Tag Archives: pet care

Winter walks with the pups … and PETA op-ed

November 28, 2016 admin

Cece and Rosalie say: Brrrr! Today was a winter hat day!

Cats should always be indoors – especially during the winter months. Very short-haired pups, older dogs need sweaters if they’re going out for a walk. Rose gets into walking Jett and Lilac during winter!Their walk today was invigorating!!! Here are her pups two days ago – buck-naked! Jett is half Siberian Husky and likes it cooler – no sweaters for him, thank you. Lilac has a pretty pink coat – a gift from one of Rose’s gal pals, but Rose is noncommittal. Lilac is so strong, healthy and high-spirited – putting a pink coat on her seems … silly. And a little demeaning. Truth is Rose thinks coats are for kids – not for dogs. Dogs are tough and beautiful. Rose likes to see her dogs looking like themselves. She tends to feed her guys more chow during wintertime. They bulk up some, their body fat keeps them warm. The way it would in nature. – R.T.

Cece has a kitten-crush on Lilac! pics: R.T.

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FEASTING ON CRUELTY

By Paula Moore

Imagine being thrown onto a table and pinned down as someone cuts off one of your arms. A group of nervously giggling diners is sitting nearby—ready to feast on your flesh. You’re terrified and in excruciating pain, and you want nothing more than to get away. But you can’t escape. You’re kept alive, conscious and in pain, until each limb is cut off, one by one, for other diners. Then you’re killed. It sounds like the plot of a horror movie, but at some restaurants—including in the United States—this is the fate of octopuses who are hacked apart while still alive for the Korean dish “sannakji” (literally, “wriggling octopus”).

It should go without saying that eating live animals doesn’t just push the boundaries of good taste. It’s animal abuse, plain and simple.

PETA eyewitnesses visited restaurants in New York and Los Angeles where mutilated sea animals are dished up while still alive and conscious. At T Equals Fish, for example, eyewitnesses watched in horror as chefs held down an octopus—nicknamed “Pearl”—cut off some of her sensitive limbs with a butcher knife, then quickly plated and served them to customers while they were still writhing.

But Pearl’s agonizing ordeal was far from over. At this restaurant, mutilated octopuses are kept alive until other customers order the remaining limbs. Trying desperately to escape, Pearl was pushed aside like a halved tomato. According to the chef, only after every last limb was cut off would staff then rip out her intestines and let her die.

At some restaurants, lobsters’ tails are torn off, prepared “sashimi style” and plated right next to their mutilated but still-living bodies for the amusement of patrons. Live lobsters can only watch, helplessly, as diners eat their severed tails.

Chefs “prepare” live shrimp by cutting their tails off and plating them alongside their moving bodies or by tearing off their protective exoskeletons so that diners can bite right into their flesh.

Restaurants also steam octopuses, lobsters and other animals alive in “live seafood” hot pots. Raucous and giggling restaurant-goers often poke at the struggling animals, and some customers are “tasked” with keeping them in the pots because they try so desperately to escape the hot steam.

Sea animals are not merely swimming vegetables, and it’s not OK to chop them up as if they were carrots or cucumbers. Lobsters and octopuses are smart, have unique personalities—and are sensitive to pain.

Researchers know that octopuses are extremely intelligent and curious animals. They play, just as dolphins and dogs do, and are often mischief-makers in aquariums. Readers may recall news stories from earlier this year about Inky, the octopus who cleverly waited until “lights out” at the National Aquarium of New Zealand, then squeezed through a small gap at the top of a tank, scampered across the floor and slid down a 164-foot drainpipe to freedom.

Researcher Michael Kuba says that lobsters are “quite amazingly smart animals.” They use complicated signals to explore their surroundings and establish social relationships.

Shrimp are social beings who use sound or polarized light to communicate. Some live in complex colonies similar to beehives, while others mate for life.

And, like all animals, sea animals feel pain. Cephalopod expert Dr. Jennifer Mather says, “[Octopuses] can anticipate a painful, difficult, stressful situation—they can remember it. There is absolutely no doubt that they feel pain.” According to invertebrate zoologist Dr. Jaren G. Horsley, “[A] lobster is in a great deal of pain from being cut open … [and] feels all the pain until its nervous system is destroyed.”

