1. AVMA has a financial Conflict...
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Support Bill to Stop California Landlords from Requiring Declawing
Reprinted with permission (and great thanks!) from Jo Singer’s Petside blog (Original post June 4, 2012). California is one step closer to stopping landlords from demanding declawing and devocalization of pets. Good news may be soon be announced by the Great state of California, where eight forward-thinking cities have already banned the practice of cat...
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Pet Insurance
Great thanks to Lisa L. Richman for allowing us to reprint her excellent analysis of pet insurance, not to mention her impeccable journalism and courage in taking on the Wall Street Journal! Monday Medical Issues: Pet insurance – worth it? Just a few weeks ago, on May 7, Wall Street’s MarketWatch published an article published by contributing...
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Green Cleaning
Mercola.com just published a very good article on “green” household cleaners — and why the ones you buy at the store (even the health food store) may be no safer for you or your pet than the other toxic brews on store shelves. By Dr. Mercola Commercial cleaning products, even “green” ones like Simple Green,...
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Purina Cat Food Recall
Not Salmonella this time; Purina has recalled one lot of canned feline OM diet (weight management food) due to low levels of thiamine. (This is the same problem that affected Wellness canned cat foods last year.) Product Name Can Size “Best By” Date & Production Code* Bag UPC Code Purina Veterinary Diets® OM (Overweight...
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Got Fleas?
If you live in a flea-prone area (which is practically everywhere!), you’ll want to get Liz Eastwood’s fantastic Kindle ebook, Natural Flea Conrol for Cats Made Simple. In her book, Liz explains a simple, effective, and safe program to rid your cat and home of fleas, and keep them out. In this book, you’ll...
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Expanding Recalls by Diamond Pet Foods
**More pet foods and supplements have been added since the original post…rather than keep changing this article we are posting a full list of affected brands here with company website links. If you have a dog, you’ve probably already heard about the Diamond Pet Foods recalls due to Salmonella concerns. Diamond makes dry pet foods for...
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Cat Litter Roundup & Review
Every now and then, I go through a kind of “Litter Dance,” in which I try out a variety of kitty litters on my gang of four. Fortunately they’re amenable to the changes, which allows for a thorough evaluation of the different types of litter. I thought I’d share some of my most recent...
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Mad Cow Discovered in California
I’m in California this week (May 2012) visiting family…and there are so many interesting things happening here! But of course, the one that may most profoundly affect our pets is the discovery of a cow infected with Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE or “Mad Cow Disease”). The cow was, as usual, a dairy cow. Dairy...
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Salmonella Here to Stay?
A recent article from UC Davis caught my eye the other day; it was pretty disturbing. The story starts, “An international research team led by a University of California-Davis immunologist has taken an important step toward an effective vaccine against Salmonella, a group of increasingly antibiotic-resistant foodborne bacteria that kills hundreds of thousands of people...
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Sweet Potato Treats from China Causing Kidney Failure?
On the Veterinary Information Network, several veterinarians have reported cases where dogs have developed symptoms of kidney failure (Fanconi’s syndrome) similar to dogs who have been poisoned by Chinese-made chicken jerky treats. So far, the brands implicated are all made in China: Beefeaters Sweet Potato Snacks for Dogs Canyon Creek Ranch Chicken Yam Good...
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Keeping Pets Safe this Spring
Most bulbs will cause irritation in the mouth, esophagus, and stomach, causing drooling, vomiting, abdominal pain, or even respiratory or cardiac abnormalities. Lily plants are entirely toxic, especially to cats. Merely chewing a leaf or brushing up against a lily can be fatal.
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Feline Hyperthyroidism Update
Discovery News reported this week that “In a new study that analyzed the blood of 62 domestic cats and 10 feral cats, researchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign found that cats living inside homes had higher blood levels of a class of chemicals called PBDEs, compared with their outdoor-living peers.” Unfortunately, that...
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Newly Discovered Virus in China Linked to Feline Kidney Disease
Researchers in Hong Kong have discovered a new virus that they’re calling feline morbillivirus. It is related to the paramyxovirus that causes canine distemper; but in cats it appears to cause tubulointerstitial nephritis, an inflammation of the tissue between the kidney tubules that carry urine out of the body. The full article is quite interesting;...
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Pet food violates federal law–with FDA blessing
The FDA recently released a video about pet food to reassure us that commercial pet food is just fine: (FDA video)… But this video is incredibly misleading, and (if you ask me) even downright patronizing. A brand new, hard-hitting video from our good friend Susan Thixton at TruthAboutPet Food.com totally–and accurately–refutes the FDA’s claims: truthaboutpetfood.com/articles/response-to-fda-pet-food-video.html. AAFCO...
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Costco-Kirkland Dog Food Alert
There have been several reports of illness and death in dogs who were eating Costco’s Kirkland canned Lamb & Rice dog food, with an expiration date of 2013, specifically one lot dated June 23, 2013. One of the reports we received stated: “Please anyone that has a can, contact me directly. Do not return...
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Overweight Pets
Dr. Karen Becker over at Mercola.com has written a fabulous article on overweight pets and the completely wrong-headed approach being taken by the pet food industry to a problem that they themselves created. I agree with every word! Please take a few minutes to read her whole article: If Your Pet is Overweight, Please...
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Is Your Cat a Potential Star?
Jackson Galaxy’s awesome show, My Cat From Hell, is now casting for season 3! Please help spread the word! IS YOUR CAT’S BEHAVIOR DRIVING YOU OR OTHERS CRAZY? ARE YOU AT YOUR WIT’S END? DO YOU NEED HELP GETTING YOUR CAT TO BEHAVE? JACKSON GALAXY, our expert cat behaviorist, hasn’t met a cat he...
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