Cats, long stereotyped as aloof and highly independent creatures compared to dogs, may be getting a bad rap.

Research recently published in the journal Animal Cognition posits that cats are quite in tune with their owners’ emotions, and respond to those emotions. The study, “Social referencing and cat–human communication,” details the results of an experiment conducted at Italy’s University of Milan with 24 cats and their owners to see what cats do with emotional information provided by their people.

According to the study, the first of its kind involving cats, researchers put each cat-owner pair in an unfamiliar room with an object sure to cause the cats some anxiety: a running fan with plastic ribbons attached to it. One group of owners provided positive reinforcement by talking in a happy voice while looking from the cat to the fan. The second group talked to their cats in a fearful voice while looking from the cat to the fan.

Researchers then assessed what they call “social referencing” in the cats, defined as “looking to the owner immediately before or after looking at the object.” The cats clearly participated in social referencing, with researchers concluding that 79 percent of the cats alternated between looking at their owner and the fan. The study found the cats even changed their behavior “to some extent” according to their owners' emotional message.

Interestingly, the cats responded more overtly, in terms of looking at their owners, to the negative emotions than to the positive emotions. “Overall, cats in the negative group also showed a higher frequency in their interaction with the owner than cats in the positive group, potentially suggesting they were looking for security from their owner,” according to the study. 

“Cats are social animals, but their sociality is defined ‘optional,’” says Isabella Merola, lead author of the study and the owner of two cats herself. “Cats usually decide when and with whom to interact."

Merola notes that all of the cats in the study focused on their owners because they were in a strange situation. Even cats that usually ignored their people felt compelled to look to their owners for direction in that scenario, says Merola. 

Source: PetMD

Purina is defending its Beneful brand pet food in the wake of a class action lawsuit that accuses the product of hurting and killing animals.
 
The suit claims that pet owner Frank Lucido’s three dogs became sick after he fed them the food. It alleges that Dozer, his English bulldog, died after showing signs of liver lesions and internal bleeding in his stomach.
 
One of the lawyers filing the suit, James Young of Morgan & Morgan in Tampa, is encouraging pet owners to come forward with their stories.
 
“The more people that come forward and share their stories, the clearer the picture we can paint with regard to the liability of the company,” Young said. “We received hundreds of complaints. Nationally, there have been thousands of complaints about dogs who have eaten this dog food by Purina Beneful and suffered very serious side effects, including death.”
 
You can read more about the class-action lawsuit and contact the firm by visiting its website .
 
Lakeland resident Jennifer Jones just joined the lawsuit.
 
She told ABC Action News that over the past year, she noticed her miniature pinscher’s health was deteriorating.
 
He started having seizures approximately two times a day. 
 
“I’ve had that dog for almost 10 years now. I mean, that’s a family member,” Jones said. “It’s scary.”
 
Jones had been feeding her pet Purina Beneful Original. But she claims last week she switched dog food, and her dog’s health has dramatically improved. He’s now reportedly down to two seizures a week instead of a day.
 
“They said it’s the healthiest food to give your dog. Obviously that was incorrect,” she said.
 
The lawsuit claims the following eight dry “kibble” dog foods are contaminated with substances that can be toxic to animals: Propylene glycol and mycotoxins.
 

• Purina Beneful Healthy Weight
• Purina Beneful Original
• Purina Beneful Incredibites
• Purina Beneful Healthy Growth for Puppies
• Purina Beneful Healthy Smile
• Purina Beneful Healthy Fiesta
• Purina Beneful Healthy Radiance
• Purina Beneful Playful Life

The lawsuit’s claims are “baseless,” said Keith Schopp, a corporate spokesman for the Nestlé Purina Petcare Company. Courts, he said, have dismissed two previous class action lawsuits against Beneful that made similar allegations.
 
“Like other pet foods, Beneful is occasionally the subject of social media-driven misinformation,” Schopp said in a statement to ABC Action News. “On-line postings often contain false, unsupported and misleading allegations that cause undue concern and confusion for our Beneful customers.”
 
