Healthy Pets, Healthy Lives !
The evolution of pathogens to resist drugs designed to kill them is widely understood to be one of the biggest public health challenges of our time. One key to curbing antimicrobial resistance is more judicious use of antibiotics in medicine. But a glaring deficiency hampers the effort for companion animal veterinarians: No one knows how much of the drugs are used in cats and dogs nationally. The U.S. Food and…
The infectious and contagious rabies virus, shown here in a colorized micrograph, can be transmitted to humans through the bite or saliva of an infected animal. Thanks to protective vaccination of pets, rabies was eliminated from the U.S. dog population in 2007, though a bite from infected bats, skunks and raccoons can still transmit the virus. Bio photo Associates/Science Source hide caption toggle caption Bio photo Associates/Science Source The infectious and contagious…
Dog’s name and age: Dexter, 5 years Dexter’s story: Dexter was 5 months when I adopted him from a family who could not provide the care he needed. He is happy and cared for now. Dexter loves to travel and hike with his family. Seeing new places always makes Dexter smile. Dexter has learned a bunch of tricks including sit, paw, jump, bark, whisper, and spin. Dexter also loves to…
Dog’s name and age: Zelda, 13 years Zelda’s story: Everyone knows that when you lose a family member it leaves a huge hole in your heart. It had been months since we had to put our very old, very much loved, blue eyed lab/husky mix down per the advice of our vet. She grew up with our children from preschool to teenage years. That’s a lifetime of growing up together,…
There will be a whippet named Bourbon and a Pekingese named Wasabi. A French bulldog named Mathew — wait, shouldn’t that be Mathieu? — won the nonsporting group, and an Old English Sheepdog called Connor was judged the best of the herding entries. (He also looked big enough to eat a couple of them if the result had not gone his way.) On Saturday night, the judges at the annual…
Four dog breeds are newly eligible to compete in this year’s Westminster Dog Show. They are (from left) a Barbet, a Biewer terrier, a Belgian Laekenois and a Dogo Argentino. John Minchillo/AP hide caption toggle caption John Minchillo/AP Four dog breeds are newly eligible to compete in this year’s Westminster Dog Show. They are (from left) a Barbet, a Biewer terrier, a Belgian Laekenois and a Dogo Argentino. John Minchillo/AP…
10 simple steps to tackle dog anxiety, fearfulness and aggression The most challenging dogs have been traumatized early on, unless their genetic predisposition and breeding has made them naturally fearful and anxious, but even then, as we know, genes are only a small part of their overall personality expression. Epigenetics, the influence of the environment on gene expression, plays a far greater role. Most of us have seen nice chihuahuas…
A 3-year-old New Jersey boy died after falling from a back window, landing in his backyard and getting mauled by his family’s dogs, according to authorities. Officers responded to a home just before 5:30 p.m. ET Wednesday and found the child with serious injuries, Elizabeth Police Chief Giacomo Sacca, Police Director Earl Graves and acting Union County Prosecutor Lyndsay V. Ruotolo said in a joint statement Thursday. The child, who…
The first time you notice your dog slowly creeping beneath a low-hanging branch or a dangling tablecloth, head moving languorously side-to-side and a far-away look in his eye, you might worry that it heralds a seizure, or points to obsessive-compulsive tendencies. But once the pup has performed this ritual repeatedly with no apparent ill effects to health (his) or property (yours), you may simply wonder what causes this hypnosis-like behavior.…
People around the world have been spending more time at home since the start of 2020. For many of these people, this seemed like the perfect opportunity to get a pet. In the UK alone, an estimated 3.2 million households have acquired a pet since the start of the pandemic. Dogs were the most popular new acquisition (57%) with cats a close second (38%). This sudden increase in pet ownership…