All three of my greyhounds were poisoned as a result of the latest recall from Natural Balance pet food.

The official diagnosis was stable kidney failure. After 36 hours of heavy IV fluids to have their kidneys flushed, Daphne and Phoebe are recovering and came home Tuesday night. They are still spending each day at the vet for more fluids and observation. Joey did not do as well and ended up at a specialty hospital in canine ICU. Yesterday he finally turned around and is on the road to recovery, but with the possibility long term kidney damage. He comes home on Friday.

What you need to know is that the food they were eating does not contain wheat, but still contained melamine — an industry chemical — which was found in rice protein this time around. They had no more than three meals of the tainted food, and several thousand dollars later it looks like they are all going to make it. The long-term effects, however, remain to be seen.

Bottom line: The FDA does not have a handle on what’s going into pet food. I STRONGLY URGE you to switch over to cooking food for your pets today. While it may be more work, think about what’s happened to us and you may think otherwise.

Symptoms that affected our dogs: Nausea, excessive drinking, excessive urination. If you see any of this in your pets I would call your vet, regardless of whether or not your food has been recalled since our dogs were sick days before the recall actually happened.

Technorati Tags: pet food recall, natural balance, melamine, food safety, rice protein, imports

Today is Phoebe’s third birthday. Now that she’s all grown up, I’m hoping that the days of chewing on the ottoman, putting holes in the wall, and tearing down blinds is over. But the barking, howling, and playing can continue.

We’ve had Phoebe for about a year, and she’s come a long way during that time. When we first got her she was so scared that we had to put her leash on her to make her go to the bedroom for bed. She wouldn’t walk through doors unless we stood at least 15 feet away from them, and she ran away from my husband anytime he got near her.

Since that time, she’s blossomed into a social butterfly who loves house guests, adventures, and new situations. The early destruction aside, she’s a spirited, fun-loving dog who melts the hearts of everyone she meets.

Technorati Tags: greyhounds, dogs

When I was a kid my parents’ church had Halloween parties every year. Believe it or not, they used to do things like this in the South.

I recall that one year I went to the church Halloween party as the devil.

Here are my very own hellhounds from this year:

Daphne the jester…

Phoebe the witch…

And Joey the pirate…

I head out to NYC on business until Thursday night.

technorati tags: halloween, greyhounds, costumes, dogs

The Soup Peddler, an awesome local business that makes wonderful soups and other goodies, is donating 5% of all sales to Greyhound Pets of America Central Texas if you order through through this link.

How does it work? It’s simple… you order your food, and the Soup Peddler delivers it to your door if you live in delivery areas, or you can easily pick it up. The food is tasty, healthy, and cheap.

This is a great and easy way to support a great local cause while supporting a great local business. Please check it out!

technorati tags: austin, texas, dining, food, greyhounds, charity

This is our new greyhound Joey. We had already decided to adopt him before we knew Morrison had cancer, and we decided to go ahead and take him on Friday, as scheduled. It wasn’t Joey’s fault that we had misfortunes on Friday. It turned out to be a great decision: We needed him as much as he needed us.

Joey is a four year old, 71 pound sweet guy. He comes to us from Greyhound Pets of America Central Texas, where we adopted both of our other greyhounds Phoebe (age 2) and Daphne (age 6).

Joey ran two races in Florida under the racing name Joseph’s Dance, and like Phoebe (who ran under the name Rayna Ann Walker), he didn’t do very well. Seems he prefers retirement and got there was quickly as he could.

So far Joey has made a wonderful addition to our home. He’s quiet and gentle, and has proven himself to be quite the gentleman. And our other greys love him. He likes to follow me around, sticking right by my side, and to cuddle with me in the mornings. Perhaps he knows I need a new friend…

technorati tags: greyhounds, dogs, pets

Sporting a new pedicure, brushed teeth, and fresh bath, Saturday morning greyhound Phoebe took her first trip downtown and first ride in an elevator.

Greyhound Pets of America has a booth at this weekend’s Austin Home and Garden Show, and like a good girl Phoebe was a goodwill ambassador, along with her new greyhound booth pals Daisy, Fancy, Mary, Grappa, and Phoenix.

The Austin Home and Garden show is a great way to spend a couple of hours on a hot weekend in August when it’s pretty much too hot to do anything outside. The show features a variety of vendors ranging from portable buildings to interior items. One area to check out is the Go Texan row, which features Texas vendors. Here you’ll find a variety of products from Texas-based businesses… let’s support any little guys there, won’t we?

The hounds have a great piece of real estate pretty much right in the middle of the show, and this is a great way to get introduced to often misunderstood greyhounds.

Greyhounds generally ARE NOT:

• Hyper
• Aggressive
• Sad
• Hunters
• Outdoorsy
• Stoic

Greyhounds generally ARE:

• Gentle
• Affectionate
• Intelligent
• Mellow
• Loyal
• Non-slobbering
• Non-shedding
• Non-barking

Greyhounds are great companions who can thrive in many homes, including those with children, cats, and small dogs. It all just depends on the personality of the greyhound, just like people.

If you have some free time this weekend, please go check them out and even give them a buck or two. These sweet dogs need all the help they can get. To learn more about the plight of greyhounds, please visit the Greyhound Protection League.

To read my husband’s post on this event, please click here.

technorati tags: greyhounds, pets, volunteer, charity

About 18 months ago I read Fast Food Nation, which is as much about consumerism in the United States as it is about fast food. It started a chain of events that changed how I live.

I had seen Super Size Me when it was released and while I stopped eating fast food in my early twenties after finding out I had a genetic disposition to high cholesterol and heart disease, I was still thoroughly disgusted at the overall mainstream food industry. Only adding to this distate was the scene in Napoleon Dynamite when Napoleon gets the job moving chickens from one coup to another. While a lot of the audience was laughing, I leaned over to my husband and said, “I’m never eating chicken or eggs from a non-free range farm again.”

Needless to say, after reading Fast Food Nation I became an organic and earth-friendly convert and I began regularly bonding with Whole Foods Market.

With this change in lifestyle came an added bonus: It’s quite fashionable to be green in Austin, Texas. In Austin it’s hip to drive a hybrid, hang out on the patio of Central Market on a Friday evening sipping a microbrewed beer or glass of wine, ride your bike to work or happy hour, eat a healthy and low-fat diet (to make room for all the awesome Tex-Mex restaurants), or to jog on Town Lake with your dog.

We love our pets in Austin. We make house and car choices based on the needs of our pets. We have dog-friendly restaurants, such as BB Rovers, that will bring a bowl of water for your dog while you enjoy a beer and bar food on the patio. We even have several no-leash parks that let your dog frolic with other dogs in a closed area.

And, we pay attention to their health like our own. We have specialty hospitals for our pets that need some extra help. Hell, my cat has an internist who treats his diabetes and arthritis, and one of my greyhounds sees an allergist.

We started giving our dogs vegetables in their food to encourage them to eat at one sitting. Our veterinarian confirmed that veggies are actually quite good for dogs if you can get them to eat them, and our dogs love them.
Animal Wellness magazine recently published a list of superfoods for pets:

1. Carrots
2. Broccoli
3. Green beans
4. Pumpkin
5. Sweet Potatoes
6. Tomato
7. Apples
8. Blueberries & cranberries
9. Cantaloupe
10. Watermelon

Of all things, canatloupe has become quite the hot ticket item at our house, and we can even use it as a training treat. Go figure.

technorati tags: life, austin, pets, dogs, organic, green