Dental CareDental care for your pet may be more important than you think. The accumulation of bacteria laden plaque above the gumline can lead to long term oral health issues. Recent studies have demonstrated there is an association between oral health issues and systemic general health issues affecting the kidney, heart and metabolic systems.Hill's nutritionists & veterinarians developed Prescription Diet® t/d® clinical nutrition especially formulated to support your cat's dental health. In fact, t/d is clinically proven nutrition to reduce plaque, stain, & tartar buildup. [VOHC Seal for Plaque & Tartar] "100% Satisfaction Guarantee" We're confident your pet will enjoy Hill's® Prescription Diet® foods. We're so confident that we offer a 100% money-back guarantee.* Made in our own USA facilities with U.S. and imported ingredients. Hill's Prescription Diet® t/d® Feline is a complete and balanced food that provides all the nutrition your cat needs. Please consult your veterinarian for further information on how our Prescription Diet® foods can help your cat to continue to enjoy a happy and active life.

*Only Hill's® dental foods (Prescription Diet® t/d® and Science Diet® Oral Care) have been awarded the VOHC Seal for the control of plaque and tartar in both canine and feline formulas. The VOHC Seal is a trademark owned by the Veterinary Oral Health Council. The new emphasis on healthy, sustainable eating has become a revolution of sorts, a means to protest the corporate agricultural system. This trend has even made it into the world of pet foods. However, as with human food, major corporations are looking to get in on the action. Petco has recently announced that it intends to become the first national retailer to sell Freshpet. I spoke with Audree Berg of Auggie's Doggies Healthy Pet Supplies about her take on the Freshpet line. "I don't sell it. It's a very large corporation. I don't even know if they're using domestic and raw proteins." Berg, who has two locations, both in farmers' markets, opts for products from smaller producers with domestic and Canadian free-range proteins, kind of the pet equivalent of getting to know your farmer.

So is Freshpet a good option? Well, it's not the worst, Berg says. However, if you're concerned with your pet's health, your best bet is to seek out someone like Berg, someone who carefully researches each individual product. Tiny Tank Vacuum CleanerThat's one step closer to getting to know your (and your pet's) food source. How To Change Light Bulb In Ford RangerA revolutionary act in itself.Brown Sheer Curtains Target 1401 SW 1st Ave. Fort Lauderdale, FL 33315 In Case You Missed It Ten Best Taco Tuesday Deals in Broward and Palm Beach Tim "Swanky" Glazner Explores Tiki Culture and Rare Cocktails in... Big Storm Brewing Sues Due South Brewing, Asks Judge for... Create Your Own Poke Bowl or Sushi Burrito at Raw Poke Bar in Fort...

Intermezzo Loung prior to Celtic Thunder Legacy Intermezzo Lounge prior to Scott Bradlee Intermezzo Lounge prior to Sesame Street 50 Ocean in Delray Beach Unveils Hydroponic Produce Grown... Miami Chef Joshua Wahler Debuts Nisi in Fort Lauderdale Today South Florida Food and Drink Events This Week: Four-Course... Twelve Lake Worth Restaurants to Check Out NowThe following article was written by Alicia Woempner.As a vegetarian college student who loved animals, I was thrilled to be offered a summer job at PETCO. I was excited to spend my days talking to animal guardians and meeting their furry companions who often accompanied them to the store and to care for the birds, reptiles, fish, guinea pigs, and other small animals there. However, I quickly realized that this store that had seemed like heaven to me was actually hell for the animals who lived there.The first shock came when I noticed a large open wound on the face of a small white mouse. Immediately informing my supervisor, I was told not to worry about it because the animal was “just a feeder mouse.”

PETCO, you see, stocks live mice and rats to be sold as food for “pet” snakes. Mice and rats who are thrown into a cage with a snake may spend hours or even days shaking in terror before the snake finally gets hungry enough to eat them (which may or may not happen), and they can even attack and harm the snake in an attempt to defend themselves. I’ll never forget how horrified I was every time a customer came into the store wanting to buy a “feeder mouse” or rat, knowing that I was responsible for condemning to terror and a horrifying death whichever mouse or rat I was able to catch and wrestle into a cardboard box. I began to notice ill or injured “feeder mice” on a daily basis, and having lived with a companion mouse, I was heartbroken seeing how much suffering these intelligent, affectionate animals were enduring at a store that claims that “animals always come first.”PETCO also sells live “feeder fish” for turtles and reptiles people keep as captive “pets.”

These small goldfish are kept by the hundreds in huge, severely crowded tanks with no enrichment. The death toll was so high at the store I worked at that part of the closing procedure every day was to take out the dead “feeder fish” who had been sucked into a filter, wrap them in a plastic bag, and place them in the “dead” freezer, along with dead rats, mice, hamsters, birds, and other casualties. There were so many fish in the filter every day that it was impossible to separate those who were still alive and breathing but too weak to swim out of the filter, so they were thrown in the freezer with the dead ones. (I don’t know whether they suffocated or froze to death first.) Of course, we also took a daily “dead count” of all the aquarium fish as well since they, along with the other animals in the store, are seen by the company as disposable commodities.One of the most gruesome incidents that I witnessed was the result of the intensive confinement to which the animals in the store are subjected.

Birds, who in nature would fly, migrate, nest, and raise their own families, are kept in crowded cages and denied the opportunity to engage in their natural behavior, which can cause them to go crazy. One night after closing, I heard a cacophony of squawking from the parakeet cage. Running over, a fellow employee and I found that one parakeet had become the victim of frenzied pecking from cagemates—the other birds had pecked all the flesh off the top of the animal’s head, leaving the skull completely exposed. I begged to be allowed to take the bird to a 24-hour veterinarian to be mercifully euthanized, and eventually I was allowed to do so but only after precious minutes had been wasted on the phone requesting permission to spend the extra money on an emergency vet. By the time I got to the doctor, the parakeet had died. I’ll never forget that bird.The store’s “merchandise” can also be “damaged” by careless employees. One individual I will always remember was a tiny baby chameleon whose back was broken when a worker accidentally slammed the animal’s cage door shut.