Be AWARE!

So since my last post on Instagram regarding scam dog/cat sellers and breeders, I've been getting a lot of questions on where or how to find a good puppy or cat in Kuwait. I would recommend adopting from shelters or rescue groups (click here) as they usually have such great animals waiting for a forever home.
As I was doing research online I found a guide by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Australia) and it is so simple and straight to the point so I decided to share it with you all. ( I know it says puppy buyer but the same thing applies to buying a cat or any other animal).

RSPCA Smart Puppy Buyer's Guide:


Follow our Smart Puppy Buyer’s Guide and
you’ll be on the right track to taking home a
healthy, well-adjusted puppy and helping to
prevent the sale of puppies from puppy mills
or irresponsible breeders.


Healthy puppies come from breeders who:
1. Plan ahead and aim to find good homes for every puppy
they breed
2. Provide a high standard of care and living conditions for
all their dogs
3. Are genuinely concerned about the welfare of their dogs
4. Are open to questions and provide a complete history
of the puppy
5. Make sure that you will suit the puppy and the puppy
will suit you
6. Breed to produce happy, healthy pets, free from known
genetic disorders
7. Provide ongoing support and information to new owners
8. Provide a guarantee
9. Provide references on request
10. Meet all their legal requirements


Finding a good breeder means asking these
important questions:
1. Did the breeder plan ahead for this litter?
A responsible dog breeder plans each pregnancy and knows
that there is enough demand for their puppies to ensure they
will all go to good homes.
Ask the breeder if this pregnancy was planned, how many
litters the mother has already had (six should be the maximum
over her whole life), and what they will do with any unsold
puppies (a good breeder will hang on to them until the right
home can be found).

2. Are you impressed with the standard of
care and living conditions of the dogs?
It’s really important that you visit the puppy in the place where
it was born and meet its mum (and dad too, if he’s around).
• Check whether the place is clean and there is enough space
for the puppies and adult dogs to move around and exercise
and there are things for the pups to chew on and play with.
• Ask what the puppies are fed and how often. A good
breeder will provide information on how to feed your
puppy before you take it home.
• Ask about health checks, worming and vaccinations and
what documents will come home with your puppy. A good
breeder will make sure all puppies have a full veterinary
health check and are microchipped, vaccinated and treated
for worms and fleas before they are sold, and will provide
you with records of these treatments.
• Watch how the puppies and the adult dogs in the home
behave – are they friendly with people and other dogs?
A good breeder will make sure the puppies and breeding
dogs are friendly and well-socialised.


If the breeder is reluctant for you to visit, or wants you to
meet the puppy in another place, find another breeder. Puppy
farms will often use a house as a ‘shop front’ so you don’t get
to see the poor conditions they breed dogs in. Don’t buy a
puppy from a pet shop or through an internet or newspaper
advertisement without being able to visit its home, as you can’t
check out the conditions in which the puppy was bred or know
where it came from.


{PUPPY FARMS}
A puppy farm (also known as a puppy factory
or puppy mill) is defined as: an intensive
dog breeding facility that is operated under
inadequate conditions that fail to meet the dogs’
behavioural, social and/or physiological needs.
Puppy farms are usually large-scale commercial
operations, but inadequate conditions may also
exist in small volume breeding establishments
which may or may not be run for profit.


3. Is the breeder genuinely concerned about
the welfare of their dogs?
Good breeders want the best for all their animals, from new
puppies to retired breeding dogs. They take steps to ensure this
by providing detailed advice to new owners about how to care
for their puppy, and don’t have old breeding dogs put down
because they’re no longer productive.
• Ask the breeder what happens to their retired breeding
animals – are they kept or rehomed?
• If the breed you’ve chosen was traditionally docked, what is
the breeder’s view on tail docking? (Routine tail docking of
puppies is no longer legal in Australia.)
• If you are not intending to breed from your puppy, the
breeder should provide advice on desexing (unless your
puppy has been desexed already).
You should be provided with information on diet, socialisation, 
registration and identification requirements, and any 
medications or vaccinations given or required in the future.


