Salmonella Outbreak and Pets

The peanut product recall seems to have taken on a life of it’s own. It’s not just peanut butter–the list wanders all over the place from brownie and donut products to salad dressings and pet food and treats. The FDA says that the risk of animals contracting salmonellosis is minimal, yet you should check the pet food products on the lengthy recall list to avoid any unnecessary risk.

Signs that your pet may have salmonella:

• Dogs and cats that become ill from salmonella generally will have diarrhea that may contain blood or mucus.
• Affected animals may seem more tired than usual, and may have a fever or vomit.
• Some cats do not have diarrhea, but will have a decreased appetite, fever, and excess salivation.
• Some dogs or cats may have Salmonella but may not appear to be sick. Well animals can be carriers and infect other animals or humans.

If your pet has consumed the recalled product and has these symptoms, contact your veterinarian.

Below is the list of “recalling firms” of pet food products. Check out the FDA list for links to the specific products and more information like UPC Code Number, lot descriptions, packaging size, etc.

Aggieville USA, Mountain Grove, MO
American Nutrition, Inc.
Carolina Prime
Carolina Prime Pet
Farm Style
Grreat Choice
Happy Tails
Healthy Hide
Healthy-hide Deli-wrap
Hill Country Fare
Integrity
Mill Creek
Next Gen Pet Products
Northwest Royal
Premium
Salix
Shoppers Valu
Springfield Prize
Vita Bone Flavors
Vita Snacks
Western Family Biscuits
Western Trade Group, Inc.
Yeaster

Also note that there is risk to humans from handling contaminated pet food products. To prevent foodborne illness when handling pet foods and treats, wash hands with hot water and soap before and after handling pet foods and treats and wash pet food bowls and utensils with hot water and soap after each use.

Again, if you believe your pet may be experiencing symptoms of salmonella, please bring your pet to your local veterinarian as soon as possible.

Euthanasia Alternative: Pet Hospice

Up until just a few years ago, people had one treatment option for their terminally ill pets–euthanasia–and the average veterinarian thought it better to get it over with sooner rather than later. But if Eleonora Babayants had listened to the veterinarian who advised her to put her dog Lima to sleep immediately, she and Lima would have lost out on their additional three years together. Instead of euthanasia, Babayants elected to care for Lima at home, using a relatively new program for dying pets called “pet hospice.” Pet hospice allows a dying animal to live out the rest of its life at home, pain free and surrounded by its loved ones.

“Human hospice and pet hospice are very similar ideas, because pet hospice is modeled on human hospice programs,” says Kathryn Marocchino, president and founder of Nikki Hospice Foundation for pets, a nonprofit organization that links sympathetic veterinarians with pet owners and provides education and advocacy concerning pet hospice. “The basic tenet is that you live each day until you die, and you make the best of it. And in both humans and animals, making the best of it revolves around pain management,” she says.

Veterinarians who are willing to work with individual clients to provide pet hospice at home can help train owners to deal with many of the day-to-day tasks that make caring for a dying pet so difficult. These include keeping the pet out of pain, teaching owners how to administer medications at home, even shots and IVs, instructing owners on how to keep wounds clean and prevent bedsores, and providing other suggestions to keep the pet comfortable.

“The pet owner needs a vet who is willing to support the owner with anything that may arise when taking care of a dying pet,” Babayants says. “In the case of my vet, she was willing to provide the hospice care for me.” She said, “If it gets to the point where I need to come to the house and help, I will.” Babayants says that although it was a bit intimidating for her, she learned how to give Lima fluids under the skin, administered shots, and learned what signs to look for to keep the dog out of pain. “The owner has to be willing to learn these basic medical techniques, but with the support of a vet who is willing to help, I found I could do anything I needed to,” Babayants says.

