The All Natural Pet Blog

Another day in the life at URBANIMAL. Marla is the boss and Trent is the big baby…

Alright, so here we are, going back in time to our first animal, Jake. I knew Jake since my Uncle brought him home as a little puppy. When Jake was around 9 years my Uncle wasn’t able to care for him anymore because of health issues. So I gladly took him in. Some of his first few bags of dog food were California Natural and Artemis. After a few months of feeding him that I found it hard to get those brands, so I began buying dog food at the local Jewel (Brands include: Alpo, Purina and Beniful).

One day an all white cat followed us home. We fed him outside and called it a night. Ya’ we felt a little bad for him, but it was summertime and we couldn’t possibly take in every stray that we came across… anyway, the next day he was at our door like clockwork! Ok, so if this cat comes back a few more times then we’ll take him in. Now we have Kittie. (Yes, that’s his name and yes, it’s very unoriginal, but he responds to it.) He was scared of Jake at first and I was really worried that Jake would kill him… but in a short time they got along just fine and Kittie would beat on Jake… It was very amusing to watch and my friends enjoyed it as well.

Jake was a really well behaved dog and in my mind I wanted to get another dog before he passed so “he could teach the new dog”… At least that’s what I would’ve liked to happen. I wanted to get another dog like Jake and call him Reznor (after Trent Reznor from a band called Nine Inch Nails). Well, the search began and it wasn’t too promising. Jake’s time was nearing to an end and then one day I found (on the net) a really cute picture of a puppy at the Anti-cruelty. She wasn’t what I had in mind but she was just to damn cute to pass up. We went the next day and got her… Marla found a home.

Jakes time was a lot shorter than anyone could have imagined. They only went on one walk together and after that he was only able to go in the back yard. (I’ll get into his story in another post). I was very hurt when he passed and felt empty without him. Marla was a blast but she was a very different dog. After some time I began searching for Reznor. I guess you could say that another reason why I needed to have another dog like Jake was to really feed a better food from day one and continue feeding it until the very last day. Something that I didn’t do with Jake but I wanted to see if it would really make a difference and Marla was just a completely different dog and the health issues wouldn’t be the same.

The first week of Jan. ‘08 someone brought in a Rottweiler that didn’t have any tags, collar or a chip. We hung onto him for several weeks to see if someone would claim him. We did our part , but I fell in love with him as soon as I saw him. Some people say it’s meant to be… I agree! So, Reznor would have been his name but it just didn’t feel right for him… Welcome home Trent!

Being a rott/doberman mix he was prone to hip issues. So I bought commercial dog food with glucosamine and glucosamine tablets. His hips weren’t that bad but I wanted to keep him as healthy as possible ’till the end. As he got older he began slipping and falling. It saddened me to see this happen to him but there was only so much that I could do.? He had an iron stomach and I contribute that to me giving him a little of whatever I would eat… He loved tacos with hot sauce and double stacks from Wendy’s. Ya’ I know… It’s not the best but what did I know at the time… And he loved it!

His last few months I began doing research on alternatives for his hips and general health. The biggest hit came when I brought him to the vet for his “yearly” shots and they gave me Rimadyl. I gave him one on the way home. I looked this medication up and spent hours trying to find enough evidence that pointed to it being ok. Hundreds (yes, hundreds) of pages later everything still pointed to (pretty much) death. The side effects were horrible! I never gave him another pill. I was outraged that the vet didn’t give me something that wasn’t as harsh on the body. (note: I have a friend with a dog that has been on Rimadyl for over a year and he seems fine). I called the vet and complained, I even called the manufacturer and they told me that I shouldn’t believe everything that I read… Well, I don’t; but when I search hundreds of pages and they (almost) all have the same outcome… I’m sorry, but that’s when I begin to believe. A month or so after his Vaccination his hips worsened and it was a real struggle to come to terms that he would be leaving us soon. After a short while he couldn’t go on walks anymore and I had to carry a 80 lb. dog to and from the yard. It was a struggle physically and mentally on both of us. Then his front legs went out. The new vet that I brought him to (I refused to go back to the original) gave me another medication for his hips that didn’t have such harsh affects as Rimadyl. It was used for about a week with no results. Again, carrying an 80 lb. dog several times a day was hard. I could see in his eyes that his mind wasn’t ready to go but his body was. I had to make a choice of either keeping a totally disabled dog or put him down. Do I buy something with four wheels (one for each leg) or say goodbye to my friend?… Quality or quantity of life??? One of the hardest decisions that I had to make. His quality meant more to me. The poor wanted to get up, run, play, eat… but couldn’t. Jake was put to sleep April, ‘07. I miss my boy, Jake.

