Do you remember what you were doing in August 1989 - before most had internet and big hair was still in fashon?
Those days are becoming a distant memory, but Caroline O'Riordan of Ireland still has one big reminder of that year; Her cat Phoebe, who will turn 25 this year. Phoebe is a pure white mixed breed that wasn’t expected to live long when she was born because she was so small. O’Riordan is in the process of filling out the paperwork to have Phoebe declared the world's oldest living feline by the Guinness Book of Records. "I have Phoebe's birth cert from the vet back in August 1989 but I just have to check what other criteria Guinness now require," O’Riordan told the Independent IE. Currently, the oldest living cat is Pinky, who was born on October 31, 1989, and lives with owner, Linda Anno, in Kansas. O’Riordan attributes Phoebe’s longevity to eating properly, not allowing her to put on too much weight and making sure she gets regular exercise. Jessica Vogelsang, DVM, told Pet360 these are all good things to do to keep your cat healthy and make sure it has a long life. “Like all things in life, longevity is a roll of the dice,” said Vogelsang. “Genetics plays a role, but it doesn't matter how great your cat's genes are if he's 22 pounds and walking the streets at night. Owners play the most important role in the life of a cat.” Vogelsang offers this advice for cat parents:
The average life expectancy for cats, according to the experts, is 12-15 years. The oldest living cats on record were 38 and 39 years old.
0 Comments
April 16, 2014 - The Purina Animal Nutrition LLC feed plant in Portland, Ore., has initiated a limited recall of certain poultry feeds due to the potential for lower-than-expected vitamin and trace mineral levels. The products were distributed to retailers in Oregon and Washington. Inadequate vitamin and trace mineral levels can result in health problems, including mortality, in poultry. No customer complaints have been received to date. The products and lot numbers involved in the recall are: The problem was discovered during the investigation of an ingredient inventory discrepancy. Retailers have been contacted and instructed to immediately withdraw from sale the recalled product and notify customers who purchased the product. Customers should discontinue feeding the product immediately. Customers who purchased this product should return remaining bags to their retailer. For more information on the product recall, contact Customer Service at 1-800-245-5333, Monday through Friday 7:00 AM to 4:30 PM PDT. The tiny gorilla who made headlines recently after being born through a rare C-Section is now battling pneumonia. The San Diego Zoo Safari tweeted on Tuesday afternoon that the baby girl is being treated for the lung infection, which can make breathing difficult. Veterinarian Nadine Lamberski spent the weekend with her and told the Associated Press that she most likely contracted pneumonia when she was born as a surgical team fixed her collapse lung. The zoo said in a tweet that the gorilla's mom, 18-year-old Imani, is recovering quickly from the C-section, and that now the primary focus is to get the baby in stable condition. While the baby gorilla, who has not yet been named, fights off the infection, fans are chiming in on Twitter to cheer her on. A final goodbye: Dying zoo worker gets a kiss from giraffe (#wildlife #giraffe_kiss #zoo #goodbye)4/11/2014 The moment of a giraffe saying a special goodbye to a dying zoo worker is touching the hearts of viewers worldwide. As reported by The Independent, Mario, a zoo maintenance worker with terminal cancer, asked the Netherland’s Ambulance Wish Foundation for help visiting Rotterdam’s Diergaarde Blijdorp zoo, where he cleaned animal enclosures for nearly 25 years. The wish was granted, and what happened during the visit amazed everyone. The 54-year-old is confined to a bed, so the Ambulance Wish Foundation transported him to the zoo with a specially designed ambulance. He got wheeled around the zoo in his hospital bed, and upon entering the giraffe enclosure, one of the tall animals approached Mario, bent down and gave him a kiss. The splattering of lost dog advertisements on telephone poles may soon be a thing of the past. A new app dubbed PiP, or Positive Identification of Pet, aims to bring the search for missing animals into the digital age and help owners find lost pets using facial recognition technology. “If we can do this for humans, certainly we can do it for pets,” Philip Rooyakkers, founder of the PiP app, told TODAY.com. Pet owners can register their animals with the app, which stores a photo and basic information about your furry friend. If your pet then goes missing, you can activate an alert, which prompts PiP to contact you for more information about your situation, as well as broadcast the information to animal shelters and veterinary clinics within a 15-mile radius of the pet’s last-known location. If someone finds a pet, he or she can upload a photo of the animal's face and PiP will check its database to see if the picture matches any pet profiles. While the app is free to download, it costs $18.99 a year to register a pet with a photo and basic information. Rooyakkers says that since its launch in February, the app has been downloaded 4,000 times with about 50 percent of those downloads leading to pet registration.
