Break vicious circle of overfeeding dogs
THROUGHOUT my veterinary career people have said to me, “it must be hard being a vet, surely harder than being a doctor because your patients can’t explain what’s wrong or where the pain is”. But this assumption couldn’t be more wrong. Animals can tell us a great deal, we just have to be able to recognise what they’re telling us.
And one of the most common problems vets see on a daily basis is pet owners complaining of their animals being fussy eaters. Even when they’re offered gourmet wet food or brands with high levels of meat and fat, they just won’t eat.
The main reason dogs go off their food is because owners are giving them too much and they are just not hungry enough to eat it all. But having misunderstood the message your dog has given you, that he is not hungry or no longer likes the food, you decide to try something “he will like” in order to get him to eat. He obliges by eating the new food for a while (especially if it is higher in fat/ protein/salt and is tastier) until he tires of the new food for the same reason.
You then seek out something else in order to stimulate the dog’s jaded appetite and so the cycle continues. It’s not just a case of overfeeding our beloved pets, this type of behaviour can have serious health implications including obesity and digestive issues.
I implore pet-owning readers to rectify such overfeeding habits and instead simplify the feeding process. For fussy dogs, I recommend feeding them once a day in the evening, minimal treats and no human food, other than vegetables. Instead of spoiling your pet with food, treat them to a long walk or extra interaction, it will help them and you more in the long run. did it? Wasn’t WWI supposed to be “the war to end all wars”? Many people at the time felt that this was a futile aspiration. They were right. WWI spawned WWII and any number of other wars since, including the one we’re discussing here.
The fact is that the arms industry worldwide (and its political sponsors) have absolutely no interest in suing for peace.
Why would they? After all, if peace were ever to break out they would be out of business, wouldn’t they? Can we change this mindset? We have to try.
My message to the Welsh people is: for heaven’s sake challenge your AMs and MPs. Confront the MPs with the inconvenient truth that the British government is complicit in war crimes being committed by its biggest ally in the Middle East; and AMs over their thunderous silence on the use of Welsh land and air space to train military in how to wage war.