4. Is the breeder open to questions and do they
provide a complete history of the puppy?
Good breeders want to make sure you are well-informed
about your new puppy and will provide information on the
background, size, breed and temperament of his parents.
They are willing to answer questions and allow inspection
of records and paperwork such as registration documents
and veterinary records. A breeder who refuses to answer
reasonable questions probably has something to hide.

5. Does the breeder make sure you will suit
the puppy and the puppy will suit you?
A new puppy is a long-term commitment,
so both you and the breeder need to be
certain you are making the right decision.
A good breeder will ask you questions to
make sure this is the right puppy for you
and that you’re able to care for it properly.
For example, they might ask:
• if you have children or other animals
in the household
• where your puppy will be sleeping, and
• how often it will be left on its own.
They should also tell you what to expect from the breed, such
as how suitable it is for families and how much space and
exercise is needed. If you’re at all uncomfortable with what
you are told, you might want to consider another breed.


6. Is your puppy bred to be a pet and free
from known inherited disorders?
Different breeds are predisposed to different inherited disorders
or diseases. Some of these aren’t apparent until later in a dog’s
life but can have devastating consequences. Some breeds also
have exaggerated features that can cause problems, like a
squashed-in face, which makes it hard to breathe, or very short
legs, which can lead to spinal problems.
A good breeder will be aware of, and screen for, any known
disorders or anatomical problems specific to the breed and will
exclude dogs with problems from breeding. They will be able to
show you copies of veterinary reports and screening tests to
confirm this. They should also breed to minimise any exaggerated
physical traits specific to the breed that are known to have an
adverse impact on the health and welfare of the dog.
• Find out what inherited diseases occur in your chosen breed
(an internet search for inherited diseases and the breed name
will help you) and ask the breeder what steps they have
taken to prevent them.
• One proven way to minimise the risk of inherited problems
is to avoid breeding closely related animals. If you are buying
a purebred dog, you should check your puppy’s pedigree to
make sure there are no close relative matings, such as brother-
sister or grandfather-granddaughter matings.
• Ask the breeder what they think are the most important
characteristics in their puppies. A good breeder will put
health, welfare and temperament above appearance. Some
breeders put success in the show ring above all else, but
breed prizes such as ‘best in show’ don’t mean that a dog’s 
puppies will be good family pets as show dogs are judged
on their appearance, not their behaviour.

7. Does the breeder offer to provide ongoing support and information after purchase?
A good breeder will provide full contact details and encourage
you to get in touch if you need more information on the care
of your new puppy.

8. Does the breeder provide a guarantee?
What if you take the puppy home and it has a health problem,
or doesn’t get on with your children or pet cat and you can’t
cope? A good breeder will offer to take back unwanted animals
within a specified time period after sale. They should also offer
to accept animals returned as a result of problems arising from
an inherited disorder at any time after sale.


9. Does the breeder provide references
to back up what they have told you?
You’ve asked a lot of questions, but you’d like to be absolutely
sure that the breeder is genuine. A good breeder will
readily provide references on request, including testimonials
from previous or existing owners, letters from the vet, and
documents indicating membership of a
breed association, canine council or
companion animal club.

10.  Is the breeder meeting all legal
requirements?
Requirements for dog breeders vary from state to state, but it’s
a good idea to call your local council and ask whether breeders
have to be registered with them and if there is a code of
practice or guidelines that they should be following. If the
answer’s yes, you can ask the breeder for their registration
details and what guidelines they follow.


{REGISTERED BREEDERS}
Pedigree or purebred dog breeders are often
referred to as ‘registered breeders’ when they
are members of a breed club or association that
operates a stud book or register. The term may
also be used to refer to someone who is registered
with their local council as a breeder (also called a
‘recognised’ breeder).
While breed associations do have rules and
guidelines for their members, being ‘registered’ 
does not necessarily mean a breeder is responsible
or meets good animal welfare standards. To make
sure your breeder is a good breeder, you need
to ask the right questions before you buy. That’s
why we’ve written this guide.