Another option for pet hospice care is frequent in-home visits from people trained in end-of-life care, like the veterinary students who participate in the Colorado State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences Pet Hospice program. From a medical point of view, it can be difficult and scary to have a terminally ill pet at home, according to Co-Team Manager of CSU’s program, Christie Long, “especially if they require a lot of support, like administering fluids for rehydration, giving medications, keeping feeding tubes clean. It’s so stressful for a sick animal to be brought into the clinic, so we can have a much less stressed patient if we can keep the pet comfortable at home.”

CSU’s hospice service is one of the only formal programs in the country to offer structured in-home hospice care, free of charge, but many other veterinarians are willingto work with owners on an individual basis to provide hospice care to pets. Nikki Hospice Foundation for pets offers no in-home services itself, but it offers referrals to a network of willing pet hospice veterinarians across the country.

When to say goodbye
Sometimes pet owners are so subjectively devoted to the idea of keeping their pets alive that they can’t see when it’s time to let go. According to Long, it’s the responsibility of the hospice team to carefully assess the animal’s pain level and encourage owners to make the decision to euthanize when the pet can’t be kept pain free. “One of our standards for accepting a pet into the hospice program is if the animal can be made comfortable at home, because we don’t want to assist you with keeping an animal alive who’s in pain,” Long says. “And sometimes, when the animal no longer can be kept out of pain and has no quality of life, then euthanasia can often be the best gift.” While the CSU team will never force euthanasia, they will withdraw from a case if they feel the animal is suffering needlessly and they can’t persuade the owner to choose euthanasia.

The Nikki Hospice Foundation for pets takes a slightly different approach, advocating for the owners’ right to choose how and when their pet dies, including the right to refuse euthanasia altogether. Marocchino founded the organization out of her own grief at finding no end-of-life assistance when her beloved cat, Nikki, was dying of acute feline kidney failure. Marocchino had taken Nikki to an emergency animal clinic, where vets pressured her to euthanize Nikki on the spot.

Instead of putting Nikki to sleep immediately, Marocchino took her to the University of California Davis, where they also recommended euthanizing the cat. “I had trained as a human hospice volunteer the year before, and so I kept asking if we couldn’t do some kind of home hospice care,” Marocchino says. “I was looking for pain management at home, but there just wasn’t anything they could offer me. So in the end, we made the decision to euthanize her there at UC Davis, on a cold steel table.” Marocchino, extremely traumatized by the event, walked away deciding then and there to help found a pet hospice foundation so that no one would ever have to go through what she had just suffered.

Despite the organization’s stance on freedom to choose euthanasia or not, Marocchino is clear that she personally believes the owner should let go when a pet cannot be kept pain free. “The point isn’t to just extend the animal’s life, it’s only if you can take advantage of that quality time,” Marocchino explains. “If the pet can’t be kept out of pain, or if it’s comatose, then it’s time to let go.” But the main point she makes is that the choice must lie solely with the pet owner–not with the veterinarian or even the hospice providers.

Grief, but no regrets
When you talk to owners who have gone the hospice route, they share one clear trait: They have no regrets. Nancy Haugen, an assistant clinical professor at the University of California at San Francisco School of Medicine, who chose in-home care over euthanasia for her dog, Brinn, says pet hospice allowed her to focus on her dog’s needs and encouraged her to follow her own intuition for his care. “When you can just focus on your own instincts, and on the animal’s instincts, that ends up creating a situation where there’s no regrets,” Haugen says. “Pet hospice gives us permission to trust a really old primitive part of us, and to trust the nature of the dog or cat. It allows a powerful end-of-life experience where there’s sorrow and grief, which is very natural, instead of trauma and regret.”

When Babayants chose the challenging path of pet hospice for her dog, Lima, she had no idea what she was getting herself into. But with the help of her regular veterinarian, Babayants was able to keep Lima comfortable so they could enjoy their final time together. “She had a very happy three years, she didn’t suffer, she ate, she went for long walks,” Babayants says. “The best doctors in the whole world, when they tell you how long your pet has to live, can’t really know for sure. We would have lost those three years together if I’d just put Lima to sleep. When she passed away, I was in terrible grief, but I never felt any regret.”

