Our Purposeful Pet Project

24/08/2025

18/08/2025

Reschedule date!!! AUG 24, 2025, 11 to 4 pm.

04/08/2025

Bacteria is like glitter, it gets everywhere....
A child acquired Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (E. coli 0157: H7) from raw dog food, but not from contact with the food. The infection likely occurred though contact with the dog, or its stool.

Raw foods are much more likely to cause infections vs cooked foods. Households with children, elderly or immunocompromised individuals are at a higher risk of infection.

FDA cautions pet owners not to feed certain Darwin’s Natural Selections and BioLogics Pet Food after samples tested positive for E. coli O157:H7 & Salmonella.

27/07/2025

An owner's recently acquired shelter dog was gaining a lot of weight. The culprit ... "YOGURT" kisses! The owner thought they were healthful since they were "yogurt" and sold by a small "natural health food" pet shop.

The kisses were not yogurt; they were high sugar and fat CANDY COATING WAFERS marketed as the stores "exclusive" dog treats.

Buying human foods, relabeling as "human grade" dog treats and selling at a greatly inflated price is a "trick" of the trade. Have you seen them in any of the stores you shop at?

12/07/2025

Allergies are frustrating for all involved. Can hair and saliva testing pinpoint the cause? I purchased Glacier Peak Holistics' test, recommended by a local pet store, and sent fibers from the kit as "hair" and LRS, an IV solution as "saliva". They tested "positive" to numerous foods and pollens. 🧐 A formal study reported the test "performed no better than chance and the results were not reproducible". https://news.vin.com/default.aspx?pid=210&catId=-1&id=8935305

To identify food allergies, an elimination diet trial is the test of choice. For environmental allergens, blood and skin testing can help pinpoint cause.

Glacier Peak Holistics provided readouts on stuffed-toy fur

30/06/2025

A friend asked, " What can I give my puppy to chew?"
My answer in part, "The softest item she will chew"

Chewing has mental and dental benefits, yet like anything, it isn't risk free. Finding a chew that maximizes benefit while minimizing risk can be challenging. Thin enamel, combined with teeth shaped for shearing soft tissue, leads to fractures when hard items like bones, antlers horns, and hooves are given.

For information on choosing a chew read

Veterinarians ruminate on an oft-neglected driver of canine health

27/06/2025

Where'd It Go?... It's still there! Today we tested a microfiber glove. These are marketed as a way to remove ticks before they bite. Fred the tick just buried himself a bit deeper into the fur.

Multiple trials on human skin, clothing and fur ...the ticks stuck tight. While one time a tick transferred from human skin to the glove, overall, we didn't find this method of removal very effective.

17/05/2025

Today, we were out sharing information in Lombard about Fleas and Ticks. We even had a microscope to show what a flea looks like and ticks in our tick colony! It was a lot of fun sharing information with visitors! We even had our "tick" balloon to show how to remove those pesky critters from you and your loved ones!

17/05/2025

Out this morning cheering on the racers at the annual Mutt Strut in Lombard! This year we shared information about ticks. Visitors to the booth got to take home a tick remover! Stay safe out there!

15/05/2025

A small shop owner advised that the products we tested be combined for best outcome, so we paired the essential oil collar with the ultrasonic tag on the "top floor" our "tick hotel".

Ticks climb vegetation to find hosts and will climb to the highest point in their home. Our tick guests climbed to the top and hung out by the "repellents"

We didn't see repellency when these products were used individually, nor did we see repellency when used together.

08/05/2025

The essential oil sprays we tested repelled ticks well for ~10 to 30 minutes. We saw a small bit of repellency from an essential oil collar (4.3% Cedarwood oil, 4.3 % peppermint oil,1.2% Lemongrass and Rosemary) in the first few minutes after opening but zero repellency when tested just days later.

05/05/2025

Tick activity is in full force. Last year we tested essential oil sprays and an ultrasonic tag for repellency effects. This year we test an amber collar and an essential oil collar.

Sellers of amber collars claim they impart a static charge to the dog's fur that will shock ticks causing them to fall off, but research reports static charge help ticks attach to dogs (England 2024)

We saw zero repellency. All ticks readily climbed onto our test dog and remained on him until removed

Special thanks to Ben who served as our test subject!