Greyhound Pets of America (GPA) is a nationwide non-profit, volunteer-supported organization dedicated to the placement of ex-racing Greyhounds in ideal home situations.

If you are not ready to adopt a new animal rescues are always looking for volunteers.

Springtime in Chinese medicine is wood element, which is the green of the leaves, the warmth of spring and can lead to imbalances in the organs controlled by the wood element- the eyes, hooves, paws, tendons, ligaments and the liver. Liver element animals (decisive, assertive, athletic, confident, impulsive, like to be "alpha") are at highest risk for these issues. Prevention includes feeding cooling foods that aid the liver, such as dandelion greens, turnip greens, mustard greens, beet greens, collards, kale, spinach, bok choy, broccoli and celery. Dogs and cats, lacking salivary enzymes, need to have greens cooked or pureed and added to their regular diets. One way to add them is to scramble eggs with greens in them. Freeze dried liver treats are springtime helpers for dogs and cats. Horses, goats, sheep and cows all benefit from the greens mentioned above in the springtime. Be sure to slowly add hours of grazing per day with horses to prevent laminitis, or founder, and use a grazing muzzle if your horse is an easy keeper. Give greens instead of carrots or apples as a treat.

If you can't beat them, eat them! 

Dandelions are a great spring tonic. The USDA ranks dandelions 4th in overall nutrition for green leafy vegetables and 3rd in Vitamin A surpassed only by cod liver oil and beef liver. It is also high in Vitamin B, potassium, Iron and calcium. Dandelion greens are great in salads and animals love them pureed or saut�ed. If you need to get rid of your dandelions remember that weed killers and lawn treatments have been proven to cause cancer in our animal companions. Here is a safe alternative to spray on them:

Mix � gallon Apple Cider Vinegar, � cup salt, and � tsp dawn liquid soap. Spray weeds thoroughly.

Sally's Story

We rescued Sally a year ago but earlier this year she suddenly could not walk as her hind end was paralyzed. We took her to our regular veterinarian who put her on Rimadyl (Non steroidal anti-inflammatory) along with another pain killer called Tramadol. He discussed surgery by a veterinary surgeon but this was not an option for us since that type of surgery would cost thousands of dollars and we did not want Sally to go through surgery if at all possible. My veterinarian then recommended eastern therapy as on option so we contacted Anshen and found Dr. Andrea. We were able to see Dr. Andrea the very next day and she started Sally on electroacupuncture and an herbal supplement called Double P II. I took Sally to our veterinarian the next day to monitor her because she was not able to urinate on her own. My veterinarian was prepared to discuss euthanasia but much to our surprise she ran to me when I went to pick her up that day! Acupuncture has made a believer out of us as well as our regular veterinarian. We are so happy to have our Sally back to her happy, wiggly self.                                                                        Deb & Bruce Nowak

With Best Wishes,

Drs. Andrea and Jody