For more information:
Nikki Hospice Foundation
CSU’s Pet Hospice Program
The American Association of Human-Animal Bond Veterinarians

My Favourite Cold & Flu Remedies

It's that time of year again! And, no, I'm not talking about white Christmases and turkey dinners...I'm talking about cold & flu season. If you want to stay healthy over the holidays, try these great tips and formulas.

This is going to be a large post, so brace yourselves. If one remedy doesn't sound appealing to you, or if you're allergic to any of the ingredients, another remedy follows!

I’ve included teas, soups, homemade syrups, and more—all natural, all comforting, all effective. Great care for colds and flu, right here.

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Avoiding the flu is on many people’s minds, particularly this year with a worldwide flu vaccine shortage.

The good news is that people have been using essential oils for centuries to ward off illnesses, and we have an antibacterial room spray that can help in just this way. If you are unlucky enough to come down with a case of the flu, or a bad cold, there are many natural herbal and homeopathic remedies that also really help. Here is a list of these as well, so you can ride out such an illness with the least amount of misery!

Antibacterial Room Spray
Here is an excellent antiseptic and freshening room spray. It contains lavender and thyme oils, both of which are antiseptic and specifific to lung infections. If you are traveling, you might like to use it in your hotel room.

1. Fill a 2-ounce glass spray bottle with distilled water.
2. Add to it 7 drops of lavender oil and 4 drops of thyme oil.
3. Replace the spray top and spray!

Echinacea
Echinacea stimulates the immune system and helps the body rid itself of microbial infection. Echinace angustifolia and E. purpurrea are equally effective, and many products contain E. pallida as well. Start taking Echinacea tincture –30 to 45 drops 3x a day—a week before traveling to obtain ints immune –enhancing effects.

While all treatments work differently, depending on the individual, experience shows that Echinacea can knock out a cold if taken at the onset of symptoms.

Astragalus
Another effective immune-enhancing formula is a combination of astragalus (Astragalus membranaceus) and Siberian ginseng (Eleutherococcus senticosus) taken as a tincture twice a day, 20 to 30 drops per dose. This formula is appropriate to take daily throughout the cold and flu season. Begin a month prior to travel.

Boneset
Boneset (Eupatorium perforoliatum is an immune stimulant that assaults bacteria. In the 1700s and 1800s most U.S. homes in the Northeast had boneset drying from the rafters. It was used effectively to treat a flue epidemic in Pennysylvania in 800.

Redroot
This effective botanical stimulates and cleanses the lymph system. The lymph system is responsible for processing and cleansing the body of the byproducts of fighting infection.

Boneset, Redroot, and Echinachea
Make this formula blend yourself by buying single-herb tinctures of each of the three herbs and combine them in a larger jar. Fill a 2-ounce tincture bottle with some of the resulting formula and you’re all set. This remedy is good to take 20 to 30 drops at a time, every hour, at the onset of cold or flu symptoms.

Homeopathic Formula
A standard remedy for flu is the homeopathic formula Oscillococcinum. Manufactured by Boiron, Oscillo is taken like any other homeopathic remedy—sublingually (allowed to dissolve under the tongue) 30 minutes before or after eating or drinking anything except water. The standard dosage is three vials; each vial contains hundreds of minute pellets. As soon as you feel flu symptoms, take a vial of Oscillo. Repeat with the second vial six hours alter, and with the third six hours after the second.

Note: These recommendations are offered as information only, not as a medical recommendation, or to be used independently of your working with your doctor.

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If You Have a Cold but Need to Attend a Meeting

(From Beauty Feng Shui, by Chao-Hsiu Chen (Inner Traditions, 2000).

Heat 2 glasses of cola (try to find a healthy kind) with 10 thick slices of fresh ginger. Add 2 tablespoons honey and the juice of a lemon and drink the mixture. (This recipe is very popular in Hong Kong.)

