If you’re as distraught as I am about the harmful effects of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill on marine life, you’ll be happy to know about something we and our pets can do right from home.  

You probably wouldn’t be reading this blog if you didn’t have pets, so get out the broom and put those fur tumbleweeds to good use.

A San Francisco-based organization, Matter of Trust, has a program for stuffing that dog, cat, and human hair into used pantyhose, making hair mats to absorb the oil.

Each one of us might not save a lot of fish and birds, but together we can have a huge impact.

These folks at Matter of Trust are well organized. They have a network of receiving locations on the Gulf coast so that the response doesn’t overwhelm a single location. This is an awesome form of re-use of waste material that would otherwise stack up uselessly in landfills instead of sucking up oil floes.

Read more about their program at http://www.matteroftrust.org/ and be sure to pass this along to any hairdressers or barbers you know.

So take a minute to go now to Matter of Trust for instructions on how you can easily contribute to the cause.

Technorati Tags: oil spills, saving marine life from oil spills, pet and human hair help clean up oil spills

Veterinarian Patty Khuly, DVM, writes a daily blog called Fully Vetted.  Her recent post on pet vaccinations from a veterinarian’s perspective was food for thought. Here’s an excerpt. You can read the whole article at http://www.petmd.com/blogs/fullyvetted/2010/march/pet_vaccinations.  

“…the lion’s share of vaccines seem to provoke no illness. The pet is vaccinated in hospital and goes home within fifteen minutes, where no untoward effects of the vaccine are typically noted.

Most reactions we do see include swelling of the muzzle and face, myalgia (muscle pain) and fever, and less commonly, vomiting. These are often treated with antihistamines and pain relievers. The most severe, life-threatening reactions are very rare indeed. The only one I have had the displeasure to attend occurred in vet school when a cat, vaccinated at a nearby hospital, suffered acute respiratory distress almost immediately after a vaccine was administered. The kitty died — very quickly, I might add.

Lest I forget, let me now mention another more common, if controversial, life-threatening reaction: the vaccine-related sarcoma. As the cat people among you probably already know, vaccine-related, highly-malignant tumors are sometimes seen in cats. Although it was difficult to prove, this disease has finally received its due respect as a phenomenon related directy to vaccination. Our hospital has only seen four or five possible cases in over thirty years, but it’s out there as a potential consequence of vaccine administration.

My goal here is not to scare the bejeezus out of you, just to inform you of how we vets think about vaccines. We know they’re potentially dangerous. We all worry about the possibility of a reaction. And that extends to our families, too. I didn’t have my own son vaccinated without trepidation either, but — believe it or not — I consider it my civic duty to vaccinate myself and my whole family, pets included.

If you want to discuss safety, here’s the reality: In a population where 100 percent of the individuals are vaccinated, the safest condition is to be the only unvaccinated one. The implication here is that vaccination has its risks. Best not to receive the vaccine. But if everyone opts out, no one’s protected. A conundrum, indeed.”

What do you think about vaccinating your pets? Do you vaccinate? Do you titer instead?

Technorati Tags: pet vaccinations, titer or vaccinate, side effects of dog and cat vaccinations

If you were unhappy with the consequences Michael Vick paid for his dog fighting ring, wait until you see the sentencing for the peope responsible for the melamine-tainted pet food that killed thousands of pets. Therese Kopiwoda in her PetsitUSA blog wrote about it yesterday, and I couldn’t put it any better, so have copied most of her post here. Be sure to see her blog for the full post, www.petsitusa.com/blog.

Sally and Stephen Miller, owners of ChemNutra, Inc., the company that imported the  melamine-tainted product that killed thousands of pets in the 2007 pet food recall, are to be sentenced today. Christie Keith writes about it over on Pet Connection this morning, and sadly it looks like they’re going to get off with just a slap on the wrist. A memorandum from the government recommends giving them a light sentence:

Sentencing is scheduled for Friday, February 5, 2010, at 10:00 a.m. before United States Magistrate Judge John T. Maughmer. As more fully explained below, the Government recommends that the Court adopt the agreement of the parties and impose a sentence of three years probation on each defendant….

There’s more, so go read Christie’s post. Just be ready – it won’t put a smile on your face.

