Garlic
The animal blog over at OrlandoSentinel.com is reporting that keepers at the Shanghai zoo are feeding garlic to their penguins! Apparently the pengins have suffered from a mold that's grown in their enclosure in the past, during the summer rainy season, and the keepers are hoping the garlic will help prevent respiratory problems this year, along with stomach and intestinal problems. (The birds aren't too keen on the garlic — it's not part of their natural diet.)
If you're not familiar with the legendary powers attributed to garlic, many dog owners swear by them. Garlic is an age-old preventive for fleas. You can mix a clove into your dog's food, mince it into a cheese or cream cheese treat, bake it into a cookie (cooking will lessen some of garlic's healthy properties, but it will still do its job) — the list of ways to give garlic is endless. Most dogs love the flavor. Garlic pills and garlic powder (without salt) are also popular ways to give garlic to dogs.
You may have read or heard that garlic can be dangerous to dogs. Garlic would only be dangerous if given in enormous amounts (if a dog ate several bulbs at one time), the same as it would be harmful to humans if given in large enough quantities to make someone sick. Give your dog garlic in small amounts and you will see benefits with no harmful effects.
I have given my dogs garlic for many years and they love it. Many people I know add garlic to dog cookies when they make them for their dogs.
Here's a great cookie recipe for your dog containing garlic. Try it and see how much he loves it — and you!
Liver Bow-Wows
2 lbs chicken livers
2 C corn meal
2 C wheat germ
2 eggs
2 1/2 tsp. granulated garlic (not salt)
1/2 C dried parsley
Liquefy livers in food processor, pour into mixing bowl and add other ingredients. Mix until smooth like a brownie batter. Spread on a cookie sheet (1/2 sheet cake size) until it's evenly spread about 1/3 inch thick. Bake at 350 F for about 35 minutes. When cool cut into squares, or whatever shapes you prefer. I keep them in a ziplock bag in the refrigerator. Dogs go nuts!
July 6th, 2007 at 10:09 am
Excellent! Great article about garlic. Yes we seem to get a little carried away with what will harm us or our pets. A little moderation goes a long way. The problem with feeding your buddy dog garlic is that everyone in the house will need to eat garlic. Actually that isn't a bad idea either. Now if we could get the whole world to eat whole garlic, the world would smell a little better.