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Herbal Bath Soothing Cold Remedy

Like several of my friends, I’m just recovering from a nasty cold brought on, I think, by the stress of adjusting to the falling temperature of my not-so-heated place of residence. I was eager to try this great formula–and the good news is that it really helped unstop my nose and soothe my sniffling soul. Plus it was pure pleasure to loll in such fragrant waters for a few minutes. (Warm baths are one of my favorite de-stressors, hands down!)

Get the simple and effective formula here to save for a sneezy day:

INGREDIENTS

2 cups boiling water
2 tablespoons dried eucalyptus
4 tablespoons dried rosemary
4 tablespoons dried lavender buds
2 tablespoons dried rosebuds (I didn’t have any of these on hand, but the formula still worked without them)

Steep the herbs in the boiling water for 30 minutes, then strain and add the liquid to a warm bath.

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Zesty Cider Cold and Flu Formula

Adapted from 50 Simple Ways to Pamper Yourself, by Stephanie Tourles (Storey Books, 1999).

Here is a great natural formula—with a spicy, zesty, delicious flavor#—that offers relief from cold and flu symptoms, and is an effective natural antibiotic.

Several healing ingredients make this tasty formula one that you can drink at the first sign of a cold or flu to help open up your sinuses and bronchial passages. You can also gargle with it for relief from sore throats. We plan to print this out and keep it handy all fall and winter long; when the sniffles hit, this will help! Here’s the recipe:

INGREDIENTS (Try to use organic if at all possible)

25 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons dried or 3 tablespoons fresh Echinacea root, grated or chopped
1/3 cup fresh horseradish root, grated
1/4 cup fresh gingerroot, peeled and sliced
1 large white onion, diced
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper powder
Honey to sweeten, if desired
Raw apple cider vinegar, 1 quart or less

1. Place all dry ingredients in a 1-quart wide mouth jar. Fill to the top with vinegar. Cover the top of the jar with plastic wrap, then screw on the lid.

2. Refrigerate for six weeks so the flavor can develop and soften. Shake daily. There’s no need to strain and bottle it unless you want to. The flavor keeps getting better and bolder the longer the formula is allowed to steep.

3. At the first sign of a cold or flu, take 2 tablespoons of this formula with a warm water chaser. Rinse mouth out well after swallowing the cider. Repeat once or twice daily for the duration of the illness. You should feel your sinus and bronchial passages quickly open and your breathing become easier.

4. For a sore throat, gargle with the formula for 60 seconds, spit, then rinse out your mouth. You should feel immediate relief.

Makes about 1 quart.

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Honey Thyme for Colds and Flu

Cold and flu season is upon us, but we have an ancient remedy for congestion, coughs, and sore throats that is simply the bees’ knees!

It calls for honey, the sweetest of healers, and thyme, a wonderful herb with antibacterial properties that had been used by Wise Ones for centuries to alleviate the miseries of colds and flus. Easy to make and delicious to use:

INGREDIENTS
1 cup honey
1/2 cup fresh thyme or 1/4 cup dried thyme

1. In a small saucepan, combine the two ingredients and heat gently over low heat for 15 to 20 minutes, being sure not to let the honey boil or scorch.

2. Remove from heat and allow the honey to cool. Strain out the herbs, then bottle the honey and label it.

3. To relieve colds, coughs, and sore throats, take 1 teaspoon of this thyme-infused honey three times a day. You could also add a teaspoon of it to a cup of regular hot tea and sip slowly.

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Herbs for the Flu, Tested By Science

Adapted from The Antibiotic Alternative: The Natural Guide to Fighting Infection and Maintaining a Healthy Immune System by Cindy L. A. Jones, Ph.D. (Inner Traditions, 2000).

It is getting to be time that we all get a bit more sophisticated about the flu, what with the Avian flu fears looming as a possible global pandemic. Vaccinations, antiviral drugs and pharmaceuticals are not the focus of this article, but finding effective herbs to help combat the illness is.

A flu and cold are often difficult to differentiate, but a flu is usually worse. Symptoms include a fever with chills, runny nose, cough, headache, and a feeling of malaise or tiredness. Although the most acute symptoms usually subside within three days, symptoms such as weakness and coughing may persist for ten days. Even though the flu is typically self-limiting, serious complications can arise in the very young or the elderly or those with a preexisting disease.

