Xylitol is widely recognized as one of the best sweeteners for human consumption. It has 40 percent fewer calories than regular sugar, 75 percent fewer carbohydrates, a very low glycemic index, and no after taste. It is commonly used in candy, gum, coffee, tea, cereal, baking and drinks, to name a few. Xylitol is a five-carbon sugar found in fibrous vegetables, fruits, corn, and various hardwood trees, such as Birch.

In humans, it has been alleged to heal and repair, does not promote or feed dangerous bacteria or fungi, and has little effect on blood sugar and insulin levels. These characteristics make it a perfect substitute for diabetics. The average person naturally produces about 15 grams of Xylitol a day during normal metabolism.

However, the Xylitol story changes drastically with regards to our pets. It can be fatal.

Xylitol, when ingested in very small quantities by your pet, can create a sudden drop in blood sugar and may induce insulin shock resulting from severe hypoglycemia. These symptoms generally begin 15 to 30 minutes after ingestion. Hypoglycemia is created when blood sugar levels drop too low. When it drops so low that the cells’ energy needs are not met, they lose the ability to function effectively. This is especially true of the nerve and muscle cells, which have high respiratory rates and need continuous supplies of oxygen and glucose. If these needs are not met, it can result in severe lack of cell function.

The symptoms of Xylitol poisoning range from weakness, ataxia (loss of coordination), lethargy, collapse, seizures, and within 24 hours, there can be severe or fatal liver damage.

If you suspect your dog has eaten this sweetener, you should rush your pet to the vet immediately. The vet will need to induce vomitting. If you are unable to reach a vet, the best and most effective way to induce vomiting is to pour 3 percent Hydrogen Peroxide down the animal’s throat. Anyone with animals should always have a bottle of peroxide or a first aid kit in the house. It is great for pouring on wounds right after an incident.

For Xylitol poisoning, the average dose is approximately one teaspoon for every 10 pounds of body weight. If your dog is cooperative, you can pour it straight into the side of the mouth and then keep the lips closed so he will be forced to swallow. Keeping the head up will also help the dog have no choice but to swallow. Walk the dog outside or if he is too lethargic, rock the stomach back and forth to mix it up. Within a 20-minute period, he should vomit. Watch your pet carefully as it may try to eat what has come up. Get your dog to the vet immediately with a sample of what he ate if there are any remains and a sample of the vomit.

According to Poison Control, 3 grams of Xylitol is enough to kill a 65-pound dog. To put this into perspective, little mints contain an average of 0.5 grams per mint. Therefore, all it would take for a 65-pound dog to become seriously ill or even die, would be to ingest six small mints. If he were eating gum at 0.72 grams per piece, three or four pieces could cause severe symptoms or even death.

This sweetener is widely used in many products we consume on a regular basis. Check your cupboards, purses and kids rooms to find out which products could cause this kind of reaction in your pets. You are then left with two choices: either dispose of the products or take measures to ensure they are inaccessible to your pet.

The post Sweetener Xylitol Can Kill Your Dog appeared first on NaturallySavvy.com.

Heartworm is a parasitic roundworm-Dirofilaria Immitis-that is spread via mosquito bites. Heartworms are small, thread-like worms, and are most commonly found in canines but can also affect cats, wolves, coyotes, foxes, ferrets, and even humans. This particular worm was given the name "heartworm" because it lives primarily in the pulmonary artery of the host and can stay there for many years.

The parasites enter the blood stream when a mosquito bites the animal. It takes about six months for them to migrate to the heart, at which point the larvae turn into adults. They eventually fill the heart cavity and block the flow of blood to the lungs and heart.

The most common symptoms of heartworm include: coughing, weight loss, lack of energy, and difficulty breathing. Unfortunately, by the time you see these symptoms, irreversible damage to the body is already well on its way.

The most common medication used in the prevention of heartworm is Heartgard. Although the doses are small, the cumulative effects of this monthly medication can have a negative effect on an animals’ immune system. Some of the more noticeable side effects of heartworm medication are vomiting, convulsions, and diarrhea. Over a longer period of use, many veterinarians are convinced this medication can cause kidney and liver damage and compromise the immune system, leaving our pets vulnerable to many other diseases.

