Consumer Warning for Animal Owners Using Flea and Tick Medications

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Consumer Warning for Animal Owners Using Flea and Tick Medications

A recent report from the US Food and Drug Administration reflected a serious warning to pet owners regarding specific flea and tick medications and the adverse neurological side effects that have occurred.

The following flea and tick medications are included in the warning from the FDA:

  • Bravecto
  • Credelio
  • Nexgard
  • Simparica

All four medications have been shown to cause neurological issues in pets, including ataxia, muscle tremors and seizures. Additionally, other gastrointestinal issues such as vomiting, diarrhea and loss of appetite have been reported.

So, what do each of the four medications have in common?

An ingredient called “isoxazoline,” which works to bind to chloride channels in the insect, then block nerve signals which ends in paralyzation, then death of the bugs.

The problem is, once given to your pet, isoxazolines affect the entire body, thus the dangerous side effects, and eventual poisoning of the animal occurs. What makes things difficult is the effects happen slowly over time, making it harder to distinguish what might be wrong with your pet.

The solution

At Brookside Barkery and Bath, we’re focused on “better health through better nutrition” – and that motto carries into everything we carry in our store, including all-natural tick and flea treatment options. Our preferred go-to option is a Bayer Seresto Collar. They are the safest and most effective flea/tick preventative – plus the protection lasts eight months! They also help with mange and lice prevention. We carry them at both Barkery and Bath locations (Brookside and Lee’s Summit).

Stop in today and ask us about all-natural tick and flea prevention – and keep your four legged friends happy and healthy!

 

 

 

 

Include Your Pet in Your Thanksgiving Gathering

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Thanksgiving is just around the corner and that means we’ll all be sitting down to enjoy a delicious feast soon! If you’re like us, you never want to leave your furry friends out of the celebration.  While you and your family enjoy a Thanksgiving meal, give your pets a little feast of their own. Brookside Barkery has a couple of turkey tips to be sure that everyone enjoys a happy and healthy Thanksgiving!

Avoid giving your four-legged friend any of the turkey carcass. The bones can be problematic to the digestive tract. Instead, give them the turkey neck – they are a great and cost-effective way to add variety and nutrition to your dog’s diet. Fresh turkey neck is a great natural source of protein, fat and calcium. It’s also used for tooth and gum nourishment. Just be sure to monitor them while they’re eating it to avoid any choking – especially for smaller dogs

Another great way to promote a healthy gut for your dog is turkey bone broth. All you need is a turkey carcass and a few other ingredients you probably already have in your kitchen! Start by putting the turkey carcass and other bones in a pot and fill with water. You can also add garlic or other spices for flavor. Top it off with 3-4 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar and let it cook for 24 hours. Be sure to strain all of the bone out of broth once it’s cooked, your pup will love it – and the best part is it’s chock full of minerals and nutrients that taste great and promotes healthy gut and joints! Click here to learn more about making turkey bone broth for your dog.

If you’re thinking your pets need some Thanksgiving flavor in their diets right away, Brookside Barkery has several pumpkin treats and foods by Lotus, OC Raw, and Plato that are sure to get you (and your pup!) in the Thanksgiving mood this holiday season! Stop by our Brookside or Lee’s Summit locations today – your one stop shop for all your pet food and treat needs!

November Special: Stella & Chewy’s

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Brookside Barkery and Bath is running a special on Stella & Chewy’s dog food for the entire month of November! At the Barkery, we pride ourselves in carrying only the highest quality of food for your furry family member. This is why we are proud to offer Stella & Chewy’s products!

For the entire month of November, buy one large bag of Raw Coated Kibble, get one small bag free OR buy one small or medium bag of Raw Coated Kibble, get one free Stella’s Stew.

At Stella & Chewy’s they believe, “Selecting the best food is one of the most important decisions a pet parent makes. From our first delivery to the last batch crafted in our own USA kitchen, we are focused on making the highest quality pet food available.”

Stella & Chewy’s only uses quality ingredients sourced from farmers and ranchers that are recognized for their superior, human-grade quality ingredients and highest levels of food handling safety. All recipes are 90-95% meat, organs and bones and all animal proteins have no added hormones or antibiotics.

If you have yet to try Stella & Chewy’s – now is the time. Stop by the Barkery and pick up your bags of Stella & Chewy’s Raw Coated Kibble today!

