Danielle from Staten Island, NY, and her beloved Trouble spent 18 wonderful years together and before his passing, she had a small sample of his cells harvested for cloning. It’s been 3 years since Trouble’s death, but Danielle’s house is still a shrine to his memory, and she even preserved the last piece of chicken he ate from…”

To Read More, Click Here.

BILLINGS, Mont. — A dog that was feared dead after he was swept away in a weekend avalanche that killed his owner showed up four days later at the Montana motel where his owners had stayed the night before going backcountry skiing.

Search and rescue team member Bill Whittle said he was “positive” that the Welsh corgi – named Ole – had been buried in Saturday’s avalanche.

“The avalanche guys were up there on Monday investigating and they were looking for the dog too and never seen any signs,” he said.

But on Wednesday, Ole showed up exhausted and hungry back at the motel, four miles from where the slide occurred, the Billings Gazette reported.

“When I first saw the dog, it was sitting in front of their room staring at the door,” Cooke City Alpine Motel owner Robert Weinstein said in an email to The Associated Press on Thursday.

Dave Gaillard of Bozeman was skiing with his wife when the avalanche struck near Cooke City, an old mining town just outside Yellowstone National Park…

To learn more about this story, Click Here!

FDA issued a cautionary warning regarding chicken jerky products to consumers in September 2007 and a Preliminary Animal Health Notification in December of 2008. After seeing the number of complaints received drop off during the latter part of 2009 and most of 2010, the FDA is once again seeing the number of complaints rise to the levels of concern that prompted release of our earlier warnings.

Chicken jerky products should not be substituted for a balanced diet and are intended to be fed occasionally in small quantities.

FDA is advising consumers who choose to feed their dogs chicken jerky products to watch their dogs closely for any or all of the following signs that may occur within hours to days of feeding the products:

• decreased appetite
• decreased activity
• vomiting; diarrhea, sometimes with blood
• increased water consumption and/or increased urination.

If the dog shows any of these signs, stop feeding the chicken jerky product. Owners should consult their veterinarian if signs are severe or persist for more than 24 hours. Blood tests may indicate kidney failure (increased urea nitrogen and creatinine). Urine tests may indicate Fanconi syndrome (increased glucose). Although most dogs appear to recover, some reports to the FDA have involved dogs that have died.

FDA, in addition to several animal health diagnostic laboratories in the U.S., is working to determine why these products are associated with illness in dogs. FDA’s Veterinary Laboratory Response Network (VLRN) is now available to support these animal health diagnostic laboratories. To date, scientists have not been able to determine a definitive cause for the reported illnesses. FDA continues extensive chemical and microbial testing but has not identified a contaminant.

The FDA continues to actively investigate the problem and its origin. Many of the illnesses reported may be the result of causes other than eating chicken jerky. Veterinarians and consumers alike should report cases of animal illness associated with pet foods to the FDA Consumer Complaint Coordinator in their state or go to http://www.fda.gov/petfoodcomplaints.

For safe 100% made in the USA Chicken Dog Treats, you can purchase them Here.

A 600-year-old dog eating festival in Qianxi, China was banned this week after a massive social media outcry called for its cancellation. Fifteen thousand dogs are slaughtered annually at the festival, which commemorates a battle fought in the town. Before the battle, an invading army killed all the dogs in the town of Qianxi to prevent being exposed by barking dogs. After capturing the town, the army ate the dog meat to celebrate.

From then until the ’80s, the dogs were killed immediately before being cooked and served. Then the Chinese government intervened and banned on-site butchery. But the practice began to creep back into the festival over the past few years. Pictures of carnage from the dog eating festival made their way on to the internet, incensing thousands. This year, many of them took to the internet to call for the festival to be banned. The Chinese government reacted by banning the festival…

To Learn More, Click Here

]]> http://www.petspace.com/index.php/2011/12/petspace-chinese-dog-eating-festival-banned/feed/ 0 http://www.petspace.com/index.php/2011/08/petspace-outside-or-inside-cat/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=petspace-outside-or-inside-cat http://www.petspace.com/index.php/2011/08/petspace-outside-or-inside-cat/#comments Fri, 26 Aug 2011 23:49:12 +0000 admin http://www.petspace.com/?p=850 Of course, fresh air and sunshine are good for anyone — human or cat. But is the outdoor life really more “natural” for your cat?

What’s waiting for your cat just outside your front door? Yes, there are trees and grass and all the sights, sounds, smells, and joys of nature — good things for all of us to savor. But there are also vicious animals, cruel people, traffic, disease, and animal control officers (who may be within their legal right to grab and impound your cat, if he steps off your property). The only reliable way to keep your cat safe from all of these deadly hazards is to keep him indoors.

Truth be told, country cats aren’t necessarily safer outdoors than city cats. Sure, there’s a lot more chance of being hit by a car or mauled by a stray dog in the city. But out in the country, we’ve got some predators that run bigger, quicker, and savvier than a feral city dog. We’ve also got less light on the roads, making strays harder to see — and easier to hit — and usually more kinds of disease-bearing insects, such as ticks.

So be careful with which you choose. If you want an outside cat, then be sure the outside environment is safe.

Animal shelters. Millions of homeless cats end up being euthanized in animal shelters every year. Adopting from a shelter saves a life, makes room for another cat, and is an inexpensive way to obtain a pet with low-cost shots and neutering. Be prepared to go through applications and interviews, some of which might seem a little too personal and pushy. Don’t take it personally — they have good reasons for it. Also, be sure to check the facilities and the condition of the adoptable pets. Since the animals live in close company, illness, worms, and fleas can be a problem.

Breeders. If you want a purebred cat, this is the way to go. Good breeders are extremely knowledgeable about cats in general and their breed in particular and are careful about who they sell their cats to. Beware of “bargain” purebreds and “basement breeders” (people who breed strictly for profit). A reputable breeder is interested in maintaining a high-quality animal, keeps careful records, and usually only produces one or two litters per breeding female per year.

Determine appropriate lighting. Use a heat source. Heat is important to a reptile’s environment. Use heat that allows the enclosure to be warm in one end and cool in another. Keep heat devices outside of the cage to lower the risk of burns.

Discover if the reptile is a herbivore, carnivore or omnivore. Commercial diets are available for plant eaters.

Finally, Keep the reptile’s environment clean. By cleaning the cage or aquarium weekly, the enclosure will remain free of micro-organisms and parasites. Supply fresh food and water daily in clean dishes.

For new birds, try starting with sunflower seeds, then experiment with other seeds or mixtures. A table showing the seed preferences of various bird groups can be seen at the bottom of this page. Remember that the table is a generalization, and that some bird species have different preferences in different parts of their ranges.

Suet is a good choice for attracting insect-eating birds. Most suet is beef kidney fat, which is inexpensive and available at many meat counters. Suet also can be purchased as processed cake that includes seeds, berries, and other ingredients. Be careful if you offer suet in hot weather; it may become rancid if it has not been specially processed.

• Unexplained weight loss
• Difficulty breathing
• Vomiting
• Really bad diarrhea
• Not eating or drinking
• Abnormal inactivity
• Lumps on the body
• Blood in urine or not urinating at all
• Abnormal behaviors
• Sneezing and hacking
• Abnormal aggressiveness
• They aren’t using the litter box

If any of these behaviors catch your attention you should take your cat to the veterinarian.

No matter how clean you keep your cat there is always the chance that some little parasite is going to call your cat’s body its home. If you are keeping a good eye on the health and well being of your cat, you might be able to determine when one of these pesky parasites are moving in.