Size matters especially with your dog’s health.  Dr. Gary Pusillo Mary Poppins sang “A teaspoon of sugar helps the medicine go down;” she did not say a huge lump of sugar helps the medicine goes down. About 5 grams of “normal” particle size (granulation) white sugar can fit in a teaspoon. If you are making a cake that calls for two teaspoons or 10 grams of sugar, putting in a single 10 gram piece of sugar into the recipe will not work. Particle size of the granulated sugar allows it to be blended throughout the cake...

White is hot! Dr. Gary Pusillo According to PPG, a leading international coatings company, white is hot for the 2011 car colors. Twenty-one percent of 2011 model year cars around the world are white. Black and silver were tied for second place with 20 percent, with gray coming in next at 13 percent. Silver ranked #1 last year. What has this to do with pet nutrition? White is also very “hot” in the world of commercial pet foods. The amount of “white fish,” “white tuna”  foods and treats is increasing in availability...

Your pet food is probably not addressing the phosphorous shortage and excessive  runoff of phosphorus into our environment. Up to 5 tons of phosphorus are flushed down toilets each day at the Metropolitan Wastewater Treatment Facility in the Twin Cities in Minnesota. (Imagine the numbers for larger urban centers, such as Los Angeles, New York or Washington, D.C.)  In addition to human and livestock waste, our pets excrete huge amounts into the ecosystem, and no one is doing anything to reverse the trends except for a small...

Organic vegetables and sprouts is not without risks; the e-coli problems in Europe should be a concern in pet diets also. Dr. Gary Pusillo Poop is to an organic farm as liquid nitrogen fertilizer is to an Iowa corn farm. With the e-coli outbreak in Europe, we should be careful in believing that the term organic guarantees safe, risk free foods. All sorts of human and animal waste are used in organic farming operations throughout the world. Human waste; sometimes called night soil;”has been used to raise vegetables in Europe...

We all love to spoil our pets with tasty treats and chews but we always wonder what, if any, are the consequences of buying the ‘low end’ products on the market.  We are always told to buy products that are made in North America and that are sourced from reputable manufacturers (like Complete Natural Nutrition) and not from places such as China.  Dr. Pusillo, being an animal forensic scientist, hears first-hand about the dangers with overseas products.  Below is a ‘repeat offender’ that has Dr. Pusillo shocked and...

 By: Dr. Gary Pusillo ………And this little Piggy went wee wee  wee  all the way to your house. Open any popular pet product catalogue and you can buy your own little piece of a “little piggy” from China. Just when you thought melamine in Chinese products was enough, they are shipping piggy parts laced with clenbuterol! Currently there are reports that human consumers of pork products in China became ill and ending up hospitalized with stomach pains and heart palpitations after consuming pork laced with Clenbuterol...

Krogers having issues with corn, who is next? http://www.tennessean.com/article/20110104/BUSINESS01/101040326/Recall+investigators+find+Kroger+pet-food+grains+had+elevated+toxin+level We hope that this post in June discouraged some pet owners from feeding diets with corn.  Watch for more posts from Dr. Pusillo on possible dangers in the future for our pets. … function fbs_click() { u=location.href; t=document.title; window.open("http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u="+encodeURIComponent(u)+"&t="+encodeURIComponent(t),"sharer","toolbar=0,status=0,width=626,height=436"); return...

Are there risks to driving a car? You bet, but most of us acknowledge that—with guidance—the benefits can outweigh the risks. From that perspective, we thus manage drivers’ education thoughtfully and productively. So, too, it is with the information regarding raw diets for pets. Instant experts have appeared as fast as the You-Tube video of the “double rainbow guy.” The double rain bow guy finally got to see something that even the ancients have seen in recorded literature; nothing new except for his personal epiphany. ...

I wish you and your loved ones a Christmas full of authentic experiences, bountiful expressions of joy ,and an unending supply of unconditional love. I wish you freedom from oppressions, depression, aggression, and the burdens of life that prevent the quality of life you deserve. Traditional images of the first Christmas, often depicted animals and people existing  in harmony; sharing and appreciating  a time of peace and  contemplation. While our pets cannot appreciate the miracles’ of Christmas, they often share in our...

The 7 greatest concerns in 2011 for commercial pet foods, treats, and supplements Dr. Gary Pusillo As the worries of 2010 turn into a reality of 2011, what are the commercial pet food, treats, and supplements major concerns you and your professional pet health and nutrition advisor need to review and prioritize for 2011: Excessive bone fragments (and mysterious substances) in some canned and dry pet foods. Drug and heavy metals in some pet products from China, Indonesia, Thailand, India, Brazil, Uruguay, Bolivia, Argentina,...