Keep Your Cat (and Other Pets) Safe This Halloween!

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Tomorrow is Halloween – which means pumpkins, candy, costumes and all things spooky! As exciting as Halloween can be for us humans, it is also a time of caution for pet owners – especially black cat owners. Many black cats are often associated with dark forces and end up missing on Halloween night due to pranks or other unspeakable reasons. In fact, most shelters do not adopt out black cats during the entire month of October for their safety! To ensure both your family and pets enjoy a fun and safe holiday, please remember the following tips:

  • Keep Your Pet Indoors: Keep your pet in their own safe haven for the evening – a pet carrier or a closed room are a couple of options. Animals can easily become anxious when children are constantly ringing your doorbell while wearing strange costumes and yelling, “Trick or treat!” Not only does keeping your pet in a safe place help calm nerves, but it also eliminates the risk of your pet running away with the constant opening and closing of the front door. As an added precaution, always make sure your furry companions wear identification!
  • Choose Your Decorations Carefully: Decorations pose a threat to not only cats, but all animals. Keep your four-legged friends away from jack-o-lanterns, candles, balloons and any other decorations they could ingest, become tangled in or be injured by.
  • Save the Candy for Yourself: One of the biggest hazards to furry family members during Halloween is candy. Chocolate is especially toxic to both cats and dogs. Be aware of candy wrappers as well – ingesting wrappers can cause choking or even life-threatening bowel obstruction. Keep candy in secure containers in an area your animal companions cannot gain access to. If you have reason to believe your pet has ingested something toxic, contact the Pet Poison Helpline immediately!
  • Halloween Costumes: Who doesn’t love an adorable pet dressed in an even more adorable Halloween costume?! As exciting as dressing your pet for the day can be, it is important to make sure your animal is safe. Use non-flammable and non-toxic items that your pet is comfortable in. Also, make sure the costume doesn’t restrict your animal’s movement, breathing or vision.

After the Halloween commotion begins to die down and you’ve put all potentially hazardous items away, give your cat (or dog!) a chin scratch for putting up with all the loud, strange humans! Moving forward, it is important to remember cats are safer living indoors. After all, knowing your beloved pet is safe and happy is the best treat you can give yourself this Halloween season!

Introducing Brookside Holistic Solutions!

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We’re excited to announce our new concept, Brookside Holistic Solutions, is now open in Lee’s Summit!

Brookside Holistics Solutions was created to provide holistic alternatives to synthetic health products so you can find a healthy balance. With a wide selection of all-natural wellness products that we have used ourselves, plus is an all-natural foods and drinks,we are honored to help you improve your sense of well-being and find alternative answers to prescription medications.

Whether you are in need of an all-natural solution for pain management, inflammation, or need help with ADD, ADHD, and anxiety, we offer a wide array of products to help you – and our staff are ready to guide you.

With your personal well-being in mind, Brookside Holistic Solutions carries:

  • Essential and CBD oils
  • Hemp products
  • EMF shields
  • Alkaline water
  • All-natural foods and juices from Rawsome Nutrition and a Kombucha bar featuring Teabiotics
  • And of course, we wouldn’t forget products for our four-legged friends!

Learn more about our products by visiting our website!

Founded by the same team who brought you Brookside Barkery & Bath, Brookside Holistic Solutions continues the practice of “better health through better nutrition.”

Visit us today, right next door to our newly remodeled Lee’s Summit Brookside Barkery and Bath:

819 NE Woods Chapel Rd.
Lee’s Summit MO 64064

We look forward to helping you achieve a healthier lifestyle!

Rad Cat Stops Production, Closes Company

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Brookside Barkery is sad to announce the closing of one of our favorite raw food vendors for cats – Rad Cat. They’ve tried incredibly hard to prevent this from happening, but due to FDA regulations and a couple of recent recalls, the losses piled up quickly and they are no longer able to keep the factory open that produces lifesaving foods for our favorite felines.

Although Rad Cat (and Brookside Barkery!) is hoping that this is only temporary, if your cats love the raw Rad Cat food, we wanted to suggest a couple of alternatives that Brookside Barkery carries to keep your kitties naturally happy and healthy!

Primal Pet Foods: They specialize in superior nutrition for your cat with a variety of raw and freeze dried recipes. Pets experience better digestion and absorb nutrients more easily when fed a diet based on natural eating habits in the wild: muscle meat, meaty bones, organs, and raw fruits and vegetables.

