Date: Wed, 22 Sep 1999 23:57:45 -0700 From: Kelly Co Postmaster To: Maltese Lovers Subject: Maltese Lovers e-Letter Vol. 1, Issue 3; Sep 1999 ~ The Maltese Lovers e-Letter(SM) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ An opt-in newsletter from The Kelly's Maltese(TM) containing tips and topics about Maltese, and news about our pet products, pet grooming products and updates at our website: http://www.kellyco.com/maltese/ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In this issue: ========= 1. Postscript to last month's article "Battling an old Foe" ~ 2. Taking care of your Maltese's ears ~ 3. Coming soon to a theater near you...Maltese video ~ 4. New pet product: "Best Friends" pet art cards/gifts ~ ========= 1. Postscript to last month's article "Battling an old Foe" I forgot to mention a key "natural" and often effective method for helping to rid your dog of fleas--the addition of granular* garlic to your dog's diet. *We use granular garlic, not only because it is more convenient to prepare for a large number of dogs, but also because the strength of fresh garlic may initially cause some stomach upset and/or loose stool. The introduction of any new foods to a Maltese's diet can often cause those type reactions, but once they become accustomed to the foods those problems usually disappear. We have also found that granular, as opposed to powdered, garlic has less affect on the smell (and hence, taste) of the dogs food. Whichever is used, granular or fresh garlic, only a very small amount is needed. With granular garlic, just a dash or light sprinkle on one of their daily meals will do. If you are feeding strictly dry food and you use granular garlic, you may need to moisten a portion of the food to get the granules to stick to it. Besides helping to repel fleas, adding garlic to your dog's diet may also improve your dog's health in many other ways, such as: strengthened immunities, benefits to the heart and circulatory system, improved digestion, and healthier skin. There are probably other benefits as new discoveries about garlic are being made every day. ========= 2. Taking care of your Maltese's ears Unless properly cared for, the ears of a Maltese dog can become infected, or be infested with mites. Either condition can become serious and is usually signaled by any of the following in the ear: foul smell, dark waxy chunks or coating, runny discharge. A healthy Maltese ear should appear clean and pink, and should not stink. (Hey, that rhymed!:) Remember, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Here's the procedure we use to keep our dogs' ears healthy and free of infections and infestations. First, cleanse the outer ear during bathing, being careful NOT to probe deeply into the inner ear and NOT to direct any streams of water directly into the ear. Dry the ears thoroughly, first using a towel, then with a blow dryer on medium or low heat and velocity. When the ears are dry, do the following with each ear in turn: 1) Lift the outer ear up and back over the head so the ear canal is exposed and then tilt the dog's head to the side so that the exposed ear canal is facing upward for your inspection. 2) Sprinkle a small amount of "Ear Powder" into the ear canal. The ear powder helps absorb any residual moisture and also provides some "grip" for hair removal in step 4). (Ear Powder is one of the pet products we offer, see: http://www.kellyco.com/pet-products/grooming.html .) 3) Rotate the dog's head back to its normal position and lower the outer ear back down so that it is hanging normally. Rub the outer ear, close to the base at the head, to spread the ear powder within the ear. If your dog wants to shake their head at this point, encourage them to do so--it will help spread the powder within their ear. 4) Repeat step 1) to regain access to the ear canal in which you just applied ear powder. Then, use a small pair of scissor handled tweezers to remove most of the fine wispy hair within the ear canal by gently pulling it out. This will not hurt your dog as long you only pull the fine wispy hair within the ear canal and NOT the normal hair outside the ear. You will find that it pulls out quite easily and does not require excessive yanking. The ear powder applied in step 2 will help provide some grip to make it easier to get a hold of the hair to be pulled. (We also offer small scissor handled tweezers, see: http://www.kellyco.com/pet-products/grooming.html .) The removal of this hair will help prevent mite infestation, as well as help reduce waxy buildups or deposits of material which promote infection. 5) While you still have the dog in the hair pulling position, also look for any dark, chunky or waxy looking deposits, and clean them out with a Q-Tip or cotton-tipped swab. IMPORTANT NOTE: If there are signs of infection, i.e., redness, inflammation, deposits, discharges, and/or strong smell, you should see your Veterinarian and they will most likely prescribe something to apply within the ear, such as "Panalog" ointment, to kill the infection or infestation and promote quick healing. ========= 3. Coming soon to a theater near you...Maltese video We recently set up a video capture card on our computer and will soon be capturing some videos of our Maltese. We will also be able to capture still images, and that will provide us with a quicker way to post new images on our website. Hopefully now, when someone e-mails us and requests to see a puppy they are interested in, we can either do a quick video or still image capture, and we won't have to shoot up a whole roll of film and then wait for film developing and scanning, etc. Keep an eye on our website and watch for the coming theater of the Maltese! ========= 4. New pet product: "Best Friends" pet art cards/gifts We're proud to announce the newest addition to our pet products line, which also happens to be our current Featured Product and Special-- "Best Friends" by Ruth Maystead™. Beautiful Gifts + Collectibles with Pet Animal Artwork, including: Notecards, Christmas Cards, Listpads, Notepads, Jewelry Pins + Pendants, Ornaments, Musical Gift Bags, Magnets, and Collectible Prints. Most dog breeds are represented, including of course, MALTESE, as well as some cats, horses and even mules! While these items are already inexpensive for their quality and value, we're also offering this introductory SPECIAL -- 10% OFF All Listed Prices on "Best Friends" products! See our web page at http://www.kellyco.com/pet-products/specials.html for "Best Friends" products available by breed and ordering details. ========= Until next issue...give your Maltese a hug for us, and we'll give ours a hug for you. The Editor The Kelly's Maltese(TM) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~