| Hello Fellow Animal Lovers: This is our very first e-newsletter and we hope to do one every month. You can contact us via email if you want to be added or excluded from our mailing list...or for any other reason. We really want to take a moment to thank all of our customers for your patronage! You are as important to us as your pet is to you and we want to always be there for you in sickness and in health! Of course, our main goal is to promote "healthy" living for pets, people and the earth! Upcoming Events/Seminars: Saturday, June 23rd - Healthy Home, Healthy Pet Chemical Education Seminar @ Hero's. Micki Davi will be here to educate you about chemicals and toxins in your home and environment and how they effect you and your pet, as well as educate you about alternatives to chemicals. Please preregister. Thursday and Sunday's - Trainers available for consultation in the store . . . Leash training with Suzi every other Thursday from 4-6pm (call to schedule your time). Obedience training with Natalie every Sunday at 1pm, drop in for $35 or purchase a punch card at Hero's and save money. Saturday, June 30th - Animal Intuitive with Rhianna Grey. Bring your dog or cat in for a session with an animal communicator. $1/minute, please call to schedule your time. See our website for details on any of the above or on other related events: http://www.herospets.com/events IMPORTANT: We are CLOSED July 2-4 (3 days) Man's Best Friend News: Cooking for your pet. In light of the recent pet food recalls a lot of us have been cooking for our pets. I definitely think that cooking real food is far above and beyond the nutritional benefit that your pet could ever get from eating grocery store or (most) big box store pet foods. However, feeding your pet just a meat with rice and a couple vegetables is likely to cause nutritional imbalances, leading to health problems in the future. There are several very good quality products available that are almost the same thing as cooking for your pet that should be used as, at least, a supplement to your home cooked diet, or visa versa. Some of my recommendations include (all of these products are available at Hero's Pets): Honest Kitchen foods such as the Force, Verve, Embark, Preference and Prowl. See www.thehonestkitchen.com for ingredients list and more information. These foods are made out of dehydrated raw meats, fruits and vegetables. Force is a grain free maintenance formula, Verve is a maintenance formula with organic grains, Embark is a higher fat formula for younger, more active dogs or for dogs with digestive problems. Preference is a meat-free, grain-free formula with all hypo-allergenic fruits and vegetables, designed for mixing in your own meats. Prowl is a grain-free chicken formula for cats. Dr. Harvey's has organic grain mixtures and organic vegetable mixtures with vitamin supplements mixed in. www.drharveys.com Sojourner Farms has all natural grain and vegetable mixtures with vitamin supplements mixed in. www.sojos.com The Dr. Harvey's and Sojourner Farms diets are designed for mixing in your own meats. There are multiple raw meats available for pets. I RECOMMEND NEVER GIVING MEATS FROM THE GROCERY STORE TO YOUR PET. Those meats are not taken care of the same way and are much more likely to have higher levels of bacteria in them and make your pet sick. Raw foods I recommend include Nature's Logic, Farmore, Raw Advantage, Bravo and Primal. If you don't want to do an actual raw meat you can try the Ziwi Peak, which is a shelf stable form of raw. It is more like feeding a jerky. It is from New Zealand so it is free range, antibiotic free, hormone free... the closest you can come to organic without actually paying the price of an organic meat. For more information on raw come in to Hero's and talk to Chelsea. Cat's Meow: Cat's are notorious for developing kidney problems as they age. We've almost come to the point where we just expect it as a way of life. But is it just the way it is or are we promoting the problem by our lifestyles and the lifestyles we create for our cats? If you consider what cats would eat if they ate a raw diet, raw foods are about 70% moisture... kibble diets are only 10%. Cats often live in a chronic state of dehydration if they just eat a dry kibble diet. In addition to that, we often feed them foods that are not natural for them to eat. Cats actually lack certain enzymes required to digest