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Quiz: Are You Ready For A Dog?

C A N I N E S   O N L I N E ™
Copyright 2001 Canines Online ™
Issue No. 11, Vol. 1, April 6, 2001

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CONTENTS:
=>Health:
   -- Pet Food Makers Mostly Keeping Meat Meal Usage
=>Tidbits:
   -- Top Dog
   -- A Dog Lover with a Big Heart
   -- Why Dogs Lick
=>News Briefs:
   -- Park Ave. purebreds going nuts for mutts
   -- Pet care on wheels
   -- Humane Society foster care program keeps tails wagging
   -- Don't blame breed, blame owners
   -- Vet recalls horror of epidemic
=>Recipes:
   -- Bowser Biscuits
   -- Traildog Biscuits
   -- Snickerpoodles
=>Featured Site:
   -- How To Love Your Dog
=>Featured Breed:
   -- Boxer
=>Product News, Reviews, and Coupons:
   -- Getting Ready for Your New Dog: A Wish List
=>The Tail End
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HEALTH
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Pet Food Makers Mostly Keeping Meat Meal Usage
By Julie Ingwersen (Yahoo News)

CHICAGO (Reuters) - The pet food industry has no plans to back away from
meat and bone meal, a feed ingredient suspected of spreading mad cow
disease through Europe but seen as little threat to US pets or
livestock.

By contrast, at least three top livestock feed producers have stopped
using cattle-based meat and bone meal as a precaution, including number
three US feed maker Purina Mills Inc., which dropped the ingredient in
January.

Made from ground-up cattle and other types of livestock, and not always
separated by species, meat and bone meal (MBM) is an inexpensive source
of protein. Experts say as long as the animals used to make MBM are not
affected by mad cow disease, the material is perfectly safe in food for
cats and dogs.
“If the disease doesn't occur here in cattle, there shouldn't be any
danger in pet food,” said Dr. Lyle Vogel of the American Veterinary
Medical Association.

There has never been a case of mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform
encephalopathy (BSE (news - web sites)), confirmed in the United States.
The brain-wasting disease, believed to be caused by abnormal proteins
in the brain and nervous system, is fatal to cattle. US PET FOOD MAKERS
NOT AS CONCERNED AS FEED MILLS

Stephen Payne, a spokesman for the Pet Food Institute, said the MBM
produced in the United States remains an excellent source of protein and
minerals for pets.

“It's an excellent ingredient. It's highly digestible for dogs and
cats,” said Payne, whose group represents pet food manufacturers. But
individual manufacturers that use MBM were reluctant to comment on the
subject.

In Europe, MBM is believed to have transmitted mad cow disease after
cattle with the disease were ground up and mixed into rations fed to
herds in Britain and on the continent.

In reaction, the US and other nations established laws to keep
“byproducts” from slaughter of cud-chewing, ruminant animals like
cattle, sheep and goats from being fed back to other ruminants.
Such byproducts are still allowed in feed rations for non-ruminants like
hogs and poultry, and in pet food, based on scientific opinion that BSE
cannot “jump”' into such species.

Still, many scientists think feeding cattle MBM made from sheep carrying
the BSE-like disease scrapie was the source of the original outbreak of
BSE in Britain in the mid-1980's.

Purina Mills CEO Brad Kerbs said in January that he approved of
cattle-based MBM as an ingredient but could not guarantee that the
company's large multi-species livestock feed mills would be able to keep
it segregated from cattle feed, as required by US law.

Other top ten livestock feed makers shunning cattle-based MBM include
Consolidated Nutrition LC of Omaha, Nebraska, and Kent Feeds of
Muscatine, Iowa. MAD CAT DISEASE IN EUROPE
So are Fido and Snowball safe from mad cow disease?

The question remains since BSE belongs to a family of diseases, the
transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs). From studying TSEs,
some scientists have linked BSE with related conditions in humans,
sheep, deer and mink--and cats.

Since 1990, for example, almost 90 cats--including more than a dozen
lions, tigers and other big cats at
British zoos--have been diagnosed in Europe with feline spongiform
encephalopathy.
No specific pet food has been implicated in the cases, but agriculture
officials in Britain said all the cats ate foods that would be expected
to contain animal byproducts.

The number of feline cases has fallen sharply in recent years as
authorities in Britain and elsewhere have worked to remove contaminated
cows from the food and feed chain.

“That epidemic has been over for a while,” George Gray, a toxicologist
at the Harvard School of Public Health, said of the feline version of
mad cow. “It's my understanding there haven't been any cases in a
number of years.” “FEED MAKERS ADJUST FOR MBM RULES” In the US pet food
industry, MBM remains a popular “meaty” ingredient, found most often in
dry “kibble” pellets but also in some canned food varieties. Many
labels do not specify whether the meat and bone meal came from cattle.

With ruminant byproducts shut out of cattle feed mixes, more MBM may
also be showing up in pet food, said Dr. Jean Hofve, a veterinarian with
the Animal Protection Institute, an animal advocacy organization based
in Sacramento, Calif.