Two herbs have stood the test of science as being effective against the flu. Find out which ones, here:

The ideal approach to the flu is, of course, prevention. This might be accomplished by improving the immune system, especially in the fall as flu season approaches. Several studies have shown that astragalus (Astragalus membranaceous) extracts can stimulate the immune system. Use astragalus as an extract or add the root to soups.

If you do get the flu, here are two herbs shown to help reduce the severity of the illness.

1. Elder (Sambucus nigra) has a tradition of use for the treatment of colds and flu and has stood the test of science. The flowers from this plant have demonstrated antiviral activity against both influenza types A and B, as well as herpes simplex virus type 1. It also possesses anti-inflammatory activity.

A clinical study showed that a standardized elderberry extract, Sambucol, improved the symptoms of influenza with a complete recovery in two to three days, compared to a six-day recovery period for the group not receiving the herb. In this study patients were diagnosed with influenza type B. Elder may act by stimulating the body’s own interferon or by preventing attachment of the virus to the body’s surfaces.

2. Licorce root has also demonstrated antiviral activity. When mice infected with lethal doses of influenza virus were treated with glycyrrhizin, an active component of licorice, they were protected from death due to the virus and had less lung damage than did mice treated with saline controls.

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Restorative Roasted Garlic Soup

Adapted from The Border Cookbook, by Cheryl Alters Jamison and Bill Jamison (Harvard Common Press, 1995).

Some recipes for garlic soup are so laden with cream that the salubrious effects of the garlic are certainly thwarted. In this recipe for roasted garlic soup, you will find no cream. No dairy at all in fact. Instead, a creative combination of flavors with a Mexican spin that is as perky as it is restorative.

Roasting and simmering mellow the garlic’s sharpness and enhance its underlying sweetness.

This is one delicious way to boost your immune system so you can avoid the flu, or to nourish yourself if you’ve caught it.

INGREDIENTS

3 whole heads of garlic
2 tablespoons vegetable oil, preferably peanut
1 medium onion, sliced thin
8 cups vegetable stock
1 to 2 dried or canned chipotle chiles
1/2 teaspoon salt, or more to taste
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds, toasted and ground
Juice of 1/2 to 1 lime
Toasted thin flour tortilla strips and sliced avocado, for garnish (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Coat garlic with a thin film of the oil, reserving the remaining oil. Place garlic in a shallow pan and bake it until very soft, about 45 minutes. When garlic is cool enough to handle, peel all the cloves and reserve them.

3. Pour 1 tablespoon of the oil into a large saucepan or Dutch oven and warm over medium heat. Add the onion to the oil and saute until it’s softened and lightly colored. Transfer the mixture to a blender and add the reserved garlic. Puree, adding a little stock if necessary to blend the mixture.

4. Add remaining oil to the saucepan and warm it over medium-high heat. Pour in the blender mixture, being careful of any splatters, and saute it until it just begins to dry out and color. Add the rest of the stock, the chipotle, salt, and cumin, and reduce the heat to medium. Simmer the soup for 25 to 30 minutes, remove it from the heat, and add the lime juice.

5. Divide the tortilla strips and avocado between the bowls and pour the hot soup over them. Serve immediately.

Serves 6 to 8.

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Garlic Potato Healing Soup Recipe

Adapted from The Findhorn Book of Vegetarian Recipes, by Kay Lynne Sherman (Findhorn Press, 2003).

Here is a folk remedy for those days when you’re out of sorts and not feeling well. Comforting and packed with the healing power of garlic, this soup is good for what ails you!

Keep the recipe on hand to make whenever you or a loved one is feeling under the weather: Garlic Potato Healing Soup is a keeper.