If your breeder meets our
Smart Puppy Buyer’s Guide,
Congratulations!
Thanks to their excellent care and
breeding practices, your puppy
has had a great start in life – the
rest is up to you. Before you
take your puppy home, check
out our information on puppy
training and make sure you
talk to your local vet
about desexing!


{WHY DESEXING IS SO IMPORTANT}
Desexing isn’t just about preventing unwanted
pregnancies, it can actually make your dog healthier
and happier.
Desexed dogs:
• are better protected from certain illnesses
and diseases
• are generally less aggressive towards other dogs
• tend to be more affectionate
• are less inclined to roam or mark their territory
• are less inclined to display mating behaviours
such as mounting
Some research shows desexed dogs actually
live longer.
The RSPCA practises early age desexing from the
age of eight weeks when the surgery is simple and
recovery is rapid. If your puppy was not desexed
prior to sale, they must be desexed before they are
able to produce any unintended litters of puppies.
There is absolutely no benefit in letting females have
one litter before they are desexed.
Talk to your vet about desexing, microchipping and
vaccinations. They’re all important parts of being
a responsible dog owner and will ensure your new
best friend stays healthy and happy.


OTHER USEFUL LINKS:
• RSPCA Knowledgebase www.kb.rspca.org.au
• RSPCA Pet Insurance
www.rspcapetinsurance.org.au 
• World of Animal Welfare www.woaw.org.au






With all this in mind, it is important to know that puppies or kittens that fit these standards are NOT CHEAP! It takes a lot of money for a breeder to keep his dogs or cats up to such high quality standards. It is better to spend 500KD on  pet that you know is healthy and fit to be a part of your family than 500KD (or as I'm finding out on Instagram 800+ KD) on puppies or kittens that are clearly poorly-bred, unhealthy and with no records of any type (no, vaccine records aren't enough).

I'll leave you with pictures of Puppymills, where most petshop pets come from.

Junk Food for Pets Continued.

So, now you know which age stage your pet is in, what special needs he/she has, how much food you need to buy and how much you're willing to spend. What's next?

• Next step: choosing the right brand. 

 

 

There are a few (numbers are increasing) pet food brands in Kuwait, each claiming it is "the best",  "holistic",  "natural", or even "100% complete".It is up to YOU to know what is best for your pet. Do not rely on what the package says, it's usually just marketing. Ask pet owners, especially those whose pets seem healthy. Ask your vet, even ask clients what they feed their pets next time you're at the vet hospital. Ask professional breeders in your area. You can also read online reviews (but I wouldn't depend on them). Read about the nutritional needs of your pet's species. Try to gain as much information as possible so that all the marketing and schemes to just gain profits don't fool you.

 There is no other way to put this or summarize it, Wysong wrote it as simple as it is. Here are a few tips from Wysong (I'm being kind of biased I guess but this is my personal choice and I wouldn't have chose them if they didn't convince me) on choosing the right pet food company:

My brand of choice

1. PET HEALTH PHILOSOPHY: Does the pet health philosophy expressed by the company make sense, have scientific backing, and clearly put health as the number one priority? Or do they make mere claims designed to generate sales?

2. RESPONSIBLE EDUCATION: The pet food arena swarms with misinformation, much of which can cause serious health consequences. A responsible company taking on the serious responsibility of health must make its primary product education, not simply product sales. Such education must include teaching consumers how not to use any processed commercial products at all.

3. LEADER CREDENTIALS: What are the credentials, experience and accomplishments of the people in charge? Most pet food companies are led by a marketing person, movie star, venture capitalist, or a board of directors concerned primarily about profits. Yes, all pet food companies have a story about how their leaders love pets, had health problems with all the brands of pet foods, and that their pet did not improve until they cooked something up in the kitchen or consulted with so and so nutrition guru. But supplying foods that have the best prospect for achieving health is not about lore. It is best served by competency in health, nutrition, food science, and processing technology.