I just don’t get it. You kill pets – whether it’s by poisoning them with melamine or pitting them against each other in the dog-fighting ring and all you get is a slap on the wrist. There’s something terribly wrong when life is disregarded so easily. But, since the recommendation letters from the Miller’s Pastor and fellow church members say they’re good people, I suppose we should give them a break and overlook the fact that they were responsible for so much death.

Technorati Tags: tainted pet food, Chem Nutra, pet poisoning

February is just around the corner. Have you scheduled your pet’s dental yet? Each February I dust off my credit card and book all three animals for their dentals. It’s a big hit financially, but it’s one of those expenses that may be saving me a lot more in the future. I think of it something like an insurance policy. Hopefully my house will never  catch fire — and my cat will never suffer heart disease from infected teeth — but I can rest easier knowing I’ve taken precautions.

This morning I received the following reminder from my wonderful vet’s office, the North Seattle Veterinary Clinic:

• More than 8 out of 10 dogs and 7 out of 10 cats show signs of poor dental health by the age of three.
• Dental problems in pets – as in people – can lead to pain, tooth loss, periodontal disease, and increased bacteria in the bloodstream.
• Pets’ oral disease invariably progresses with time, as does people’s, and can result in damage to internal organs, including the heart, liver and kidneys.

Even if you brush your pets’ teeth regularly, a dental check up could save your pet serious illness in the future.

I don't feel like going to the gym today.

If the cat's not moving, neither am I.

Holding weight gain in check has been a life-long project for me, so is it any wonder that I would attract rescue dogs and cats who have spent a little too much time at the all-you-can-eat buffet? Who better than me, the master dieter, to help them reclaim the sleek lines of their youth.

Rico, The Boss Cat, did just fine as a feral cat lunching on roof rats and squirrels. It wasn’t until the hunt ended, and his life as an indoor cat began, with a steady supply of premium kibbles, that he began to beef up. He likes to call it buffed up, but most people would put him on the cusp of beefed and buffed.  Then there was Scooty who came to me morbidly obese, a 35 pound dog in a 68 pound body. Over our four years together and many pounds of Brussel’s sprout treats, she recovered her girlish figure. Now comes little Shaktipaw, carrying just two extra pounds, but on his tiny frame he’s 15% overweight.

Judging from the statistics at the Association for Pet Obesity Prevention website, overweight in our pets is a significant problem. Here are just a few facts from their website:

An estimated 14% of pets in the U.S. are obese, compared to 20% of adult humans. Add in the pets who are either overweight or obese, and the numbers jump to 50% of all pets. Just as in humans, obesity in pets leads to a variety of health conditions that compromise either quality of life or length of life  — high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and osteoarthritis.

Almost twice as many cats are obese as dogs.  Hmmm, we keep our cats indoors partly to keep them safe from the threats of wildlife, toxins, and traffic. But this obesity ratio between cats and dogs suggests that we are putting our cats at considerable risk indoors by either over-feeding or under-exercising them.

Here’s a link to some ideal weight ranges for cats and dogs. See if your furry friend needs to cut back on the chow or step up the play time.  http://petobesityprevention.com/weight_ranges.htm

Technorati Tags: health risks of pet obesity, overweight in dogs and cats

“I guess it’s my love of animals that always makes me think of them first whenever a natural disaster takes place.  So when I heard about the earthquake in Haiti last week my heart plummeted into my stomach.  It’s not that I don’t care about the people of Haiti, because I do.  It’s simply that I know the animals are not the priority for most people and they are also suffering great injury and loss.”  These words that express my own sentiments so well were written by Hope Schultz on WebVet.com’s blog.  

I’ve been watching various organizations to see who is mobilizing to help the animals in Haiti. According to Ms. Schultz, the Animal Humane Association has joined an international coalition of animal welfare agencies in preparing to aid the animals. As soon as they can gain access to Haiti, they will send a mobile clinic, staff, food, water and supplies to vaccinate against rabies.

Here is a link to the full article: http://blogs.webvet.com/main/2010/01/pets-in-haiti-whos-helping-them-.html. You will also find a link there to the Animal Humane Association’s donation site to help the animals in Haiti.

Technorati Tags: Animal Welfare, helping animals in Haiti earthquake