For those of you who aren’t in Maryland, this past weekend was the Maryland SPCA March for the Animals.    Over the last four years, I have been fortunate (and unrelenting) enough to have collected more than any other participant.  I am incredibly proud to say that this year alone I raised $8,500!!  

How do I do it? I am honest and straightforward about my passion for helping animals.

Okay, here’s the fun part!  Sunday in Baltimore started out a little cool and overcast.  It wasn’t great picnic or beach weather but it was perfect for thousands of people to come out and walk a mile and a half with their pets.   You know how people say, “go to your happy place” when you are feeing blue? This “blue day”, this event, all these people with their pets – all of whom  move me to tears of joy every year…this is “my happy place”.  It’s the free meal because you are the millionth customer.  It’s getting to the register and finding out that ALL of your stuff is 50% off.  It’s your team winning the Super Bowl AND beating the spread.   

My dog Phoebe loves the exercise and she loves the attention she gets at this event.  What she does NOT love is that there are almost as many dogs there as there are people.  She didn’t spend much of her youth with other dogs so she’s not very tolerant of many dog greeting rituals.  I, on the other hand, require the attention.  It is a fact that if a dog doesn’t lick my face I assume they don’t love me.  How could a dog not love me??  I try not to hold a grudge because they don’t know that I am one of their biggest advocates.  I was in my element holding puppies, shouting out the different dog breeds when spotted, and just loving life in general. Several of my good friends came out with their dogs in support even with the bad weather. 

Our “blue day” turned to torrential downpours. It was like a cartoon.  (This is the opportunity to make the obligatory “raining cats and dogs” joke but I’m not giving in) ….One of the volunteers was visibly dejected by the weather… fearing it would serve as a deterrent preventing potential contributors from coming out.  In my most positive motivational voice, I promised her that the storm was good luck and that the event was blessed by the rain.  She thanked me for my optimism, gave me my T-shirt and bandana for my dog, and quickly sent me on my way.   We ran back to where I was parked, rang out the 50 lb soaking wet sweatshirt I was wearing, got into my SUV and pulled away from the park. My dog got a wonderful healthy dog treat for her behavior and “weathering the storm” so to speak. She is not a big fan of thunder storms. 

Today I got the great news.  In spite of the weather, this year the March for the Animals raised an all-time record-breaking $375,000.  

I was never so happy to say, “I told you so” in my entire life.

Whole-grain foods may be healthy for humans, but when it comes to cats, a meat-based, high-protein diet is the key.

For many Americans, healthy eating has become a top priority. Whole grains and vegetables are the superstars of the holistic diet—but not for cats. Cats are true carnivores. Though many commercial cat food companies promote “gourmet cuisine” that includes grain and vegetables, a meat-based diet is best for a cat’s special dietary needs.

Cats require twice as much protein as dogs. For cats, protein, not carbohydrates, fuels the cells with energy. High-carbohydrate cat food, on the other hand, can cause digestive problems for cats and may even lead to obesity and feline diabetes. Commercial cat food is often moderate to high in carbohydrates, but low-carbohydrate, meat-based cat foods best support a cat’s unique biology.

When pet owners feed homemade cat food, vegetable- or grain-based foods, or food designed for dogs to their cats, deficiencies can occur in the health of their cats. Cats require several essential nutrients that their bodies do not make—nutrients that can only be found in meat. Cats adapted to a small-prey diet and have no dietary requirement for carbohydrates. Their livers are unable to break down large amounts of carbohydrates to produce glucose, which is the energy source of the body. If cat food has more than 40% carbohydrate levels, the result can be poor digestion which causes diarrhea, gas, bloating and changes in a cat’s metabolism to a pre-diabetic or diabetic state.

In my professional opinion, for your cat’s best health, a natural cat food diet should be composed of 35-50% protein, 10-30% fat and 20-25% carbohydrates. For strong bones, healthy digestion and a beautiful, full coat, cats require a well-balanced diet.

Dr. Donna Spector , DVM, DACVIM
Dr. Donna Spector is a board-certified veterinary internist who practices in New York City. She has written and lectured extensively on nutrition, diabetes, gastrointestinal disorders and other animal health issues.

Do you need vet advice? Post a comment with your veterinary questions and we will send them to Dr. Donna Spector to be answered in a future column.

