Archive for February, 2007

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Bark, Bark, Bark

Wednesday, February 28th, 2007

Do you live in Clifton?  Do you have a dog that continually barks when you’re not home?  Well beware the city is planning on fines of up to $250 if your dog barks for more than 30 minutes 2 days in a row. 

So what can you do about your barking canine?  Well here are a number of training tips found on these websites:

Barking Mad                    AboutDogs                    Purina

Placerville Vet                    ASPCA                        PerfectPaws

SSPCA                           DogGroups

I personally find that the citronella collars work great but on the first few days expect to refill the collar a few times and to have the aromatherapy of citronella wafting through your house.

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Techie Litterbox

Wednesday, February 28th, 2007

As a follow up to my previous post, interesting litterboxes, here’s one for the techie’s.  It is the Litter Robot.  It is a self cleaning litterbox that has some pretty cool features.  You don’t need any fancy clumping litter, it will work with any type of kitchen catcher or larger grocery bag, it has a cool sensor system so it won’t run with Fluffy inside, and it doesn’t have a rake system that can jam.  The only draw back is that it is $299 but maybe it will be money worth spent if it stops the "I scooped that cat litter box last time" arguments.

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Personalized Kleenex?

Tuesday, February 27th, 2007

I just read about this on Steve’s blog, Doggie News.  Essentially you can send a picture of your pet or whatever and Kleenex will personalize your kleenex box.  It’s not available in Canada yet but soon.

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The Adventures of GP

Monday, February 26th, 2007

Just thought I would do something fun tonite.  Watch the video to find out about guinea pigs eating their own bedding.  And watch for more adventures of GP.

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1000’s Euthanized in Las Vegas Shelter

Monday, February 26th, 2007

I just read this from Associated Press…….

An outbreak of contagious diseases at a shelter where officials admit they kept animals for too long without destroying them has forced the killing of about 1,000 dogs and cats, officials said.

Visiting inspectors from The Humane Society of the United States discovered the outbreak of the diseases — distemper and Parvovirus in dogs and panleukopenia in cats — Lied Animal Shelter spokesman Mark Fierro said.

The mass culling, which began Feb. 9, is believed to be the largest in the city’s history and has prompted shelter officials to change their methods of caring for animals.

I talked about parvovirus in an earlier post……it is a deadly disease.  I hope that the shelter does change its vaccination protocol and hopefully this mass cull deals with the problems at the shelter and that no more lives are lost needlessly.

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Imposter Dogs?

Monday, February 26th, 2007

I just read a feed from a friend that says that Paris Hilton brought an imposter dog to the set of her new movie……

Paris Hilton’s Chihuahua Tinkerbell is an impostor, it has been claimed.

The hotel heiress’s favourite pet - who she was once inseparable from -
disappeared in 2004 and has rarely been seen since.

Paris recently brought a Chihuahua to the set of her new film ‘The Hottie
and the Nottie’ which she introduced as Tinkerbell but when compared to old
photos of her mutt it doesn’t appear to be the same dog.

A representative for Paris has denied the canine switch, saying: "There’s
only one Tinkerbell. The colour of Chihuahuas change as they grow older."

But pet expert Charlotte Reed, author of ‘The Miss Fido Manners Complete
Book of Dog Etiquette’, told Us Weekly magazine: "A Chihuahua’s fur may grey
with age, but dog nail colour stays the same.

"In the older picture, Tinkerbell has a black nail, while in the new one,
the nail is white. I don’t think it’s the same dog."

Ummmm…..who really cares?  The only thing I care about is the possibility that Paris Hilton is probably the worst example of a pet owner for the younger generation.  Many young people are puchasing these cute little dogs, not understanding what being a dog owner entails and eventually they find a new home for it.  In fact on the island I live on there was a gal who drove to another province, saw this adorable little puppy, brought it home and after 1 week realized that she wouldn’t be able to take care of it.  "Puppies are a lot of hard work you know"  Well at least she had enough good sense to give it to a loving family who adore it.

