Eddie says: "This post is from my fellow green crusader Cedar--she even has a cape, and a book! I invited her to write a guest post, and she came up with this helpful advice on what to do with pet poop." Read full post.

UPDATE: VOTING IS CLOSED! And time's up for submitting your videos, too. More soon!

Calling all pet crusaders: I need your help!

Bissell and Animal Planet are running a pet trick video contest, and the stakes are high: $10,000 donated to the pet charity of your choice, a new vacuum, and a shot at being a TV star Read full post.

Some people like to go for long walks to help them deal with the sadness and grief of losing a loved one. It works for dogs, too -- I know I went on a lot of long walks after Feathers died.

But I never would have thought to take a 2,400 mile walk! Read full post.

I've been reading AAFCO's pet food definitions, and you guys wouldn't believe some of the things that pass for "ingredients."

Take, for example, hydrolyzed poultry feather. It's basically just processed feathers, and AAFCO considers it a source of protein even though it isn't digestible. Hydrolyzed hair is the same idea, only with hair from livestock, and hydrolyzed leather meal is processed scrap leather. Old boots, anyone?

I like eggs as much as the next canine, but I was still surprised to find out what makes up poultry hatchery by-product: According to AAFCO, this ingredient is made of "a mixture of eggshells, infertile and unhatched eggs, and culled chicks which have been cooked, dried, and ground." Read full post.

I asked my fellow pet crusaders for some delicious and healthy pet treats, and my email inbox filled up with tons of yummy concoctions. Below are some of the best recipes as tested by me and Cleo.

So the next time you get bummed out by the icky ingredients on pet food labels, don't despair--put on your chef hat! Read full post.

Eddie says: This is another guest post by Jackie Fox. Last time she told us about her kitty Xena and her experience with feline hepatic lipidosis. Also, try not to be confused: Jackie's kitty Cleo is not the same as my BKF Cleo! Read full post.

Today's topic is meat meal. It's a common ingredient in dry pet foods, where it might be labeled "meat meal" or "meat by-product meal."

It's made at rendering plants, where animal carcasses are cooked in vats at very high temperatures. The grease is skimmed off (and added back in later, as fat), and what's left is dehydrated until it's a dry product. Then, the rendering plant ships the meal to brokers, who sell it to pet food manufacturers, who mix it with other ingredients, package it, and send it off to your food bowl.

If we could trust that all the meat making it into the rendering vat was up to AAFCO's standards, this ingredient might not be so bad. Their definition is a little vague -- for example, it requires meat meal to be "exclusive of any added" hooves and hair and horns and whatnot -- but that's nothing compared to the reality of rendered meat meal. Read full post.

Let's begin our foray into the world of commercial pet food ingredients. I'll feed it to you in small bites, because it's a lot of information! Read full post.

Okay, so I've given you the rundown on some of the safer dog toys on the market, but some of you are itching to know which toys you should specifically avoid. Here's what I've been able to dig up on dangerous dog toys.

The Basics: First, it's important to remember that any toy can pose a danger if it isn't used correctly. Most pet toys should only be used under supervision, and that's especially true if you're a chewer. So don't give your pet parent those puppy eyes when they take away your squeaky toy as they walk out the door. You know you'd tear it apart before they got home anyway.

Now, onto the culprits. . . Read full post.

Eddie says: This is a guest post by Jackie Fox, an entertainment attorney and former bassist for The Runaways. We're so glad to hear that Xena's feeling better!

I’d never heard of feline hepatic lipidosis before Xena was diagnosed with it. I’ve had Xena for almost 5 ½ years, ever since I adopted her and her sister, Cleo, as kittens. [Eddie says: No relation to my sister Cleo!] Earlier this year I added another kitten to our household, and I was so focused on integrating the cats that I didn’t notice that Xena had become stressed and stopped eating. By the time I did, she’d lost over a third of her body weight. It had only been a few weeks, but her liver was already severely damaged. Read full post.