Hi everyone!
I am currently working on a newsletter for the vet clinic where I work and was looking for quick input. The theme is “Going Green: Eco friendly pet tips” and will cover natural foods, biodegradable litter, composting, and other environmentally friendly products on the market for pet care. Any suggestions on what you do to promote a green pet (cat, dog, fish, pocket pet, horse, anything!) would be greatly appreciated. I just recieved the assignment today and would love to hear from as many of you as possible as soon as possible.
Tell me what you do to go green. Even if it just using recycled materials, I would love to hear and share your suggestions (with your permission – so if you post, it may be published, so by posting here you are giving permission!) with our community, staff, and clientele.
Also – is there one big area of focus you are interested in as pet owners? While the major article will focus on tips in general, I have a secondary and tertiary article to address a particular area of eco friendly pet care in depth. What specific themes would you (as a pet owner) want to know more about? Would you rather read more about natural diets, grooming, waste disposal, specific products.. etc?
Thank you in advanced for all of your ideas and input. If any of you are interested in reading the final product, let me know and I will link you to it (it is posted online as well).
Just as a note so no one gets upset – I will be posting this question under general pet, dogs, and cats to make sure I can recieve a wider range of answers!
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Comment by
MYCLEVERCAT.NET
23 Jul 2009
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One thing we have done in going green is eliminating litter and the litter box. We have been training our cat to use the toilet. No more litter in landfills. No more energy wasted in making litter, packaging it and transporting it. There are lots of resources for this online and of the shelf products. You can see our cat in action (still training) at the link below in the practical training section.
Comment by
Suzy Cutes
26 Jul 2009
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Besides using biodegradable litter…I go one step further. I used to use Feline Pine until I discovered Wood Stove pellets are the same thing. It saves money and packaging (plastic bags). I compost as much fecal matter as I can, and while I don’t use it for the vegetable garden, it does wonders for the flowers and shrubbery.
I make most of my own cat food (generally raw). This saves on cans, cans, cans, and more cans. In fact, 99% of my cans are cat food cans. And then, out of the cat food cans, I made a passive solar heater (called a tin can or soda can heater…I don’t drink soda but I’m gonna feed the cats…) While there is an argument for dry food to save on packaging, dry food for cats is the cause of too many serious ailments in cats, urinary issues, diabetes, and kidney issues to name the most common.
I use oxy to clean. Hyperthyroidism and resp issues have been anecdotally linked to chemical cleansers, and many of them can be toxic to a cat. Oxy — good for cleaning, good for the cat odors and good for the environment.
As a cat owner (had dogs and horses, but just cats now), I would be interested in natural food choices and home made diets (including BARF, Prey, etc.), particularly home-made foods. It wasn’t until I saw an episode of Mike Rowe’s *Dirty Jobs* that it really hit home what went into most commercial cat food — dying and diseased animals, hooves beaks, intestines, “renderings,” the crap scraped off the slaughterhouse floor. Recycling and using all of an animal is good, but better it be compost and not pet food.
I would also be interested in home and homeopathic treatments and remedies. I have had excellent results with Apple Cider Vinegar, Metamucil, Baking Soda, Squash, Olive Oil, Flax Seed Oil…a whole range of in-the-pantry offerings for aiding health and treatment. I understand vets want to make a living, but I know my vet would prefer people not running to his office with every little thing that can be handled at home…besides we’re pretty rural out here and small animal vets are few and far between.
Another area of interest to me is vaccinations, or rather, over-vaccinating. There is a movement to do away with yearly rabies vaccinations and I fully support that. I’ve seen a lot of information recently on the problems that vaccinations can cause in an effort to prevent a possible illness.
I’m sorry this is so choppy…I saw your question just as I was about to close down and I have a few cats tapping their paws waiting for me to turn the covers down. I would be very interested in reading your newsletter, so please let me know the link.
Good luck. Sounds like a fun and rewarding project.