So remember, just because the Paris Hilton’s of the world, (who have tonnes of money, and lots of help to care for a dog) can raise a cute little puppy doesn’t necessarily mean that you can.

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Hairballs and other gooey stuff………

Thursday, February 22nd, 2007

How many times have you gotten out of bed in the morning and headed to the bathroom in the dark only to step on something cold and slimey?  It has happened to me on numerous occasions and it is not a pleasant feeling at 5am.

Hairballs are a large problem for many cats and rabbits.  In fact in some instances a rabbit can get so blocked that surgery is required to remove the hairballs.

Hairballs are formed when a pet grooms itself and swallows hairs. Since hair is not easily digested, it can compact with undigested food in the stomach and gastrointestinal tract.  With rabbits, who already have a slower digestive system this poses a bigger problem.  The food and hair will stay in the stomach making the rabbit feel full.  The rabbit will eventually stop eating and then the GI system comes to a standstill.  The rabbit will then become dehydrated as water is extracted from the stomach and cecal contents.  And the vicious circle sets up. 

 Now the key to dealing with hairballs is prevention.  Grooming your pet is not only a bonding experience but can help in reducing the amount of hair your pet will swallow.  There are many otc products available as hairball rememdies, I like to use tonic lax.  There are also some things at home that you can use like canned pumpkin, mineral oil, or baby food squash.  For rabbits it is particularily important that they have a lot of fresh greens in their diet, a good quality hay, and lots of fresh water.

If you suspect that your pet has a "hairball" problem consult your veterinarian.  

Some interesting sites that talk about this problem:

Lareau Lops and Cavies

Rabbit Haven

Iams

Purina

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Painted Pets

Wednesday, February 21st, 2007

Could you imagine spending $15,000 (yes I said $15,000) to have your cat painted?  Well some of these people paid that.

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Raw Food Diet…..is it all that it is cracked up to be?

Tuesday, February 20th, 2007

As I was flipping the channels last night I watched a bit of Wife Swap.  What does this have to do with a pet blog?  Well one of the families on the show ate a raw food diet, including meats, and I thought I would jot down a few things about the diet.

The most popular raw food diet for pets is called the BARF diet (biologically appropriate raw food).  Now when I was first introduced to this diet as an animal health technologist I was against the diet.  I mean why would anyone think that feeding a raw food diet would be appropriate.  There are so many commercial diets available that are nutritionally complete and who would want the risk of salmonella or campylobacter problems.  Then, working at a skin specialist veterinary clinic, I saw the benefits.  We had a malamute that was allergic to almost anything under the sun (including the sun) and once the owners put him on a homemade raw diet the dogs coat improved immensley and his energy level tripled. So I think there is a place in the pet nutrition area for a raw diet.

I have included a list of sites that talk about this diet:

BARFWorld the official BARF diet site.  It talks about the diet, some pros and cons (take it all in with a grain of salt please)

BARFpictorial Aunt Jeni talks about some of the recipes she uses to feed her dobermans.

Canismajor a post about raw food.

Seefido.com a summary of the BARF Diet.

Ability.org a site with links for recipes.

AVMA and their stance on the raw diet.

A word of caution:

Please ensure that you clean your prep area, food dishes and wash your hands!!!

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Epilepsy and the Gerbil

Tuesday, February 20th, 2007

As I wrote in a previous post, dogs can have epilepsy too, 1 out of approximately 5 gerbils can have it as well.  Stress is a major trigger for seizures, for instance when they are suddenly handled or are placed into a new environment.  Just like with dogs the gerbil will go into a prone position, the ears will go flat, the nostrils and legs will twitch.  The seizures will likely last less than a minute but if you notice one happening place your gerbil back into its cage to recover and turn off the lights.

Usually the seizures will become less frequent as the gerbil ages or gets used to it’s environment.  These "fits" are rarely life threatening but if you notice that your gerbil has frequent seizures something you may be doing could be the culprit.

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