Current News

Doggie massage classes

Come learn how to massage your dog at one of our 2-hour introductory dog massage classes:

• October 21, 2007 at Hounds on the Hill Doggie Daycare in Denver. For more details, click on Doggie Massage Class. A portion of the proceeds will benefit the Misha May Foundation, a non-profit dog rescue.

        OR

• October 28, 2007 at Hero's Pets in Littleton, For more details, click on Doggie Massage Class.

Learn how NOT to kill your dog or cat with food—CD audio series

Nationally renowned holistic veterinarian and pet food expert Dr. Jean Hofve and award-winning author Jan Rasmusen have recorded a rare opportunity to learn everything you need to know to protect your dog or cat. This expert animal team has recorded three one-hour long sessions answering your questions on How NOT to Kill Your Dog or Cat. To start protecting your pet now, order this 3-CD set here:

Oil of the month

Instant Energy for Adrenal Fatigue
by Russell Louie

Having worked 10-12 hours days, 7 days a week ever since the pet food recall in March, 2007, my body was starting to show signs of fatigue. My chiropractor's testing showed my adrenal glands were exhausted. She prescribed a number of homeopathic remedies. When I got home I took out my Essential Oils Desk Reference (EODR) and came upon the EndoFlex essential oil blend which is reported to amplify metabolism, increase vitality and create hormonal balance (e.g., boost up the adrenal glands). But looking at the ingredients in this blend, I noticed it contained Spearmint oil. All mint is contraindicated in any homeopathic treatment, so I had to find an alternative. The single oils that are known to nutritionally support the adrenal glands are clove, nutmeg, rosemary, sage and basil. I found a good second choice to EndoFlex is En-R-Gee^TM which does not contain any mint oils. I have been rubbing En-R-Gee^TM  on my feet every morning and trying to get a good night's sleep ever since to help my adrenal glands recovery their vitality.

En-R-Gee^TM, 15 ml, #3336 ($19.00/$22.00/$25.00)

Oils used in this blend have been traditionally used for Increasing vitality, circulation and alertness in the body.

Ingredients:
Clove (Syzygium aromaticum): a powerful general stimulant.

Juniper (Juniperus osteosperma and/or J. scopulorum): detoxifies and cleanses and improves nerve and kidney function. It elevates spiritual awareness.

Fir (Abies alba): stimulating and empowering.

Black Pepper (Piper nigrum): stimulates the endocrine system and increases energy.

Nutmeg (Myristica fragrans): supports the adrenal glands for increased energy. It is powerfully stimulating and energizing.

Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis CT cineol): helps overcome mental fatigue, stimulating memory and opens the conscious mind. University of Miami scientists found that inhaling rosemary boosted alertness, eased anxiety, and amplified analytic and mental ability.

Lemongrass (Cymbopogon flexuosus): increases blood circulation and vasodilation.

Myrtle (Myrtus communis): is antibacterial and may support immune function in fighting colds, flus, and other infectious disease.

Application:
Dilute 1 part EO to 2 parts vegetable oil. Possible sun/skin sensitivity. Diffuse, directly inhale, or add 2-4 drops to bath water. Apply 1 to 2 drops to wrists, temples, back of neck, behind ears, or foot Vita Flex points. Use with Raindrop Technique. Put 2 drops on a wet cloth and put in clothes dryer. Put 4-8 drops on cotton ball and locate on vents. Enhance effects by rubbing En-R-Gee on feet and Awaken^TM on temples.

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

Adopting a New Pet? Patience is the Key

In case you were wondering why we are no longer pleading for a home for Cajun (the Hurricane Katrina cat) in our monthly newsletters, it's because we adopted him ourselves. After more than a year of fruitlessly trying to find him a home (listing in our newsletter, posting on our website, handing out flyers at shows, posting him on Craig's list, etc.), we decided to adopt him ourselves, along with his companion cat, Asher. We had not considered adopting him previously because it would have been too stressful for our elderly cat, Connie, to adapt to new cats in the household. However, Connie finally succumbed to kidney failure at the end of July this year, at the ripe old age of 23. Russell was looking forward to a cat-free hiatus so he could focus on running Optimum Choices, after serving as a cat nursing home for 3 elderly cats over the past 10 years.  But fate had other plans for us. When Margaret inquired about the status of Cajun and Asher, she learned that their foster parents would soon be traveling extensively, leaving them home alone (while their dog went to a friend's house). So, the cats would be very lonely and the foster parents hoped they could find another home where the owners would be available for the cats.

