Dog food – is it all the same?

No, and No is the short answer!  Dog food varies enormously in both the quality of ingredients and the care with which it is formulated and made.

The ingredients can contain just meat which you and I would be happy to eat, or stuff which has been rejected as unfit for human consumption, or a combination of the two.  Gristle, fat and skin and even feathers can be processed and incorporated and they count towards the percentage of protein you see stated on the packaging, even though they may not be of any nutritional value. Cereals are also used in dog food – wheat, maize, rice, potato, carrot etc. These do add valuable nutrients, but they are much cheaper than meat and are often used to bulk up the product. It’s much the same as the variability in sausages for people – you can buy expensive premium brands with a high meat content which taste excellent, or you can get cheap stuff which frankly doesn’t taste much better than cardboard!

Some manufacturers spend a great deal of money on research to find  out the nutritional needs of dogs and cats, and go to great lengths to ensure their products provide everything the pet needs. Others are far less conscientious. Usually, the ingredients of dog food vary from batch to batch, depending on what is cheapest on the market at the time. For example, if a food is labelled     ‘chicken’, as long as the majority of the meat in it is chicken, the balance could be made up of   any other meat or fish. Only in the best ‘prescription’ diets made to treat particular diseases does this not happen.

The amount of money you pay for your dog food largely reflects its quality, both in terms of the ingredients (and therefore the digestibility) and the care with which it is formulated and manufactured. Many dogs will manage on poor quality cheap food, as do people, but  most will enjoy better health if they have better food. A few dogs cannot tolerate poor quality ingredients, and must   have expensive food to thrive.

Gavin Hill-John is General Manager of Heath Veterinary Group, Cardiff.

How to choose pet insurance

Johnny Muttley has teamed up with a leading vet to bring you articles that we hope will be of use. Today the difficult question of how to choose pet insurance.

Once you have decided you need insurance, you then have to choose which type you need. This can be difficult due to the number of policies available and the differences in the level of cover that is provided. You also have to think about what each policy will pay for but more importantly what each policy will not pay for. As with all insurances there is no magic policy that covers everything.

In essence there are three types of Insurance policy and they are detailed below, further details can be found in our types of insurance blog.

Lifetime/Covered-for-life policies
Cover is provided up to a set amount for veterinary fees each year and is renewed at the start of each policy year. As long as you continue to pay the premiums and renew the policy without a break in cover, there is no time limit for claims for each illness or injury. This cover is ideally suited to problems which are long term and require ongoing treatment.

Maximum-benefit policies
Cover with these policies is provided up to a specified amount per condition but there is no time limit for how long you can claim. After the maximum cover amount is reached (levels vary with the insurer and policy chosen) you cannot claim for any ongoing treatment that may be required.

Time-limited policies (also known as annual insurance policies)
Cover with these policies is provided up to a maximum amount per condition and cover is not available after 12 months for the condition claimed – so long-term illnesses such as diabetes or arthritis would not be covered after 12 months from the start of the claim.

As well as the expected cover, many pet health insurance policies provide additional cover as well such as:

• Complementary therapy (physiotherapy, homeopathy, acupuncture, etc)
• Refund of purchase price should the pet die before a certain age advertising a reward if the pet is lost or stolen

• Third-party insurance in case you are sued because your pet has caused an accident [however, you should note that household insurance policies generally indemnify for third-party injury]
• Boarding kennel costs if you are hospitalised
• Holiday cancellation insurance, in case your pet is ill/injured and you have to look after him/her cover for travel in Europe

Consider whether these additional benefits are of use to you. For example, do you need cover while travelling abroad? Do you want compensation if your pet dies (and then, only up to the amount you paid)? Many of the ancillary insurances are of no benefit for many people, and may increase the cost of the cover.

Don’t be unduly influenced by all the “bells and whistles” that are included but which you don’t actually require. For example, several policies include third-party liability insurance; however, most household insurance policies include this as a matter of course, and if they don’t, it can often be added on for little or no cost.

In summary, when choosing pet insurance you should consider the following questions:

• Lifetime, maximum-benefit or time-limited policy?
• Is the financial limit adequate?
• Does the policy cover congenital or inherited disease?
• What dental care is covered?
• How much is the excess?
• Which additional benefits are really useful for you?

When comparing different policies, make sure you compare like-with-like – read the small print! Remember, these are all commercial companies aiming to make profits for their shareholders. If one company offers lower premiums than another, there is probably a reason.

Gavin Hill-John is General Manager of Heath Veterinary Group, Cardiff.