4. MANUFACTURING CONTROL: Is the pet food company also the owner of the manufacturing facility or in close control of formulations and manufacturing parameters? That is the only way true innovation can take place. Consider that anyone off the street can go to any number of pet food manufacturers and have them make a "new" food. Such contract manufacturers have files full of ready-to-go formulas. Then the marketing company can add a "special" ingredient, or remove a "demon" one, create a beguiling label and then make unsubstantiated claims about the superiority of the "revolutionary new" product. But, in fact, all the different brands of foods coming off the same production line are essentially the same.

5. THE "100% COMPLETE & BALANCED PET FOOD" MYTH: Does the company promote the claim of "100% complete and balanced"? This claim is a myth and is directly responsible for far-reaching nutritional diseases. Promotion of the claim proves a manufacturer does not properly understand animal nutrition and pet health and is under the mistaken (but profitable, since it misleads consumers into thinking they should feed only their processed food) view that manufactured foods can be complete, in other words, perfect.

6. RAW: Does the company either supply or advocate the use of raw foods in the diet? There is no creature in existence, other than humans, that cooks their food. Rawness is as essential to health as is air, sunshine, and water. It is the stuff of nature. If the company does not understand this, then they should most certainly not be trusted in supplying foods they expect your pet to eat at every meal.

7. MEAT AND PROTEIN: Carnivores require meats and organs, and the high protein and quality fats (including omega 3, 6, 9) these foods provide. A small amount of vegetable material is also important. Carnivores receive this by incidental browsing and by consuming some of the ingesta in their prey. This does not mean finding one high protein, high meat food and feeding that continuously. Variety and rotation are critical. Companies that do not provide foods or education matching these principles, or, if they do, advocate feeding them exclusively, do not properly understand health or nutrition.

8. VARIETY AND ROTATION: Given modern circumstances, pet health is best served by a variety of foods combined in various ways, rotated, and supplemented. This can include processed canned, dried, frozen, and TNT™ (True Non-Thermal™) dried, as well as fresh foods and supplements. This provides convenience, affordability, and optimizes nutrition, as well as minimizes the chances of toxicity. No it is not as simple as one product from one bag meal after meal. But health is not easy. It takes thought and effort. Companies that do not provide products to accomplish such a method of feeding, or teach how it can be accomplished, are not serving your pet’s health interests.

9. FOCUS ON ANALYSES: Although some general information about a food’s ability to maintain an animal can be gleaned from the analysis on the package, focusing on such is misleading. Pets should be fed a variety of foods, not one food with the supposed "correct" percentages or ingredients. If this is done using quality foods, the body will select what it needs for health. Animals in the wild do not eat by analysis and yet have robust health. Pet foods with the "proper" analysis have been (and are) responsible for terrible disease and countless deaths. A focus on analysis leads consumers to believe the lie that feeding one food meal after meal with "just the right analysis" is the key to health.

10. FADS OVER FACTS: Does the company follow fads or does it lead with solid responsible information? Fads include: high fiber, low cholesterol, low fat, natural, no preservatives, four food groups, high protein, human grade, grain free, and the like. Such singular focus on faddish pet food fallacies demonstrates either an incomplete understanding of nutrition or a motive to profit from misinformed and gullible consumers.


11. INGREDIENT BOOGEYMEN: Does the company fear monger about "boogeyman" ingredients? Current examples of such nutritional boogeymen include: soy, corn, wheat, grains, fat, by-products, 4-D meat, garlic, digests, seaweed, ash, meat meal, yeast, magnesium, and others. Popular misconceptions, dubious field reports, selective examination of the scientific and medical literature, and poorly conducted science lie at the base of such beliefs. If a pet food company uses such fallacies to promote their products, they either do not understand pet nutrition or desire to play on popular ignorance for financial gain.

