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Leap Year! We get an extra day this month! I haven't decided if that's a good or bad thing yet...
This week's newsletter includes why you shouldn't feed the wildlife, a completely amazing veterinarian, and a not-so-surprising finding (to us, at least) about pet food.
Enjoy your weekend! =^..^=
Questions or comments?
support@balancedblends.com =^..^=
Animal News
-If you don't follow us on Facebook, you might have missed this article. I thought it was too important not to share it via newsletter as well. Colorado Parks and Wildlife shared the above photo on their Twitter account earlier this week, as a stark reminder why it's important not to feed wildlife. The above deer died of cancer, with a belly full of birdseed - something that would fill its belly, but not provide the nutrients it needed to survive. Heartbreaking. Please don't feed wildlife.
https://kdvr.com/news/local/stop-feeding-wildlife-deer-dies-of-cancer-with-stomach-full-of-bird-seed/?fbclid=IwAR3PjeKOR-Hc4dTRwrrICwuY98IqwrtriGw49Z1WvYtB8xJXjt5l_u8m0RI
-Coco had a vet visit on Wednesday for teeth extractions, and boy do I wish I had read this article prior to the visit. As it turns out, the right music does indeed sooth the savage beast. Researchers at Louisiana State University found that music created specifically for cats can indeed reduce their stress levels. The music uses cat vocalizations, and I'll be honest, it's definitely reducing my stress. Check out the article, which also has a sample of the music that was used in the study.
https://www.cnet.com/news/the-right-music-can-soothe-your-savage-beast-er-cat/
-It's no big secret that cats are predators. Feral cats are consistently blamed with the destruction of wildlife. A study from North Carolina State University set out to discover exactly how much of a cat's diet was composed of food they found in the great outdoors. The methodology was to compare the isotopes of the cats to the food they ate. Same isotopes meant the cats weren't eating anything but their food. The findings, however, showed that cat food producers were not using consistent types and amounts of ingredients, even amongst the exact same flavors of food! Know what else they found? A LOT of corn. From the article, "'In short, at the end of this study we are still ignorant about why some cats kill more wildlife than others, and we have also found we are ignorant about something else, the shifting dynamics of 'Big Pet Food.'"
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/02/200228105224.htm
Recalls/Health Warnings/Food Safety
-I've posted before on the dangers of eating sprouts. Now the FDA is coming down HARD on Sprouts Unlimited, the company who happens to provide sprouts to Jimmy John's, for failing to respond to contamination issues that eventually led to an outbreak of e.Coli. (first link)
What makes it worse is Jimmy John's *knew* that these sprouts were potentially contaminated, yet continued to use them, opting instead to put a tongue-in-cheek poster into their restaurants to "warn" customers. (second link)
https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2020/02/warning-letter-puts-sprouts-unlimited-on-notice-after-outbreak/
https://www.barfblog.com/2020/02/jimmy-johns-gets-a-warning-letter-from-fda/
Cute Stuff!
-Dr. Kwane Stewart is a veterinarian who, for almost a decade, has worked to help take care of the pets of homeless people on the streets of California, and he does it on his own dime. In his free time, he wanders San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Sacramento, offering free vaccines and vet care. He's just amazing, and I am so thankful for folks like him!
https://www.today.com/pets/street-vet-offers-free-medical-care-pets-homeless-t174465
Non-Profit of the Week
Our non-profit of the week is Melrose Humane Society, located in Massachusetts. They are an all-volunteer organization that focuses only on cats, and since they don't have a brick and mortar location, their volunteers foster the cats until they can find them homes. The PetSmart in Saugus, MA is where some of the cats are available for adoption, and volunteers help socialize them and help with adoptions in the mornings, evenings, and weekends.
https://melrosehumanesociety.org
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