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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (July 28, 2011)
The Healthy Hound Pure Pixelated Cuteness Holistic pet care in Eugene Popular cat videos, explained W hen their favorite furry friend is struck with a case of the sniffl es, most people take Fido on a trip to the vet, leaving with a $40- bag of medicated kibble and considerably less money in their wallet. This approach, tried and true, is usually effective in curing what ails ‘em, as well as creating an entire generation of kittens and puppies with vet- induced PTSD. But this is Eugene, and — let’s face it — mainstream isn’t too big around here. Instead of supporting the dastardly capitalist machinations of international kibble companies, consider trying holistic veterinary medicine, an umbrella term for a collection of alternative veterinary practices intended to complement traditional veterinary care and treat the problem, not just the symptoms. Holistic veterinary care is big in Eugene, as is feeding pets well, and there are numerous stores and clinics in the area that offer acupuncture, Chinese herbs, homeopathy, raw food diets, nutritional supplements and much more for our four- legged friends. The Healing Paws Wellness Center is one such clinic. Situated at 160 E. 18th Ave., kitty-corner from Starbucks, the small clinic offers acupuncture and homeopathy treatments, nutritional counseling, herbs and supplements, and carries a variety of raw and whole foods for your dog and cat. “I’ve always been interested in holistic medicine,” Dr. Elise Radebaugh, who started the practice in 2008 with her husband, said. “I have a strong desire to rebalance and treat on a deeper level, rather than chasing symptoms.” Radebaugh said the clinic tries to steer clients away from processed kibble, favoring home-cooked, organic and raw pet food. “Our approach is to eliminate kibble,” she said. “We want to focus on balance, whether it’s mainly home-cooked or commercial.” The Healthy Pet is another store that offers holistic products. Located at 2777 BY NILS HOLST Friendly St., the store was founded in 1997 by Dr. Doreen Hock, a holistic veterinarian who has been operating in Eugene for more than 15 years, and offers a selection of foods, supplements and herbal remedies, all vetted by Hock herself. “What we try to carry is the top-of-the- line pet foods,” she said. “We don’t have a huge selection of everything, we have an edited version of what’s out there.” “We have a very loyal customer base,” said Randall Loew, a customer for 13 years who now works at the store. “We’re not just a pet store.” All American Pet offers natural, organic and holistic pet food and products. Located in Pioneer Plaza, the family-owned business has been operating in Eugene for more than 20 years. According to Richie Powell, whose mother opened the business in 1988: “We try to get as far away from chemicals as we can.” He added, “We try to educate the consumer on what is the best for their pets. “We try to treat people right, we try to be straight with them,” he said. “That’s what we strive for.” Know more places to get your pets the care and food they deserve? Let us know: letters@eugeneweekly.com ew BY BRIT MCGINNIS A YouTube video of a mother cat hugging a baby kitten has more than 30 million views. That’s more hits than the video of President Obama speaking at the 2011 White House Correspondents dinner and the video of his speech announcing the death of Osama Bin Laden combined. Thanks to the internet, people can fawn over the antics of any animal they could ever want to see. Everything from hedgehogs to honey badgers is available for viewing. So why choose to watch housecats, which people likely have more chance of encountering in daily life? Alex Kravtsov, creator of the “Kittens at Lunch !!!” video, never expected his video would gather more than 15 million views since its 2007 uploading. “I think ‘surprised’ is very lightly wrote,” he wrote in an e-mail. This was the fi rst YouTube video he ever created, and he’s since created an all-cat video website called KittyREC.com. It features more than 500 videos. He says that he never trained the cats to do the cute antics in “Kittens at Lunch !!!” That, he says, is the entire appeal of the video. “Cats are natural actors that can perform without scripts and rehearsals … Every cat is a character of its own and a natural generator of laughs.” Here’s the Greatest Cat Hits playlist, scientifi cally chosen by number of times viewed, how often they were discussed on other websites or by fellow cat video watchers at EW. • “Very angry cat – FUNNY” You could be a member of PETA or the most love-professing cat owner who ever lived. This video of a hissing cat (living in what appears to be a shelter) is able to inspire Schadenfreude in most anyone. http://wkly. ws/138 • “The two talking cats” Two cats sit side by side and mew in a way that resembles human conversation. They even have make-up licks when the conversation appears to get testy. http://wkly.ws/137 • “Cat mom hugs baby kitten” A baby kitten sleeps next to its mother in the way humans spoon. When baby kitten starts twitching, Mama cat swats the camera away and pulls baby kitten closer to her. Awwww. http://wkly.ws/136 • “Mama cat comes to rescue her little kitten” Mew! Mew! Mew! The kitten clearly doesn’t want to be on camera. But three-quarters of the way through the video, a mama cat picks up the kitten by the scruff of the neck and they “escape” from the camera’s view. http://wkly. ws/135 • “White kitten vs. white bunny” What happens when a white cat meets a white rabbit? Who knows! It hardly ever occurs in the wild, and never with such perfect color coordination. http://wkly. ws/134 Unfortunately, there are no kitty videos in the list of the most-viewed YouTube videos of all time. But Kravtsov reports that “Kittens at Lunch !!!” alone receives more than 800,000 hits per month, equaling 26,000-plus views per day. It’s only a matter of time before a cat sits next to Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber in the YouTube Hall of Fame. ew THE VERY ANGRY CAT ON YOUTUBE Compassionate, Aff ordable House Calls for Cats & Dogs EUGENE MOBILE VETERINARY SERVICES Medicine • Dentistry • Surgery Dr. Bonnie Burns 541-510-9401 www.EugeneMobileVet.com WWW.EUGENEWEEKLY.COM • BLOGS.EUGENEWEEKLY.COM EUGENE WEEKLY JULY 28, 2011 15