How can you take steps to keep your pet safe? Make sure the main ingredient in its food is animal protein with no wheat or gluten or chemical preservatives. Look for the "AAFCO" symbol from the Association of American Feed Control Officials.
 
Full statement from Purina:
 
First and foremost, there are no quality issues with Beneful.  Beneful is a high quality, nutritious food enjoyed by millions of dogs every day.
 
Recently, a class action lawsuit was filed against Beneful in Northern California.  We believe the lawsuit is baseless, and we intend to vigorously defend ourselves and our brand.  Beneful had two previous class action suits filed in recent years with similar baseless allegations, and both were dismissed by the courts.  Class action suits are common in business these days.  They are not indicative of a product issue.
 
Beneful is backed by Purina’s strict quality controls and comprehensive food safety program.
 
Like other pet foods, Beneful is occasionally the subject of social media-driven misinformation.  On-line postings often contain false, unsupported and misleading allegations that cause undue concern and confusion for our Beneful customers.
 
Bottom line:  Consumers can continue to feed Beneful with total confidence.
 
At Purina we’re passionate about pets.  We encourage anyone with a comment or question about Purina to contact us directly at the toll-free number on every package.  For answers to FAQs about Beneful, go tohttps://www.beneful.com/frequently-asked-questions

Source: ABCactionnews

Live with cats for long enough and you’re bound to find a hairball on the floor (or in your bed, if you’re really unlucky), but hairballs don’t have to be a regular part of cat ownership.

Cats bring up hairballs frequently enough that it’s easy to think of them as being normal, but they really are a symptom of gastrointestinal dysfunction or a skin disease that is causing excessive hair loss. I regard hairballs in the same way that I do diarrhea. Are the conditions normal? No, but they are something that everyone has to deal with from time to time.

That said, once you’re finding hairballs more frequently than once a month or so, it’s time to go on a search for what’s wrong. A complete work-up from chronic or severe hairballs could include some combination of patient history, physical exam, skin scrapings for mites, tests for ringworm, skin cytology looking for bacterial/yeast infections, abdominal imaging, blood work, a urinalysis, fecal examinations, and sometimes biopsies of the gastrointestinal tract or skin.

But now let’s say you are only finding the occasional hairball and want to try something at home to reduce their frequency. In these cases, dietary management is the best way to limit hairballs.

Undiagnosed food allergies or inflammatory bowel disease often play a role in the formation of hairballs. These conditions cause the gastrointestinal tract to become inflamed and that inflammation interferes with the cat’s natural ability to deal with hair that is swallowed (in other words, keep it moving in the right direction). Limited antigen diets are available at pet food retailers. You will need to feed one of these foods (and nothing else!) for about eight weeks before you can say definitively if it is helping or not. If you’ve tried a couple of over the counter limited antigen foods with little success, keep in mind that the diets available through your veterinarian might still be worth a try. The veterinary diets tend to be significantly less allergenic than are over the counter limited antigen foods.

A high fiber diet will also help some cats with hairballs. Different types of fiber can either sweep hair through the intestinal tract or promote the overall health of the gut. Some pet food manufacturers have added fiber to their formulations creating “hairball” diets that work well for some individuals. If you are looking for a way to add fiber to your cat’s current food or want to try a limited antigen and high fiber diet, try mixing in a little canned pumpkin or unflavored psyllium.

Lubricant gels that contain petroleum jelly, waxes, or oils are another option. They coat hair in the GI tract and prevent it from forming clumps. Cats should not be forced to eat a hairball lubricant (the stress and mess outweighs any benefit), but try adding it to the food or putting a little on the cat’s paw for her to lick off. Do not give your cat a flavored hairball lubricant if you are also feeding a limited antigen diet.

And don’t forget this simple, non-dietary hairball remedy… brush your cat (assuming it’s a pleasant experience for the two of you). Any hair that you can toss in the garbage is hair that won’t be swallowed and eventually redeposited on your floor.

Source: Pet MD

It has been a rough year for Dale "Bucko" Franck and his wife Nancy. According to Iowa Public Radio, Bucko spent some time in the hospital for health problems and Nancy was diagnosed with cancer. Nancy recently had cancer surgery, but there were complications, and the Cedar Rapids woman was transferred over to Mercy Medical Center after spending a few days in intensive care.

