People Foods to Avoid Feeding Your Pets + Free Pet Safety Kit

February 15, 2013
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aspca cat

Yesterday was Valentine’s Day and there were lots of reminders about keeping the chocolates away from the fur kids, but do you know what other foods you should avoid feeding your pets? The ASPCA website has tons of free pet safety resources, tips and articles to keep your pets  healthy including this List of People Foods to Avoid Feeding Your Pets.

pet-safety-kit

There’s also a great freebie to help keep your pets safe! Get your free pet safety pack from the ASPCA. In the event of an emergency, the pet rescue window decal alerts rescue personnel that pets are inside your home. The safety pack also includes an ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center magnet—a great way to keep their toll-free emergency number and website address handy in case your pets get into something!

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8 Things You Need to Know When Shopping for Pet Insurance

January 9, 2013
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 avoid high vet bills with good pet insurance

Just like the humans in the family, our fur kids can get sick and need to see a doctor. We all want the very best for our pets, but the expensive costs of some conditions and treatments can lead to making difficult choices or decisions about their care. It’s upsetting enough when a furry family member is sick or injured, and the last thing you need to worry about is how you are going to pay for it.

Pet insurance helps reduce the worry of expensive vet bills by covering many unexpected expenses, often including tests, treatments, medications and more. You’ll need to do some research to find the plan that best meets your needs when it comes to balancing cost and level of coverage. Here’s what you need to know when comparing pet insurance policies:

1. Is it free to enroll?

Legitimate pet insurance companies do NOT charge an enrollment fee. Some may require you pay the first month or quarter upfront, but that payment will be applied directly to the cost of your policy.

2. Who is the insurance company’s underwriter and what is their rating?

As with health insurance for humans or even car and home insurance, you want to know about the financial health and credit rating of the company you are choosing to be sure they can afford to pay out the benefits promised if and when you need them. You can research insurance ratings online through A.M. Best Company or similar organizations.

3. Are prescription medications covered?

Coverage can vary by policy so be sure to verify. Some pet insurance plans only cover medication while others also include coverage for prescription pet food.

4. Can you choose your own deductible level?

While some pet parents like knowing that everything will be covered if they ever need it, plans with zero or very low deductibles are more pricey. Having a high-deductible plan for emergencies can be less expensive but still offer protection against unexpected expenses. It’s best to find a balance between the two that you are comfortable with so look for a plan that offers different options.

5. How does the plan define “pre-existing conditions” and what coverage is included/excluded if your pet has one?

This is one of those things that can be tricky, so do your homework. If your pet has been treated for an illness or condition in the past, you’ll need to do some research to see how future coverage is affected.

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Nutrisystem Week 5 Update: New Foods + Tips for Thanksgiving! #NSNation

November 17, 2012
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Nutrisystem breakfast burritoWe received our month 2 food delivery from Nutrisystem last week, and got some yummy new items including a tasty and filling Breakfast Burrito! Also loving the new desserts, but more about that in a future update! One of the things I really enjoy on the Nutrisystem program is the variety. We get to stock up on our favorite foods (pizza for me and cheesy home style potatoes for the hubby) plus try new ones from the large menu of options.

While things are going really well and I’m super pleased with our progress, I have been a bit worried about staying on track as we head deep into what I like to refer to as “the holiday eating season”. That’s the time of year that starts around Halloween and runs through New Year’s.

To help, the folks over at Nutrisystem sent us some Diet-friendly Tips for Thanksgiving! That’s another thing I really like about the program…it’s not just about the food. We also get support, advice, tools and tips to help us change the habits and eating issues that led to our weight problems in the first place.

A few Thanksgiving Diet Tips and Strategies we are planning to follow (they work for everyone, not just Nutrisytem members):

  • If you’re cooking, keep your bottle of water with you in the kitchen, so you’re less tempted to snack.
  • Stay away from the appetizer table. We’ll substitute raw vegetables since those are unlimited!
  • Instead of just sitting around after dinner, take a family walk, or organize a touch-football game. We plan to take Daisy for an extra long walk!
  • Don’t skip meals in an attempt to “bank” calories. Instead, eat everything on your meal plan leading up to the holiday event to help stay on track.

Since most of us dieters will still want to indulge in some of the traditional Thanksgiving favorites, here are some portion guideline to keep in mind:

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Nutrisystem Week 3 Update Plus 4 Yummy Ways to Eat Your Veggies! #NSNation

November 3, 2012
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Veggies

Woof Woof Papa and I just completed Week 3 on Nutrisystem and even managed to stay on track during Halloween. Honestly, I’m not a candy person anyway so the yummy desserts that come with the Nutrisystem program are more than enough to satisfy my sweet tooth…and hubby used super-human will power along with lots of air popped popcorn to keep from derailing his amazing progress!

I’m so proud of him and if you want to see how much we lost, just skip ahead to the end. I thought I share some tips and ideas that we’ve been using to make sure we get all the veggies we are supposed to be eating as grocery add-ins on the program. I’ve actually found this to be more challenging than I expected and drinking V8 Juice is one solution, but we’ve come up with 4 favorites to share with you:

arugula salad on pizza
Arugula Salad on Pizza: You can use any type of salad greens you like, but I’m a big fan of arugala, and it holds up really well on a warm dish. I LOVE the tastes and textures of salad and pizza together but my hubby keeps his separate. Usually I just dump it all over the pizza but I pushed it to the side so you can see! Nutrisystem pizzas are delish, too! My dressing is red wine vinegar with a tiny bit of olive oil and fresh ground black pepper.

veggies with hummus
Raw Veggies with Hummus: Use your favorite veggies; we like carrots, celery and cukes or zucchini if we’ve got it. Have as many as you’d like since vegetables are unlimited, but stick to 1/4 Cup of hummus since that equals 1 SmartCarb! This is one of our favorite snacks to eat while watching tv…especially football games. You can add a little hot sauce to the hummus to give it a kick if you miss your buffalo wings!


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4 Important Halloween Tips to Keep Your Pets Safe

October 31, 2012
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daisy the dog in her ladybug halloween costume

Just like Daisy and her pals, your pets might be planning to join the Halloween festivities today or this evening, but there are a few things you should know. Here are 4 important tips about pet safety for Halloween:

  1. Keep pets indoors or with you at all times: You don’t want to subject your dog or cat to pranksters who might find it amusing to taunt, tease, and even injure pets, especially black cats on Halloween. Keep your pets indoors for the night or on-leash and by your side if they do go out for some trick-or-treating. Many experts suggest you NOT take your dog trick-or-treating at all.
  2. Don’t stress your pets: It might seem cute and fun to dress up your pet for Halloween, but not all dogs or cats are comfortable with this.  Especially with all the extra noise, scary decorations and commotion during this holiday, it’s easy for pets to become stressed out and no one wants that for their fur baby. If your pet doesn’t want to dress up and party, don’t make them. Let them go crawl under the covers or hide in their favorite spot with a good treat and toy.
  3. Keep ID tags and microchip info updated: Some pets are door-dashers and with lots of little ghosts and gobblins ringing your doorbell this evening, you want to be extra careful your pet doesn’t run out! This tip is important year-round; all pets should be micro-chipped, wear ID tags and you should be sure to keep your contact information updated and current.
  4. Be EXTRA cautious about keeping Halloween Candy away from pets: Many common ingredients in candy, especially chocolate, will make pets VERY sick. So use extra caution and store ALL Halloween candy  out of reach from cats and dogs. Make sure your kiddos know the rules, too. Keep the ASPCA 24-Hour Animal Poison Control number handy. It’s 888-426-4435.

 

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