Dear Friends,
Ohhhhh, I am so far behind in being ready for the holidays, I could just weep into my paws. Deck the halls and fa-la-la, my fuzzy little butt!!!
I can't even weep because all four of my poor sore paws are so darn busy supervising these two new hellions that my Mom decided to bring home. More dogs.....can you imagine? Mom thought that they would cheer me up and that I would not lay around and be so sad since my Sofia died. So now we have Hebert (remember, I taught you last month that you pronounce it HEY-Bear) and Thibodeaux home with me and Emmett, and I have to watch those two boys every minute they are awake. I tell you, I never get a moment's peace anymore. They tease me all day long to make me play with them.
Oh! Do you know how to say Thibodeaux? You say it like "Play-dough," but with a "Tibby" in front. We call him Tibby for short because his name used to be Dundee and he knows this name now - he's a smart one, 'cause he's older than Hebert. Age really does make everyone smarter, I think. That is why I am the smartest dog, because I am almost twelve. Thibodeaux is almost eight and he had a broken leg but he still plays ball really good and he even steals my ball all the time!
Boys are much more work than girls, wouldn't you agree? I mean, Hebert was afraid to sleep alone, so I sleep with him in a big crate at night now. I don't really mind it, because he was so sad and scared at first and he cried a lot. So one night I went in there on my own and laid down next to him and he snuggled up and got very quiet and he has been fine at night ever since. Now, Thibodeaux is another matter. He is a little *ahem* plump and he has gas that is so toxic he could clear City Hall in about 5 seconds. He is in the crate right next to Hebert and me, and I wish Mom would put a fan in there. I also have an idea for a Glade-type plug in that could be plugged into - well, never mind, Mom said that was a bad idea and it wasn't very nice to say, anyway. But I bet it would work.
Can you believe that these boys didn't know what real food was at first? Mom and I tried to give them some of my raw food medallions and they turned their noses up at them! We had to cook them for a few days before they would eat them but now they like the food as much as I do. And already, their breath is a lot better and their coats are getting shinier - and Thibodeaux's gas is improving too, thank goodness. We have started him on some Prozyme Plus and he is getting better day by day. I still think my air freshener doggie plug-in idea is a good one, though.
OH! That reminds me - I got a letter from a client who said she was a vegetarian and she wanted to know what I would recommend that she feed her pets. So I will tell her what to do and explain why. This is something really good to do and to think about for all of you, even if you are not a vegetarian. I want you to leave the computer or wherever you are reading this, and go find a mirror, and make a big smile at the mirror. Now, ask your dog to look into the mirror and ask her to make a big smile, too. Do you see the difference between our teeth and yours, buckaroos? You have teeth that sorta look a lot alike and in the back your big teeth are flat on top. Our teeth are a lot of different sizes and are jaggedy and sharp and very pointy. And here is why: You are an omnivore and we are carnivores. That means, your teeth are designed to eat a lot of different things so you have a lot more food choices than we do. You can eat meat or not; you can eat lots of fruits and vegetables and grains if you want, and your teeth will chew them all up very well. And, you have a big long digestive system that is all ready to deal with a lot of different foods, and to help you digest them, so you don't get bad gas like Thibodeaux. Or at least I hope so, for the sake of whomever sleeps next to you! (Um.....they do make Prozyme for people, too, if you need it.)
Now, about us dogs and cats: we are carnivores. We are designed by nature (and She is very wise) to eat mostly meats - as in, other animals. So we have very short little digestive tracts, and food goes in and out FAST. We don't eat much vegetables or fruits, unless we find them in the stomachs of the animals we eat, and we don't have a very good ability to eat grains (unless they have already been digested in someone else's stomach) - and we only eat that part as a last resort if we are very hungry and all the good parts are gone. I hope I'm not grossing you out, am I?
I know a lot of you people think that we are cute little fluffy kissy-dogs - and some of us are - but we are ALL carnivores anyway. I mean, our teeth and our digestive tracts don't lie. So when you give us foods that take a long time to digest - like grains, and some fruits and veggies - we can get gassy and uncomfortable and even very sick. And our teeth get cruddy faster, and our breath is bad, and our coats aren't as nice and shiny as they should be.
