At first I thought this movie was a bit cheesy. As I watched it though I found it very moving and inspiring. I always see photos online of animals that are a bit "odd" together. Yet I've never seen actually video footage of it. The film shares remarkable stories about animals that have built friendships outside their own species. It proves that animals do have emotions and do seek similar things that humans do, such as friendship, companionship and love.
The story in the film that made me shed some tears, was a story about a blind horse and an old goat. The goat somehow learned that the horse was blind and started leading the horse everywhere for 16 years. The goat would never leave his side. It was such a heart touching story.
There was also a cute story about a male lion and a female coyote that had been raised together at an animal sanctuary. Neither animal shows any signs of knowing they are different. They live and play together daily as if it's "normal".
This movie left me feeling like there is hope in the world for peace. If animals that are natural born predictors can be raised together and live peacefully, people should be able to do the same. We as a species could learn so much from wildlife if we would just learn to pay attention. The main lesson that we could learn is compassion.
If you don't have Netflix it's okay, here is the full episode....
This is a scheduled post while I am on vacation in California! Be back soon! :)
I've gotten quite accustomed to getting weird reactions about eating a vegan diet. When you mention that your dogs are also vegan you really get some strange looks. Honestly though I just laugh about it. I'm the type of person who believes in physical proof or solid evidence. The results I have seen in both my dogs since switching them to a vegan dog food formula have been amazing. That's all I need to know that it's the right choice for my Fur Babies.
Photo taken just a few days ago.
Let me give you a little history about Muffins. She is 13 years old and has a curved spine. Also when she walks her knee caps move out of place. Things started getting hard for her back in 2011 when we lived in California. Back then she still had a lot of spunk and we were able to take her for walks on the beach. Shortly after California she seemed to be in a lot of pain when she walked and she became very lazy. When we moved to Wyoming I took her to a vet and had her put on pain meds. I didn't like giving her meds because I know they cause liver damage. I kept her on them for about a month and saw no improvement at all. I stopped giving them to her.
Muffins in California, 2011
Fast froward to 2012, which is when Cody and I went vegan. I never would of thought that I would find a vegan dog food or even consider switching my dogs to a meat free diet. My views and beliefs changed overtime, I educated myself on how the dog/cat food is made and I just decided that if meat causes so many problems in the human body, isn't it possible it does the same to our pets? Made sense to me.
Stephanie from Share The Love informed me that the pet food brand Natural Balance made a vegan dog food formula. I was so excited about it and I was able to just go to my local pet food store and buy it. The price is pretty comparable to brands like IAMS, which is what they were eating prior to switching to Natural Balance. Within only a few weeks of switching the dogs to their new food I saw results. When I fed Muffins IAMS she would barely eat a bowl worth a day, even go a few days without eating. It was heartbreaking.
There were days where I would come home from work and have to check to see if she was still breathing. It was awful. Sometimes I would just start balling my eyes out because I feared the worst. Muffins would sleep for hours and never even get up to drink water or go outside. I had watched my poor little dogs health decline very badly over the last year. She was super skinny and had trouble getting off the deck to use the restroom and even going over the doorway to get in and out of the house she would fall.
It's so hard to watch your pets get old. For a long time I didn't think she would make it to the end of this year. However, after switching her diet I have this completely different dog. It's as if I rolled back time. For one she loves the food and she is eating regularly. She has gained some much needed weight. She wants to be up and about. She goes outside multiple times a day on her own without being forced. She shows happiness and excitement again. All I did was switch her food.
I actually was talking to a co-worker about the vegan dog food the other day. It was so refreshing to have someone show interest and ask questions about it. She planned to tell her aunt about the food because she has a dog that's older and not doing that well. That's when I knew I really wanted to share it with my readers. :) Cody and I plan to take a vacation this year to California. It means a lot to me to take Muffins to see the ocean again. I've never seen her so happy. As far as Chloe goes, she has lost some much needed weight.