While Nancy’s situation is devastating to Bucko, it also appears to be hard on the family’s two Miniature Schnauzers, Sissy and Barney. And Sissy missed Nancy so much that she decided to take matters into her own paws.

In the middle of the night, Bucko woke up and discovered his furnace wasn’t working. While he was up trying to fix the problem, he took both dogs out into the back yard. Usually, the dogs run right back into the house after Bucko unhooks them. He assumed that Sissy had already run into the kitchen, so he went back inside. But it only took a few minutes for Bucko to realize Sissy was gone.

Bucko was distraught. “I was scared to death,” he told Iowa Public Radio. “I was crying. That’s my baby.” He called the animal shelter and the police trying to locate his lost dog. Sissy has an identification tag, so Bucko hoped that someone would pick Sissy up and return her. 

At approximately 5:15 in the morning, Bucko got a call from a security woman at Mercy Medical Center, who said that they had Sissy. The dog — who had never run away before and never visited the hospital in the past — walked twenty blocks away from her home and right to the hospital’s doors, where she actually made her way into the hospital lobby. It was there that the security staff recovered her. 

Bucko’s only explanation was that Sissy somehow used her sixth sense and was trying to visit Nancy. 

When Bucko and Nancy’s daughter, Sarah Wood, went to pick Sissy up from the hospital, Sarah asked if she could take the dog upstairs for a quick visit. A security guard escorted them up to Nancy’s room so that Sissy could spend a few minutes with her beloved pet parent.

When Nancy saw Sissy for the first time, she thought that Sarah had somehow snuck the dog into the hospital. But when Sarah relayed the story to her mother about how Sissy ran away in the middle of the night to come to the hospital, Nancy could only say, “You little stinker. How did you do that?”

Sarah and Sissy were only able to visit with Nancy for a few minutes, but Sarah believes that seeing Sissy brightened her mother’s day. Hopefully Nancy makes a full recovery so that she can get back home to her loving two-legged and four-legged family members.

Have you ever wondered if your dog understands what you’re thinking when you give him a specific look? According to new research published in the journal Current Biology, he actually might.

In a study conducted at the University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, researchers trained dogs to discern between photos of humans making two different facial expressions — one happy and one angry.

The dogs studied 15 pairs of photographs. The dogs were then put through a series of tests in which they were shown images revealing either the upper, lower, or side half of the same faces.

According to a press release, the dogs were able to select the angry or happy face more often than would be expected by random chance in every case. The research not only shows that dogs can distinguish between happy and angry expressions, but they can transfer what they learn to understand new clues. 

The study also revealed that dogs were slower to associate an angry face with a reward, suggesting that the canine participants already had prior experience learning to stay away from people when they look angry. 

"Our study demonstrates that dogs can distinguish angry and happy expressions in humans, they can tell that these two expressions have different meanings,” said Ludwig Huber, senior author and head of the group at the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna's Messerli Research Institute , in a statement.

“They can do this not only for people they know well, but even for faces they have never seen before."

Researchers say that these findings mark the first solid evidence that an animal other than humans can discriminate between emotional expressions in another species.

source: Messerli Research Institute

Stool eating, also known as coprophagy, is actually quite normal behavior for a puppy. And though you may find it utterly gross, the behavior does have an underlying cause. Moreover, if the cause is not addressed appropriately and in a timely manner, it does have a good chance of becoming a recurring habit.

To begin, do not be immediately alarmed when you see your puppy doing it. Reacting in a way that is alarming to the puppy can do more harm than good, and may even lead to other behavioral problems.

Stool eating typically begins when a puppy is still in the litter. At this stage, it is natural for the mother to eat the stool of her puppies. She does this both to keep the “den” clean and to protect the puppies from predators that might be drawn by the scent. (It doesn’t matter that there are no predators in your home, this is primitive evolutionary behavior -- other animals do the same thing with their young.) The mother does this from the time the puppies are born until they are weaned, and since puppies are in the process of learning how to be dogs, they are naturally going to follow her lead and do what she does.