Cajun had first come to Denver in September 2005, rescued from a Louisiana shelter after Hurricane Katrina along with numerous other cats and dogs by the Misha May Foundation. Margaret worked extensively with the Misha May Katrina cats that fall, helping find them medical care and homes. With Cajun being only 6 months old, he quickly found a home with a vet tech at one of the hospitals that treated the Katrina cats. However, the tech's living situation changed the following July and she had to surrender him along with her existing 5 year-old cat Asher, a gray tabby. Having worked with the Katrina cats, Margaret was very dismayed when Cajun lost his home and hoped to find him a new one soon. But finding adult cats homes that are not on display in a shelter, where lots of people can visit with them, can be quite difficult. When there was no interest by January of this year, Margaret posted Cajun on Craig's list but the only response was someone wanting to know "what was wrong" with Cajun that he had not found a home yet. Well, there was nothing wrong with Cajun except that he was no longer a cute little kitten, which is what most people prefer to adopt (as Margaret can attest to from her work at Cat Care Society as a volunteer adoption assistant). So, it only made sense to consider adopting Cajun & Asher after Connie passed on, since they had been in foster homes for more than a year at that point.

At our preliminary visit to the foster home, we took our dog, Mikki, to gauge the chemistry between the species. As Mikki usually does, she treated the cats like furniture and ignored them. Mikki was more interested in asserting herself by growling at their dog. So, with compatibility reasonably assured we agreed to become the permanent guardians of two more cats. After we arrived home with the cats, Mikki's whole attitude changed. The cats, with typical curiosity, were investigating and sniffing everything in our house. When they got to Mikki's camper tent or one of the many pet beds in our home, Mikki became aggressive and chased the cats off. Another unexpected phenomena was that the older cat, Asher, whom we renamed Iris, was so stressed out by the move her nerves were constantly on edge. She started hissing every time her housemate, Cajun, came too close. (In her previous homes, she had been close to Cajun, as you can see from the picture above of her snuggled up next to him.) Because Mikki had lived with cats and basically ignored them, we didn't feel the normal routine of initial separation as a way of introducing new pets into a household was necessary. So, now we had an aggressive dog and hissy cat on our hands.

Since Connie had passed over the Rainbow Bridge just a few weeks previously, we found we missed her even more when we got new cats, as they were strangers to us. We had lived with Connie for 17 years. Bonding to a little kitten or puppy is relatively easy for people, since they are so cute looking and their infantile appearance triggers us biologically to nurture them. With adult animals, it can be a different story, taking time to connect with them. Margaret remembers that when we got Mikki (our dog), it took about a week before Margaret was attached enough to Mikki not to second-guess her decision to get her (since Connie was reacting poorly to having a dog in the house and Mikki was being extremely clingy). Now she can't imagine loving any dog more than she loves Mikki but at the beginning, it took some time to bond with her and Margaret sympathized with a friend who had gotten a cat years before from Cat Care Society and then didn't want the cat the first week or so. Now, we were going through conflicting emotions again, having disrupted our peaceful household with a pair of cats that were reported to be attached to each other but were not getting along. The cats had been in their last foster home so long (since before Christmas) that they were upset to be moved to a strange house with strange people, unlike a shelter animal that would be grateful to be in any house. Also, instead of a calm, elderly black lab (in their foster home), they had to contend with a little Chihuahua mix that was trying to drive them away.

So, it was not the perfect situation for the cats but they needed a permanent home and with Russell working from home, they would have lots of human companionship. We quickly realized that we would have to be patient and modify our expectations (Margaret's dream had been to get a pair of cats that had always lived together and got along perfectly, ideally black cats, her favorite). With Mikki attacking them, we had to shut her away from the cats (thank goodness for baby gates) or keep her on leash in the house when they were nearby. After a couple of weeks of doing that, Mikki improved enough that we could let her loose with the cats and she has continued improving with time. Now, she only attacks them on occasion when she is competing with them for food (in the kitchen). If she gets too aggressive, she gets a "time out" in her camper and that calms her down. Otherwise, she mostly ignores the cats as she does with most cats.

