SIPPY CREEK ANIMAL REFUGE CHRISTMAS 2011 DONATION DRIVE!
Hi everyone – I am collecting for www.sippycreek.com.au again – any sheets, towels, blankets, buckets, toys, food would be much appreciated! Drop off or post to 577 David Low Way, Pacific Paradise, QLD 4564
What is the Best Food for Nursing and Weaning Kittens and Puppies?
Today, it cannot be taken for granted that mothers milk is best for nursing kittens and puppies. Unless your kitten or puppy’s mother was healthy before, during and after pregnancy, it is very likely the litter will suffer from personality disorders, that they will be susceptible to a wide range of immune diseases, genetic predispositions, and that their life expectancies will be shortened.
Once people bond with their pets, most will spend whatever it takes in an effort to get them better, or prolong their lives. The good news is that by taking an active role, most problems can be prevented!
This article addresses:
1.What to do if you fall in love with a pet store or rescue kitten or puppy
2.The role of nursing and weaning to their immune system
3.Best food for kittens and puppies
Where you buy your puppy or kitten matters
Pet Stores
Buyer beware! Pet Store kittens and puppies have a high risk, throughout their lives, of developing illness. Why?
Since the mid-1980s, families and empty nesters have been buying puppies and kittens at a pace that has turned breeding facilities (often called puppy mills) into big business.
Even though you may spend a lot of money for your new pet, price is no guarantee of health! Commercially bred mothers are bred too frequently. Their bodies don’t get a chance to fully recover before they are bred again, and again. Complicating matters, puppy mills tend to cut corners when it comes to food costs. Nutritious food is always important for good health, but especially important to a breeding mother. Commercial pet foods, despite label claims, are sorely lacking in nutritional value.
Stress: Stress is documented to compromise strong immune systems: Imagine the effect on weakened ones. The living conditions in puppy mill are highly stressful to mothers. This stress can be passed on to puppies and kittens affecting their disposition, personality and behavior.
Premature weaning stresses the developing immune system. Moreover, the time they spend away from their mother while in the puppy mill, subjected to the same stressful living conditions, is highly stressful.
But that is not the end of their stress. Shipping to pet stores puts them through a great deal of stress. If they get acclimated there at all, they experience travel and transition stress all over again coming to your home. No wonder they suffer with diarrhea, and eating disorders.
Rescue Facilities
Most of the animals sold in rescue facilities were abandoned; the kittens and puppies are largely from feral mothers. Feral mothers diets consist of weak and diseased rodents, putrefied carcasses, or discarded leftovers from trashcans. These leftovers likely harbor pathogenic bacteria, causing the mothers to be sick and diseased.
Feral females are impregnated by feral males who are likely to be equally as sick. Another problem confronting the feral female is that they are often impregnated before they are physically ready, and often become pregnant again, while puppies or kittens are still on the teat!
The health consequences to the offspring of feral mothers and premature weaning may be immediate, or they may not develop until the animal is older.
Today, pet owners are paying a very high price. Although this article seems to paint a dismal picture, by introducing an all-natural formula as soon as you bring your kitten or puppy home, you can minimize their health risk, and, you can actually take part in reversing the poor health predisposition to their offspring!
Stress: The stress of living a feral life takes a toll on the puppies and kittens immune systems. If their mother was constantly on the run to avoid harm or capture, the litter is likely to be skittish, reclusive, and defensive. Each generational decline adds to the genetic predisposition to poor health, bad behavior, and personality disorders.
The Importance of Mothers Milk
Milk from a healthy mother provides the building blocks necessary for puppies and kittens to develop strong immune defense systems. Unfortunately, most female cats and dogs that are bred have not gotten neither the diet nor the supplements necessary to fortify and nourish their bodies, before, during, and after pregnancy.
Kittens and puppies nursed on low quality mothers milk, or weaned prematurely, are more likely to have undeveloped immune systems. This need not be a problem if proper care is given during their transition from teat, to solid foods.
The Best Food for Puppy or Kittens
The best food for kittens or puppies is a diet that is most natural to their ancestry.
You can domesticate an animals behavior, but the domestication of their diet to commercial pet foods has been the primary cause for their decline in health, behavioral issues, personality disorders, and predisposition to disease. It is a fact that over 80% of all chronic disease is caused by an unhealthy digestive system.
Kittens and puppies given an all-natural nursing and wean support formula, as a supplement while nursing, and prior to being weaned to solid foods, are not only likelier to be healthier and live longer, they are smarter, happier and better adjusted.
Stephen Becker is President of Vitality Science, where he formualtes scientifically proven remedies and supplements for cats, dogs, kittens, and puppies. For more information visit http://www.vitalityscience.com
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What is the Best Food for Nursing and Weaning Kittens and Puppies?
The Risks And Rewards Of Adopting A Stray Animal
If you have a yard, it is probably just a matter of time before a stray animals wanders into the space and attempts to steal your heart. Unfortunately, people let their animals to roam and if these animals have not been spayed or neutered, they may end up producing additional stray animals. Some animals do well living in the outdoors and if you are located in a warm, rural area, the stray animals may lead a perfectly happy life wandering from farm to farm, chasing field mice and enjoy the scraps of food they pick up here and there. However, if you find yourself in a suburban or rural area, or you face harsh weather conditions, these animals will find it is a struggle to survive. If you are thinking about bringing in a stray, there are a lot of things to consider. First, be sure they come into your home alone and you leave all of the pests outside. Strays are typically covered in fleas and while fleas will not cause the same amount of home damage as a termite problem or Northern Kentucky termite problem, they can make everyone in the home very uncomfortable.
Since you will likely not own your pet from birth or just a few weeks following their birth, you will not be aware of their entire history. As a stray, they may have faced an abusive situation or been attacked by other animals. This can leave a lasting impression on an animal, so be prepared to deal with some behavioral issues. The key is to build trust with your new pet. This takes time and patience and you have to be sure your other pets and the people in your home are not in danger. Remember, the stray is trying to protect itself, so do what you can to help it trust you and feel secure.
Your stray pet may require a variety of medical care, so be sure you are ready to make a financial investment before taking the pet in. Outdoor strays have a tendency to contract a variety of diseases and infections, all of which will need to be dealt with on their road to a healthy, happy life. View adopting the stray as an investment in a long-term companion.
While there are plenty of risks involved with bringing a stray into your home, there are also rewards. The feeling of rescuing animals that may have died without your help feels good. Once you have broken through the animals defenses and you trust one another, you will have a strong bond. Your new pet will have unending loyalty to you, its rescuer.
Finally, you are helping reduce the problem of additional stray births. If you leave the animal outdoors, it will continue to roam the streets and find companions to mate with. By taking the animal in, domesticating it and neutering or spaying it, you have cut down on the number of strays in your community by more than just one. View the adoption as a service to your community.
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