I love this; helping shelter and/or pets that need new homes…and WHEN they get adopted.
It’s a lot like magic.  The Internet is amazing, so powerful and reaches many miles and makes the limits much wider.  I often think about all the dogs, cats, pets that used to rely on the local classified ads in newspapers.  If you were lucky enough a person telephoned.
Our world gets smaller as we match up a dog with someone in LA and the dog lives in NY, or the new pet parent lives in SF and the dog needing a home and is from Utah.   The “right” parent has a better chance to find the “right” pet.

I love doing this work for the animals, it’s from my heart.   My income is generated with my massage practice and has been since 1984.  

In 2010, I created www.mypetfirst.com to educate, network and build community for the animals.   It helps to bring income & keep my heart projects alive. Please consider stopping by and looking at the Pet food I represent, or click google ads below, or buy from my affiliates, and/or order stuff through my link at Amazon (for anything you buy).   We all will benefit!

The pet food, supplements & treats I represent at Life’s Abundance is a human grade pet food that gets delivered right to your doorstep…on a schedule that you control.  The Holistic Vet that formulates it, Dr. Jane, donates, quarterly, to animal rescue groups. The benefits keep on coming!

Please go to my site and check it out:

www.mypetfirst.com
Thank you! Barbara Tapella

This is Barbara and Moki. She found Barbara & was adopted when she was 7 years old and lived a blessed life until she was 16.

 

Found this article about bee stings, I want to share the knowledge.

The following article is from:
Consumer Reports.Org

Cocoa mulch is toxic to dogs
Pet owners beware: This warning is real

It’s mulching season, and this landscaping essential just can’t catch a break.

Is it true? The fact that fragrant cocoa mulch can kill dogs that eat it?   There is truth to the claim, according to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA). Some dogs are attracted by the mulch’s chocolate aroma, and according to a warning from the ASPCA in 2003, “Eaten by a 50-pound dog, about 2 ounces of cocoa bean mulch may cause gastrointestinal upset; about 4.5 ounces, increased heart rate; about 5.3 ounces, seizures; and over 9 ounces, death.”

Cocoa mulch is made from crushed cacao shells, which contain caffeine and theobromine, two compounds to which dogs are particularly sensitive. (These substances are also present in everyday comestibles like baker’s chocolate, chocolate bars and candies, colas, and tea.) Depending on the size of the dog and the amount of cocoa mulch it ingests, symptoms can range from stomach upset to cardiac arrest. Dogs metabolize the compounds slowly, so symptoms may take hours or even days to manifest themselves. The ASPCA’s advice: Avoid using cocoa mulch anywhere unsupervised dogs roam.

Other natural alternatives to cocoa mulch, like cedar chips and pine straw, are typically less toxic but still may contain resins and oils that trigger gastrointestinal disorders in pets that ingest them. And all mulches, including those made from recycled plastics (see our report, available to subscribers), pose a choking hazard, especially in pooches with less-than-discriminating palates.

If you suspect your dog has eaten cocoa mulch or any other toxic substance, immediately contact your veterinarian or the ASPCA’s Animal Poison Control Center at 888-426-4435. The center, open 24/7 every day of the year, charges $55 per consultation.

Allergies are here in the environment that may be getting to your pet. Buy our Healthy treats for Dogs and Cats!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=i76RLxy4QRQ

Our food at Life’s Abundance has NEVER ever been on the recall list. It truly is fresh from USA manufacturing to your door in 4-6 weeks. No sitting on shelves or hot/cold trucks for months maybe a year or more?

Please make sure you are getting the fresh human grade food for your pup or kitty cat! We also have supplements and healthy treats! Delivered to your door for your convenience.  No hype, it’s truth!

have you ever read this story?

Does a label tell the whole story?

Betty and Bill are two single adults who have been asked to bring a meatloaf to
their social group’s get-together this Saturday evening. Bill has never made a
meatloaf but he knows that Betty makes a good one so he asks her for her recipe.
Betty is happy to share her recipe and sends this to Bill.

INGREDIENTS
� 2 pounds ground beef
� 1/2 cup bread crumbs
� 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
� 2 eggs, beaten
� 1/4 cup finely chopped onion
� 2 tablespoons finely chopped green bell pepper
� 1 teaspoon salt
� 1/4 teaspoon ground thyme
� 1/4 teaspoon ground marjoram
� 1/4 cup ketchup
� 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Combine ground beef, cracker crumbs, tomato sauce, eggs, onion, bell pepper,
salt, thyme, and marjoram in a large bowl and mix well. Shape beef mixture into
two equally sized loaves. Place both loaves in a 9×13 inch baking dish. Cover
with foil and bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour. Meanwhile, mix ketchup and
corn syrup in a small bowl to make a glaze.
3. Remove baking dish from the oven and remove foil. Brush glaze onto the
loaves. Return baking dish to the oven uncovered, and continue baking until
loaves are no longer pink in the center, 15 to 20 minutes. An instant-read
thermometer inserted into the center should read at least 160 degrees F (70
degrees C).

