Household Tips

As with many American families, peanut butter is a popular daily food choice. With the recent salmonella outbreak, keeping it in the pantry for possible contamination and poisoning is understandably a big concern in many households that some families have actually been reported to have started tossing peanut butters out of their pantry. Reports say that about under 500 people have already become ill of it and less than 10 have already died from complications.

In order to help consumers the FDA has set up a database where they can search if the peanut butter products they have at home are safe, or must be thrown away.

Head to this site to check. Make sure you have the brand name and the UPC code of the product you have at home.

The cause of the contamination has not yet been determined at this point. Investigation are still underway.

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Once, when I was about fourteen or fifteen years old, my brother and I were home for the summer and he was playing with something in the garage, or his models or some semi-dangerous machine. Whatever it was, I seem to have forgotten the specifics. However, a chemical, and I think it was gas, oil or some derivative thereof, splashed into his eye. He came running to me and we immediately flushed his eye with a lot of lukewarm water. His eye was burning a little bit but he could see and wasn’t in extreme pain.

I called the Poison Control Center! (great sister, eh?) I spoke to a really nice lady who walked us through what to do, rinsing the eye, staying out of the sun, taking it easy, monitoring the eye, going to the doctor if there were any changes. She was really nice and helpful and praised us for calling, and never once made us feel as though we had done something bad, because, dur! we hadn’t. What impressed me the most was that later that evening, around dinner time, the phone rang and it was for me. The same lady from the Poison Control call center was calling back to talk to me with the intent of checking on my brother*. I was really floored and have never forgotten how helpful and reassuring they were that day.

So, today, I take this time to pass on to you, fellow readers, a gentle reminder about chemicals in your home and where you keep toxic substances.

All of the information below can also be found online at the Poison Control Center Website…

Store Poisons Safely
• Store medicines and household products locked up, where children cannot see or reach them.
• Keep poisons in their original containers.
• Use child-resistant packaging. But remember — nothing is child-proof! You really must WATCH your children at all times.

Use Poisons Safely
• Read the label. Follow the directions on medicines and products.
• Are children around? Take the product or medicine with you to answer the door or the phone.
• Lock products and medicines up after using them.
• Is it medicine? Call it medicine, not candy.
• Children learn by imitation. Take your medicines where children can’t watch.

Teach Children to Ask First
• Poisons can look like food or drink. Teach children to ask an adult before eating or drinking anything!
If you think someone has been poisoned, call your poison center right away — 1-800-222-1222.

Just Facts:
92 percent of all poison exposures occur in the home
52 percent of poison exposures occur in children under the age of six

*Brother is very much fine right now. I doubt he even remembers this incident.

Hines is on the mend. Slowly.

He has been on a diet of homemade chicken and rice chased with fresh water and pedialyte. Last night I gave him a quarter of one Pepto Bismol tablet because the liquid? He would not do. He returned it to me by blowing a raspberry of Pepto Bismol directly at my chest. I took that to mean that he would rather have the runs.

I have never been happier to find dog poo on my carpet than I was this morning! Hines is slowly regaining some regularity.

Because I have now dedicated two full days of readership to the maladies of my dog’s digestive system, I decided to do a little research about dogs and their intestinal problems.

Dogs can suffer from an occasional bout of diarrhea and vomiting for a variety of reasons. It can be as simple as a change in their diet, stress, or poison or a parasite. If the symptoms are minor and brief, chances are it was just an upset and nothing more. In my case, Hines is still hungry and eating, so it can’t be too bad. If a dog stops eating, take them to a doctor immediately. Refusal to eat is the number one sign that an animal is in distress.

Any changes in your pet’s habits are cause to be concerned. They are creatures of habit and therefore they develop a good amount of regularity in their habits and behaviors.

Intestinal Dog Health, read more.

In light of the recent pet food recall this entry will detail how to go about make your own dog food.

I have four cats and a dog and the thought that the food I have been feeding them, high quality-brand foods, like Iams and Science Diet are possibly laced with harmful, fatal chemicals is absolutely overwhelming and very discouraging.

If you want to opt on the very safe side, you can prepare food for your four-legged friend fresh and from scratch in your own kitchen. Here are some instructions to follow when you set out to prepare a balanced and nutritious meal for your dog.

1. Before you change a pet’s diet, check with your vet.

2. Know that dogs need a diet that consists of about 40% meat, 30% vegetables and 30% starch. This ratio (similar to The Zone diet, ironic, no?) is recommended for all canine diets.

3. Always cook meat before serving it to your dog. Raw meat can cause illness and hold harmful bacteria.

4. While it may gross to you, organ meet, like liver and kidneys is very good for dogs. There are a lot of vitamins to be gained by eating these organs.

5. It is a well-known fact in many health-food circles that many commercial brand dog foods are very unhealthy for pets. Frequently, the meat used in these foods is considered unsuitable for human consumption.

6. Start with a mixture of ground turkey, rice and carrots for your dog food. There are also a variety of recipes that include ground beef, brown rice, brewer’s yeast and carrots.

7. Be sure to rotate the meals your dog eats so that Fido gets a variety of nutrients.

8. Add garlic to your dog food. Dogs like the flavor of garlic and it doubles as a natural flea repellant.

9. Include oatmeal, pasta, rice or potato for your dog’s starch needs.

10. You can also grind up some egg shells and add then to your dog’s meal. The eggshells have a lot of necessary nutrients.

11. Keep cooked dog food in the refrigerator and use it within three days.

12. Remember, whenever you change an animal’s diet, you risk stomach upset, including gas and diarrhea. Consider switching to homemade foods over a period of time, mixing commercial food and your homemade food.

13. NEVER EVER feed your dog chocolate.