Preventing Heartworm

The good news is that there are many natural ways to protect your animals from heartworm and other parasites, like fleas and ticks. One suggestion is to feed your animals a raw, well-balanced diet. This is an excellent way to improve their immune systems on the whole. Another option is to feed your dog a small amount of garlic in his/her food, as it is a great deterrent to parasites of any kind. Dogs weighing more than 50 pounds can have up to two teaspoons of garlic daily, and smaller dogs can have up to one-half teaspoon daily, but since garlic can be toxic to dogs, so be sure to follow the recommended dosages carefully and consider consulting your veterinarian before you begin adding garlic to foods. Do not feed your cat garlic, as cats can be very sensitive to it.

Herbs are another way to help in the prevention of these parasites. Mugwort, Cloveflower Buds, Spearmint Herb, Turmeric Root, Black Walnut, and Wormwood are all great herbs to help prevent heartworm. These herbs can be used orally in pill form or tinctures to make the blood less attractive to these parasites.

If you are worried your pet has heartworm, you can have your veterinarian test your pet in the spring to determine if the blood is infected. Before making any decision on treatment, always do your own research and choose whatever option you think is in the best interest of your furry friend. Whatever method you choose, natural or not, your pet will love you for loving him and his heart!

The post Natural Heartworm Prevention for Pets appeared first on NaturallySavvy.com.

Ticks, fleas and other parasites can lead to serious health problems, some of which can result in death. Ticks are a dangerous parasite because they carry many diseases, and dogs are between 50 and 100 times more likely to be bitten than other animals due to their coats and proximity to the ground.

Lyme disease, Anaplasmosis, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, are just some of the diseases associated with tick bites, and symptoms usually appear seven to 21 days after a bite. Lyme disease symptoms include recurrent arthritis or lameness that lasts three to four days, sometimes accompanied by loss of appetite and depression. Reluctance to move or a stiff, painful gait, swollen joints that are warm to the touch, pain in the legs or throughout the body, fever, fatigue, and swollen lymph nodes are some of the signs to watch for. Canine Anaplasmosis symptoms include arthritis-like stiffness with painful joints, high fever accompanied by lethargy, loss of appetite, vomiting and diarrhea, neckpain, and neurological signs resulting in seizures, though the last isn't a common symptom. Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever can be identified by fever, skin lesions, stiffness when walking, and neurological abnormalities.

Preventing Parasitic Illness

The good news is that there are many natural ways to protect your animals from heartworm and other parasites like fleas and ticks.

The first thing to consider is placing your pets on a well-balanced raw food diet. This is the best way to improve their immune system as a whole. Adding garlic to their food is also a great deterrent to parasites of any kind. A dog weighing more than 50 pounds can have up to two teaspoons of garlic daily, and smaller dogs can have up to one-half teaspoon daily, but you should consult your veterinarian before adding garlic to your dog's food because it garlic can be toxic to dogs and is particularly toxic to cats.

Herbs offer another line of defense. Herbs commonly used to prevent ticks and parasites are Mugwort, Cloveflower buds, Spearmint herb, Turmeric root, Black walnut, and Wormwood. These herbs can be found at natural product stores and/or retailers specializing in herbs and can be used orally in pill form or tinctures to make the blood less attractive to these parasites.

Before going into a wooded area or areas known to have ticks, you can dust your pet with an herbal repellent by mixing equal amounts of powdered Rosemary, Rue and Wormwood. Apply by sprinkling the mixture over your pet-avoiding the eye and nose area-and working the powder in with your fingers so it reaches the skin.

Detecting and Removing Ticks

Ticks can be brown, black, or a putty-grey color, and they range in size from that of a small sesame seed to a fingernail.

Wearing surgical gloves, run your fingers over your pet's coat to detect any lumps under the hair. Pay close attention to the area surrounding the eyes, ears, legs, belly, and face. Once you have determined that a lump is in fact a tick, place tweezers as close to the skin of the dog as possible, as this is where the tick's head is, and pinch the the tweezer ends together firmly. Slowly but forcefully, pull the tick straight out and put in a jar filled with isopropyl alcohol to kill it. Apply tea tree oil to your pet's skin with your hands to disinfect the area completely.

