Holiday Pet Safety

Maura Davies, VP of Communications at the SPCA, gives us the guidelines recommended for keep our furry friends safe during the holidays!

• Food--certain food--can be fatal. Alcoholic beverages and coffee are exceptionally dangerous, as are onions, salt, yeast, fatty foods, macadamia nuts, and chocolate.  Keep Fido out of the trashcan, too--spoiled and moldy foods can also cause digestive problems.

• Keep poisonous plants out of reach or in areas where pets aren't free to wander. These include lilies, which can cause kidney failure in cats; poinsettias and holly, which can cause vomiting and diarrhea; and mistletoe, which can cause cardiovascular problems and gastrointestinal upset.

• Keep the water in your Christmas tree stand covered. Tree water is often infested with fertilized, bacteria, and other harmful elements.

• Christmas trees themselves can be hazardous--kittens can become entangled in tinseland ribbon, and broken ornaments can be hazardous to delicate paws.

• Keep electrical cords--a chewing temptation--away from Fido and Fluffy.

• Plastic gift bags can suffocate--keep them out of animals' reach.

• Make sure candles and other unprotected flames are not within your pets' reach. Spilledwax can cause burns if a curious cat or dog bumps into some and a flickering flame begsto be sniffed, pawed at and knocked over.

Artherosclerosis

New study: 50% of people with ZERO risk factors & LDL < 160 have atherosclerosis! The cause is chronic low level inflammation and the risk is from genetics and environment. The leading cause is Food Quality! Dr. Mike Fenster, author of The Food Shaman, gives us more information.

MS and Your Gut Microbiome

Preliminary data suggests that gut bacteria may trigger MS! Shawn Wells gives us the science behind the new studies.MS is a debilitating autoimmune disease that affects over 1 million people in the United States. Symptoms of MS include blurred vision, poor coordination and balance and extreme fatigue to name a few. It is known that somehow the immune system and it’s inflammatory process attack the myelin sheath which leads to the negative effects associated with MS, however the exact cause of this inflammation was recently unknown. Preliminary data now suggest that gut disbyosis may trigger inflammation and symptoms of MS.Find more info on the study, here.

• Increase your vegetable intake

• Eat a wide variety of foods

• Eat foods high in resistant starch (i.e. uncooked beans, green banana, raw steel cut oats, kefir)

• Eat foods high in pre-biotics and probiotics (kombucha, sauerkraut, yogurt, etc.)

• Supplement with a probiotic

• Try drinks like kombucha

• Eat a high fiber diet

• Try and refrain from antibiotics at all cost unless absolutely necessary