Kozmokat's Weblog

Disgusting crap that is in dog food

kozmokat — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 02:14:15 +0000

I know the title sounds a little blunt. But after learning about some things, I thought I may alert some people and others may already be in the know. The preservative ethoxyquin is listed by the U.S Dept of Agriculture as a pesticide used in fruit scald control. It is also used as a rubber preservative. FDA approved its use as an antioxidant for carotenes Vitamin A and E.

The FDA allows for 5 to .5 PPM of ethoxyquin residue in consumed human food and yet allows 150 PPM in pet food and livestock feed! So, pound for pound, a dog could be consuming 300 times more ethoxyquin than is allowed for humans. (depending on the weight) Dog food manufacturers do not always list ethoxyquin as an ingredient. It may have already been added at the rendering plant, so the dog food manufacturer doesn’t have to list it. This is not good.

Since the late 1980′s there have been many more chronic disorder incidences in dogs reported. The number of liver, kidney, and thyroid dysfunctions as well as reproductive disorders, still births, allergies, and problems with skin and coat conditions. It is with suspicion, that the levels of ethoxyquin used as a preservative in dog food is somehow linked to all these increased problems with our pets. Especially food allergies.

Once I learned of this, I immediately changed my dogs diet to a more healthy, homemade dog food. What a huge difference! Her coat is shiny. Her eyes sparkle with vibrancy (even at 13+ years). And she chases rabbits and squirrels with new intensity! I have a suggestion. Check out this link. It will take you to a sales page about dog food recipes. Read it. Check out the money-back policy and try it! This is a great recipe book. Click here http://tinyurl.com/6mx2j7

You should see where our dog is now!

kozmokat — Fri, 30 May 2008 03:39:32 +0000

I sent an email to our most gracious friends at www.dogwheelchairs.comto give them an update on our dog Kozmo. I was also asking them if they would object to me unbashingly recommending them on my blog. It is because of the custom-made wheelchair that they designed and made for our dog Kozmo, that she was able to continue to live a full and vibant life. The people we have been in contact with over at Doggon Wheels have been nothing but compassionate and extremely helpful. When Kozmo broke her wheelchair after crashing while chasing a squirrel full speed, they overnighted the parts to repair her transportation!

Well anyway, Lori at Doggon wheels said I should go to their new website www.dogwheelchairs.com and check out who the star is on the opening page. It was none other than Kozmo Kasi Fouts-Wonderdog of West Michigan and the World Beyond… It was so cool. She is probably the most photographed dog in Michigan! Real pretty too. Check it out. You will see what an excellent bunch of people do for not only dogs, but many other animals as well.

In the near future, I will post a video on how we hook Kozmo into her wheelchair and give you the chance to see the joy on her face as she takes off on another adventure. At 13+ years of age, when she gets her wheels on you can see she is not just an old hound sitting on the porch!

I know this blog sounds like an advertisement for Doggon Wheels, but we feel they gave us, not just Kozmo, a better life through their wheelchair products for dogs. Without it we are were not sure what kind of life Kozmo would have had, and it got us out everyday for a healthy walk with Kozmo, where Shelly and I bonded, talked and discovered many of nature’s wonders found wherever we hiked. Thanks for listening.

That darn dog

kozmokat — Thu, 22 May 2008 14:46:06 +0000

I think I am the classic case study of adult ADD. I was laid off for the first time ever in my 35+ years of my working career. I have been busy trying to improve our financial situation by marketing on the Internet(www.bazillionbucks.com), selling on eBay and other small streams of income. So Kozmo’s story started and then took a break. Sorry for the delay. Here is another episode.

Once Kozmo started getting used to her wheelchair, we would venture around the property as much as we could. We started thinking about where to cut trails and the best routes to take to maximize coverage of her favorite hunting areas. The work began. Armed with a tree limb lopper, rake and gloves, we started cutting. All the while, Kozmo would hang around, not going out of site, because she was still not totally confident in her wheelchair. The trails were cut through the woods, through the meadows and fields, and then we connected the trail to the neighbors wooded trails. So Kozmo has quite a network of barrier-free paths throughout 16+ acres! We walk all the trails everyday, 7 days a week, through rain, snow, sleet, thunderstorms, heat, bugs, you name it. The only time we can’t do all the trails is when the snow is too deep. The neighbor boy rides his snowmobile on some of the trails to pack the snow down so her wheels can manuver. He has done this every year even though he has moved away. He still gets his snowmobile over to pack the trails just for her!

A lot of her good health has to do with the dailey exercise and the healthy food she is given. It wasn’t always so. She developed food allergies and once we found out what she was allergic to we had to change our buying habits. Boy did we learn about dog food! Once again it was trial and error. We did find an excellent ebook full of great recipes http://tinyurl.com/6mx2j7 We now give our dog healthy live food and she has responded so well. She is much more vibrant, alert and has a beautiful coat of fur! The vet can’t believe her health at 13+! A miracle dog. Next episode very soon!

Kozmo Kasi Fouts-Wonderdog of Southwest Michigan and the World Beyond

kozmokat — Fri, 09 May 2008 03:36:06 +0000

This blog is about life, our dog Kozmo, (who is paralyzed and in a wheelchair) and experiences we have had learning how to adjust to her challenges. And ours. My wife Shelly, and I, had our lives altered in a way we were not prepared for. On July 23, 2001, Kozmo’s 100mph life changed forever with the simple action of trying to jump up on our bed! Her spine casing let go and splintered into her spinal cord. We had to make a immediate choice at the vets office after hearing the prognosis. Either go ahead with with surgery with unknown results, or put her to sleep. The cost was enormous and had to be paid before we left. This is a special dog, so, the decision to have emergency surgery to save her was a no-brainer for us.

When we were allowed to see her after surgery, our hearts were in our throat. She was not in good shape. I have never had such a helpless feeling in my life! We just knew she had to make it. When we brought her home, the look in her eyes was so blank. She had no idea what had happened to her. It was the worst of days. Shelly still had 5 weeks of summer vacation before she had to go back to teaching. In those 5 weeks, Shelly laid by Kozmo’s side, moved her, bathed her, fed her, and comforted her. Shelly was Kozmo’s angel. Slowly, Kozmo started to get some life back in her eyes. She wagged her tail a couple times when I came home from work one day, we rejoiced!

We started swimming therapy for her in a livestock watering tank. We would walk her with a sling under her belly while one of us moved her rear legs in a walking motion. With the sling under her belly, we propped her rear legs up under her so she would stand until they gave out. We would massage her legs several times a day. There was no information we could find on how to help her gain mobility in her legs. It took more than a year before we gave into the fact that she would not walk on all four legs.

In September, 2001, we ordered a custom made wheelchair for Kozmo from DoggonWheels in Montana. They were the most compassionate people to deal with. They helped us with their kind words and delivered a quality product that saved Kozmo. When the wheelchair arrived we immediatly hooked her up. It was a bit awkward at first. Kozmo would not move. When she did move it was backwards. She just did not know what to think of it so she froze. Everyday we would try to get her to walk with her front legs while her back legs were in a neoprene saddle suspended in the aluminum wheelchair frame. Finally we decided to use the tough-love approach. We put her in the wheelchair out in the middle of the driveway and we then went in the house, and watched. It was gut-wrenching. She barked. She howled. Then, out of nowhere, a big blue heron came gliding in for a landing in Kozmo’s frog pond. Now, before her injury, Kozmo, would swim in her pond and chase frogs. She could do it for hours at a time. She never hurt them. She would just try to touch them with her nose! We had taught her to chase herons away so they wouldn’t eat her frogs. She saw that blue heron land and she took off in her wheelchair! Real fast! Bouncing up on one wheel, flying over bumps, she ran that blue heron clean off our 11 acres! From that moment on she has been unstoppable!

Stay tuned for the continuing adventures and life lessons of Kozmo Kasi Fouts