If my memory serves me correctly, it was about 6 months before the store opened and Kitty had a problem… One day Beth asked me if my mouth was bleeding, I said no and responded with, Why? Well… There was blood in the bathroom sink… And it happened… Right before our eyes we saw kitty jump onto the sink and began trying to urinate. It was one of the most bizzare things I have witnessed a cat do. There was more blood. A few days later he went to the vet and came home with Science Diet s/d and some medication. That seemed to work at first until the bag of food began running out he started straining again. So, back he went… another urine sample, more s/d food and medication. Same thing happened, over and over again. It was almost like clockwork. Every month or month and a half he was back at the vet. After several times of doing this it was time for a change.

The day we opened the store we changed his diet and stuck him on a raw diet. We also decided not to give him any dry food, just to see what would happen. Well, it cleared up and we’re happy to say that as of today, it has been about 8 months since the last time he went to the vet. We have noticed though, a few times that he did get a hold of some dry food he began straining again. This has happened a few times due to his uncontrollable desire for food. He is a happy Kitty these days and a change in the diet saved us from more continuous vet visits, due to his bladder crystals.

When Trent came into our lives, he had very goopy eyes, bad breath, discoloring of teeth, and quite the pungent, dark yellow urine. The urine troubled me the most because that could be a sign of serious liver issues, possible kidney issues. I tried dry food with him… very slow eating. tried raw food… even slower with a refusal to eat a few times. Tried a can of food… gone in a minute! Now he get’s a mixture of the three and meal time always seems exciting for him. He has gotten several bones and his teeth are a bit whiter, no bad breath and his eyes aren’t goopy! His urine isn’t as dark and looks like it’s becoming a stable “normal” yellow. Now I’m not saying that this is all from the RAW food… Well, most of it is. But just look at what a healthier diet can do!

We would like this blog to become a place that people can turn to for some advice and feedback. We are not veterinarians but we do take great pride in the research that we conduct on a daily basis. Thank you for visiting and with your help, we’d love to see this section grow!

Thank you,

Don & Beth

This Tuesday, Trent is going in to get neutered. Poor guy has no idea what’s coming… Of course he’ll be fine, but I can’t help but worry a bit…

It’s been almost a year now and were still HERE! WOOHOO!!! It’s been an awesome time doing this and I wouldn’t change a thing… I love the area we’re in and the people (that come in) couldn’t be better. We don’t have customers… we have friends.. That’s how I’m gonna look at it from now on… We’ve gotten to know so many people on a personal level… It’s just great that we could have that type of relationship with people. Sooo… To everyone that knows us and/or has supported us… CHEERS!!! I could’nt ask for a better group of friends to talk to.

-Don

There are a lot of people know how yummie a can of food is when it comes to feeding your “pup”. There are also a lot of people that are against doing so… The reason being - “It passes right thru ‘em!” Today, I would like to delve into this phenomena.

It’s simple to understand but difficult to grasp (Not really but it had a cool ring to it). I hear it all the time - “I can’t give my dog canned food; If I do, there’s a mess!” Has anyone else ever wondered why cats get more of a wet food selection compared to dogs?… They seem to always be fine…

Simple answer… A dogs diet (generally) consists of dry food and that is what their stomach is use to digesting. Throw in a can of food and there is a war inside. Many people do not take this into consideration along with the idea of reducing the amount of dry matter compared to the wet. If you want to experiment with dry food and wet food, than give this a try and don’t forget that you don’t want to overfeed your pup or give their stomach too much of a shock when introducing a completely different food.

Something for YOU to try at home:

Eat nothing but oatmeal for a year (it’s just a year… comparatively speaking, thats really doesn’t even compare to the amount of years that your dog has to eat the same food), and after that year is up, go out and have a big burrito, cheeseburger, Italian beef (you get the idea) and see what happens to your ‘insides’.