By Jodi McLean

T.J. and Isabella

Let’s talk about pets!

I currently have two dogs and one cat.   I can’t imagine life without a pet–preferably multiples!   Apparently, pet ownership can actually improve your health by enhancing your mood, fighting depression, and even give you physical benefits like helping to improve your cholesterol levels, blood pressure and overall heart health.  Don’t take my word for it (I’m no Vet or Dr.)  Here is an interesting link on WebMD:

http://pets.webmd.com/slideshow-pets-improve-your-health?ecd=ppc_google_PetsAreGoodforYourHealth_HealthyPets_HealthyPets-PetsImproveHealth_search&gclid=CNCGz5eV16ACFcth2godUXyFCg

On the flip side, be aware of the costs involved in raising and caring for a pet.  One article I read suggested that annual cost for giving a medium-sized dog basic care (food, grooming, etc.) is $1800.  And that’s without the illnesses and medicine, and the late-night runs to the emergency vet to deal with a bleeding broken toenail that is leaving bloody tracks all over the house.

http://ezinearticles.com/?How-Much-on-Average-Does-it-Cost-to-Have-a-Dog-Per-Year?&id=3710619

Now that all that is out of the way, I am in love with my fur babies! I will attach photos, of course.  They are my main photographic subject matter as they are fun to photograph with their very distinct personalities!

Snoop Kitty Cat

Snoop, the cat, is diabetic.  He was diagnosed maybe 2 years ago when Tonya and I noticed him drinking and peeing a lot and having trouble jumping.  Then he started to walk on the hocks of his back legs, suggesting neuropathy.  The Vet put him on insuline and diabetic cat food.  Tonya had also read about a potential natural cure for diabetic neuropathy, so we printed out a few articles and ran them by our wonderful Vet.  The articles suggested that Methyl B-12 was a helpful treatment.  We started giving Snoop the Methyl B-12 pills in the little “pet treat pill pockets” and within 2 months he was walking and jumping as usual!  I’m sure the insuline and new food also helped, but I firmly believe that the Methyl B-12 was the magic catalyst.  (Note that it must be Methyl B-12, not just any variety of vitamin B.)  Here is another helpful article; this is one that we took to our Vet to review before trying Methyl B-12 on Snoop.

http://www.laurieulrich.com/jasper/

And one more:

http://www.kirabo.com/2007/10/feline-diabetes.html

During our last Vet visit, Dr. Few suggested that we might be able to wean Snoop fully off of insuline and dry prescription diabetic cat food by feeding him Fancy Feast Classic varieties of wet food.  We are now experimenting with this food while we continue to give him insuline shots.  Dr. Few will check Snoop’s progress in 3 weeks to see if we can wean him from the insuline, entirely.  That would be a God-send.  I will let you know how it all works out.  Just wondered if anybody else had heard about a positive side-effect of the Fancy Feast Classic food for diabetic cats?  Again, be sure to check the label and get the cans that are labeled “Classic.”

Here is a helpful list of Fancy Feast Classic varieties and the color of the labels.  I don’t have a way to verify the content of this link, but it is identical to the information that the Vet gave to us.

http://www.felinediabetes.com/glutenfree.htm

Please share your pet experiences!  I have thousands of stories to share, but thought I’d just give you a little background on Snoop, TJ and Izzy for now.  You will see them featured in a lot of the photos that I post.

Happy Weekend!

Jodi