It is possible that the head of the tick will break off. Sometimes it will simply expel itself, but keep an eye on any spots you have treated to make sure that there is no major swelling and or infection.

Feeding your pet a good raw diet and practicing herbal prevention puts your pet in the best position for avoiding parasites.

The post Protect Your Pet From Ticks, Fleas, Other Parasites appeared first on NaturallySavvy.com.

Dogs suffering from hot spots lose hair in circular patches that can be swollen and red, and can be extremely itchy with smelly pus, leading to persistent itching, biting and licking of the spots. These spots may also be very painful, which has led some dogs to become aggressive and nip or bite you when the area is touched. Hot spots are commonly found on the feet, flanks, legs and rump, and can also be seen on the ears, neck and chest.

Treatment varies depending on who is consulted. Conventional veterinarians tend to prescribe antibiotics and cortisone. Both medicines help to abate symptoms, but they do not effectively tackle the underlying issue. As a result, the hot spots often return. These remedies may have side effects including damage to the joints and immune deficiencies, and they can also be a contributing factor to osteoporosis.

An alternative treatment for hot spots is to trim all the hair to about one-half inch from the spot, and apply hydrogen peroxide for one or two minutes to thoroughly clean the wound; dab the area dry with a clean towel or gauze. It is normal to see foaming. Allow this to air dry on its own. A scab may form, but do not apply any ointments or cream. If the spots are very itchy, you may choose to put an Elizabethan collar (also known as E-collars) on your dog to prevent your furry friend from scratching to allow the skin time to heal.

While hydrogen peroxide treats the symptoms, the root cause may be fixed simply by feeding your dog a raw diet. Food can often lead to allergies that manifest in the form of mild to very severe symptoms on a dog’s skin. This is sometimes the case with cooked commercial, dry or canned food. Affecting the internal and external organs, inappropriate food can trigger a countless number of infections, diseases, and conditions.

There is also the risk that a dry or canned food diet will result in repeated recurrence of hot spots. A raw diet may serve as a deterrent, preventing hot spots and their return once remedied. The switch from dry and canned food to a raw diet has cured many dogs previously suffering from repeated bouts of hot spots. When one of my own dogs recovered from hot spots using this approach, I was inspired to research the merits of raw diets.

The post Treat and Prevent Doggy Hot Spots with a Raw Diet appeared first on NaturallySavvy.com.

Any dog—old and young, healthy and not so healthy—can benefit from a raw diet, and many owners of animals with various diseases or afflictions have reported incredible improvement and/or a complete cure after they switched their pet to a raw diet.

Feeding Recommendations

• Dogs should only be fed between the hours of noon and midnight because they digest between these hours, using 80 percent of their daily energy. Additional food should not be given outside this period as it can slow down the digestive process.
• Adult dogs do not need to be fed more than once daily in the evening around dinner. Dogs sleep during the day and hunt and eat in the evening.
• Puppies need to be fed at least twice a day, starting at noon.
• Puppies and adults need to fast once a week. Puppies up to one year old should only fast a half day a week. Fasting gives the 80 percent energy back to heal and restore the body. (This is extremely important for your dog, almost as much as feeding a raw diet!)
• Your dog is highly unlikely to contract salmonella or e-coli from raw meat. The acids in their saliva and digestive tracts are many times higher than our own. This high level of acid kills these bacteria. They also have very short digestive tracts allowing for quicker elimination of meat. Consequently, meat does not sit in the digestive tract long enough to collect bacteria.
• Do not mix raw food with commercial kibble or canned foods, which are cooked and are not bio-available to the dog. Dogs simply do not have the enzymes to properly digest cooked foods.

