With the epidemic scare of the swine flue, it doesn't surprise me that this morning I received 2 chat messages/questions from potential customers concerned about whether their cats and dogs can catch the swine flue.

According the BBC on-line as well as other news sources cats and dogs cannot catch the swine flue.

The scientific reasoning for why cats and dogs can't catch swine flu is our genetics are different, and a flu virus that "fits" our human system likely won't fit within your dog or cat's.

Luv Sheila & Freedom (my black lab)

A customer on our chat asked me a question the other day, "What is the normal heart rate for a cat?” Although I am not a certified vet or authorized to give specific medical information, the following information was obtained through a cat care book from the library. If you notice any abnormalities with your cats heart rate please take him/her to the vet immediately. Once properly diagnosed by a certified vet we have a supplement that may be of benefit called Hearty Heart for cats.

The Normal pulse for cats is between 130 - 240 beats per minute. To feel the pulse look for the femoral artery which is located close to the surface on the inside of the thigh at the groin.

Count the number of beats per 15 seconds and times that by 4 to get the total per minute.

There are different types of heart disease (Cardiomyphapthy) in cats, most popular are: dilated Cardiomyphapthy, restricted Cardiomyphapthy and hypertrophic Cardiomyphapthy. A cat can have heart disease for a long time before experiencing heart failure. Most forms of severe heart failure occurs when there is too much fluid in the lungs and heart.

If you suspect your cat to have a heart condition please take it to your local vet, although economical in these tough times, self diagnoses especially in relation to the heart is not a good idea.

Luv Sheila & Freedom (my black lab)

"I just wanted to thank you....My cat was diagnosed with Lymphoma six months ago. The vet told us that he could possibly last 30 days. My cat is 16 years old so I did not want to torture him with chemo or radiation. I always used to have a holistic vet before I moved to Florida. I did not search for a holistic vet, but I chose him quite by accident. To make a long story short, I searched online to hopefully find something like he would prescribe.That is when I discovered Clear ES. I had NO EXPECTATIONS. It was a last ditch effort to Euthanasia. At first I thought it was a coincidence when Rizzy's tumors shrunk after a dose of Clear ES. I did not even read that it might do that. I just noticed the huge tumor got noticeably smaller. In a short time, my husband and I both noticed that Rizzy seemed livelier than he had been in years. Even his chronic diarrhea went away. I never expected anything when I bought the ES Clear. I was just so sad. I knew it couldn't hurt, but I really did not expect it to help. It has been six months now since my cat was diagnosed and given a month to live. I know Rizzy is not cured and eventually he will succumb to his cancer. I do wholeheartedly believe that ES Clear prolonged my cat's life. My husband believes it too. Not only that, ES Clear made Rizzy feel so much better that he actually enjoys his life more now."

Thank you,Susan Ruegger-Fentz