Finally Friday and Turn it Back!

Ozzie is looking forward to a relaxing weekend, (what weekend is not relaxing?). The weather this time around should be wonderful! No snowstorms in our forecast! The Northeast is still recovering from last Saturday's storm which brought down thousands of branches and trees along with that many electrical wires! Some folks still patiently wait for their power to be restored while power companies work around the clock to get things back to normal. Most people have furnaces that require electric to operate them so that means no heat for them as well! We were lucky and only experienced a momentary dimming of our power.

I want to mention a story that has been in the news this week about contaminated pet food that may be making pet owners sick. Not that they decided to eat kibble alongside Fido but the handling of the food and then touching ones mouth could transmit salmonella. The FDA announced they would be testing dog and cat food, along with feed for rodents, reptiles, fish and birds. Testing samples will be collected from major retail and wholesale pet food companies, including, but not limited to, PetCo, PetSmart, Walmart and Target.

Now what can you do in the meantime to keep your family safe? First of all the salmonella does not affect your pet so don't worry on that count it's only cross contamination that occurs in handling the pet food that affects humans. Here are some tips to help ensure you avoid this scenario all together.

Tips when purchasing food

Buy packaged pig ears, avoid bulk bins

Do not buy food with damaged packaging

Store pet foods in cool dry place under 80 degrees

Save original packing material for label and date codes

Avoid raw food diets

How to avoid illness

Prepare pet food away from human prep or bathroom areas

Wash hands after feeding pets

Discourage at risk individuals from preparing pet food (small children, elderly, immunocompromised)

Disinfect pet bowls regularly

Ozzie wants to rent a movie this weekend and he is thinking of Turner and Hooch which is a pretty good choice. I haven't seen it in a long time and Ozzie will probably like it, though I have a feeling he has seen it before. Whatever movie you watch over the weekend, enjoy and don't forget to turn back your clocks one hour Saturday night before you go to bed!