Switching Your Dog to a Raw Diet

• Fast your dog for 1 day (one-half day for puppies) prior to feeding them raw food.
• If the dog was previously healthy, split the raw meal into two parts, feeding the first around noon and the other around dinner time.
• Although unlikely, watch for diarrhea or vomiting. If there is diarrhea, feed smaller amounts over the days to follow. If there is vomiting, your dog may need extra enzymes.
• Your dog may act hungry even after eating. Dogs will gorge on the right foods. However, even when full, once they get a taste of real meat, they want more! Instead of automatically giving in, use your dog’s weight as a guide to the proper amount to feed him. Slightly lean is better than overweight.
• Make sure your dog has filtered water at all times.

Changes in Your Dog's Health

Dogs fed on a raw diet drink less due to the water content in the food. Dogs will also defecate much less as well; those in the habit of defecating multiple times a day will likely change to once a day on a raw diet.

Man's best friend will also shed less, have fewer eye and ear infections, and their breath (though still doggy) will improve. Any tear stains will slowly disappear, and if your dog is fed a raw diet from puppyhood, the tears will not stain at all. Teeth will be virtually tartar-free and any tartar that has accumulated on the teeth often disappears.

A raw diet is highly recommended and is the most bio-appropriate food to feed your dog.

For more on the benefits of a raw diet for your dog, consult Healing Pets with Nature's Cures by Henry Pasternak, DVM, CVA, and The Holistic Guide for a Healthy Dog by Wendy Volhard and Kerry Brown, DVM.

The post How to Introduce Your Dog to Raw Food appeared first on NaturallySavvy.com.

Cats are obligate carnivores, meaning they absolutely need raw meat as part of a complete diet. Reviewing the characteristics of a cat will reinforce this point. Cats have:

• Strong predatory instincts, such as stalking, chasing, and pouncing
• Excellent eyesight
• Acute hearing
• A keen sense of smell
• Soft paw pads for silently stalking prey
• Sharp claws for traction while hunting and catching prey
• Sharp teeth that come together to slice like scissors for gnawing, ripping, and tearing
• Jaws that open and close in a vertical plane only, rather than moving horizontally
• Strong stomach acids for neutralizing potentially harmful bacteria on raw meat
• Short digestive tract which makes for rapid digestive transit time, minimizing the opportunity for potentially harmful bacterial colonization

How to Switch Kitty to a Raw Diet

If your cat is on dry food, stop free feeding. Offer the same amount of food every day, but split it into three meals and remove each meal after 20 minutes. This will give a bit of an edge to the cat’s appetite, and will help reduce your cat’s addiction to grain-based carbohydrates.

Another approach is to first switch the cat to a wet canned food, which is closer to the texture of raw food. If the cat is already used to eating canned food, this is the time to eliminate the dry altogether.

Each cat is different and each will react differently to being switched to a raw diet. Do not force your cat or leave your cat without food for more than 24 hours. Cats are very susceptible to a serious and potentially fatal liver disease called Hepatic Lipidosis. When the cat’s body is starved, it begins to use its stored fat reserves. This fat is then sent to the liver to be transformed into energy, but the liver is unable to metabolize the extra fat and the liver cells become swollen with fatty deposits, damaging the organ. This results in nausea and vomiting, making it difficult for cats to eat enough to survive.

It is important that your cat eats enough every day. The switch may have to follow a staggered approach in which you continue to feed the cat the food it already eats readily while adding a few bribe foods to get the cat to eat more raw food.

Bribe food ideas include:

• a drizzling of juice from a can of water-packed tuna
• a smear of canned cat food
• a bit of grated Parmesan cheese
• some smashed canned sardines, anchovies or herring
• a sprinkling of crushed kibble
• some meat, bone and/or giblet broth, used like a marinade
• a favorite treat you know your kitty loves

Most importantly, let the cat make the transition at her own pace, and don’t give up! Contrary to what your kitty may think, you are smarter than they are.

More on caring for cats from Naturally Savvy:

Examing Your Pet's Teeth to Catch Problems Early

Toxic Treats: Foods That Can Harm Your Pets

Caring for Your Pet in the Summer Months

The post How to Switch Your Cats to Raw Food appeared first on NaturallySavvy.com.

