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
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