Of course, the mother stops eating her puppies’ feces around the time that they have begun eating solid food or have weaned from her milk, but the puppy may still continue the behavior until he becomes more mature. It is learned behavior along with natural puppy curiosity that leads them to smell, taste and even eat their own or other dogs’ stool.

To begin discouraging this behavior before the puppy is ready to go to its new home, it is the breeder’s responsibility to always clean up after the puppies -- before they have a chance to eat it. However, this may not have been the practice used for your puppy.

OTHER REASONS FOR STOOL EATING
As previously stated, it is not uncommon to find your puppy eat its own or other dogs’ stool. However, dogs who are receiving a well-balanced and nutrient-rich diet should grow out of this behavior naturally by the time they are one year of age. If your puppy continues this behavior past his first year, you will need to consult a veterinarian or behaviorist in order to identify the problem.

Here are several of the reasons that are typically associated with coprophagy:

Poor digestion 

Your puppy may not be digesting his food properly. This may be because the food is low in digestible nutrients and is coming out basically the same way it went in, or because the puppy has a problem with his digestive system. To the puppy, his stool tastes pretty much like the food he just ate. For the former, switching to a higher quality food can solve this. For the latter (if switching foods has not helped), you will have to have the puppy checked by a veterinarian.

Boredom

Boredom is another cause for stool eating. If a puppy is left alone for a long time, he may find relief from boredom by playing with his own stool. This also occurs more often during cold weather, because they are fascinated by their frozen stool.

Stress

Stress will often drive puppies -- and dogs -- to eat their own stool. This may be stress from being brought into a new home, or from any of a number of reasons. It is because of this that you should not induce further stress in the puppy by punishing him for eating his stool.

Hunger

Parasites and worms can leach nutrients from the puppy’s system, causing him to be hungrier than normal. He will respond to his hunger by eating whatever is available. On the same note, your puppy may simply not be getting enough to eat during the day. Puppies are growing and need to be fed at least three times a day. If you have any questions regarding how much you should feed your puppy, talk to your veterinarian, or to the breeder bought the puppy from.

Attention

If you have already responded several times to this behavior by getting upset, your puppy may continue to do it just for the reaction. Even though the reaction is a negative one, all the puppy knows is that he is getting extra attention from you. Conversely, your puppy may eat his stool to avoid negative attention. If you have been responding angrily to “accidents,” his response may be to effectively “hide” the evidence by eating it.

Just Because

Finally, some puppies -- and dogs -- will eat their own stool just because they like to do it. There is not always a satisfying explanation for the behavior, and the best you can do is to try to prevent your dog from doing it by distracting him and getting the stool picked up as quickly as possible. 

TECHNIQUES FOR TREATING COPROPHAGY
Always feed your puppy a good quality puppy food so that you can be sure that he is getting all of the protein, minerals, vitamins and other nutrients he needs for normal growth. Observe your puppy for signs that he may be suffering from poor digestion, such as watery stool or stool with large particles of undigested food. If you see any of these signs, consult your veterinarian. This can become a serious issue if not resolved.

Be diligent in cleaning up after your puppy eliminates. Do not give him the chance to play with or eat his stool. Try placing the puppy on a leash when you take him outside to relieve himself, and do not allow him to inspect his stool after he has defecated. Distract him from the stool by calling him to you, and when he responds appropriately, reward him with a training treat and verbal encouragement and then take him inside, away from the stool, before you go back to pick it up.

Some experts have found that adding meat tenderizer, digestive enzymes, or natural additives to the puppy’s food makes a big difference, since these additives cause the stool to have a particularly unappealing smell that will discourage him from eating it. If you cannot immediately clean up the stool, or if there are some old stool piles in your yard, you can spray it with hot pepper sauce or mouth wash. However, it is still more effective to just clean up after the puppy each time he eliminates.