12. TOXIN PARANOIA: There is a basic principle in toxicology that is essential to understand. It is: the dose makes the poison. Anything can be toxic in high enough dose, even oxygen and water. What may be toxic at one dose may be life saving at another. In the literature, somewhere, can be found a study proving that this or that ingredient fed to mice at levels that would choke a horse is toxic. Producers who champion such scare tactics in order to sell their products (without the "poisonous" ingredient) are either misinformed, naive, or purposely using fear to create sales. As a rule, ingredients that have been used for thousands of years by humans and animals are safe if fed in variety and in reasonable amounts. Yes, some things can be toxic. But that can only be determined by understanding the relationship between dosage and toxicity. Since these understandings are constantly changing, the only safe way to feed is by rotation and variety using quality products from competent producers who do not mislead.

13. NONALLERGENIC: Many pet foods are marketed using the claim that they do not contain this or that allergenic ingredient. However, practically anything can be allergenic, particularly if it is fed meal after meal. Also, there is no clinical or laboratory test that can determine the allergenicity of a mixed processed pet food regardless of its ingredients.  The only way to know is to test feed. So claiming the merit of a food because it does not have supposedly allergenic ingredients that have been used successfully for thousands of years (such as corn, soy, wheat, etc.), and instead has rice, potato, peas, buckwheat, tapioca, etc., is misleading. The key to immune health and food tolerance is variety and rotation, not finding the "one perfect food" without a supposed allergenic ingredient.

14. ORGANIC: Organic foods produced at sustainable farms are a step in the right direction. But no one thing is ever the answer to everything, especially with respect to the complexity of health. Merely being pesticide and herbicide free in order to garner the organic label does not mean the products are produced in a sustainable way using permaculture methods. That issue aside, promoting a pet food to be fed exclusively meal after meal just because it is organic, misses the point. It will increase susceptibility to toxicity since even organic foods can contain tens of thousands of natural toxins. Good nutrition cannot be obtained by feeding the same food meal after meal. Whether organic or not, foods need to be rotated to optimize nutrition and avoid toxicity.

15. HUMAN GRADE: The term "human grade" has more to do with language and aesthetics than nutrition and health. In the wild, eating the ideal diet, pets consume nothing that is human grade. They eat the dead, dying, diseased, and disabled ("4-D" meats) and thrive so long as there is sufficient food available. On the other hand, "human grade" white meat, white flour, white rice, white sugar, white salt, candy, pop, hydrogenated oils, and additives can starve pets and cause severe disease. Claiming that a pet food is human grade is a play on human ignorance.

16. ENVIRONMENTAL DISREGARD: Many nutritious parts of foods would be discarded if not used in pet foods. Animals do not have the aversion to names like "by-products" (and remember that is just a human invented word) that humans do. In fact, many of the parts of food animals considered distasteful to humans (such as viscera and organs) are the most nutritious part of the carcass. To discard such because of our human tastes—imposing those frivolous tastes on our pets—is to cause enormous waste. It diverts human grade products to pet foods that could go into the human food supply. It is also inhumane to slaughter animals and then discard healthful parts that could be used by pets to great benefit. It also wastes land, feed, shipping, and other resources by increasing the demand for just the "pleasing" parts of the food animal carcass.

17. MISLEADING PORTRAYALS: Everyone knows the cost of select cuts of meat at the grocer. They also know the cost of pet foods. Nevertheless, some pet food producers portray their products as containing prime steaks, barbecued chicken, grilled salmon, and the like. A half-pound grilled salmon dinner can easily cost $20 in a restaurant. So how can a grilled salmon pet food that is processed in a ten million dollar plant, spiked with vitamins, minerals, and other expensive ingredients, packaged expensively, shipped and marked up through salespeople, distributors, and retailers cost something like fifty cents for a half-pound? It can’t. Honesty and character matter. If you are being misled into believing you are receiving something you are not, then why should claims about the healthiness of the food be believed either? 

