Wellness Natural Pet Food is one of the the best rated natural pet foods on the market. They use only high-quality ingredients that meet purity and freshness standards and are free of contaminants. More than 95% of their ingredients are sourced in North America.

Wellness Natural Pet Food is very generously offering up two complete prize packs of cat or dog food, treats, and coupons!

The contents of each prize pack will be tailored to be dog or cat oriented, based on the winners’ pet situation. They will include a bag of dry dog or cat food, dog and/or cat treats, cans of food or pouches, as well as $10 Wellness coupons. The value of each prize pack is about $100!

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To Enter:

To enter, leave a comment here telling me how many cats and/or dogs you have. That’s it! Comments that do not follow these directions will not be entered.

~ One entry per household. Duplicate entries will be discarded and disqualified (and yes, I can tell!).

~ The giveaway will run until Sunday, November 16th at 8:00 p.m. EST. Winners will be randomly chosen and notified by email and will have 24 hours to respond with mailing information before new winners are chosen.

~ Two Wellness Pet Food Prize Packages will be given away (two winners, one prize pack each).

ABC News recently ran a segment about the effects of the economy on pets and how shelters even have a term for the animals turned over to them: They called them “foreclosure pets.”

They did provide a few tips on how to lower your pet costs, from food to health care:

~ Buy quality pet food in bulk. An eight-pound bag of dog food costs about $15, while a 40-pound bag of the same food costs about $50. Buying the bigger bag saves you $25. Keep in mind, though, that dog food can go stale, so if you’ve got just one small dog that would take a year to go through a huge bag of food (and you don’t need to feed as much if you buy a high-quality food), it’s probably a better idea to stick to the smaller bag to reduce waste.

~ Bathe and trim your pet’s claws at home instead of a pet salon. Quality shampoos are not expensive - one bottle will last for months and cost less than one visit to a groomer. You can learn to trim your pet’s nails or buy one of the new rotary gadgets if you’re squeamish about hurting him or her.

~ Bring all your pets in for one vet visit. (Make sure you schedule all of them, though!) Many vets may offer a discount for multiple pets in one visit, and some even offer senior citizen discounts for the pet owner, or military discounts. It doesn’t hurt to ask, right?

~ If your pet needs medication ask about generic equivalents, or see if the vet has any samples they can give you. If you have a kitten or puppy that needs a check-up ask about discounts if you’re planning on getting vaccinations, spay/neuter and microchipping done all at once.

What ideas do you have for cutting back on pet costs?

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While good, crunchy food and treats are no substitute for regular teeth cleaning for dogs, they do offer up some extra help to keep your dog’s mouth healthy and even fresh!

Keeping the biscuits in the oven after they’re done baking not only gets them extra-crunchy, it also helps dry them out to the point that they won’t get moldy or spoil.

1 cup wheat flour
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup wheat germ
1/4 cup nonfat powdered milk
1 can low-sodium chicken stock or broth
3 tablespoons corn oil
2 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley
1/4 cup wheat germ for dredging biscuits

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and oil a large baking sheet. Combine the wheat and all purpose flour together with the wheat germ, powdered milk. In another small bowl, mix stock and oil. Combine until well mixed.

When all ingredients are thoroughly mixed, place dough on a dry slightly floured surface and begin kneading. Add all purpose flour as needed until the dough is easy to handle and soft. Take table spoon sized portions and roll them in the extra wheat germ, then place them on the oiled baking sheet with a gap of about 3 cm between them and squish each ball, with a fork, into a biscuit shape. Bake for about 15 to 20 minutes or until nicely browned. Turn off oven but leave the biscuits inside until completely hard. Keep the uneaten dog biscuits in airtight bags in the fridge or freezer.

[image: amazon]

We’re going camping next weekend and plan to take the dogs with us!

We went last summer as well and it was Chip and Honey’s first camping experience and they didn’t handle it well. We kept food and water available to them at all times but I don’t think either of them ate the whole weekend — it was rough!

We knew they were stressed after just a few hours but we weren’t sure how to calm them down and get them to eat. We gave them just as much attention as we usually do and brought their crates to sleep in, just like they’re used to. Nothing seemed to help.