Rooyakkers originally came up with the idea for PiP in 2011 when he lost his Yorkshire terrier. While he found the dog 24 hours later, the experience left him frustrated with the process. “It really bugged me that technology hadn’t kept up to this problem,” Rooyakkers said. “You’re at home trying to get this information out, but at the same time, you need to be out looking.” Shortly after, Rooyakkers remembers a black lab coming into his dog daycare business in Vancouver, Canada. The owners had only recently adopted the dog from a shelter. “He was in the shelter for less than 48 hours, but because he had no microchip, no tag, no tattoo, he was unidentifiable,” Rooyakkers said. “They had to adopt him out.” Rooyakkers was devastated for the dog’s former owners, who most likely had no idea their pet had been found and subsequently placed in a new home. “I can’t imagine how heartbreaking that would be if that happened to me,” he said. He soon began researching using facial recognition technology as a means of finding lost pets, and ended up creating the PiP app. Since its launch in January, Rooyakkers reports that the app has already helped reunite pets with parents. Most recently, a couple that lost two dogs in Colorado in March were able to use PiP to successfully find their animals. “The more we can reunite families with their pets,” Rooyakkers said, “the better it is all around.” FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - April 8, 2014 - The Robert Abady Dog Food Co., LLC of Poughkeepsie, NY, is recalling its 2 lb, 5 lb & 15 lb boxes of "Abady Highest Quality Maintenance & Growth Formula for Cats" because they have the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella, an organism which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Healthy persons infected with Salmonella often experience fever, diarrhea (which may be bloody), nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain. The recalled "Highest Quality Maintenance & Growth Formula for Cats" were distributed nationwide in retail stores and through mail orders. The product comes in a 2 lb, 5 lb & 15 lb, corrugated boxes with plastic liners marked with lot # 14029/21 stamped on the right side top of the box. No illnesses have been reported to date in connection with this problem. The potential for contamination was noted after routine testing by the company revealed the presence of Salmonella in some 2 lb, 5 lb & 15 lb boxes of "Abady Highest Quality Cat Maintenance & Stress Formula for Cats." Production of the product has been suspended while FDA and the company continue their investigation as to the source of the problem. Consumers who have purchased 2 lb, 5 lb & 15 lb boxes of "Abady Highest Quality Maintenance & Growth Formula for Cats" are urged to return them to the place of purchase for a full refund. Consumers with questions may contact the company at 1-845-473-1900, Monday – Friday, 8:30am - 5:00pm, ET. A cat spent five days trapped inside a sofa donated to a London thrift store before the new purchasers of the second-hand furniture did a first-class act: They ripped up the sofa to free the couch potato pet, tracked down his owners and returned him. Crockett, a 10-year-old tabby, apparently snuck inside the sofa after it was partially disassembled for hauling to the thrift store. "We can't believe how he must have tucked himself into the sofa during the short time the bottom was removed and remained silent for so long," said pet parent Pauline Lowe, pictured here with her husband and the returned Crockett. The sofa reportedly went through "normal routine checks" by thrift store employees before being sold on March 27. One day later, the BBC reports, the new owners heard meowing from beneath the material – and then saw two claws poking out. "In order to release the cat they had to rip the material under the sofa,” recalls the thrift store manager. During Crockett’s time in sofa solitary, pet parent Lowe was “devastated” that her cat was missing, and was “delighted” to have him back. Crockett’s furniture ripping rescuers asked to remain anonymous, but told the BBC: ''We are so thrilled that he is safe and sound and was found in time." WASHINGTON, April 08, 2014 (AFP) - Birds, fish, dolphins and turtles are still struggling in the Gulf of Mexico, four years after the worst oil spill in US history, a leading wildlife group said Tuesday.