18. FOODS AS DRUGS: Just because a food is marketed by prescription is no reason to believe the food is either healthy or safe to be fed at every meal. Many such foods contain a variety of low quality ingredients—such as food fractions, additives, sugars, and starches—that are known to cause, not prevent or reverse disease. The best prescription for health is whole natural foods that mimic the genetic expectation of the animal. Any company theme other than this, even if presented as high tech medicine, is misleading.

19. COSMETICS OVER PET NUTRITION: Many pet food producers target food cosmetics rather than real nutrition. Flavors, shapes, packaging, bonuses, discounts, coupons, pricing, guarantees and the like are essentially unrelated to health and nutrition. Nutrition is serious business, not recreation to be promoted with balloons and raffles.

20. INNOVATION: Since nutritional science is a rapidly growing and expanding field of knowledge, a producer truly interested in pet health should be innovative. Adapting new knowledge to formulations, processing, packaging and education should be ongoing and these innovations should be clearly communicated to consumers. Most pet food companies don’t lead, they follow. Consumers would be wise to follow leaders, not followers.

For more information, please visit http://www.wysong.net/pet-health-and-nutrition/welcome.php or subscribe to their 100 Pet Health Truths (highly recommended).

Junk food for pets

Happy New Year my dear readers!

Since the topic with the highest votes in my last poll was "Junk food for pets" it is what I will try to explain here. The problem is this topic isn't easy to discuss in one post, so I'll be dividing it to several posts. In this post I will give you a few general tips and I will leave you with the brand that I chose and why I chose it. If you have any questions please leave them in the comments or email me on jameelalnakkas@gmail.com

One of the first steps of getting a pet is to decide what are you going to feed it. A few years ago, we didn't have many choices in Kuwait as there were almost no pet shops that supply different types of pet food but now it seems like there is a new pet shop opening every month! That is a good thing, we are now able to choose what is best for our animals. After all it is our responsibility to make sure they live a comfortable life and that they are healthy. Why should you feed your pet good food? Why not just anything, any brand as long as it's "food"? 

It's simple:

1. A healthy animal is a happy animal, and a happy pet means a happy owner!
2. It's better to spend more money on better food and your pet's health rather than spending hundreds of KDs on vet bills.

When you first go shopping for pet food, the first thing you should think about is the pet's species (cat, dog, bird, etc.), second is the age (young, adult, or senior), third would be the size of the food bag or can, forth would be the cost, and lastly, how often is the brand in stock (cause sudden change of food is not good for your pet). These are the basic things that you should consider when deciding what to feed your pet. There are other things to take into consideration like what the breeder used to feed the pet's mom during and after pregnancy, what the animal was fed while it's growing (or what it was fed in the shelter), and of course health problems and specific needs of your pet as instructed but its vet.

Now, is that all you need to know about your pet food? Is that all it takes for your pet to live a long healthy life? Of course not. The food you choose makes a difference. You can choose whether to feed your pet a healthy diet, or junk food for pets.

I chose to feed Chance, Achilles and Tailor a brand called Wysong (you can get Wysong at Pawsh Boutique or RAH). They have changed the way I see pet feeding. Their concept will make you realize things that are so obvious but you just never thought of. The boys love the food. Their coats are great, no allergies, no vomiting, and the transition only took four days! Also, I pick up dog poop only once or twice a day. I seriously love preparing it, seeing the raw meat and the vegetables. I will be using Wysong as my reference in this topic and I would recommend that you read about them and their 100 Pet Health Truths.

My first Wysong order from Pawsh Boutique (Epigen, UnCanny Chicken & Yogurt, Rabbit AuJus)

Chance's dinner, Blue Buffalo Life Protection Formula mixed with Wysong UnCanny and sprinkled with Missing Link Ultimate Hip & Joint supplement

Tailor's beef stew in gravy (I think, not sure with all the different canned food he eats)

Chance giving me the puppy eyes, waiting for the command "you can eat"

Achilles waiting too

Stay tuned for more! I will be telling you about the first step in making sure you know all about your pets' food and that you are feeding your pet what it needs in the my next post!