What was wrong with Sparky?

Nothing at all.  In the olden days, dogs had proper dog names.  They were Rex and Sooty and Snowy.  They came when called to Brambles, Fido and Rover and Fluffy and Scamp.  However, a recent poll of thirty six thousand pets has found that these days, dogs are taking over human names with gumption.  Now you’ll get Max, Millie, Jeff (!), Dave, Charlie, Molly and Alfie, with the most popular girls name being Poppy.

They’ve also identified a criminal mix of popular products, sports stars and pop stars.  Gaze in horror at the poor little mutts saddled with, Bacon, Kebab, Pepsi, Caramac, Torres, Rooney, Giggs, Shakira and Clint Eastwood.

With this in mind, here’s the Johnny Muttley guide to things not to call your new dog.

He may be foxy red and passionate, but call him “Fire” and any recall attempts will land you in hot water with the rescue services.

Yeah, she’s small, but “Half Pint”?  Get a grip and ring AA.  “Virtue”, a beautiful pure name, but oh so embarrassing when she goes astray.  What, you’ve lost your virtue?

And under no circumstances call any one “Achilles”.  Asking it to do heel work, well, it’ll end badly.

I genuinely had a neighbour once who called her cat “Weary Willy”.  It mystified me for years until I found out he was actually named after a world famous tramp clown, the invention of a certain Mr Emmett Kelly Sr.  So she is excused because it’s a good story, but the others?  Ahem.

So, can you yell the name from the backdoor or across the park without having the world declare you mad?  If so, go for it.  Right, enough of the talk already, it’s walkies time.  “Aileen, where are you? Come on Aileen!” D’oh.

Demise of the world’s ugliest dog Yoda

Sad to report that last year’s winner of the title “The World’s ugliest Dog” has recently died.  Yoda was fifteen years old.  The Californian canine hit the headlines when he came up top trumps in the Sonoma-Marin County Fair contest.  He beat off stiff opposition from a one-eyed pug and various strangely tufted tongue-protruding, buck-toothed canines that each had a strong shot at the title.  He was a sensation and won rather a lot of hearts!

Yoda’s owner had found him shivering and alone behind an apartment building.  At first sight she ran away screaming because she thought he was a large rat (There’s a PROPER girly reaction, right there!).  Thankfully she returned courage in hand and discovered the truth of the matter.  She scooped the little fella up, took him home and nursed him back to health.  She loved him for him.

So at the winner’s ceremony, after his mum was awarded her $1000 cheque, he had a little wander towards the photographers at the edge of the stage and promptly fell off.  He was rescued by a quick thinking snapper who grabbed his leg, no thicker than a twiglet.  I kid you not. You can find it on the Tube of You.  Thankfully he was uninjured and lived to fight another ugly/beautiful day.

So let’s spare a few thoughts for the all the three-legged, one-eyed, gap-toothed dogs who have won our hearts.  Three cheers for the wonky ones, and raise your bowl to the very fine memory of Yoda.  As the real Yoda once said “When eight hundred years old you are, look as good you will not”

“They stood on the bridge at midnight; their lips were all aquiver, He gave a cough; his leg fell off, and floated down the river”

Courtesy of the legendary Eric Morecambe, and a perfect introduction to this ‘armless foray into a world where bits of the body sometimes, quite unexpectedly, fall off.  And these stories are all true.  Kicking off with the poor woman (!) who broke a finger nail and presented herself to NHS Kent for treatment this very week. She was politely sent home.  One can only applaud the nursing staff for not using strong language and the end of their boots on her.

On July 14^th 2008, somewhere in America, a Mr Scott Listemann, having lost his leg in a bizarre but unspecified accident, took up skydiving.  Unfortunately, in the middle of the jump his false leg flew off and got lost.  He stuck up ‘Have you seen this leg?’ notices to no avail, but happily; the insurance company footed (!) the bill.

I shall not dwell too much on the terrible case of a wife wreaking revenge on her cheating husband.  Having attacked John Bobbit with a knife, Lorena drove away, throwing the evidence out of the car window.  It was sewn back on, and in a kind of celebration of his new found and weird celebrity, he became a porn star.

Closer to home, South Wales in fact, there was a lady whose ear fell in the tomato soup at a posh “do”.  Now it was a false ear, and it was early on in the days in the days of “fixing ears on properly surgery”.  But eventually she got fitted with a press stud system, which fixed the errant appendage there and then.