Stella & Chewy’s:Their raw and frozen food contains organic fruits and vegetables, and is minimally processed which makes it easy for your furry friend to digest. They believe that cats deserve to thrive on pure, simple, minimally processed food – the way nature intended. All of their food is made with select organic produce and raw, USDA-inspected meat.

Steve’s Real Food: The frozen nuggets allow you to simply pour and serve without defrosting, cutting up meat, or mixing foods. It’s 100% complete and balanced, and made from only the most superior ingredients on the market. Steve’s makes it easier to provide raw nutrition for all of your pets.

While we are incredibly sad to hear about Rad Cat closing down for now, Brookside Barkery is still just as dedicated as always to help you do what’s best for your best friend! Whether you’re needing to make the switch over from Rad Cat, or just getting started on a raw diet for your furry friend, our pet food experts at Brookside Barkery are here to help you find the perfect, well-balanced diet for all of your pets! Stop by either of our Brookside Barkery stores in Brookside or our newly expanded store in Lee’s Summit (It’s now double in size!) and speak to one of our all-natural and holistic pet food experts today!

*To learn more about Rad Cat’s experience with the FDA, click here.

Does Your Dog Need the Kennel Cough Vaccine?

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Vaccinating your dog is a serious medical procedure with several significant potential risks. Many veterinarians, kennel owners and day care providers say your furry friend MUST be vaccinated against kennel cough, but exactly how likely is this vaccine to prevent kennel cough? Did you know Bordetella vaccine can even produce kennel cough-like symptoms? According to the WSAVA Guidelines, “Transient (3-10 days) coughing, sneezing or nasal discharge may occur in a small percentage of vaccinates.”

For the most part, if your veterinarian, kennel owner or day care provider practices good hygiene and has a well-ventilated space, kennel cough shouldn’t be a concern. Kennel cough is very comparable to a human cold – spread from an infected individual in close contact with another individual with compromised immunity. Like a human cold, kennel cough Is also considered a mild self-limiting disease.

If your boarding service provider is worried that your dog may contract kennel cough at their establishment, offer to sign a letter of consent acknowledging you’ve been informed of the risk. This will waive legal liability for the boarding provider which is likely their biggest concern. This is generally more of a liability issue than a significant health issue for your pet.

If your service provider is more concerned about the potential of other dogs at their establishment contracting kennel cough from your unvaccinated dog, then do they really believe the vaccinated dogs have immunity? If the Bordetella vaccine isn’t protective, why insist all dogs are vaccinated?

Dr. Ronald Schultz, world-renowned vaccination scientist, says, “Many animals receive ‘kennel cough’ vaccines that include Bordetella and CPI and/or CAV-2 every 6-9 months without evidence that this frequency of vaccination is necessary or beneficial. In contrast, other dogs are never vaccinated for kennel cough and disease is not seen.

CPI immunity lasts at least 3 years when given intranasally, and CAV-2 immunity lasts a minimum of 7 years parenterally for CAV-I. These two viruses in combination with Bordetella bronchiseptica are the agents most often associated with kennel cough. However, other factors also play an important role in disease (e.g. stress, dust, humidity, molds, myoplasma, etc.), thus kennel cough is not a vaccine preventable disease because of the complex factors associated with this disease. This is often a mild to moderate self-limiting disease. Some even refer to it as the ‘Canine Cold.’”

Ultimately, it is your decision whether you want to vaccinate your dog for kennel cough. If you do decide on the vaccine, we suggest you make sure it is the intranasal form that is given as nose drops, not the injected version. The vaccine should be administered at least a week before your dog has contact with other dogs – for the sake of both your dog and the others!

Want to learn more about The Barkery’s take on kennel cough vaccinations and more related issues? Give us a call or stop by the Barkery today to speak to one of our pet-loving experts!

 

Information for this story courtesy of Dogs Naturally Magazine.

Bigger & Better Barkery in Lee’s Summit!

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Our Lee’s Summit store has been revamped!

After a long several months, we’ve officially completed our expansion in Lee’s Summit! We’re next door the the old space, and we’ve doubled in size. Now you can shop at the Barkery with a new user friendly layout specifically designed to create a better shopping experience for our patrons. This includes a new, bigger and better bathing area, and TONS of space for product with a great selection of our high quality meals for your pet.

