Holistic approach to pet care.

The emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria — so-called superbugs — is a global problem with both short- and long-term implications for human and animal health. 

The World Health Organization (WHO) has identified antibiotic resistance as one of the greatest threats to human health in all communities. In time, even simple infections, usually easily treated, may not respond to antibiotics.

 Animal health providers, farming industries and even pet owners have an important role to play in reducing the overuse of antibiotics. 

The Australian Veterinary Association provides guidelines to reduce their use. These include avoiding use for infections not shown to be caused by bacteria; for example, some urinary tract problems, pancreatic disease, many gut problems and viral respiratory diseases. Antibiotics should be used only after test results identify bacterial infection and, ideally, narrow-spectrum antibiotics are chosen on the basis of sensitivity testing. 

Treatment should be carried out only for the time required to eliminate infection. Unfortunately, in practice, the time and money required for such tests isn’t always easy to find in an environment where there’s emotional pressure to heal animals quickly and cheaply. A holistic approach to animal health and wellness provides alternatives to antibiotic use. These are some steps animal owners and carers can take to reduce antibiotic use : 1) Avoid use of antibiotics where not required. Bacterial infection does not play a part in some common illnesses in veterinary medicine but antibiotics may be prescribed anyway. 2) Use alternatives where safe and effective. It’s always best to consult your vet, or holistic vet, before using them. 

Natural treatments may cause side-effects in some individual dogs or cats. Never use essential oils in or on cats. 3) If antibiotics are prescribed for your pet, make sure you complete the entire course. If you have trouble giving the medications or you think they may cause side-effects, your vet or support staff can give you suggestions.

 Resistant infections can be passed on from pet to owner so always wash your hands, especially before eating. 4) Practice good hygiene: wash your hands. No need to use antibacterial washes; soap and warm water are sufficient. Make sure you wash all surfaces of your hands, including the web between your fingers. (Follow with vitamin E cream if washing dries out your hands).

 As an alternative to antibacterial cleaners around the house, use hot water, vinegar and bicarb of soda. This will reduce the emergence of resistant bacteria and also reduce toxins your pet is exposed to.

 5) Use probiotics after courses of antibiotics to replenish good bacteria and support gut health and immunity. 6) Preventative healthcare for your pet will reduce infections and the need for antibiotics. This includes judicious use (but not overuse) of vaccines, flea, mite and worm control and regular health checks (annually for younger pets; biannually for older pets) for early detection of health problems. 

Dental disease is one of the commonest health issues in pets, resulting in gingivitis, periodontal disease and the need for antibiotics and dental surgical procedures. Make sure your pet has a dental check every six months. continue

UK on track to cut antibiotic use in animals as total sales drop 9%.

UK on track to cut antibiotic use in animals as total sales drop 9%.Sales of antibiotics for use in animals in the UK are at a four-year low, putting the UK on track to meet ambitious targets to tackle antibiotic resistance, according to a Defra report released. Antibiotic resistance is a growing threat to human health - experts believe if we do not take action it could be responsible for ten million deaths per year and cost the global economy $100 trillion by 2050. In September, the Government announced plans to tackle it, including a commitment to significantly reduce antibiotic use in animals. Today’s report shows overall sales by weight dropped by 9% from 2014 to 2015, while sales for use in food-producing animals dropped 10% from 62 milligrams per kilogram (mg/kg) to 56mg/kg. This continues a ten-year downward trend and puts the UK on track to reach its 50mg/kg target by 2018. As well as the overall reduction, the report shows a drop in sales of the highest priority antibiotics that are critically important for humans. Sales of these made up just over 1% of all antibiotics sold for use in animals in 2015.continue

Brexit Britain should lead the way by banning mass antibiotic use in agriculture.

Brexit Britain should lead the way by banning mass antibiotic use in agriculture, says top doctors.The heads of 12 royal medical colleges, as well as the Faculty of Public Health, the British Medical Association and two leading health journals, today call on the Government to step up the fight against antimicrobial resistance (AMR) by prohibiting preventative prescription of medicines on animals. Writing in The Daily Telegraph, they say the UK is now in a “unique position” to introduce a ban.The intervention comes weeks after a Cambridge University study found that a quarter of supermarket chicken contained antibiotic-resistant e.coli, a bug that can lead to kidney failure and in severe cases death. In May a Government-commissioned report led by Lord Jim O’Neill said the rise of drug-resistant superbugs threatened to return medicine to the “dark ages” by rendering impotent swathes of commonly used antibiotics.continue

Locust beans in a can.

