Why Does My Cat Drink Dirty Water?

By Larry Chamberlain

You know that cats should always have a supply of water, especially if you are feeding them dried food. There on your nice clean kitchen floor is a bowl of nice clean fresh water, in a nice clean bowl.

What does your cat do? Maybe gives the bowl a sniff and walks away from it, or just ignores the bowl completely, as if water were the last thing a self respecting cat would consider drinking.

“Okay”, you think to yourself, “Kitty just isn’t thirsty at the moment”. But then later, you happen to spy your cat busily lapping up stale water from a puddle in your garden as if it was nectar.

Cats are self-reliant, independent creatures, but surely your cat is not going to turn its nose up at the nice clean water you provide, just to let you know it can survive without you? After all, kitty does not reject the food you provide even though it is perfectly capable of catching mice.

No, the answer is not your mouser’s independence. Tap water is usually treated with chemicals, often chlorinated strongly enough for a cat to smell it. Cats noses are far more sensitive than human noses and many cats find this chemical odor very offensive. Stale water in puddles and pools has a far more attractive smell are far as a cat is concerned. Puddles may be full of rotten vegetation and microbes, but cats find this organic soup very tasty.

As well as the off-putting odor of chemicals in tap water, cats find the smell of detergents repugnant. So, because you diligently clean your cat’s water bowl in the interest of hygiene, the detergent that you use deters your cat from drinking from it. You use the same detergent to wash your cat’s food bowl, why then, does your feline friend eat heartily from the bowl, and not be repelled by the smell of the detergent? This is because the aroma of the fish or meat is stronger than the smell of the detergent.

With the water bowl, the combination of the two unpleasant smells, the chemicals in the tap water and the detergent, means that your cat will only quench its thirst from the water bowl if there is no better smelling option to be had.

So, what can you do? You need to rinse your cat’s bowl more thoroughly than you would a plate for a human. Remember feline noses are far more sensitive than ours, every trace of detergent needs to be rinsed off. Secondly, let the water from the tap stand for a while before putting the bowl down for your cat, this will allow the chemicals to dissipate.

These two things should have kitty drinking happily from the dish, unless, of course, kitty has got so used to drinking from puddles it just can’t kick the organic water habit!

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Pet Food Containers: The Right Storage for the Right Pet Food

By Mariann Mackay

Man’s best friend, family member, or both - this is probably how you look at your pet. Such a close affinity would mean that you won’t treat your pet any less than, say, your brother or your best friend, so, needless to say, simply storing his food in a cardboard box just won’t do. Indeed, your pet doesn’t only need special pet food; this food also needs special care!

Gourmet Pet

Of course, you can always feed your pet scraps from the table, but really, if you care for him that much, you wouldn’t want to do that. Pets, like humans, need to eat right. They have to be able to take in the requisite vitamins and minerals in order to be strong, happy, and healthy. What may be good for you may not be good for Fluffy.

It may seem painfully obvious, but first you have to take into account what your pet actually is. After all, you wouldn’t want to feed a dog cat food and vice versa.

Next, you have to take into account your pet’s age. There are recommended food for puppies and kittens, as well as adult canines and felines.

Other factors to consider when picking pet food are your pet’s size, weight, and even breed. For best results, consulting with your friendly neighborhood veterinarian is an excellent move. This way, your pet is getting the food that he really should be getting.

Pet Pantry

Once you have an idea of what your pet should be eating, it’s time to figure out how to store them. And no, you can’t keep them in your refrigerator, or in the old cardboard box your refrigerator came in. Indeed, special pet food needs special pet food containers. Whether your pet has a taste for dry or canned food, there’s an appropriate storage container available.

When on the lookout for pet food containers, look for air-tight seals. Obviously, these seals keep the air out of your pet’s food, so flavor is retained and food is kept fresh. Furthermore, unwelcome bugs, ants, and other insects will be unable to surreptitiously crawl in, so no nasty surprises for Fluffy.

Of course, you don’t want any harm coming to your pet. With this in mind, look for the FDA seal of approval when buying pet food containers. This certifies that the containers are of food grade quality, meaning it’s safe to store food in them without the risk of harmful leaks that could mix with your pet’s food when exposed to direct sunlight.

You should also consider your overall budget when buying pet food containers. If you think that you’ll be purchasing pet food in smaller amounts, then by all means, pick a container of the appropriate size. Same principle applies if you’re buying pet food in bulk. This would help you keep track of your pet’s food intake in the long run.

Indeed, when it comes to your pet, diet is king. Not only do you need to make sure that your pet is eating right, you also have to make sure that his food is stored right in pet food containers that are safe and pet-friendly.

About the Author: Getting your pet the right food isn’t enough. You have to make sure that this food is stored right in special pet food containers. Whether your need cat food storage or dog food storage, PamperMePuppy.com has one for you.

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Food For Health - Thai Food

By Manora

There are no less than 200-300 Thai dishes. Each has its own characteristics in flavor and feature.

It is not difficult to cook in the pre-historic era. Humans began their eating with raw trees: flowers, leaves, roots and bulbs. After having tasted the vagetables’bland flavor, they added some sour ones to make tastier, or mixed variety of vegetables. Later, they knew how to make simple cooking, for example, burning vegetables or putting rice into roasted bamboo (which was called “kaawlaam” or a glutinous rice with coconut cream topping stuffed in a bamboo section and roasted). As the time passed by, they knew how to cook in various ways: frying, making soup or curry, steaming, making yam (salad) and preserving.

