Dear dog and cat friends,

I don’t like to brag, but ONCE AGAIN, your good friend Lizzie is scorin’ as the BIG DOG of the pack.  Didn’t I tell you, just a few short months ago, about how probiotics and other good supplements to your food can help keep you healthy and feeling good?  Didn’t I?  And didn’t I tell you that my Mom, and a lot of other vets, too, have spent years and years telling their clients that these are good things that they should be making sure to give their dogs and cats?

Well, it seems that the veterinary guys and gals in the Ivory Towers of Academia and Research Far Removed From the Real World (ITARFRFRW) decided that they needed to put a study together to see if that was true.   And guess what?  They did indeed find that pets live a lot longer if they get supplements like vitamins and probiotics.  And the pets feel a lot better, too.  The researchers said so, in a study recently published in a major veterinary journal.  Now, I guess the study was the next best thing to actually being the one making the recommendations and then seeing the pets back year after year to check the results - but the ITARFRFRW folks tend to think that kind of research is only for the vets not as smart as they are.  I guess I always figured that they were the ones who were losing out!   I mean, who wouldn’t want doggie and kitty kisses all day long?  (I know that my Mom thinks her job is the best job in the whole world - she tells me so!)

So, moral of the story, kitty and doggie friends - you need to ask that owner of yours to get with the program and get you some healthy things to eat.  Your humans can start out slowly, maybe by adding some fresh cooked meat, some eggs, or some yogurt to your food a couple times a week.  And don’t forget a balanced vitamin - the ones with ‘trace minerals’ are the best ones.  I don’t know what those are, but Mom says they can make your coat nicer and your eyes brighter and your mind sharper.  And an omega-3 fatty acid supplement is good too, a couple times a week - I like the fish oil ones best because they taste so nice, but sometimes Mom gives me sardines instead and I like those too.  They smell so good I could just drop and roll in them!

And don’t forget the probiotic!  If you need to refresh your memory about those, you can read my column a few months back - although, if your mind were sharp because you were already eating right, you wouldn’t have to.....

OOH! And some fresh veggies are always nice.  Now, you need to start slowly with these, if you aren’t used to them, or you could be in trouble for having ‘potty accidents’ in the house.  Remember, fiber is as good for us as it is for your humans - but not a lot if you aren’t used to it!  I like my veggies raw and chopped up fine but you might like them steamed better.  The best ones to have are dark green ones and orange ones.  If your humans lean more towards McDonald’s eaters than veggie eaters, you could ask them to get you some canned pumpkin, like the kind used to make a pie.  They could freeze it in an ice cube tray and give you a ‘pumpkin cube’ a couple of times a week.  Now, THAT'LL keep ya regular!

Remember, my fuzzy friends, eating right starts with YOU.  So go bug your owners for something healthier to eat than those awful Pup-aronies and other chemical-loaded slop that TV commercials try to induce your humans to buy.  Hold out for fresh veggies, meat, eggs, and yogurt – you’ll live longer, and be healthier, too. 

Until next month, your good friend Lizzie will be browsing through the veterinary literature for news you can use!