Beware of feeding turkey or ham to your pet.....

[Karen & Lucy]

My brother had to put his pug down today. He has been in the hospital for nearly a week and the vet found that he had a bleeding disorder and pancreatitis. They do not know where the bleeding disorder came from, not common in this breed, I guess, BUT did tell him that a dog can get pancreatitis from eating turkey or ham. So Beware as we all eat alot of both of these meats over the holidays.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Hi Karen:
I am very sorry to hear about your brother's dog...it's so terrible to lose our dogs, especially suddenly like that. He must be devastated!
We had a discussion in The Food Group recently about giving turkey to dogs, and the connection with pancreatitis, that you may find interesting:

http://doodlekisses.com/group/thefoodgroup/forum/topics/myth-busters

The conclusions we came to, based on fact-based information from various veterinary and canine nutrition sites, was that it is okay to give your dog turkey in moderation, IF the dog is used to getting "people food", has no known medical problems, and is not diabetic or overweight. It seems best to stick to the white meat, and not to give the fattier parts, particularly the skin. (Obviously, no gravy, etc.) There is a connection between high-fat consumption and pancreatitis. The problems seem to be mostly with dogs who normally get kibble, and then are "treated" to these holiday foods...these are the ones most likely to get pancreatitis, as their systems are not accustomed to such rich foods. Many of our members who feed home-made diets give turkey with no problems.
Ham did not come up in our discussion, but ham is "cured" using various high sugar & sodium ingredients, so that is most likely what caused the problem, plus the high fat content of ham, if indeed the problem was connected to the food.
Another thing all of us should be aware of in regard to this is that if a dog who normally has a healthy appetite suddenly begins to refuse their food, do NOT try to encourage them to eat, especially by tempting them with special foods or treats...this is one of the classic ways pancreatitis attacks are brought on. In this case, the dog knows best, and should be seen by a vet.
Thank you for sharing this warning with us, and I am so sorry for the loss of your brother's pug...give him a hug for me.

[Adrianne Matzkin]

Dear Karen,
I am soooo sorry to hear about your families loss. I know all too well the devastation your family is going through.
Please send your brother our condolences
Adrianne and 'Samantha'

[Karen & Lucy]

Thank you Karen, very interesting. Jake was very over weight and my brother said he thought that he got into their neighbor,s garbage, soooooo that is probably where he got whatever. And yes he is very devastated. He said to me, ya know we dog lovers are really crazy for getting dogs/cats in our lives just to lose them. He said that we know when we get them that they only have so long to live and why do we do that to ourselves. He rescued another pug, so I tried to console him with what a wonderful thing he did for Otis and got him out of a bad situation. BUT, what would we do without our animal friends!!! Lucy is part of me and just like my little girl

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

"The risk of love is loss, and the price of loss is grief. But the pain of grief is only a shadow when compared with the pain of never risking love.”

"If you have a dog, you will most likely outlive it; to get a dog is to open yourself to profound joy and, prospectively, to equally profound sadness."

"I have sometimes thought of the final cause of dogs having such short lives and I am quite satisfied it is in compassion to the human race; for if we suffer so much in losing a dog after an acquaintance of ten or twelve years, what would it be if they were to live double that time?"

Those are some quotes that may help your brother right now; there are lots more. But this one is my favorite; it is an excerpt from "Last Will and Testament of a Distinguished Dog" by Eugene O'Neill, and I think this says it all:

One last request I earnestly make. I have heard my Mistress say,
'When Blemie dies we must never have another
dog. I love him so much I could never love another one.' Now I
would ask her, for love of me, to have another. It
would be a poor tribute to my memory never to have a dog again.
What I would like to feel is that, having once
had me in the family, now she cannot live without a dog."

Hugs to your brother & you.

[Karen & Lucy]

Thank you so much Karen. I will certainly pass you comments on to him. The words are so true.

[Lynne Fowler-Oodles of Doodles]

Karen, it is so sad when we lose them, but after I lost my Magic to the Pet Food recalls of 2007 someone had also asked me that question and I thought about it and I came up with this. I would not have given up the short time I had with Magic and all the unconditional love, kisses and enjoyment for anything. Even knowing they will probably go before us, our lives are so much better because we share it with dogs (and cats). It is like the saying, "It is better to have loved and lost, then never to have loved at all." Your family will make new memories with the new dog. While that does not make up for the loss of your brother's dog it can be wonderful. Our thoughts are with you and your brother at this time.

[Karen & Lucy]

Thank you so much Lynne, very comforting.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Here's another favorite:
"Fragile Circle"
We, who choose to surround ourselves with lives even more fragile than our own, live within a fragile circle,easily and often breached..Unable to accept its awful gaps we still would live no other way.We cherish memory as the only immortality, never fully understanding the necessary plan.
Irving Townsend

[2hl9mp3c2fuam]

Thanks for the warning...and I'm so sorry for your brother.

[Marianne *OZZY & ZOEY]

Karen my heart goes out to your brother I lost my dog this year with the same thing...That is the reason I have Ozzy now as the pain was too much without her. Our dogs never do anything mean to us and most times it is harder to deal with than the loss of a person. A dog loves unconditional....Tell him that we are so sorry for the loss....