Friday night, Bill suddenly remembers the meatloaf he is supposed to make. He
wanted to go play golf tomorrow, so he decides he better make his meatloaf
tonight. Fortunately, for Bill, he had picked up some ground beef when he was at
the store last week because it was on sale. As far as he could tell, it was
still good that gray color doesn’t really matter, does it?

Bill begins to go through the ingredient list. He’s got the beef, and the bread
crumbs are easy. He didn’t know why he was saving all those bread heals from the
Iron Kids bread loafs, he just didn’t like throwing out things he had paid for,
but now he can use them. The fact that they are stale and hard as rock just
makes them easier to make into crumbs. He has to dig around but finally finds
an old can of tomato sauce. The “best by” date is two years past, but, it’s in a
can! It can’t go bad, right? Darn! He’s out of eggs-but then he remembers. He’s
got some left over powdered eggs from that hiking trip he went on last
summer-that’ll do. 1/4 cup finely chopped onion-no fresh onion, but luckily,
his mom bought him a spice rack when he went off to college (six years ago) and
he remembers a bottle labeled “Onion Powder.” It looks like about a  cup. 2
tablespoons finely chopped green bell pepper-no bell pepper either. But not to
fear! Bill is the luckiest man alive. It just so happens, he ordered pizza last
night, or was it the night before? It had bell peppers on it and he has half
that pizza left in the fridge. He manages to pick off just enough bell pepper
for this recipe. Salt is not a problem-but where’s that teaspoon measure? Oh
well, a few dashes ought to do. 1/4 teaspoon ground thyme and 1/4 teaspoon
ground marjoram-thanks Mom! A few dashes of each. Ketchup he has. Bill loves
ketchup. Can’t have too much ketchup! And finally Corn Syrup. He doesn’t quite
have two tablespoons left-but Corn Oil is about the same thing, right?

Bill mixes all the ingredients together, including the ketchup, which he likes a
lot, and the Corn, ugh, syrup/oil. He put’s it in the pan and then into the
oven, which he forgot to preheat. No biggie! Just turn it up a little extra.
Then Bill goes to watch the ball game. It was a sleeper; and sleep he did until
he smelled something burning. Bill runs to the kitchen and snatches the meatloaf
from the oven. Had he remembered to cover it as the instructions said, it might
not have been so black on top. Well, the glaze will cover it! Oops! The
ingredients for the glaze are in the meatloaf-but not to worry; Bill has plenty
of ketchup and corn oil.
Bill makes the glaze then puts the meatloaf in the refrigerator to keep until
tomorrow.

Saturday morning, Betty gets up early and goes to the butcher. She picks the
choicest cuts of sirloin and has the butcher trim it and turn it into ground
beef. On the way home she stops by the bakers for fresh bread crumbs and the
grocery store because she’s out of corn syrup and needs a fresh onion.

When Betty gets home, she goes through her normal Saturday routine until about
two hours before the get-together; then she turns on the oven, to precisely
350, to pre-heat and then gathers her ingredients. She makes her own tomato
sauce from the tomatoes she picked this afternoon from her vegetable garden. The
bell pepper, the thyme and the marjoram also come from her garden. The eggs she
bought this morning from her neighbor who keeps a few laying hens. She combines
the ingredients according to the instructions, places the loaves in the pan,
covers with foil, places it in the oven and sets the timer. Then she makes the
glaze and goes to put on her makeup. One hour later she returns, puts on the
glaze and returns the meatloaf to the oven, uncovered, and sets the timer for
another 20 minutes. She goes and gets dressed. When the timer goes off, she
checks the meatloaf with her instant-read thermometer it reads 167. Done! She’s
off to the party.

Bill’s golf game lasted longer than he had expected, it wasn’t his best day, and
so he was running late. He gets home, jumps in the shower, throws on some clean
clothes and rushes out the door. Five minutes later he’s back he forgot his
meatloaf. He knows he can’t take a cold meatloaf, but he doesn’t want to be too
late either. He quickly puts the meatloaf in the oven and turns it up as high as
it will go, all the way on broil, and sets the timer for ten minutes. As soon as
the timer goes off, he grabs the meatloaf and heads out the door.

****Now you are at this gathering of friends and you have a choice of meatloaves.
Both meatloaves were made from the same recipe; and if the ingredients were
labeled (as on a bag of dog or cat food) the ingredient list would be identical. Even
considering the corn oil substitute in Bill’s meatloaf, the FDA allows a
“temporary” substitution (up to six months) without changing a label.

So which meatloaf would you prefer? Which meatloaf represents “quality?” Could you tell
if the ingredients were on a label?

Now can you understand that you can’t judge a pet food strictly by the label?