Marine Major Brian Dennis, who took in and shipped home a dog named Nubs while serving in Iraq, appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show yesterday.Brian found Nubs — a stray whose ears had been cut off — while on patrol and nursed him back to health.An F18 pilot, Brian took in the abused dog, but was forced to relocate. Nubs later tracked him down 70 miles away.
After that, Dennis, with $3,500 of his own money and contributions from others, had the dog shipped home. Dennis returned to the U.S. last month and was reunited with Nubs.
If it sounds like a book or a movie, just wait: It likely will be both.Ellen gave Brian and Nubs $15,000 (coughed up by PETCO) and a lifetime supply of dog food from Halo, a company she recently became co-owner of and, as the photo shows, is pretty good at getting free advertising for.Photo by Michael Rozman/Warner Bros.

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Watch a clip from the Ellen Show

Why the question mark, you may be asking yourself. Well, I have a Jack Russell Terrier. For those of you who have had the pleasure of having one of these independent thinkers as a family member,  please indulge me while I rhapsodize about life with her.

For those of you who are not familiar, brace yourselves.

Her name is Phoebe. Sounds innocent, doesn’t she? Forget that. I got her when she was just 6 weeks old and fell in love immediately. I know it’s trite but it’s true. Within the first three months, this “high-energy” cherub destroyed a chair, the carpet, and more shoes than I care to remember. Because of her inquisitive nature, and because I was a novice at being a Jack Russell mommy, she has eaten a much-diversified array of both edibles as well as in edibles in her life. There was the time she ate a raspberry-scented floating candle right out of the bowl. Oh, and I can’t forget the time she ate one of those little packets enclosed in a new leather purse or new shoes that says, “DO NOT EAT”! Needless to say, in spite of her adventurous nature and the fact that she has the innate ability to jump five feet above ground level, combined with the fact that she seems willing to ingest almost anything, she is strangely choosy about her own food. I can only assume that is because she does not see me hovering over her bowl. I will further postulate that if Mommy is not eating it, the allure is diminished.

When I saw Halo Dog Food, I was too amused by the name to just walk away. I thought to myself, this is for angels or might change Phoebe into one. She is 9 years old now and this seemed to be my only hope. There was no way I was going to leave the store without it. I checked out the ingredients and saw that there was plenty of natural stuff in there, including some of the proteins and veggies that Phoebe is willing to steal from my plate. I kept my fingers crossed. She loved it. I know what you must be thinking. After all, I just regaled you with stories of destruction and thievery, how much could I really care about what she eats. Every pet owner wants his or her pet to be as happy and healthy as possible and I am no different. I gave her the Spot’s Stew Wholesome Chicken Recipe dry food. I was more than delighted to see real peas and other natural ingredients mixed in. With a friend’s encouragement and because Phoebe is my only child and spoiled, I gave her the canned food to try as well. I am positive that I have cooked entrees that smelled significantly less edible. I was pleasantly surprised, to say the least. Unlike my dog, I am aware that our foods are NOT interchangeable so I am proud to say I resisted and did not eat any of her food.

She does this Jack Russell thing when she wants something badly. She sits and stares at it…sometimes for an hour. Since I introduced Halo to her, she sits in the kitchen and stares at the bag. It is a refreshing change of pace from her normal daily activities of jumping on furniture, stealing my stuff, and standing in my dinner plate. Thank you to Halo. I owe you a debt of gratitude.

We love our pudgy, fat cats and dogs, but couch-potato pets may be paying a price. Pet Obesity is associated with diabetes in dogs and cats, arthritis, heart disease and more. So how can we help? Get your pet a full, medical checkup and talk to your veterinarian about a nutrition plan. Halo® pet food can help to keep your pets lean and healthy. Pay attention to how much and how often you’re feeding your pet. And most importantly, exercise! Physical activity helps your pets just as much as it helps you, so get moving!

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Dr. Donna Spector , DVM, DACVIM
Dr. Donna Spector is a board-certified veterinary internist who practices in New York City. She has written and lectured extensively on nutrition, diabetes, gastrointestinal disorders and other animal health issues.

Do you need vet advice? Post a comment with your veterinary questions and we will send them to Dr. Donna Spector to be answered in a future column.