Did you hear the one about David Beckham?  He was shocked when shaking hands with a marine whose false arm promptly fell off.  “Ha ha!” laughed the Afghanistan veteran, “The old ‘arm falling off trick’, gets ‘em every time.

Back to America where a bloke was demonstrating how loud his car stereo could go.  As you do.  He pumped up the volume to a staggering 20,000 watts, at which point the lady who was also enjoying the art of noise and leaning in through the car window said “I can feel it shaking!”  Oh lawsh.  She didn’t mean the car.  Her glass eye flew out of its socket and landed inside the car.  I wonder if it was “I only have eyes for you” he was playing at the time?

But here is my all time favourite when it comes to unreliable body parts.  Tycho Brahe was a Danish astronomer, a nobleman and an awfully clever chap who was known for his accurate and comprehensive observations of all things astronomical and planetary.  However, he is also pretty famous for his false nose.  In 1566 he lost his conk during a duel, a cruel slicing.  He got a replacement made of gold and silver which was held in place by a gluey, fish-based paste.  It would often slide off in very hot weather.

With these tales in mind, let us all resolve to take better care of our extremities, otherwise it may be a case of..

“’Too late! Too late!’” The sailor cried, he waved his wooden leg and died.”

“I do honour the very flea of his dog” Ben Jonson. “Yeah, Right.” Johnny Muttley.

We must rid ourselves of this evil blood sucking, plague spreading, ghastly jumping, and animal assaulting gross little parasite.  But before we do, let us stay our hands from the bug spray for just a minute, surely this blood -sucky little blighter has something good to be said of it?  Let’s see.  Let’s plunge our fanged gobs into the skin of the teeny beast they call Siphonaptera.

These battle plated pests haven’t always been vilified and had tins thrown at them, far from it.  They’ve been around since the Tyrannosaurus Rex, though I don’t think old T-Rex was much bothered by them.  (Itching yet?).  The Aztecs had flea statues. There was a Mexican tradition of dressing fleas up as little people, often a married couple; they may have been given as gifts.  (I’ll have the tea-set if it’s all right by you).

The first records of them doing a decent days work and not annoying anybody do not exist.  However, they were used as far back as 1578 by watchmakers who first harnessed fleas to demonstrate their skills in fine manipulation (The watchmaker, not the flea).  Frankly, those watchmakers were a bit smug sounding.  Mark Scaliot in particular who was the first and hopefully last bloke to construct the tiniest ever padlock and chain to confine a flea.  This can only be explained by the fact they didn’t have TV back then.  The winter nights must have simply flown by.

So, the watchmakers set the precedent, and whoosh, here comes the entertainment industry who decide that fleas are the next big thing (you know what I mean) and design them circus’s to perform in, dances to dance and carriages to pull.  You will be as open mouthed as myself when I reveal to you that none of these fleas were actually trained.  I know, it’s a shocker.  Like finding out Sigue Sigue Sputnik never sang a word, all mimes.  Where were the animal liberationists when fleas were having their feet glued to bits of wood and their little legs tied to drum kits?  (Never mind Ann the last performing circus elephant getting rescued and sent to Longleat).  “Free Fanny the Flea!”  I can see the banners now.  (Are the hairs on your arms crawling?).

The proprietors of animal circuses were plagued with problems unique to their art.  Peter Collin’s slide projector fell and broke sizzling all his performers, whilst in September 2003 (Yes, that recently) Russian Flea Circus trainer Vladimir Ponekin was attacked by his own fleas!  They fought back.  They had had enough.  (If you say you have not scratched any part of your body by this point, I say you are a fibber).  One trainer accidentally tipped his jar of fleas over in the workroom.  His wife said he should wear a flea collar to bed.  How very calm of her.  I would have moved out. (Quick, check your leg, I think I saw something hopping there).

So maybe we should pity this tiny insect, ridiculed, jailed and made to perform night after night to a wide-eyed audience?  I mean, they’ve even been used in warfare.  The Japanese dropped them from planes hoping to spread bubonic plague. To be fair, that’s just not nice for anyone.

I can’t say if this is actually true or not, but it’s a good story.  Apparently, men from the Lundayo Murats tribe of Borneo can be fined one pig if caught picking fleas from the hair of a married woman.  I like to think this is true.  (Is your scalp crawling?)

Mr Flea has his own board game, Tiddlywinks which translates as ‘game of the flea’ in at least ten other European languages.  Mr Flea has his own musical instrument, the Ukulele which translates from the Hawaiian as “dancing or jumping flea”.