Be it Winter or Spring or any other season…. EMBRACE the responsibility of a new companion animal.  Make sure you are educated to best serve your new family member. It’s a FOREVER COMMITMENT.

Dr. Sarah has some seriously helpful tips for all  new and established pet parents alike. It’s our (Life’s Abundance) version of the best-of-the-best info for winter pet care, with a dash of old-school puppy safety thrown in for good measure. Hopefully, this brief video will put your mind at ease, demonstrating just how simple it is to keep wee pups, and old dogs, safe throughout the chilly winter.

Traveling can be stressful and terrifying for your pets…and frightened pets can bolt very easily.  Before you go on your trip check your transport equipment, such as carriers and leashes and collars, to be absolutely certain they are safe and secure before you leave home. Have tags printed with your mobile phone numbers so you can be reached if your pets get away from you. Hopefully you are doubly secure with a microchip in your dog, bird or cat’s body.

Traveling during the holidays can be tiring and downright. Make your family holiday sane and safe.  

Here are some important tips:      

Feeding them before you leave will cause them to get upset stomachs and get sick in the car. I do recommend safety seat belts/pet car seats for pets, as we know anything can happen on the road.  Please keep them safe.  And one of the most important things about traveling with pets, is being sure they have proper ID. Go to your local pet store and use their quick vending machine to make a temporary tag that you can attach to your pet’s collar with your name and either cell phone number or phone number of the residence where you will be staying.  Keep in mind that if your pet gets lost and it’s micro chipped, more than likely they’ll be calling your home residence, and if you’re traveling, of course you will not be there to take that call.

Use-TAGG the pet GPS tracker, so if the pet gets out of the car, or gets away at a rest stop, you can easily track it on your smart phone or laptop computer and get them back quickly. You can Google that! (pet tracker-TAGG)

The reason you’re traveling with your pet is because you love it and do not want to leave it home for the holidays, so please love it enough to keep it safe.

Resource for blog “petside.com” and myself

What Not To Feed Your Dog

Your Thanksgiving meal, while delicious to you, will be on a dog’s no-no list.

1) No turkey, which is often stuffed and basted in fats to crisp the skin and make the meat moist. If you do give a small portion of turkey, make sure it is small, not fatty, and DE-BONED!

2) mashed potatoes with gravy and onions

3) stuffing (no raisins and no onions)

4) desserts

 Small, low-fat, non-spicy portions of food are the key to positive sharing.

 Here are some essential diet no-nos for the holiday season:

1. Avoid items that you know will upset your pet’s stomach. Not every pet’s gastrointestinal system is capable of taking on all foods and digesting or absorbing them properly. If you know your pet has had digestive sensitivities in the past, you should avoid new foods, especially in large portions, or combined with other new foods. Your holiday can be easily ruined by a carpet full of the resulting “reaction.”

2. Nothing with onions or other alliums (i.e., garlic, leeks, scallions). Though small, well-cooked portions of this plant group can be okay when pets are accustomed to them, larger quantities can lead to toxic anemia — especially in dogs. Also, be careful with turkey stuffing. Many stuffing recipes include onions.

3. No chocolate. Everyone knows that chocolate causes abnormally high heart rhythms in dogs, among other problems. But not everyone is aware that the kind of chocolate we bake with over the holidays is especially toxic. While an M&M or two may not hurt, a dog that snatches a large chunk of baking chocolate from the counter may end up in the ER. Be careful to keep ingredients out of reach when baking.

4. No grapes or raisins. These fruits have been found to cause kidney failure in dogs, and studies have shown that these products tend to cause problems when given in large quantities over a period of time, so there’s no need to risk it.

5. No xylitol. Most people don’t cook with this sugar substitute, but diabetics often do. Anything with xylitol in it is toxic and absolutely deadly to dogs. Sugar-free cupcakes, gums, and mints may also contain this product, so be careful all year round.

6. No macadamia nuts. As delicious as they are, we recommend you not offer them to your pet(s). That means that caramelized macadamia nut tart is off limits for your pet.

7. No alcohol. This is obvious. NONE! This “entertainment” to you may be deadly to your pet.

*******Feed your pet a regular diet on the Holidays, although tempting to share your feast. Best Dog &Cat food and Healthy treats

Found material on PetMed.com

You can pick up CAR LOADS of stray animals daily in LA and surrounding areas! PLEASE spay/neuter and micro chip your animals!

Just look at this video! Heartwarming and a happy ending!     Faith still needs a home.  Please share and support Hope for Paws!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=wK4RHgwzvCw

Human and Dog Peanut Butter Treats
Beef and Bully Sticks Dog Treats
Natures Chicken Jerky
Boots and Barkley Pigs Ears and Dog Treats
Nature Recipe Dog Treats

Want to be safe in what you feed your cat or dog? Our treats HAVE NEVER BEEN on RECALL!

and Either has our food…Dry kibble or wet…Please check it out, you will love this PET FOOD and they are delivered to your door.