i get my vegetables and fruits from the market. they are not fit to sell but lets say the cauliflower florets are a little brown and the leaves are wilted and the broccoli florets are a little yellow that day. So i pick them up and bring them home i put this food in 5 gallon buckets till i need to feed it to the worms. if i stick a salt meter in the vegetables they show salt content. After they have been packed (pre composted) and broken down i open the buckets if i check the buckets for salt it is off the charts. how do i keep my food supply from getting such a high salt content?

Poinsettias are not really that bad- they taste terrible and I haven't seen any animal eat enough of it to get into trouble. Mistletoe is bad. Lilies are bad. Most berries (holly etc.) are bad. There is nothing special about human vs dog meat. The problem is that "a little meat" to a 150 pound person is a LOT of meat (and fat) to a 20 pound dog. The extra fat- whether from meat, cheese, grease, etc.- is the risk factor for pancreatitis. Lots of people dump the extra gravy or fat drippings onto their dogs' food and the dog subsequently gets pancreatitis. Another risk factor- paper towels used to soak up grease disposed of in a non-pet-proof garbage can is also a potential problem- seen a couple cases of pancreatitis WITH GI blockage from that scenario. What a nightmare for the dog. Had a couple nervous moments from my dogs eating glass ornaments. Oops. The curly ribbon can also cause blockages especially in cats. Chewing on wires is an electrocution risk. One of my dogs burned her tongue on a hot light bulb in an electric candle- it was mild but she yelped and I felt bad. Alcohol is dangerous for pets- it can cause decreased heart rate and blood pressure leading to arrest. De-icing chemicals are caustic to pets' paws, so if you live somewhere cold, avoid treated areas and/or invest in booties. At 73 degrees today, I'm not worried :)

lette_04- I've been through several brands of salt grinders over the years. My first grinder I bought from King Arthur Flour Company was an Emsa, but it had a small chamber and was difficult to change the grind. I now use it to grind whole nigella seeds (a nice change-of-pace taste to black pepper). We had a set of small and large G'Rabbit grinders (has ears that look like a rabbit and they were almost a kitchen "pet"). Very easy to use with one hand, but we managed to break the ears on one of the small ones, and both sizes were messy. Fast forward several years.... I have a pair of OXO salt and pepper grinders I really like, and OXO has several different styles available. The ones I have are at the Amazon link below. I purchased mine at K-Mart, on sale, for about half the Amazon price. You can easily change the coarseness of the grind with your thumb (5 choices of grind). They are easy to use if you have a small hand (with a nice soft grip), they don't take up much cabinet space and are easy to refill. Because they store with the grinder up, you don't have a mess where ever you store them. -Grainlady Here is a link that might be useful: OXO Salt Grinder

When I vacuum and put the kids floor pillows on the chair Her Royal Highness assumes her position: I had a post written up this morning that i forgot to post and subsequently closed the browser thinking I'd posted. Much shorter now: Replaced our worn out sofa w/ a white machine washable slipcovered one. I purposely bought it so that the dog could be on it. I throw the slips in the laundry w/ a crap load of bleach and they come out fantastically and the only thing that I haven't been able to fully get out was the gel ink stain from a pen that exploded a few weeks ago. Oh well! I have a white metalasse' throw that I put over the back of it because Poochina likes to lay on the back of the sofa and observe what goes on outside. I currently have faux leather chairs that wipe off easily and cleanly. When they are totally trashed someday I will replace w/ real leather because I know it works for my needs. I gave up heavy comforters a few yrs ago in lieu of machine washable quilts that I turn down when I'm home and the gal is following me around and when we go to work I pull it up all of the way and she sleeps up there until we come home. On her white sofa: Proving that no space is too small for her to squeeze into and cuddle w/ someone.