Part prevention, part cure, consider a raw diet for your pet, as this can help prevent many common and not so common ailments. Many conditions such as excessive shedding, common infections, temperament issues, gastrointestinal upsets, lack of appetite, and many more can be solved with a simple change to a raw diet. There are many commercially prepared raw diets available that can be bought and served with as much ease and convenience as the dry and canned versions.

If your pet has an ear or eye infection, the following homemade remedies may be just what your pet requires.

Ear Infection Remedy

• ½ cup of olive oil
• 1 large clove of crushed garlic
• 1 tsp. fresh rosemary

Mix the ingredients together in a glass container and let it sit in a sunny window for several days.

Thoroughly clean the affected ear with Hydrogen Peroxide. Make sure that you get the peroxide into the ear canal and massage just below the ear to loosen any of the debris. This step is only to be done once, at the beginning of the treatment.

Two to three times each day, add a few drops of the olive oil mixture into the ear canal and massage as you did with the peroxide. You may want to do this outside where your pet can shake its heads freely, after the massage. Clean the inside of the earflap with cotton or some tissue.

Depending on the severity of the infection, this treatment may take a week or two to get better. When they stop shaking their heads and scratching, continue on for a few days to ensure the efficacy of the treatment.

When administering, make sure none of the pieces of garlic or rosemary get into the dropper or spoon.

Clear Up Eye Infections

Conjunctivitis is a common problem with pets. Often, its symptoms are runny red eyes and a yellow discharge accompanied by itchiness of the eye. I have used two methods of curing this problem. The first thing I would recommend is a plain black tea bag, one for each eye.

Take the tea bag and pour some hot water on it as if you were making tea. Remove the bag and squeeze enough water out so that it is not dripping. Drip several drops of the tea from the bag into the infected eye and then wipe clean the outside of the eye with the used bag. If the other eye is also infected, repeat the process with a new tea bag.

The second method is to use Euphrasia (Eye Bright). Use exactly as you would use an eyedropper on yourself. Put a few drops in the infected eye two to three times a day, or as instructed on the bottle, until symptoms subside.

If you are ever unsure of your pet's condition, do not hesitate to visit your veterinarian.

The post Treat Your Pet's Ear and Eye Infections Naturally appeared first on NaturallySavvy.com.

So, how do you start? First, you need some form of reward, a treat or toy that your puppy or dog loves. If you are using a treat, make sure your pet has not been fed prior to your training sessions. Also, bring along a leash that will be attached to your dog’s collar.

The best place to start is in an enclosed area with no other dogs in it, such as your back yard or a tennis court. This is for safety and limits distraction. Once in the chosen area, drop the leash and let your dog roam around allowing him to release some energy. Begin by staying close to him. Then, say “Come” putting the food or toy in the dog’s face and backing up about ten feet so he will follow you. Once he follows you the whole way, administer the reward. Include praise as well. Since you may not always have the treat or the toy, you will want to get him accustomed to returning to you without the reward and simply for the praise.

With some dogs, primarily hunting dogs, scents are almost too distracting for them. With these types of dogs, you may have to get a longer leash and grab it when they are on a scent and refuse to return. In these cases, you will have to stand your ground and slowly tug on the leash until you see him make a move in your direction on his own. At this point, you should be very quick with praise. If he stops again, do not give him any time to sniff or goof around, repeat the tugging process again until he returns to you. Then, immediately give him his reward. Sometimes you can hold a treat in your hand so they can smell it but not quite get the whole thing, praising the whole time.

Repeat this process every time you are out with the dog. The distances should only be extended when your dog has been returning consistently. Some will learn very quickly, others may take extra time. The key is to have patience and never call your dog to come when you are angry. If they have been trained and refuse to return, simply approach him, pick up the leash and start from scratch for a few days to get them back into the habit.

The best tip to remember is to have fun, be relaxed, and pick a time of the day when you are not overwhelmed with your own day-to-day issues. What you feel on the inside will reflect how your dog learns and reacts. Your dog will sense if you are uptight, nervous, angry or depressed, and will react accordingly. Taking your dog out should represent a relaxing time you look forward to. Make time for your dog’s exercise; at least 25-minute walks twice a day.

The post Puppy Training Tips appeared first on NaturallySavvy.com.