Food cooking is both science and art. Some foods need time, man power and delicacy in cooking, including an artistic decoration. Cooperation in cooking helps create unity and warmth among family members.

The process of Thai cuisine explains Thai life: its tradition, custom and culture as well as confirms that Thai family is a big one in which its members live together with warm relationship. In cooking Thai food, family members have their share of helping, as a teamwork. Either the grown ups or the young ones, males or females, can participate. In some old families, the elders knew how to manage the young off springs giving their hands in cooking. Small kids could help with light works, e.g., nipping off miniature egg plants, or sweet basils from the stem; whereas the bigger ones could peel onions, garlics, pluck off vegetables, squeeze coconut meat, and pound chillies and spices, for example.

Accordingly, it is clearly seen that food cooking creates closeness among family members in talking and chatting to one another. Young kids knew how to help, and to cook as well as to be trained to have responsibility and discipline in working. The whole family, then, has a warm relationship and in turn produces worthy people for society in general.

Names:

Thai food always has its meaningful names which indicate its features or methods of cooking. Khanom Pui Fai is light, soft and yellowish white like cotton wool. Mi Krop (Crispy noodles) must be crispy. In the old days, most Thai people usually had a sense of humour and they often named foods, poetically, to stimulate the appetite. Among those foods are Jorka Lonson (Black bean in coconut milk), Naree Jaamseen (Banana in coconut milk) Ho Mujcha Chailai (Steamed curried fish), Paad Paakdong Fong Raga (Pickled vegetable fried with egg)

The Flavor of Thai food:

Regional Dishes :

The North: The food of the North has its light flavor, with a little spices, not very hot with chillies, not salty and without sugar, except in Phak Jo, Kaeng Kae, Kaeng Oom Moo, Sai Uaa, etc.

The North-East:The North-Eastern food has a strong flavor with chillies, salt, herbs and spices. Examples are Lap Pradook, Som Tom, Oomsab Tomsab, etc.

The Centre:The Central food has a moderate flavor with herbs and sugar. Kaeng Khieo Wan, Kaeng Som, Tom Yam, Tom Khaa Kai, Phanaeng, Choochee, are examples.

The South:The South has a very strong flavor of food with spicy herbs. Examples are fried or grilled tumeric-powdered fish, Kaeng Lyan, Tom Som, Pla Krabok and Kaeng Taipla.

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Bad Dog Food - Is Your Pet Eating Harmful Dog Food?

By Mike Lee

With all the recent and argumentative pet food recalls, it is no wonder that pet owners have preferred making homemade dog food for their furry friends in lieu of commercial and, quite possibly, bad dog food and cat food considered as contaminated. So what’s all the fuss about? What horrible things can bad contaminated dog food do to your canine companion, and more importantly, what can you do to prevent it? Just what is in these supposedly nutritionally balanced meals that has got animal lovers in an uproar?

People are discouraged from consuming too much canned goods for various health reasons. The same holds true for dogs.

Moist dog food is packed in cans. You can just visualize all the unnatural ingredients injected into the whole package, mostly to intensify flavors, enhance palatability, and even improve appearance.

What’s truly disconcerting is the truth that animal by-products, the main components of pet food, are already bombarded with chemicals long before they reach the processing plant. So even if the can’s label provides a different information, there’s really nothing like a ‘No Preservatives’4 guarantee.

Dry dog food is even worse. Since canning in itself is already a preserving process, moist dog food contains less of the contaminated materials used to prolong shelf life compared with its dry counterpart.

A different predicament is the ingredients themselves, usually meat, poultry, and grains. Anything that is known to be harmful for people to eat, such as innards, blood, and bones, make up the by-products that are ground and blended into what we know as pet food. In reality, they are bad dog food.

The thing is, it is not always slaughtered animals that make their way into these meals; but oftentimes, diseased carcasses and euthanized creatures are included also. And the drugs and bacteria like Salmonella and Escherichia coli thriving in these meats do not always die during manufacturing.

Furthermore, when moldy grain is thrown in, as well as all the other artificial ingredients the numbers of which are too many to count with both hands, you then have a lethal canine cocktail. It doesn’t take a nutrition expert to know that this spells disaster for the end user, i.e., innocent little Fido.

Injuirous outcome of bad dog food include vomiting, diarrhea, and loss of appetite. But that’s just for starters. The more dangerous toxins, like cf1 butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA), butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), and ethoxyquin, which are all given in small doses, can cause cancer, organ failure, and ultimately, death when consumed over a long period.

So what can you, the dog owner, do about all this? Voice your concerns. Call pet food manufacturers and demand for better quality products so you get what you’ve paid for. Better yet, try making your own homemade dog food. At least then, you can be sure about what your beloved pet is actually eating. If you have any doubts on the food you’re feeding your dog, consult your veterinarian immediately.

Your loving and dedicated pet deserves more than just a mouthful presence of contaminated bad dog food. Don’t you think it’s time you showed him just that?

About the Author: Know the life-saving secrets that most dog-lovers will never know about detecting bad dog food and solving dog health problems at http://www.20daypersuasion.com/dogs-exposed.htm

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