Warming Recipe for your Dog

We all know there is nothing like a nice warm home cooked meal on a cold damp winter night. Here is a recipe for those dogs who suffer from arthritis, hip dysplasia and other ailments made worse by the cold damp.

This is the recipe I used for my dog Merlin, a German Shepherd who suffered from hip dysplasia. He received regular acupuncture treatments, took Chinese herbs and had home-cooked congee for his meals. Merlin lived to be almost 15 years old.

Recipe for Merlin’s Magic Congee

Grains should be thoroughly cooked for animals, as they don’t really chew their food. Congee is a Chinese dish made from rice, meat and vegetables that is slow cooked and easy to digest

In a crock pot or heavy pot with lid add:

* 5 cups of spring or filtered (not tap) water or free-range chicken broth.
* 1 cup of grain.
* Several pieces of frozen or fresh organic chicken or turkey.
* 1 cup or more of chopped or frozen veggies such as carrots, celery, sweet potato, yams, parsley,string beans.

Use brown rice during the cold winter months. Use white basmati rice for spring or summer.

If cooking in a crock pot, set on low and cook for 4-6 hours. If using a heavy pot on the stove, set the flame or electric burner on the lowest setting, and cook for 4-6 hours.

New York Times
By MICHELLE SLATALLA
Published: March 13, 2008

WHEN my dog Otto was a puppy he behaved like an idiot, even for a Labrador retriever.

We haven’t been invited back to the Hamptons since the time he stole a cheeseburger from the hand of a child. Then he jumped into the pool, climbed out and shook himself off on the guests. That was probably forgivable. What came next — joyfully vomiting pool water, grass and ground beef at the host’s feet — was not.

I would like to say this behavior was atypical. But Otto was a spirited dog. He once toppled an elderly neighbor after he snouted her crotch too enthusiastically.

How I miss those days.

Now Otto is a slow-moving 9: X-rays show that he is arthritic, with swollen elbows. His orthopedist recently said he had a bulging disk. Despite every treatment known to modern veterinary science — from glucosamine tablets to prednisone to monthly injections designed to protect the cartilage in his joints — the only thing Otto throws himself into these days is our other dog’s food bowl.

Nobody is happy about Otto. A few weeks ago, he watched dejectedly as my husband and I set off on a hike without him.

Then, at the very place on the trail where Otto once rolled happily on the carcass of a dead mouse, we suddenly heard a rhino crashing through the bushes.

A crazy-eyed, burr-covered retriever emerged. We would have mistaken the dog for the ghost of Otto’s youth if not for its white, old man’s muzzle.

The dog’s owner appeared on the trail a few seconds later.

“How old is he?” my husband asked, absently picking a burr from behind the dog’s ear.

“Twelve,” the owner said.

“He’s in great shape,” my husband said.

“He used to be barely able to walk,” the owner said.

What helped relieve the dog’s arthritis and joint pain? Acupuncture, the owner said.

We were skeptical. “Otto would pull out the needles with his teeth,” my husband replied.

“No, it doesn’t bother them,” the owner insisted.

We watched his dog grab a 10-foot branch at the side of the trail and wave it dangerously, like a scimitar. Just like Otto used to.

“Any minute now, he’ll put out someone’s eye with that sharp tip,” I said wistfully.

The next morning, I Googled “veterinary acupuncture.” That is how I learned that this version of the ancient Chinese therapy that calls for inserting needles into specific locations on pets is gaining steam, even outside Northern California.
To read the rest of this article click on newyorktimes.com

Please do not give your pets tap water!

AP Probe Finds Drugs in Drinking Water

By JEFF DONN, MARTHA MENDOZA and JUSTIN PRITCHARD – 4 hours ago

A vast array of pharmaceuticals — including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones — have been found in the drinking water supplies of at least 41 million Americans, an Associated Press investigation shows.

To be sure, the concentrations of these pharmaceuticals are tiny, measured in quantities of parts per billion or trillion, far below the levels of a medical dose. Also, utilities insist their water is safe.

But the presence of so many prescription drugs — and over-the-counter medicines like acetaminophen and ibuprofen — in so much of our drinking water is heightening worries among scientists of long-term consequences to human health.

In the course of a five-month inquiry, the AP discovered that drugs have been detected in the drinking water supplies of 24 major metropolitan areas — from Southern California to Northern New Jersey, from Detroit to Louisville, Ky.

Water providers rarely disclose results of pharmaceutical screenings, unless pressed, the AP found. For example, the head of a group representing major California suppliers said the public “doesn’t know how to interpret the information” and might be unduly alarmed.

How do the drugs get into the water?

People take pills. Their bodies absorb some of the medication, but the rest of it passes through and is flushed down the toilet. The wastewater is treated before it is discharged into reservoirs, rivers or lakes. Then, some of the water is cleansed again at drinking water treatment plants and piped to consumers. But most treatments do not remove all drug residue.

And while researchers do not yet understand the exact risks from decades of persistent exposure to random combinations of low levels of pharmaceuticals, recent studies — which have gone virtually unnoticed by the general public — have found alarming effects on human cells and wildlife.

“We recognize it is a growing concern and we’re taking it very seriously,” said Benjamin H. Grumbles, assistant administrator for water at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Members of the AP National Investigative Team reviewed hundreds of scientific reports, analyzed federal drinking water databases, visited environmental study sites and treatment plants and interviewed more than 230 officials, academics and scientists. They also surveyed the nation’s 50 largest cities and
A vast array of pharmaceuticals — including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones — have been found in the drinking water supplies of at least 41 million Americans, an Associated Press investigation shows.

To be sure, the concentrations of these pharmaceuticals are tiny, measured in quantities of parts per billion or trillion, far below the levels of a medical dose. Also, utilities insist their water is safe.

But the presence of so many prescription drugs — and over-the-counter medicines like acetaminophen and ibuprofen — in so much of our drinking water is heightening worries among scientists of long-term consequences to human health.

In the course of a five-month inquiry, the AP discovered that drugs have been detected in the drinking water supplies of 24 major metropolitan areas — from Southern California to Northern New Jersey, from Detroit to Louisville, Ky.

Water providers rarely disclose results of pharmaceutical screenings, unless pressed, the AP found. For example, the head of a group representing major California suppliers said the public “doesn’t know how to interpret the information” and might be unduly alarmed.

How do the drugs get into the water?

People take pills. Their bodies absorb some of the medication, but the rest of it passes through and is flushed down the toilet. The wastewater is treated before it is discharged into reservoirs, rivers or lakes. Then, some of the water is cleansed again at drinking water treatment plants and piped to consumers. But most treatments do not remove all drug residue.

And while researchers do not yet understand the exact risks from decades of persistent exposure to random combinations of low levels of pharmaceuticals, recent studies — which have gone virtually unnoticed by the general public — have found alarming effects on human cells and wildlife.

“We recognize it is a growing concern and we’re taking it very seriously,” said Benjamin H. Grumbles, assistant administrator for water at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

To read the rest of this article click on ap.google.com