Always keep your puppy on a leash whenever you take him out for a walk. This will prevent him from smelling and eating the stool of the other dogs that are left lying around in the streets. Note that some parasites and illnesses can be transmitted through stool, so you don’t want your puppy to come into contact with stool under any circumstances (of course, this is not always possible). If the puppy begins to sniff at a stool pile, gently pull on his leash and lead him in another direction. Use immediate distraction techniques as soon as he begins to show curiosity for his or other dog’s stool, and reward him with verbal praise and a training treat when he responds appropriately.

If he is consistently discouraged and appropriately reprimanded each time he plays with or eats his stool, he will learn to let go of this habit in a short period of time. Soon enough, you will be able to allow your dog to walk around freely and not have to worry about him eating stool when you are not looking.

source: PetMD

Nuisance jumping is a common complaint from owners.

Most often, dogs are jumping for attention. Dogs who are overly anxious, such as those with separation anxiety, may also jump even when the owner is ignoring them.

Don’t make jumping more than it is. It is not an effort to dominate you or lead your pack. First, domestic dogs don’t form packs, so you are not a pack member. Second, dogs generally don’t want to run the world. Nope, no visions of grandeur. They simply want attention from you. That is it, plain and simple. The dog is trying to get you to give her attention. If you are a dog, it’s natural to want to be up near the hands or face of someone who may pet you. Third, dogs don’t try to dominate each other by jumping up to lick each other’s faces.

Unfortunately, owners generally do pet dogs when they jump up. This reinforces (rewards) the behavior, making it more likely to occur again. To the dog, any type of attention can be considered reinforcement. This includes pushing her away and yelling at her. Through basic positive reinforcement (there’s the science of learning again), we have trained our dogs to jump on us starting in puppyhood. Once again, it is not the dog’s fault.

Take the following, common example: When first adopted, the puppy jumps on you. You bend down to pet her. While this is fine when the puppy is 10 pounds, it’s not nearly as enjoyable when she’s 100 pounds. Then, when the puppy gets a bit larger and is in adolescence, the jumping becomes annoying. You try different methods, such as ignoring her, kneeing her or yelling at her. She continues to jump. Making it even more difficult for your dog to learn what is appropriate, there are inconsistencies within the family regarding how they interact with the puppy. Some people pet her when she jumps up and some yell at her. Finally, there are invariably inconsistencies between what family members and visitors do.

This is very confusing to the puppy. She can’t be sure what type of behavior is appropriate. The scientific term for these types of interactions is variable reinforcement. Variable reinforcement means sometimes the pup is rewarded and sometimes she is not. Believe it or not, this kind of reinforcement is the most powerful kind you can apply to a behavior. You read that right. You are actually making the behavior stronger by sometimes punishing and sometimes reinforcing. What results is a very persistent jumper.

To understand variable reinforcement better, consider the example of a person at a casino. This person might leave the roulette table after losing 2 or 3 times, but will sit at a slot machine for eight hours. Why do they do that? Because the slot machine employs variable reinforcement. The slot machine delivers small rewards intermittently throughout the day. There are enough rewards, statistically, to keep the person playing all day. There's even the promise of a possible huge jackpot at some point during the day.

Teaching pups not to jump is pretty simple — ignore the pup when she is jumping and teach her an alternate way to get attention.

Follow these simple tips and your dog will be asking for attention politely in no time.

1. Do not knee, kick, or yell at her when she jumps on you.
2. Ask your puppy to sit for every bit of attention she gets. All of the time.
3. If she’s jumping on you, walk away from her and completely ignore her. Don’t even make eye contact. When she stops jumping on you, ask her to sit. Then, reward her with petting, praise and/or a treat.
4. When you praise your pup for sitting for attention, make sure to keep your praise calm and cool. It’s not fair to the pup if you get extremely excited praising her while asking her to stay under control.
5. Like any other behavior, you will see the most improvement if everyone in your pup’s world follows the same plan.
6. Until you can get your pup’s jumping under control, you can try distraction techniques like tossing small treats off to the side, or tossing a toy when you come through the front door.