So, the flea, is he villain or victim? Is he a magnificent survivor worthy of a few more statues?  Or first against the wall when the revolution comes?

SOS! Save our Sealyhams!

Adored by Royalty and film stars alike, this little dog with a big heart was a massive hit with both celebrities and countrymen.  Princess Margaret had Pipin and Johnny.  King Charles the 5^th had one, he was Jack.  Even the great film director Alfred Hitchcock fell for them.  At the beginning of “The Bird’s, you can spot him and his Sealyhams’ Geoffrey and Stanley coming out of a shop as Tippi Hedren goes in.  Indeed, at one time you could find barrow loads of them..

Vintage Postcard of Sealyham Puppies

But within a few short decades the number of puppies registered with the Kennel Club plummeted from a healthy 1000 a year, to just 49 in 2010.  The adorable Sealyham Terrier is now in the top three of the Clubs most endangered breeds.  Despite Efbe’s Hidalgo at Goodspice raising their profile in 2009 by winning Cruft’s Best of Breed, numbers have continued to fall.  Now, the situation is critical.

SOS Poster Plea

The breed was created by Captain John Edwards in 1848 in the West Wales town of Sealy Ham, primarily for hunting.  Tenacious, fast and strong willed, the Sealyham was king of the countryside, controlling vermin and hunting badgers.  This is probably one of the biggest reasons for their decline.  With the outlawing of badger killing, they were no longer needed as much.  Fashions change, culture changes, and the little Sealyhams slipped into almost total obscurity.  However, moves are afoot to bring them back.  Look who we met at Crufts!

Doris the Sealyham Pup with Mr Muttley!

Here’s a Muttley with the totally adorable puppy Doris.  Though she looks a little cynical, she has cause to be really excited about the future of the breed.  The Working Sealyham Terrier Club of Great Britain is battling hard to get the breed back on track.  They are promoting them as a wonderful companion and working dog.  Couldn’t you just scoop them all up?

Sealyhams at Crufts

They’re fun and feisty, vermin controlling, fun loving and loyal, and in later years become rather relaxed in attitude (some have referred to them as couch potatoes!)  What a bundle of joy and hard work.  All power to the dedicated breeders and supporters determined to save the Sealyham.  And Doris, you can come live with the Muttleys any time you like.

More information can be found at www.mysealyhams.com

or email mail@mysealyhams.com

And of course, do come and visit our own special site we don’t bite!

http://www.JohnnyMuttley.com

 

When We Went Down to the Woods One Day..

Westonbirt Arboretum, Britain’s National collection of amazing trees and shrubs, and as of a few weekends ago, the muddiest place on the ENTIRE planet.  Move over  Glastonbury and your  trancy dancers covered head band to toe-rings in mud,  you are now second in the race to become the squishiest, squashiest mud fest in the land.  What’s more, this was upmarket, Cotswold  mud with a distinctive yellowy hue.

So it would have been persons daft in their heads who bowled up with their ivory tablecloths to set up shop amidst three thousand dog lovers at the Dog Days event.  That’ll be us then, plus terrier.  To be fair, it was still only February, and a lot of volunteers tried really hard to make the weekend a success, so we embraced the situation.  Here’s a bit of us with the faithful hound..

 

The Dog is Not on Special Offer

We met some gorgeous people, and dogs from the teeniest to the most enormous Newfoundlands, with paws bigger than whole poodles.  We met retired greyhounds and the lucky dogs taken in by the Oldies Club.  There are some utterly, amazing and selfless people in this world who warm the cockles of your heart with their devotion to needy animals.

 

All Good Dogs Deserve These!

Meanwhile, Gizmo, our fearless cairn, earned his keep by..er, wait.  Launching himself at that Boxer under the table wasn’t helpful.  Neither was tipping the water bottle over that ladies foot.  Come to think of it, he mainly earned his keep by looking gorgeous and sitting on our laps when we were cold.  This is him at the end of play, rather hoping to be the last thing we packed in the car.. how could we leave that cutie behind?

 

Leave Room in the Boot for Me!

All in all, great people, who were very complimentary about our wares, and great dogs, who left huge, yellow muddy footprints all over the cloths, ( gah, who cares? that’s what washing machines are for).  We declared them “pawtographs” that we were really proud of by the end of an amazing weekend.

There are Romanian Folk Dancers on my Fridge.