Change is the only constant thing and with various innovation simple product are branded in easy to use and stable conditions. The locust beans also known as carob is commonly used for stews as local seasoning. The locust beans is called iru in Yoruba, the ibos called it ogiri while the northerners call it dawadawa. Traditional cuisines are not complete without it,but now many conventional stews and soups have a splash of dawadawa. There are a lot of people that find the taste,color and smell not too appealing but cant seem to find any way around it because of the benefits. Here is the good news ,you can now enjoy your locust beans seasoning in powdered form without the sticky slob. This is locust beans in a can,powdered locust beans without preservative,additives just plain iru with all the health benefits . The benefits of locust beans are as follows; 1) prevents diabetes by controlling blood sugar. 2) promotes weight loss. 3)promotes good eyesight. 4)prevents strokes. 5) high in protein (35%), carbohydrate (16%), lipids (29%). 6) a good source of fat and calcium. Locust beans now available in powdered form sold in cans, call to order nationwide. #agribusiness #agriculture #food The change is here moving from this to powdered .

AGRICULTURE #AGRA INNOVATE #FOOD SECURITY.

Agriculture, what is it to you,and where do you fit? Thinking of agriculture,how to invest in agriculture or innovations in agriculture? see this. Agriculture is the new gold and at the conference/exhibition many companies showcased their products; biotechnology, food packaging and handling, vaccines, artificial insemination,liquid fertilizers ,cassava processing,packaging among st other innovation #smartfarming #smartagriculture #irrigation #rice #silos #storage. There is still so much more,join the train. There is so much more ; the agrainnovate conference still on till Friday 25/11/2016 @ Landmark center,lagos.

The sky’s the limit for CSU’s first paraplegic veterinary student.

Until the day he crashed into the Arizona desert going 90 miles an hour, the sky was the limit for Bernard Dime. He was an accomplished skydiver who was weeks away from enlisting in the US Army, and dead-set on making the elite Golden Knights Parachute Team. But the driven 25-year-old’s ambitious plans changed dramatically on one last practice jump before a canopy piloting competition, when something went wrong and he hit the ground, shattering his back. “I don’t remember the impact. I don’t remember the pain all that much, just brief moments laying on the ground and thinking I was going to die,” said Dime, now 29.He was airlifted to a hospital and learned he had burst-fractured the T12 and L1 vertebrae in his lower back, and suffered a spinal cord injury. He was permanently paralyzed. “You crash and then you wake up born again with a different body,” Dime said. But at the time, he didn’t feel born again. He felt like the life he had planned was over. During the following months of rehab, his energy went into learning how to shower, how to dress himself, how to live with his new body. “There were times I wished I was dead, I thought ‘my life is never going to be good again.’ That’s rock-bottom. That’s a scary place.” The young man who had counted on his physical fitness to carry him into a career as an elite skydiver, had to come to terms with the abrupt end of that dream. Lying in the hospital, he pondered his childhood dreams of being a musician (in his late teens, he was a guitarist in a touring band called The Real You whose music was featured on MTV) or a veterinarian (he volunteered at animal shelters as a child). But he faced months of acute recovery. “The hardest part is not learning to live with a new body and being in a wheelchair, you get over that. The hardest part for me was being in the hospital and realizing I was so close to a dream that I worked so hard for – for it to be totally taken away and there was nothing I could do about continue

CONTOUR NEXT ONE Bluetooth Connected Glucose Meter.

Ascensia Diabetes Care, a company based in Basel, Switzerland, won FDA clearance to bring to the U.S. market its CONTOUR NEXT ONE blood glucometer. The device has Bluetooth wireless connectivity that allows diabetics to upload their readings to a paired app on their iOS or Android smartphones. The CONTOUR DIABETES app provides historical charts of blood sugar levels and lets patients understand how their diet and physical activity impacts those. This works best if the patient religiously enters the details of his/or her food intake and all the activities that take place throughout the day. All the readings and entered information can be uploaded to the “cloud” and reviewed on a computer. Reports can be emailed to one’s physician or family members to make sure everyone is on the same page and helping to keep the symptoms of diabetes in check. The device works just fine on its own without the app, displaying readings on a built-in screen. An indicator on the left side of the device turns green, yellow, or red depending on how out of normal range the last reading was. Ascensia claims this is one of the most accurate blood glucose meters on the market, achieving ±8.4% accuracy on 95% of readings when it was compared against laboratory equipment in a small trial with human subjects. continue