This year we’re thinking of bringing a little bit of beef or chicken broth with us to maybe make their dry kibble seem a little more appetizing and jump start their appetites! We’re staying a day longer than last year as well and really don’t want them to go that long without eating since we know it can be really detrimental to such small dogs. Ideally we’d like them to get used to the experience because we’d like to head off to the mountains more often!

What would you do in this situation?

These are such a great idea! Greenies have created “Pill Pockets,” a treat with a little pocket in the center perfect for fitting in a pill or even liquid when your pet needs medication.

They come in two sizes - one for larger pills and a smaller one for capsules, and they’re also available in two flavors - beef and chicken. There are also packs specifically for cats and dogs.

I’m interested in the dog treats especially since we have to give Honey pain medication every once in a while (poor old girl). We’ve been using little bits of processed cheese that we fold the pill into and it’s not often enough that it’s bad for her, but she may like the Greenies even better.

You can pick up a free sample to try out for yourself!

[image: greenies product photo]

If you’re involved in or just want to keep an eye on the $24 million class action lawsuit involving the pet food tainted with melamine, keep the following info handy!

First off, if you purchased and your pet consumed pet food after March 16, 2007 double check to see if it’s on the recalled products that are affected by the lawsuit, which contains a lot of big names like Nestle-Purina, Royal Canin, Diamond Pet Food, Hill’s, and Del Monte.

The case is called Pet Food Products Liability Litigation; MDL Docket No. 1850, Civil Action No. 07-2867 (NLH). The final hearing will take place on October 18, 2008, and the final date for submitting a claim form is November 24, 2008.

Check with PetFoodSettlement.com for continuing updates and read through the FAQ, notices, and important dates.

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2 apples
1/2 c. ferret pellets
peanut butter (optional)

Grind the ferret pellets or crush them with the back of a spoon. Use a little water to soften the food to make it mushy, but not to watery. Mix in some peanut butter, be sure not to add to much. Peel the apples and chop them into tiny pieces. Mix the apples in with other ingredients and serve!

[image: flickr]

We used to give the cats a treat of wet food every now and then but Turbo started throwing it up so we stopped. They don’t seem to miss it.

Oddly enough, the same happened with the dogs! It just didn’t sit well with Honey’s stomach either so all of our pets are on dry only. This was all long before the food recalls so it wasn’t something we gave much thought to.

What do you feed your pet, wet or dry food? Both?

[image: flickr]

I’ve mentioned before that my cats aren’t big treat eaters. I kind of wish they were because I love making treats for my pets, but they actually were interested in these! They took a couple of nibbles and while they don’t go as crazy for them as they do for catnip I think we’ll keep these around!

Cat Crackers

6 ounces of undrained tuna
1 cup cornmeal
1 cup flour
1/3 cup water

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Measure all of the ingredients into a bowl and mix thoroughly with your hands. Roll out to 1/4 inch thickness and cut into treat sized pieces (I use a pizza cutter). Place on a greased cookie sheet and bake for about 20 minutes or until golden. Let cool.

[image: macrocats]

Remember, these are for the dog, not you! (Although, admit it - when you make your own treats you take a nibble, right? Right?)

Apple Cinnamon Drops Dog Treats

1 large apple
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup of water
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup oatmeal
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/8 cup whole wheat flour

Preheat oven to 350 ° F. Core, slice and mince the apple (use a food processor if you have one). In a large bowl, combine the minced apple, honey, water, cinnamon, and oatmeal. Gradually blend in the wheat flour, adding enough to form a stiff dough.

In a small bowl, add 1/8 cup wheat flour. Spoon the dough by rounded teaspoon onto ungreased baking sheets, spacing about 2 inches (5cm) apart. Using the bottom of a glass dipped in the wheat flour (to prevent sticking), flatten each spoonful of dough into a circle. Adjust the size of the drops based on how big a treat you like to feed your dog.

Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and flip each cookie to brown evenly on both sides. Reduce oven temperature to 325 ° F. Return to oven and bake for an additional 30 minutes. Let cool overnight.

Makes about 3 dozen crunchy cookies, depending on how big you make them.

[image: flickr]