So it was ten past boring four on a gloomy Sunday when I discovered my old stamp album in the loft and memories of gorgeous innocence flooded back. I was sitting next to Dad at the dining room table, he with tweezers, careful not to make a mark, gently guiding each miniature work of art into his album;   me thumbing through the Stanley Gibbons catalogues, gazing with wonder at not only the beautiful images, but also the amazing places!  There were folk dancers from Polska, astronauts and space shuttles from Bulgaria and even frogs and toads and newts from Tasmania.

Dad never tired of being asked if he did indeed have a penny black “Cos that’s worth LOADS” and he never tired of being pestered to help with sticking and sorting.  So I see a lot more than just stamps as I gaze at these little perforated gems. Which is why I have decided to liberate some of them and let them see the light of day once more.

 

One special gadget and a bucket load of gusto later, a beautiful shining pile of fridge magnets appeared, and the fridge never looked so darned good.  I have the cultural life of Romania; fabulous inventions from wheels to light bulbs, bridges from America, native flora of South Africa and a host of beetles, butterflies and of course, dogs.

One can get carried away of course.  Retro fabric and vintage Russian cigarette cards have not escaped the glorious process.

So here’s to the olden golden fabulous days of stamp collecting with Dad, and a big bright hello to these little miracles of art, seeing the light of day again after more than forty years.

The wonderful www.johnnymuttley.com has some smashing examples of the fridge magnet/postage stamp frenzy.  We might even let you buy some for your own fridge.  But only might.

A Time to Remember

There is an ‘Animals in War’ Memorial at Brook Gate, Park Lane in London.  The stories which leap out from the walls of the monument there are truly bright inspirations and here are just a fraction.  The Victoria Cross of the animal world is called the PDSA Dickin medal, and amongst those who have received it are pigeons, horses, dogs and cats.  There’s nothing frivolous about the awards.  Each animal played an important role during the world wars.

G.I Joe was a pigeon who was awarded his medal in August 1946.  His citation reads thus:

“This bird is credited with making the most outstanding flight by a USA army pigeon in World War 2.  Making the twenty mile flight from British 10^th army HQ in the same number of minutes, it brought a message just in time to save the lives of at least a hundred allied soldiers from being bombed by their own planes.”  Remarkably, 31 other pigeons have also been awarded the medal.

Rob was a collie, war dog number 471/332 Special Air Service.  He was awarded his medal on January 22^nd 1945 and this is how he is remembered.

“Took part in landings during North African Campaign with an infantry unit and later served with a Special Air Unit in Italy as patrol and guard on small detachments lying up in enemy territory.  His presence with these parties saved many of them from discovery and subsequent capture or destruction.  Rob made over 20 parachute descents.”  Seventeen other dogs have received this award too.

And here’s to Upstart the police horse (only two other horses have had the award).  This is what his citation says.

“While on patrol duty in Bethnal Green, a flying bomb exploded within 75 yards, showering both horse and rider with broken glass and debris.  Upstart was completely unperturbed and remained quietly on duty with his rider controlling traffic etc, until the incident had been dealt with.”

There’s nothing new about animals being part of the theatre of war of course.  Pigs have been used to study the effects of gunshots on humans, thereby giving doctors valuable information on how to treat soldier’s wounds.  Pliny the Elder wrote about the use of war pigs against elephants.  He wrote that elephants became scared by the squeal of a pig and would panic, bringing disaster to any soldiers in their path.   Horses, oxen and camels have been used for transport and hauling supplies.  Just this week, the BBC news website reports on how African rats are being trained to detect landmines in Mozambique.

Animals have even been used as living bombs, including the bat, in a U.S project that used Mexican Free-Tailed Bats to carry small incendiary bombs.  The U.S navy uses dolphins and sea-lions for underwater mine clearance and even sentry duty.

Turkeys have had their uses too.  During the Spanish Civil War, nationalist pilots attached supplies to live turkeys which descended, wings flapping furiously, acting as parachutes, to be eaten later by the defenders of the monastery of Santa Maria de la Cabeza.

On a brighter note, animals hold an esteemed position in military history as mascots and morale boosters.  The Royal Regiment of Wales has had a goat as it’s mascot since 1775 (no, not the same one!).  He has the full honours of a corporal and is attended by his own Goat Major.   All the goats have been called William Windsor, yes, Billy for short.  Amazingly his perks include two cigarettes a day (which he eats, traditionally it’s thought to be good for their coats) and when he is older, he’s also allowed a nip of Guinness (to keep his iron up!)  Not a bad life!

To all those who have served, are serving, and will serve, two legs, four legs, flippers or wings, you are not forgotten.

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