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November is National Senior Pet Month
November is National Senior Pet Month. This is the first I’ve heard of it, which makes sense because it’s a very new thing, but it’s a great idea. Just like our human elders, our longtime fur buddies deserve celebration and comfort in their old age. Pets can develop a lot of chronic issues like dementia, cancer, diabetes, arthritis, and so many other conditions that require specialized care and broader awareness. Very often good diet and supplementation can alleviate or delay the onset of many of these issues. Basic things like using the proper amounts of fish oil can combat joint and cardiac issues, and goat’s milk is great for kidney…
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The Right and Wrong Ways to Bring Home a New Dog
You only get one chance to do it right – and if you make this mistake, you can set the stage for a rocky relationship between your current dog and your new one. Dogs are social animals and their social units have hierarchy, so to minimize disruption and unrest, be sure to follow these steps. Adding a dog to your family is an exciting time, but one that must be given careful consideration. As the old saying goes, you only get one chance to make a first impression, and you want to be sure that the introduction goes well. While you may be tempted to throw open your front door…
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Global Cat Day 2023
Recognizing the role felines play in our lives today and historically The Global Cat Day 2023 theme, Cats Are CommunityTM, is a rallying call of this global truth: Cats have lived alongside people for thousands of years, have a place in our communities, and are beings of inherent value who deserve to be protected. Cats are our family, our friends, and our neighbors who live indoors with us and outdoors among us. Our unique relationships with them span thousands of years and cross every border. Love for cats is a universal language in itself. But even with so much history together, cats still face cruel threats to their lives every…
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Chonk v. Obesity
I have five roommates. The married couple from whom I rent, and I’ve been close with for decades, and their three rescue cats: Shuri is our new bleppy baby, and the sister act of Moxie and Josie. Josie is a pistol. She is also a tripod. She needed her front right leg amputated as a kitten due to an injury while living on the streets of Baltimore, MD. She gives me lots of belly and is very vocal when she feels she is owed treats, which is often. Moxie is the epitome of a scaredy cat, and that’s probably why she still has all her limbs. She has these dainty…
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Much Ado About Raw Food
This isn’t an attempt to boost sales of a particular product. This is an appreciation post. Per the AAFCO website “ Uncommon, but well-publicized, events have occurred when a pet food was to blame for a pet’s illness or death, or when a pet owner may have become ill handling contaminated pet food or treats…. The best defense consumers have is understanding what they are feeding animals in the first place, how to handle pet food products safely and how to use them correctly in feeding companion animals.” I’ve been a pet person my whole life so I took it for granted that I was up to date on pet…
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Sanctuary
Sanctuary is one of my favorite words. To me it signifies so many things, shelter from the storm, safety, respite, time to heal. For animals it can be a multitude of those things as well, but with any hardship, the road there can be daunting and fraught with trials. Recently, I visited a small animal sanctuary in Dickerson, MD near the much larger and more well-known Poplar Springs Animal Sanctuary. Barking Holler Animal Sanctuary is a working farm with approx 30+ acres and is home to a multitude of livestock, including horses (and mini-horses), cows, goats, sheep, pot-bellied pigs and poultry. Rudy, the head of the rescue also takes in…
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Help HRA Help Animals
The pandemic is blamed for almost as many things as broke Millennials or sensitive Gen Zers are. However, the quarantine phase of the pandemic yielded a lot of good, too. People suddenly had a lot of time and a lot of folks opted to welcome pets into their lives. According to The Washington Post “More than 23 million U.S. households — nearly one in five nationwide — have adopted a pet during the coronavirus pandemic.” As the pandemonium normalizes and society reconnects (and the global economy does whatever its doing) there is a dire consequence; many people are no longer able to afford caring for their fur family. A huge number of…
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The Hidden Beauty of Radio Silence
We recently adopted a new younger dog who is very athletic, and the upside is that a dedicated portion the day needs to be spent walking him in the neighborhood. Even better are the days when scheduling allows exploring the local parks available in the area. As a person who has had dogs for years I thought I know many of the cool places to walk and hike nearby, but I have found that I am now searching for new places to visit with him, and not only allow him plenty of time to absorb new sounds and smell, but to also allow me to have a bit of Radio…
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Our New Local, Non-GMO Chicken Feed
My maternal Grandmother supplied chicken eggs and dairy to her small rural community of approx 1000 people for many years, and when visiting her as a child in West Texas I learned about candling and sorting eggs to get ready for sale. I know that is part of my love for and fascination with Urban chickens, and why we sell chicken feed and supplements at The Big Bad Woof. We have been supporting local chickens and their guardians for a number of years, and at the beginning this was easy, but when the Pandemic hit a lot changed, including our challenges with getting the feed to the store at a…
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Summer PetCare Safety Tips
The Summer is great time to enjoy the outdoors but can present challenges in terms of high heat, smoke from wildfires, and how to protect special categories like seniors, and animals with short snouts. In general, temperatures above 90 degrees Fahrenheit can quickly get extra risky, so try to avoid going outdoors if it’s anything hotter than that. Walking in the Summer should be planned for early morning or evening when the sun is not so intense. If you live in an area with a park, that is ideal and the trees can provide welcome relief from direct sunlight. This is especially important if you are exercising as heat stroke can occur…