Source: PetMD

Tuffy's Pet Foods, Inc. Issues Voluntary Recall of a Limited Quantity of Nutrisca Dry Dog Food Because of Possible Health Risk


Contact:
Consumer:
1-888-559-8833

Media:
1-218-346-1879

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – February 11, 2015 – Perham, MN – Tuffy's Pet Foods, Inc. of Perham, MN is voluntarily recalling specific lots of 4 lb. bags of Nutrisca Chicken and Chick Pea Recipe Dry Dog Food because they have the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella. Tuffy's manufactured the product for Nutrisca.

Salmonella can affect animals eating the products and there is risk to humans from handling contaminated pet products, especially if they have not thoroughly washed their hands after having contact with the products or any surfaces exposed to these products. Healthy people infected with Salmonella should monitor themselves for some or all of the following symptoms: nausea, vomiting, diarrhea or bloody diarrhea, abdominal cramping and fever. Rarely, Salmonella can result in more serious ailments, including arterial infections, endocarditis, arthritis, muscle pain, eye irritation, and urinary tract symptoms. Consumers exhibiting these signs after having contact with this product should contact their healthcare providers. Pets withSalmonella infections may be lethargic and have diarrhea or bloody diarrhea, fever, and vomiting. Some pets will have only decreased appetite, fever and abdominal pain. Infected but otherwise healthy pets can be carriers and infect other animals or humans. If your pet has consumed the recalled product and has these symptoms, please contact your veterinarian.  NoSalmonella-related illnesses in people or animals have been reported to date in association with these products.

The recalled product was distributed in the 4 lb. bags nationwide to distributors, brokers, retail stores, and internet retailers. The recalled product is limited to Nutrisca Chicken and Chick Pea Recipe Dry Dog Food in 4 lb. bag sizes, bearing UPC Code "8 84244 12495 7" (found on lower back of the bag). Products included in the recall are identified by the below first 5 digits of the Lot Code (found on upper back of the bag) and "Best by Dates" (found on upper back of the bag). No other bag sizes or other Nutrisca dog food, cat food, biscuits/treats, supplements or other products, are affected by this announcement.

First five digits of Lot Codes:
4G29P, 4G31P, 4H01P, 4H04P, 4H05P, 4H06P

Best By Dates:
Jul 28 16, Jul 30 16, Jul 31 16, Aug 03 16, Aug 04 16, Aug 05 16

The recall was initiated after a routine sampling program by the Ohio Department of Agriculture revealed the presence ofSalmonella in one 4 lb. bag of product. The company is coordinating this voluntary recall with the FDA, and is issuing the recall action out of an abundance of caution.

Consumers who purchased the 4 lb. bags of the dry dog food product subject to the voluntary recall (as identified above) should stop using the product, discard it in a safe manner (example, a securely covered trash receptacle), and contact Nutrisca at the number below for further information.

For consumer information or questions regarding this voluntary recall, please contact Nutrisca at 1-888-559-8833.

Pet International Inc. Recalls 6” Beef Trachea Pet Treat Because of Possible Salmonella Health RiskContact:
Consumer:
(305) 591-3338

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE — February 11, 2015 — Pet International of Miami, Florida is recalling 1500 units of 6” Beef Trachea Pet Treat because it has the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella. Salmonella can affect animals (i.e. dogs) eating the products and there is risk to humans from handling contaminated pet products, especially if they have not thoroughly washed their hands after having contact with the products or any surfaces exposed to these products.

Healthy people infected with Salmonella should monitor themselves for some or all of the following symptoms: nausea, vomiting, diarrhea or bloody diarrhea, abdominal cramping and fever. Rarely, Salmonella can result in more serious ailments, including arterial infections, endocarditis, arthritis, muscle pain, eye irritation, and urinary tract symptoms. Consumers exhibiting these signs after having contact with this product should contact their healthcare providers.

Dogs with Salmonella infections may be lethargic and have diarrhea or bloody diarrhea, fever, and vomiting. Some pets (i.e. dogs) will have only decreased appetite, fever and abdominal pain. Infected but otherwise healthy pets can be carriers and infect other animals or humans. If your dog has consumed the recalled product and has these symptoms, please contact your veterinarian.