And my poor kitty friends? They are obligate carnivores, which means that they have NO carbohydrate requirement whatsoever. So when they are fed foods high in grains, they can even get sick. They can get constipated, or they can even get diabetes and other diseases from eating bad foods.
So why would the people who make dog and cat food put a lot of things in the food that are hard for us to digest and that can make us sick? Simple, simple, simple: they do it because it makes the food cheap and convenient to serve. Lots of people like to feed dry food. I betcha they don't stop to think that good quality meat foods can't be made that way - a lot of grains need to be added so the food comes out of the food-making machines like pasta and it can be dried and even sometimes cut into those stupid shapes that people think we like to eat. And some foods are even colored with artificial dyes to make them silly colors, too. And then preservatives are often added, and a bunch of other stuff to make us want to eat that dry cruddy kibble. And NONE of that is good for us. I mean, would you ever buy ground sirloin in a bag that you could serve your family for weeks and weeks? Ewwwwwwwwwww!
Some food manufacturers try to fool our owners by claiming that the foods are "grain-free." But you know what, my friends? A lot of them just substitute potato or tapioca or something else for the grains - so we are still not getting something that our digestive tract and our teeth really like. And then there are the manufacturers that claim that protein is protein, and that plant source proteins are as good as animal based protein. And I guess I can understand that if my Mom was a vegetarian (and she used to be one for many years), she would want to not buy meat for me. But I know, 'cause I saw Mom's lecture notes from a talk she gives to a lot of veterinary groups, that those plant proteins are not as easily and quickly used by our carnivore bodies and that the Chinese medicine stuff she believes in does not recommend a meat-free diet for us carnivores.
So, can a pet LIVE on a meat-free diet? Sure they can. But will they THRIVE on it? Will they be vibrantly healthy and happy? Nope, they won't. So, Lizzie's recommendation is this: if you want to be a vegetarian, that can be a very good thing for you. But it isn't a good thing for us dogs and cats.
So what should a confirmed vegetarian do? I have heard that a lot of vegetarians are not even comfortable having meat in their homes. I laughed into my paws when I heard this, but my Mom told me not to laugh because she used to feel exactly the same way and it is not a joke. So I asked her what someone who feels that way can do, and she says here is what she tells her vegetarian clients: Go get a small chest freezer and put it in the garage or a closet. Then buy a food that is in medallions (like little flat meatballs) or in chunks and put it in the freezer. These foods usually have a zip-lock top. You can open it and use a spoon that you also keep in the freezer to scoop out the amount of food needed without having to touch the meat. Then you can thaw it out and feed it. (And this is from me, not my Mom: remember, we like our food at body temperature, NOT cold!). When the weather is nice, Mom says you could thaw the food outside and feed it outside and that way you never have to handle the meat at all or even have it in your house if you are offended by it.
So, my friends, here is what I want you to ask your people for Christmas: ask them to get you some good food. Some REAL food that you won't just live on, but food that you'll THRIVE on. A food that is fresh or frozen but not dry, because our little dog and cat bodies are set up to eat juicy foods (off the hoof, so to speak). Those vets who say on TV and on the radio that they work for I---s or S-----e diet company or that they are a famous actor and that they wouldn't feed their pets anything else but that food? Well, what ELSE are they going to say if they work for those companies and want to keep their jobs? You know how you always hear their dogs and cats woofing and meowing in the background of those commercials? Well, your Lizzie is here to translate: they are saying "FEED ME REAL FOOD!!!!"
If you need to know about specific brand names, give us a call. Neither I or Mom like to advertise for specific foods, but there are some we like a lot better than others. Any of our hospital Nurses will be more than happy to talk about foods that would be good for you and to tell you where you can get them. And, if you go to the "Our Favorite Things" section of our website, you will find some of that information already there for you. We also have a notebook in our waiting room with a lot of information about good fresh foods and where to find them.
Until January, when we all make our resolutions - and YES, I'll have some suggestions for you - this is your friend, LIZZIE, wishing you the best holiday season ever!
