July 2002
Smart Heart Care: CoQ10
Subscribers Only Who hasn’t heard of CoQ10? A powerful antioxidant, coenzyme Q10 is one of America’s most popular supplements. Literally every cell of the body contains CoQ10. In fact, its other name is ubiquinone, reflecting its widespread distribution in the body. CoQ10 is most concentrated in the mitochondria, the portion of cells that produce energy. The heart and liver contain more mitochondria per cell than other body parts and thus contain the most CoQ10.
Milk Thistle
Milk thistle is an amazing herb, used to treat diabetes and IBD – but its benefits to the liver are responsible for its inclusion in numerous medical research trials. Silymarin, which is itself a combination of several other active compounds, has been extensively studied around the world, and has been shown to be safe and effective in treating a variety of liver diseases and other conditions. It specifically protects the liver against toxins (including some drugs and heavy metals), activates protein synthesis, and stimulates growth of new liver cells to replace those that are dead or damaged. Milk thistle also has strong antioxidant (destroys oxygen free radicals) and anti-inflammatory actions.
Commercail Dog Food or Homemade?
Subscribers Only Everyone who cares about their dogs wants to feed them “good food.” By and large, our readers – and a growing number of non-subscribing dog owners – want to take that one step further. They have learned that improving a dog’s diet can result in improved health. So they want to feed their dogs the very best diet that money can buy. So far, so good. We love people who love their dogs and want to take care of them in the best way they can. Unfortunately, for some strange reason, when it comes to a discussion of the relative merits of top-quality store-bought food versus top-quality homemade diets, otherwise rational people have been known to lose their cool.
Using Acupressure to Relieve Stiffness
Subscribers Only Taking your dog with you on a long car trip this summer? Then she’ll benefit from these easy acupressure techniques, which help prevent joint stiffness and muscle soreness. The ancient healing art of acupressure offers our senior friends a lot of relief from the aches and pains of aging. It is very common for a dog to suffer the same difficulties we do as their years advance.
Using Baby Gates as Puppy Management Tools
Subscribers Only There are lots of other wonderful applications for baby gates in addition to basic puppy management. We have long used one to bar the dogs from our cats’ room (the cats jump over the gate); this keeps the canines from dining on kitty kibble, and prevents them from devouring that grossly delectable dog treat, litter box “kitty rocca.” Gates can also be used to keep a dog out of a baby’s nursery, or out of the bedroom of any family member who is allergic to dog hair. And if your clever Collie has learned that the sofa is off limits when you are there but fair game when you’re away, you can use a gate to block her access to the room with the forbidden furniture.
Managing a Multi-Dog Household - How to Keep the Peace!
Because dogs are pack animals, we have high expectations about their abilities to live peacefully in groups. If you are a human member of a multiple dog household, it is important to be realistic about what you can and cannot accomplish with your canine family members. Your own personality, behavior, commitment to managing and training your pack, as well as your choice of packmates, will all play important roles in your ability to create your own peaceable kingdom. Pack management is as much an art as a skill. If you have always had a multi-dog household, never had problems, and never thought twice about it, congratulations!
Defray Veterinary Expenses with The Right Pet Insurance Plan
American dogs and other pets now find themselves included in the complexities surrounding medical expense insurance coverage. Costs of veterinary care are rising, and increasingly sophisticated and expensive treatments, such as Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and chemotherapy, are more widely available. Pet health insurance and medical discount plans can help defray veterinary expenses. Whole Dog Journal explains which plan would be most beneficial for you and your dogs.
Raised by Dogs?
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