The 6” Beef Trachea Pet Treat was distributed to retail stores in the following Cities: Conifer, and Lakewood in Colorado.

If you have this product, use gloves and put in a double bag and throw it away as soon as possible. Do not touch the product in any way, and if you do, it’s recommended you must wash your hands immediately with an antibacterial soap.

The potentially affected product will pertain to a particular lot number, and are specific to a particular size of the pouch it’s sold in. Anyone having these products should verify the following:

Brand: Buster’s Natural Pet Supply,
Lot Code: 8501450,
Size: 6” Beef Trachea/ 12 Pack Plastic Pouch,
UPC Code: 8501450

No illnesses have been reported to date. We are still warning consumers that if any of the above information is on the package you have, do not feed it to any animals at all. It may be hazardous and should be disposed of immediately.

The recall was as the result of a routine sampling program by the Colorado Department of Agriculture and analyzed by FDA, obtained from Buster’s Natural Pet Supply in Conifer, CO. and found to be positive for Salmonella. The product sampled had a Buster’s Label on it, but was manufactured by Pet International. Buster’s Natural Pet Supply recalled the entire product from the two stores that the distributor sells it. The Pet International Inc. continues their investigation as to what caused the problem.

Consumers who have purchased 6” Beef Trachea with Buster’s Natural Pet Supply Label on it and are wishing to be refunded because of the recall, can take the product back to where bought it from, with receipt. A special form will be provided to be filled out as well. Both the form and the receipt are needed for the refund.

Consumers with any questions about the recall product may contact the company at by phone at (305) 591-3338 Monday through Friday 9:00am too 5:00pm EST or via e-mail at [email protected].

Mediaplanet: What inspired you to become an advocate for pet adoption?

Rachael Ray: I don’t have any kids, so John and I consider Isaboo our child just as we did with our pup Boo before her. I wanted to create a way to help find families for other animals in the shelter system.

MP: If our readers are looking to get involved, how would you suggest they start?

RR: I think to get started you can begin doing some research and scoping out your local animal shelters to get some more information.

I think it is so important that people support their local shelters and help provide needy animals with a home. There are so many different types of adoptable animals, and we've seen firsthand through our partnership with the ASPCA and other organizations how suddenly these animals can bring joy to your life. Your local shelter should definitely be your first stop if you're thinking about bringing an animal into your family.

If you are not looking to bring a pet into your home, there are other ways to help, especially through volunteering. Check with your local shelter to find ways to donate your time to help meet their needs.

PAWESOME PALS: Rachael cooks a healthy meal with her trusty sous chef, Isaboo.
MP: How do you know what type of nutrition plan (i.e. grain-free, high protein) is right for your pet?

RR: You need to be wary of the food you are giving to your pets especially because every pet is different. The first step would really be to listen to your veterinarian about what is going on with your pet and their digestion systems. From there, you should research the food products. 

MP: What advice would you give a new pet owner to ensure your home is a happy and healthy environment?

RR: My advice would be simply to provide the most loving home possible. Pay attention to your pet too. Make sure you realize the food and other things that your pet either enjoys or dislikes. It’s important to cater to them and provide them the things they love.

MP: Do you have any advice for how a working pet owner can balance between their busy schedule and caring for their animal?

RR: Before becoming a pet owner, I think it is important to evaluate your time and make sure that you are able to give this animal the love it deserves. I have a very busy schedule, but Isaboo is always part of my day and John even takes her to the office several times a week.

MP: How do you know if pet adoption is right for you?

RR: This is really a personal decision, but it is usually the moment you lay eyes on one of these beautiful shelter animals when something clicks inside. After you have evaluated whether you’ll have the time and resources to care for these pets and provide them with a loving home, you’ll know.

MP: Are there any unforeseen challenges you think our readers should be aware of before adopting?

RR: If you have determined that you can give a loving home to a shelter animal, then there shouldn’t be too many unforeseen challenges. The one surprise is the love that this animal will bring to your home and family. Isaboo is my child and has brought an immense amount of love that John and I never thought possible. When you change the lives of these beautiful animals, they change yours in return.

STAFF, [email protected]