starches, so feeding a cat corn, rice and wheat is like feeding your child plastic. Sure, it might pass, but there is no nutritional value to it for a cat and it won't digest. Feeding a grain free diet is the least you can do for your cat. Feeding a diet with a higher moisture content is the next step toward kidney health. Either wet down their kibble or feed canned or raw. If you feed canned food, make sure it's high quality. Pet food companies don't have to put "real" meat into your cats food and "meats" such as chicken feathers and beaks are considered protein but your cats kidneys won't tolerate them well. Feeding raw is the best thing you can do for your cat. There are multiple raw meats designed for cats, as well as other mixtures to supplement the meat diet. However, it's not uncommon, in our busy lifestyles, that we don't have time to deal with raw meats for our pets. If you think you won't be able to take time to "make your pet's food" properly then there are other alternatives as well. Honest Kitchens Prowl formula is a grain free chicken formula designed for cats. It is a dehydrated raw meat, so it is safer than feeding just raw, you just add water and it makes a consistency like canned. Ziwi Peak has three flavors of "shelf stable" raw designed for cats. It's like a jerky and comes in Venison, Venison and Hoki Fish and Lamb. For more information about how to keep you cat's kidney's healthy come into Hero's Pets and talk to Chelsea. Links: * Adoption Agencies - http://www.allbreedrescuenetwork.com (for a list of breed specific rescue groups) - http://www.coloradohumane.org (Adoption facility located on Platte Canyon near Santa Fe and Hampden) - http://www.imhs.org (Intermountain Humane Society in Pine) - http://www.goodsamaratinpetcenter.org - http://www.eapl.org (Evergreen Animal Protective League) - http://www.coloradobasenjirescue.com (13 Basenji's currently available. Foster only.) - http://www.copugrescue.org (Pug rescue.. many available) - http://hobocare.com (Boxer Rescue) - http://rmgreatdane.org (67 Great Dane's currently available. This organization is in desperate need of donations if you have any extra food or money to spare they would greatly appreciate it. You may donate through their website, drop off money or food donations at Hero's Pets, or purchase foods for donations at Hero's Pets) * Earth News - http://www.climatecrisis.org - http://www.leonardodicaprio.org (EcoSite... this is one of my personal favorites) - http://www.ishmael.com - www.greenpeace.org - www.worldvision.org - www.environmentaldefense.org - www.stopglobalwarming.org - www.eleosproject.org - www.aceee.org * Training: Why should you do training with your pet? Do you remember your first day of school or at a new job? Remember the anxiety you felt until you established your place among your co-workers or schoolmates? Your dog feels the same way when you have not taken the time to establish your relationship with him/her. Taking an obedience class with your pet allows them to understand, in doggy speak, who's in charge... and that will reduce your pets anxiety which, in turn, will reduce other behavioral issues such as destructive or aggressive tendencies, barking, pulling, lunging and more. - http://www.caninepsychologycenter.com - http://www.friendsforlifeco.com Product News: New Products: Ruff Wear WebMaster Harnesses... in my opinion, this is an absolute necessity to have if you take your dog hiking, biking, or any other outdoor activity. Silverfoot: Martingale collars, harnesses and leashes. Muttrooms: Doggie Biscuits with Shitake, Maitake, Cordyceps Mycelia and Turkey Tail mushrooms for boosted immunity. Free Range Chicken Breast Wraps: Carrot, Banana or Beef Liver wrapped in Chicken Breast. In Clover Connectin: Glucosamine and Chondroitin joint supplement with herbal anti-inflammatories. West Paw: Organic Bumper Beds. These beds are made out of recycled soda pop bottles and organically grown cotton. They are very durable, machine washable, and dryable. Check out our myspace page for other informational articles at: http://groups.myspace.com/herospetsinfo Comments and suggestions for future articles are welcome! PLEASE NOTE that our store will be CLOSED July 2-4 (Mon - Wed). Hopefully
it won't inconvenience anyone while we take a much needed, though very
short, family vacation. We will be hiring soon so that we do not have
to be closed in the future. |