Food Safety First…
Do Rover or Fluffy give you a big smile when you dump their big fresh bag of food into your plastic storage container? What they don’t know is over time this is not a good way to store their yummy diner.
Exposure to air and humidity can rapidly degrade pet food and increase risk of contamination. Pet kibble should be sealed after every feeding. Ideally, once opened, you would finish feeding a bag within a months’ time. If your pet eats dry kibble, the best storage is in the original bag. High quality pet food bags have been designed to keep out the elements and maintain freshness for as long as possible. If you want to store food in a plastic container, the best option is to use the original bag and place it in the plastic container. If pouring food into the container, clean and completely dry the container each time you refill. Why? The oil residue in the container from the food will turn bad and cause issues with palatability and GI upset. If you dog or cat has been happily eating their kibble and suddenly are not, this may be the issue. They smell and taste food stored in a contaminated container quicker than our human nose can detect. They are trying to tell you something is not right. Don’t’ forget to also clean food bowls, scoops and treat containers on a regular basis. Those opened cans of food can be stored covered in the refrig for 5-7 days. Any long than that and they should be tossed.
Repetition Pays Off…
We love having our frequent buyer program for most of the foods we sell. Many of you love this program too! Who can argue with buy 12, get a free bag. If you have been partaking in this program you know we moved to an electronic tracking system about 9 
months ago…no more clipping and saving of the UPC codes! If you have any UPCs at home from before we started the electronic tracking, please bring them in so we can enter them into the system for you. We have a cut off of July 31st to have these entered. If you are not feeding a food with a frequent buyer offer, please come talk with us about finding a great food for your dog or cat where you can take advantage of this savings.
For Our Best Friends…
New tough dog toys! Just in time for outside fun, we have added 4BF toys. These are all made from non-toxic, plant-derived natural rubber. In many shapes and sizes there is something that should entertain the chase and tug obsessed dog.
Adoptable Cat of the Month, Jewel…
Kitten season is hitting the Animal Center. If you are looking for a kitten now is the time. If a more regal senior is more to your liking you may want to visit Jewel. She is a nice senior lady. Jewel is available through the Iowa City Adoption Center. Call (319) 356-5295 or visit www.icanimalcenter.org to learn more about all the animals at the Center.