The 2010 BP spill spewed 4.9 million barrels of oil into the waters off Louisiana, also sullying the coastlines of Mississippi, Alabama, Texas and Florida. "The science is telling us that the impacts of this are far from over," said Doug Inkley, senior scientist at the National Wildlife Federation. "Based on other oil spills, the impacts are likely to last for years, if not decades." A report issued by the National Wildlife Federation summarized recent scientific studies on 14 different types of creatures affected by the spill. Researchers have found evidence that dolphins in Louisiana's heavily oiled Barataria Bay suffer from abnormal hormone levels, lung disease and anemia. Overall, dolphins have been stranding at three times the historic rate, with some 900 washing up dead or dying from 2010 until 2013, the report said. About 500 dead sea turtles have been found annually in the area, also a rate much higher than that seen in years prior to the disaster. Bluefin and yellowfin tuna have been shown to suffer irregular heartbeats due to a chemical in oil from the spill, which began after the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded and sank, killing 11 people. Toxic oil compounds have been found at increasing levels in the blood samples of loons that winter along the Louisiana coast, it added. Sperm whales that were closer to the well have higher levels of DNA damaging metals than those in other parts of the world. Oil is still being removed from the coast, too, said Sara Gonzalez-Rothi, the National Wildlife Federation's senior policy specialist for Gulf and coastal restoration. "Last year, nearly five million pounds of oiled material from the disaster were removed from Louisiana's coast," she said. "And that's just what we've seen. An unknown amount of oil remains deep in the Gulf." Earlier this month, the US Environmental Protection Agency ended its ban on BP obtaining government contracts following the disaster. The five-year deal with the EPA will allow the British company to pursue new oil exploration leases in deepwater tracts in the Gulf of Mexico. In pleading guilty to the spill, BP agreed to pay the government $4.5 billion to settle criminal charges in the case. It also agreed in 2012 to settle damage claims by businesses and individuals for about $7.8 billion. A native Icelandic breed, the Icelandic Sheepdog is a great herding breed as well as family dog and companion. This medium-sized dog is loveable, friendly, and very devoted to its master.
Physical Characteristics The Icelandic Sheepdog looks almost rectangular from the side, at a height of 16 to 18 inches and weighing anywhere from 20 to 30 pounds. This breed comes in two different coat types, short-hair and long-hair, both with two layers. The downy undercoat is thick and soft, with a thinner straight coat lying on top. The Icelandic Sheepdog has a curly, bushy tail with pointy ears and comes in a variety of coat colors, including brown, black, gray and all tan shades. Personality and Temperament Although this dog breed was mainly used in herding, the Icelandic Sheepdog is very friendly and contains little hunting instincts. This sheepdog truly enjoys human interaction and makes a good family pet. In fact, the Icelandic Sheepdog is not only a happy dog but an intelligent one. Care With such a thick coat, this dog breed does require weekly brushing. An active exercise plan is best for the Icelandic Sheepdog. It should never be left alone for too long as isolation may result in anxiety issues. Health The Icelandic Sheepdog generally has little health issues with an average life expectancy of 12 to 16 years. Main health concerns associated with the Icelandic Sheepdog include hip dysplasia and an eye disorder called distichiasis. History and Background This breed is Iceland’s only native dog breed, spawning from the Icelandic Sheepdog’s ancestors that were brought over with the Nordic people in the 9th century. Due to the harsh conditions of Iceland’s climate, the dog breed developed to survive on the rough terrain and became an ideal farming dog. As farming needs declined into the 20th century, the Icelandic Sheepdog neared extinction. Recently breeders in Iceland and other countries have helped to reestablish the Icelandic Sheepdog, though it is still small in number. Your veterinarian has just informed you that your cat has liver disease. You want to do what’s best for your feline friend so that he can live comfortably for as long as possible. Your vet may have recommended medications to treat the underlying cause of the problem, if it has been identified. Proper nutrition is also vital.
It is important to understand the role the liver plays in health and what happens when it is not functioning properly. The liver has many functions, including:
Many disorders of the liver can ultimately damage the organ and reduce its function, including:
Most liver disorders are progressive. Liver dysfunction and eventual failure will lead to the accumulation of toxins (causing nervous system and digestive tract abnormalities), the reduction of protein synthesis (resulting in leaky blood vessels and fluid accumulation and clotting problems), and low blood sugar levels. Dietary therapy can help the liver to function as well as possible and reduce further damage to the liver. The goals of nutritional intervention are to:
The first step is to change your cat’s diet to a formula that meets these characteristics. There are several types of brands to choose from depending on a cat’s specific needs. A home prepared diet made from a recipe put together by a veterinary nutritionist familiar with your cat’s case is another option for owners willing to cook for their cats. Your veterinarian can help you determine which diet is best. In general, diets for cats with liver disease should have:
It is always important to make dietary changes slowly to increase the chances of the cat accepting the new food. If the cat is unwilling to eat anything, a feeding tube should be placed to avoid a negative energy state and the development or worsening of hepatic lipidosis (fatty liver syndrome). If hepatic encephalopathy is present, a diet with low protein levels can help reduce the production of ammonia (a by-product of protein digestion). When ascites (fluid retention in the abdomen) is a problem, a very low sodium diet will help prevent worsening of the condition. Owners need to work closely with their veterinarians not only when cats are first diagnosed with liver disease, but at regular intervals to continue to provide the nutrition necessary for the longest, healthiest life possible. |
The PAW Blog...
For the LOVE of Pets The goal of this blog is to help educate pet owners by sharing pet health facts and pet news articles...and ... sometimes put a smile on your face with a cute or funny pet story! Categories
All
Archives
April 2024
Search for any topic...
|