Chloe eating a vegan dinner
Chloe is no longer the shape of a barrel. She now has an hour glass shape the way she should. The results with both my dogs have been great. I wrote this post so that I could pass the information along. I know not everyone will agree with me and that's fine. Again, this is my choice and all the proof I need is in front of me everyday. I can't wait to walk Muffins on the beach again!
After many months of winter we are finally having some nice warm days. Chloe has discovered that our deck is a nice place to sun herself. This is the first place that we have lived that has the perfect yard for little dogs. Chloe stayed outside laying on the deck for hours yesterday. I had to snap some cute photos of her. Chloe is around six years old now. When we got her it was in a moment of weakness due to her level of cuteness. We had gone to Starbucks to get coffee and next door was a pet store. We never visit pet stores and usually we would have better self control. Nope, not this time. This cute little doggie sucked us in. Even at age six she is a ball of energy. I would love to get her a puppy, but they are too much work for me.
I hope you are getting outside this weekend and doing something fun!
It's so hard for me to believe it has been a month since I visited Ohio and took these photos. This adorable group of Alpacas live near my parents house. I always look forward to seeing them and snapping some photos. The faces they make really crack me up. Some of them are really cute and other have some really crazy eyes!
They are very unsure about my camera. They are just wondering where the carrots are??
This brown guy was my favorite. He actually put his ears down the way a dog would when I was talking to him. I'm sure he was just scared of my camera. I tried to pet him but he wouldn't let me. Again, they just want carrots.
When will you see me with the biggest smile on my face? When I am surrounded by animals.
I hope to visit the farm sanctuary in Colorado again this year! Also on my list of places to visit is The Wildlife Sanctuary located in Keenesburg, Colorado.
View my post about when I visited the Peaceful Prairie Farm Sanctuary HERE. If you haven't ever visited a sanctuary I urge you to! It's a great experience!!!
This was just going to be photos, but I decided to say more. I know there are a lot of mixed feelings about zoos. As much as I love being close to wildlife, it does break my heart as well. Before going vegan and becoming an "amateur animal activist" I never thought anything about all the animals caged up. Seeing a wild animal caged or stuck in a tiny exhibit is heart breaking. Going to the zoo has just always been a tradition for me.
It is nice to see the zoo promoting recycling. I say this because I don't think of Ohio as a very "green" state.
One of my favorite things about the Cincinnati Zoo is the insect house. They have a room filled with butterflies and orchids.
I really enjoy photographing them. It's such a peaceful place...
This guy was beautiful....
My favorite part of the zoo was feeding the goats. If I could have a pet goat I would.
Best photo of the day was one that a lady took of us together. How nice of her!
Cam, Dan, me and Cody (My besties!)
Our trip to the zoo was one of the only warm days while we were in Ohio. The weather didn't cooperate at all. This time last year there were tons of tulips and other flowers in full bloom. It was kind of a bummer to not get to see that this time. However I had a great time with my friends and Cody! This may be my last time visiting a zoo. Honestly when I went to the farm sanctuary in Colorado I had more fun. There is a very different feeling from a sanctuary verses caged animals. You feel the happiness and the love from the animals that are living free. :)
Simon is my oldest cat. He is probably also the most spoiled. When he sleeps on our bed he enters a full state of bliss. If you are laying on the bed with him he will lay as close to you as possible whether you are comfortable or not. He also has been know to drool a little bit Laying on our bed completes his kitty life. :) I love him dearly.
What do people who don't have kids do? Take lots of pictures of their Fur Babies. I have endless amounts of photos of my pets. I love photographing them. The above photos are of my little Barrett. He is around 6 years old but I swear he has the face of a kitten. I call him my little cutie pie. He is very shy and only likes Cody and me. Just last week for the very first time he jumped on my lap! He loves to lay next to you, but never on your lap. He also will let me pick him up and hold him for a short period of time. I decided to keep these photos simple. No photo editing. What do you think? The setting was just AUTO, nothing fancy. I will start trying to take better photos now that I am learning my settings better. I want my photos to be more crisp. They seem out of focus too often to me.
Do you take a million pictures of your Fur Babies as well??