We’re completing another renovation in the Barkery’s old space. Once it’s complete, we’re planning a huge celebration. Stay tuned to find out more about our grand re-opening!

Stop by today and check out the new and improved Lee’s Summit Barkery!

Benefits for Dogs from 100% Real Mushroom Extracts

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At Brookside Barkery and Bath, we’re all about the health and well-being of your dog – that’s why we carry Real Mushrooms, a line of 100% organic mushroom extracts with no added mycelium, grains, starch or fillers of any kind. Real Mushrooms are also verified for beta-glucans, the most researched beneficial mushroom compound, ensures potency and effectiveness.

Real Mushrooms offers 5 different mushroom varieties, plus a 6thwith combined herbs, both in pouch and capsule form for your convenience. Here are the benefits of each mushroom extract for your dog:

Lions Mane Extract:

  • Helps brain, eyes, and circulation in dogs.
  • Slows tumor growth – and reduces blood flow to tumors allowing them to reduce over time.
  • Anti-Inflammatory – Especially in digestive inflammation and other digestive issues in your dog.
  • Benefits blood sugar – it is also used to help treat diabetes.

Cordyceps M:

  • Adaptogen Herb – strengthen your dog’s health while helping them overcome stress.
  • Immune booster – this herb is effective at boosting immunity in dogs as the other mushrooms, but cordyceps also greatly strengthens and benefits your dog’s lungs and upper respiratory system.
  • Kidney Support – used in almost any kidney disorder, just add Organic Cordyceps Powder in your dog’s wet food.
  • Weakness, Fatigue, and Atrophy – Benefits your pet’s vitality.
  • Anti-Cancer – recommended in cancer treatments. Combine with Organic Reishi and Organic Turkey Tail.

Reishi Extract 415:

  • Anti-Inflammatory and Antioxidant
  • Helps cleanse and detox your dog’s liver
  • Benefits your dog’s circulation, heart function and blood pressure
  • Helps with Allergies
  • Natural antiviral, antibacterial and antifungal– making it helpful for infections, colds, flu, yeast infections, smelly ears, etc.
  • Anti-Cancer– reishi for our dog has been shown to be anti-tumor, immune boost, and antioxidant

Chaga Extract:

  • Scores among highest food Oxygen Radical Absorbent Capacity – meaning its scientifically one of the 5 best antioxidants on earth.
  • Immune boost – Directly aids in helping your dog fight diseases.
  • Anti-Cancer – anti tumor ability, strong antioxidant qualities, tumor reduction
  • Anti-Viral and Anti-Inflammatory.
  • Boosts Endurance – the health benefits extend past the immune system and keeps your dog full of energy.

Turkey Tail Extract:

  • Adaptogen Herb – stress fighting herb.
  • Immune system boost – Builds disease fighting aids such as leukocytes and t cells.
  • Aids in Digestion – Turkey Tail can help your dog’s digestion and absorption of nutrition.
  • Anti-Cancer – Research shows that Turkey Tail recognizes tumors in the body and helps fight them directly.

Stop in soon to learn more about Real Mushrooms – we’ll help you select what you need for you four-legged friend! Visit the Real Mushrooms website for more information.

Bladder Health

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A pet’s nutrition is what supports organ function throughout the body, and the proper diet can make all the difference. Dietary magnesium is considered one of the main contributors to urinary struvite formation. The excessive amounts of grains and carbs in most generic dry pet food brands make it high in magnesium. (Contrarily, meat-based diets are high in phosphorus, which decreases urinary excretion of magnesium and can prevent stone formation). Especially for a carnivore, a diet low in magnesium and high in phosphorus promotes healthy bladder and urinary function.

Click here for more information.

 

Bladder Care Supplements by Herbsmith

 

Herbsmith’s Bladder Care contains ingredients to support a healthy urinary tract and is a great formula to support bladder health. By maintaining a normal bladder pH, Bladder Care may reduce the likelihood of crystal and stone formation. It promotes optimal bladder and urinary tract health and function by supporting healthy urine elimination. D-mannose, cranberry, and herbs support bladder health, which is key to developing the proper urinary environment.

Stop in your local Brookside Barkery & Bath and ask a nutrition specialist about Bladder Care for your pet today.