“There was a huge amount of hog byproducts that were going into dog food
for a while but now is being routed into ruminant feed. So where is the
ruminant (byproduct) going? Well, it's going where the pig stuff used
to go”--into pet food, she said.

Animal byproducts like MBM comprise only about 5% or less of a typical
livestock feed ration. But because cats and dogs have different dietary
needs, meat byproducts account for up to 50% of the content in cat food
and up to 40% in dog food, according to a 1997 industry survey.


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TIDBITS
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Top Dog
The Saint Bernard is the heaviest breed of dog, followed by the English
mastiff, Great Dane, Irish wolfhound, Tibetan Mastiff and the
Newfoundland.

A Dog Lover with a Big Heart
Dog lovers often own more than one dog, but the record for owning the
most dogs belongs to the thirteenth-century emperor Kublai Khan. He
owned a grand total of five thousand mastiffs, give or take a few pups.

Why dogs Lick
Dogs have a tendency to lick their most private parts. Although it
might seem disgusting, it serves an important purpose. The dog’s
genitourinary tract will not function without the stimulation that comes
from frequent licking.


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NEWS BRIEFS
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Park Ave. purebreds going nuts for mutts
NEW YORK -- The newly legitimized mutts will have their day in the sun
later this month at the Great American Mutt Show. More Info:
http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/27731.htm

Pet care on wheels
FRANKFORT, IL -- Stretching 26 feet, the mobile veterinary clinic is
equipped to perform medical, surgical and dental services for dogs and
cats. More Info:
http://www.dailysouthtown.com/southtown/dsbiz/011bd1.htm

Humane Society foster care program keeps tails wagging
WILSON, NC -- Volunteers rescue dogs from euthanasia keeping them at
their home until someone is willing to adopt them. More Info:
http://www.newsobserver.com/ncwire/news/Story/414778p-411568c.html

Don't blame breed, blame owners
MODESTO BEE -- With all of the negative media attention pit bulls
receive, it's no wonder most of us are scared of them. More Info:
http://www.modbee.com/living/story/0,1155,253299,00.html

Vet recalls horror of epidemic
PITTSFIELD, ME -- Twenty-four hours after Maine's state veterinarian,
Don Hoenig, landed at Logan International Airport in Boston from
England, he was still reeling from his five-week experience in dealing
with foot-and-mouth disease. More Info:
http://www.bangornews.com/cgi-bin/article.cfm?storynumber=31706


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RECIPES
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Bowser Biscuits

In small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. In large bowl combine
broth, powdered milk, margarine, honey, egg. Add yeast/water and mix
well. Stir in flour, cornmeal, wheat germ and cracked wheat. Mix well.
Add whole wheat flour, 1/2 cup at a time, mixing well after each
addition. Knead in the final amounts of flour by hand and continue
kneading for 4-5 minutes until dough is not sticky. Pat or roll dough
to 1/2" thickness and cut into bone shapes. Place on a greased cookie
sheet, cover lightly and let set for 20 minutes. Bake in a 350F. oven
for 45 minutes. Turn off heat and leave in oven several hours or over
night. Makes approximately 3 1/2 pounds.


Traildog Biscuits

Preheat oven to 300F. Mix all dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add
egg, oil, and beef broth. Mix the dough, adding enough additional flour
to make dough that can be rolled. On a floured surface, roll to 1/2"
thickness, and then cut into shapes or squares. Prick with a fork.
Bake for 2 hours. Turn the oven off, and let biscuits stand in oven
overnight to harden. Store in airtight container.


Snickerpoodles

Mix vegetable oil, shortening, honey with eggs. Beat well. Add flour,
soda and cream of tartar. Knead dough until mixed well. Shape dough by
rounded teaspoons into balls. Mix the cornmeal and cinnamon together in
a bowl and roll balls in mixture. Place 2 inches apart on a greased
cookie sheet. Press the balls down with a fork. Bake for 8-10 minutes
at 400F. Cool on a rack. Store in airtight container.


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FEATURED SITE
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How To Love Your Dog
Guide for kids explains how to care for a dog, including basic needs,
puppy care and acclimating a new pet. It provides training and safety
tips. It is also a great resource for adults too!
http://www.howtoloveyourdog.com


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PRODUCT NEWS, REVIEWS, AND COUPONS
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Getting Ready for Your New Dog: A Wish List
PETsMART Staff Report
Information and advice contained on this site is for your consideration
only. Please consult your veterinarian for specific advice concerning
the care and treatment of your pet. Information compiled by
PETsMART.com staff and PETsMART Inc. experts.

Not sure what you'll need to prepare for the arrival of your new pal?
To properly care for your new puppy or adult dog, you'll need to have
some basic items ready for when he comes to stay.

Required items for your puppy or dog's health, happiness and safety:

These items are highly recommended:

These items are suggested for special circumstances: