Over The Counter Flea & Tick Products Can Kill

I just recently found out that over-the-counter flea and tick products can poison and kill our pets.  HartzVictims.org  was developed to provide answers and raise awareness of this and they urge everyone to help get these products off the shelves.  Before posting this, I did a little online research myself to make sure the allegations are accurate.  I googled "hartz flea poisoning"  and found several stories of people who have lost their pets due to these medicines.  I also found this on Hartz' very own website:

Precautionary Statements

HAZARDS TO HUMANS AND DOMESTIC ANIMALS

CAUTION: Harmful if swallowed or absorbed through skin. Causes moderate eye irritation. Avoid contact with eyes, skin, or clothing. Wash thoroughly with soap and water after handling and before eating, drinking, chewing gum, or using tobacco.

First Aid

If Swallowed: Call a Poison Control Center or doctor immediately for treatment advice. Have person sip a glass of water if able to swallow. Do not induce vomiting unless told to do so by a Poison Control Center or doctor. Do not give anything by mouth to an unconscious person.

If On Skin Or Clothing: Take off contaminated clothing. Rinse skin immediately with plenty of water for 15-20 minutes. Call a Poison Control Center or doctor for treatment advice.

If In Eyes: Hold eye open and rinse slowly and gently with water for 15-20 minutes. Remove contact lenses, if present, after the first 5 minutes, then continue rinsing eye. Call a Poison Control Center or doctor for treatment advice.

Have the product container or label with you when calling a Poison Control Center or doctor, or going for treatment.

Note to Physicians and Veterinarians: This product contains an organophosphate and may cause cholinesterase inhibition. Cholinergic symptoms may include salivation, miosis, incoordination, muscle fasciculation and/or weakness, vomiting and diarrhea. Atropine is antidotal. 2-PAM may be effective as an adjunct to atropine. Call 1-800-275-1414 or your local Poison Control Center for further information.


These are the warnings and information for their flea collars.  Each product has different information, but none of it gives me confidence.  Please research for yourself and talk to your vet before using these products.  Promote these links to inform others.

Kitty Konversation

Video found at:  www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3U0udLH974 

Suggested & Recommended by:   Poochville

The Envelope - a Christmas Story

It's just a small white envelope stuck among the branches of our Christmas tree. No name, no identification, no inscription. It has peeked through the branches of our tree for the past 10 years or so. It all began because my husband Mike hated Christmas -- oh, not the true meaning of Christmas, but the commercial aspects of it -- the overspending, the frantic running around at the last minute to get a tie for Uncle Harry and the dusting powder for Grandma -- the gifts given in desperation because you couldn't think of anything else.

Knowing he felt this way, I decided one year to bypass the usual shirts, sweaters, ties, and so forth. I reached for something special just for Mike. The inspiration came in an unusual way. Our son Kevin, who was 12 that year, was wrestling at the junior level at the school he attended. Shortly before Christmas, there was a non-league match against a team sponsored by an inner-city church.

These youngsters, dressed in sneakers so ragged that shoestrings seemed to be the only thing holding them together, presented a sharp contrast to our boys in their spiffy blue and gold uniforms and sparkling new wrestling shoes. As the match began, I was alarmed to see that the other team was wrestling without headgear, a kind of light  helmet designed to protect a wrestler's ears. It was a luxury the ragtag team obviously could not afford.

Well, we ended up walloping them. We took every weight class. And as each of their boys got up from the mat, he swaggered around in his tatters with false bravado, a kind of street pride that couldn't acknowledge defeat.

Mike, seated beside me, shook his head sadly, "I wish just one of them could have won," he said. "They have a lot of potential, but losing like this could take the heart right out of them." Mike loved kids -- all kids -- and he knew them, having coached little league football, baseball, and lacrosse.

That's when the idea for his present came. That afternoon, I went to a local sporting goods store and bought an assortment of wrestling headgear and shoes and sent them anonymously to the inner-city church. On Christmas Eve, I placed the envelope on the tree, the note inside telling Mike what I had done and that this was his gift from me. His smile was the brightest thing about Christmas that year and in succeeding years.

For each Christmas, I followed the tradition -- one year sending a group of mentally handicapped youngsters to a hockey game, another year a check to a pair of elderly brothers whose home had burned to the ground the week before Christmas, and on and on. The envelope became the highlight of our Christmas. It was always the last thing opened on Christmas morning, and our children, ignoring their new toys, would stand with wide-eyed anticipation as their dad lifted the envelope from the tree to reveal its contents.

As the children grew, the toys gave way to more practical presents, but the envelope never lost its allure. The story doesn't end there. You see, we lost Mike last year due to cancer. When Christmas rolled around, I was still so wrapped in grief that I barely got the tree up. But Christmas Eve found me placing an envelope on the tree, and in the morning it was joined by three more. Each of our children, unbeknownst to the others, had placed an envelope on the tree for their dad. The tradition has grown and someday will expand even further with our grandchildren standing around the tree with wide-eyed anticipation watching as their fathers take down the envelope.

Mike's spirit, like the Christmas spirit, will always be with us. May we all remember Christ, who is the reason for the season, and the true Christmas spirit this year and always.

Fwd to us by Pauline of PaulinesFashions
Sent to her via email by The Daily Encourager

The day after yesterday

God works in mysterious ways.

Whatever your stress or concern or fear, give it all up to God.

Puppies!

Handmade Items for Pets

Each weekday, the members of the Pets Jubilee Team on Etsy choose an item to promote from all of the active members. Here are last week's handcrafted items:

 

 scrappyrat

 

kceknits

KraftyKatsUK

PaintYourPoochand

Paulinesfashions

Please click on the image to go to the item and click on the name to visit their Etsy shop.

A Fine Feathered Friend

Baby Penguin meets Human. A video by Joel Oleson