Cajun has been a delightful cat from the beginning. Margaret calls him the "Golden Retriever" of cats because he has the friendly, calm, happy demeanor of a Golden Retriever and loves all people. He is even orange like a Golden Retriever (orange striped tabby with white). He is also extremely playful and wakes us up in the morning wanting to play. Iris is still hissing at Cajun whenever he gets too close or tries to play, despite various flower remedies that we have tried. It saddens us that she won't play with Cajun, who desperately wants a playmate. But otherwise she is becoming at home, and especially enjoys eating grass we grow for her as well as sitting in the windows watching the outside world. We don't let the cats outside loose, as it would not be safe for them, particularly Cajun, who was declawed by the previous vet tech owner. Iris had been an indoor/outdoor cat and loves going out so much that she doesn't object to being put on a harness and leash to go outside (often cats will object to wearing harnesses). We are finding we have to be very patient with her, as she slowly warms up to us and gets used to her new home. We can see now why some adopted animals get returned, due to the owners being disappointed when the animals don't immediately fit into their household.

Feeding the cats has also been a challenge. In their foster home, the cats were left to free-feed on dry kibble, as well as given supplementary canned food. Most foster cats are cared for that way. We have learned that dry kibble is bad for cats, as is free-feeding them, so we immediately changed to meal feeding them canned food. Both cats were overweight from the constant kibble and Iris' coat was dry and "yukky" feeling. It seemed that Iris was particularly addicted to kibble because it was difficult to get her to eat any canned food. She would only eat canned tuna cat food at first, which is not particularly good for cats. Pet nutrition expert Dr. Jean Hofve states that fish is bad for cats. However, she also states that cats can and will starve themselves to death rather than eat something they don't want. So, we had to give Iris what she would eat, which was premium cat food tuna (note: don't give your cat human canned tuna, which has no added vitamins to balance it). We bought all the flavors of premium canned cat foods in local stores and posted a chart on our refrigerator where we could record who would eat what (including Molly, the outdoor neighborhood cat we feed, who is finicky due to getting "junk food" cat food from the neighbors). While Cajun would eat many varieties, Iris would only eat fish flavors. We also immediately started adding BioPreparation algae to their diet and were gratified to notice Cajun's coat get soft and silky after just one week on it (BioPreparation has all the important essential fatty acids, i.e., Omega 3, 6 and 9, as well as the rare gamma linoleic acid oil.) It took Iris' coat longer to improve; her coat was very dry and coarse feeling initially.

After about a month they had both slimmed down and adjusted to meal feeding, though we sometimes give them more than 2 meals if they don't eat much at a meal. We began trying some pre-made frozen raw cat food and to our surprise, Iris would eat the frozen chicken patties (Nature's Menu chicken patties for dogs and cats). Cajun would also eat the chicken, as well as the turkey flavor. Later we tried raw rabbit which they would eat if mixed with some yummy canned food. Cajun also ate raw goat but apparently had too much as he threw it up later. Switching the diet of our pets can be tricky as their digestive systems have to adjust to the change. Having taken a year to switch our elderly cat Connie to raw food 5 years ago, we were very pleased to get our new cats to eat some raw food after just a month. It seems that the younger the cats are, the easier they are to switch (and it's easier on their bodies as well). But even with young cats, patience is required. It's not like a dog where you can just put down a bowl of anything and they'll scarf it up. Sometimes the cats will eat 100% raw and other times we have to add canned food to it for them to eat it. Their whims change from meal to meal.

So, we have learned that we have to be patient with our new charges as they adjust to a new environment and new food. If you adopt a new pet expecting them to immediately fit into your household, you are setting yourself up for disappointment. Perhaps that is why some adopted animals get returned--they don't fit in quickly enough to their new home. But each time they get returned, they may take longer to adjust to the next new environment. It's traumatic for a pet to be re-homed. So, if you adopt a new pet, we encourage you to be patient and give them time to adjust and yourself time to bond with them. We have used the advice we learned from Lorraine May, of the Misha May Foundation, who offers holistic, positive dog training classes, as well as Dr. Jean Hofve, who offers cat behavioral counseling in addition to nutritional advice.

Contact us

Click here to give your pet the fountain of youth today!

E-mail

General Information: Russell@OptimumChoices.com
Webmaster: Webmaster@OptimumChoices.com
Newsletter Editor, Margaret Auld-Louie: Editor@OptimumChoices.com

Telephone

303-271-1649
866-305-2306 (toll-free)
Normal office hours are 11:00 AM – 7:00 PM Mountain Time (U.S.). If you would like a return call outside those hours, please specify what days and times are best.

Location (call first for appointment)

416 Plateau Pky
Golden, CO 80403-1533
U.S.A.

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