INGREDIENTS

1 teaspoon caraway seeds, crushed with a mortar and pestle
2 cups chopped potatoes
7 cups good-quality vegetable stock or water
1 teaspoon salt
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tablespoon butter
Croutons for garnish (optional)

1. Simmer potatoes and caraway seeds in stock or water for 20 minutes, or until potatoes are very soft.

2. Add crushed garlic and butter, stirring to combine thoroughly.

3. Serve hot with croutons on top, if desired.

Serves 2.

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Grandma’s Healing Soup Recipe

Inspired by Soup Makes the Meal, by Ken Haedrich (Harvard Common Press, 2001).

The author of this wonderful cookbook says he’s been making this light restorative soup for his kids when they’re sick for years–but that it’s so delicious, you don’t have to be sick to enjoy it! Either way, its luscious fragrance helps to clear the sinuses, with potatoes that are soothing to the digestive tract and a delightful broth filled with spinach, parsley, leeks, and garlic for minerals, vitamins, and healing antioxidants plus some winter root vegetables for sweetness. It reminded Cait of a lovely soup her Grandma used to make.

A steaming bowlful on a cold winter day is so wonderfully soothing
and comforting–and it is very quick to make.

INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large leek, well-washed, white parts only, chopped
1 large carrot, peeled and diced
1 large potato, diced
1 parsnip, peeled and diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
5 cups vegetable stock
Salt to taste
Handful fresh parsley leaves, chopped
Large handful fresh spinach leaves (around 4 ounces), rinsed and coarsely chopped
Freshly-ground black pepper, to taste

1. In a soup pot, heat the olive oil and add the leeks, carrot, potato, parsnip, and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, over medium heat about 5 minutes. Add stock and salt to taste, then bring to a simmer.

2. Simmer soup, partially covered, for about 5 minutes, then stir in parsley and spinach. Simmer, partially covered, about 5 more minutes. Add pepper to taste and serve piping hot.

Serves 4 to 5.

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French Healing Tea Recipe

The French sip this tea for pure pleasure, but it is also wonderfully healing for sore throats, upper respiratory troubles, and tummy bugs. It’s been a brutal flu season here in upstate New York, but this delicious tea has helped all of us who have tried it.

The recipe only calls for one herbal ingredient, and you probably have it on your kitchen shelf. As you sip, think of cozy French farmhouses surrounded by fields just beginning to thaw after the long cold winter. The sun is getting stronger. Spring is returning. Life is good.

INGREDIENTS

1 cup boiling water
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme (1 teaspoon fresh)

1. Place thyme in cup and cover with boiling water. Cover and allow to steep for 10 minutes.

2. Strain and serve, with honey and/or lemon, if you like.

Makes one serving.

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Warming Winter Good Health Tea

Adapted from The Great American Detox Cookbook, by Alex Jamieson (Rodale Press, 2005).

Most of us will eat some things over the holidays that we knew aren't all that good for us. Some of us are surrounded by sneezing and coughing co-workers. All of us could use a little help staying healthy. That’s where this wonderful tea comes in handy.

The author of this great cookbook helped her filmmaker fiance Morgan Spurlock come back from the brink after he ate a fast-food diet for a month for his movie “Super-Size Me.” She devised this super recipe to help us digest our meals more fully and to boost our immune systems. It has anti-depression ingredients, antiviral and antibacterial ingredients, relaxing ingredients—and it tastes delicious! Try the recipe, and enjoy better health this winter:

INGREDIENTS

4 cups water
3 slices fresh ginger, cut to the thickness of a quarter (warming, immune enhancer)
1 1-inch piece licorice root (antiviral, antibacterial, fights depression)
1 1/2-inch piece cinnamon stick (warming, digestive support, useful for diabetes)
1 tablespoon organic orange rind (sweet)
1 tablespoon dried parsley (digestive aid)
1 teaspoon dried lemon balm (relaxing, aromatic)
1 clove (warming, digestive aid)

1. In a pot, bring the water to a boil. Remove from heat and add remaining ingredients.

2. Steep 5 to 15 minutes. Strain and drink twice a day.

Makes 4 cups.

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Stay healthy! - Tara