Eating out shouldn’t be a blood sport. Please don’t patronize restaurants that have live-animal dishes on the menu, and let the manager know why you’re staying away. And consider going vegan. These days, it’s easier than ever to do, so there’s no reason for any animals—dead or alive—to end up on our plates.

Fashion

Spaying/neutering your cat – always a fashion-must: Snip ‘kitten season’ in the bud this spring!

April 12, 2016 admin

Chef Joey’s beautiful kitties are “fixed”! (He also owns three dogs and feeds/cares for various and sundry feral cats in his big backyard.) Go, Joey, go!!!!

By Lindsay Pollard-Post

As surely as April showers bring May flowers, spring’s longer days bring kittens—lots and lots of them. Animal shelters from the Carolinas to California brace for what the sheltering community calls “kitten season.” It’s the time of year, starting in early spring and extending through the fall, when litter after litter of homeless kittens and pregnant cats come pouring in, and shelters scramble to accommodate them all.

Kittens may be cute, but the consequences of their overpopulation are anything but. Many are born on the streets—behind dumpsters or in dirty alleys—while others get their ill-fated start in life in rural areas. Unless they are rescued, most of these kittens will suffer and die young after being hit by a car, getting attacked by predators or cruel people, succumbing to weather extremes, contracting deadly diseases or suffering some other cruel fate. According to a study published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, 75 percent of free-roaming kittens disappear or die before they are 6 months old. The 25 percent who manage to survive to this age will likely have litters of their own, creating even more kittens with nowhere to go.

Some lucky kittens end up in animal shelters, but often this means that older cats who have been there for a while must be euthanized in order to make room for the newcomers. Limited-admission shelters avoid this scenario only by turning animals away when they reach capacity, leaving it to open-admission shelters to accommodate the overwhelming influx.

Neonatal kittens who come in without mothers must be bottle-fed around the clock—a demanding task that most shelters can’t manage without help from volunteers. Some shelters hold training sessions for foster families who take kittens home and care for them until they can be adopted. Others even throw “kitten showers” to stock up on kitten milk replacer, cat litter and other necessities. But the most important thing any of us can do to alleviate kitten season is to prevent more kittens from being born in the first place by making sure that our own cats—and the cats of our friends, family members and neighbors—are spayed or neutered.

Putting off spaying and neutering can result in “oops” litters: Kittens can become mothers themselves when they’re as young as 4 months of age. And even if they are kept indoors (as all cats should be, to protect them from the many dangers that lurk outside), their raging hormones can compel even the most docile among them to bolt through an unattended doorway in search of a mate.

One unspayed female cat and her offspring can lead to a staggering 370,000 kittens in just seven years. Guardians of male cats aren’t off the hook, either: Males can become fathers at just 5 months of age, and one male can impregnate countless females.

Many communities operate low-cost or free spay/neuter clinics that make it easy to do the right thing. Having cats “fixed” also has many health benefits: It eliminates females’ risk of uterine cancer and greatly reduces their risk of mammary cancer, and it prevents testicular cancer and reduces the risk of prostate cancer in males. Sterilized cats are also much less likely to roam, fight or spray.

So this spring, let’s make sure that every cat is spayed or neutered before those May flowers start blooming—and snip kitten season in the bud.

Animal Issues

Franny just sent us these adorable bunny photos!

March 25, 2016 admin

Too cute! Happy Easter from Linus and pals!

Photos and text by Franny McKeever

Franny volunteers at this excellent non-profit where she adopted her beauties.

To learn about proper house rabbit care and to adopt a bunny from the House Rabbit Network, CLICK HERE! – R.T.

This is Stella, the bunny we took in as a foster bunny, but we never could let her go! Here she is, flopped asleep on our kitchen floor.

This is Greta and Linus snuggling together. Bunnies are very social and spend most of their time together.

I adopted Linus from The House Rabbit Network. They rescued Linus from euthanization at an overcrowded shelter. He had been dumped there after spending several months in a cage in someone’s basement with little contact.

He was most likely an impulsive Easter purchase for someone who had no interest in caring for a bunny. I am very happy to say that he bonded with our female bunny, Greta, after being neutered. He now lives free-range in our home with Greta. He loves attention and is a very sweet bunny!

Linus is very relaxed, with his feet stretched out!

Animal Issues

Elegy for Mollie

March 21, 2016 admin

By Edith Morgan

She passed away quietly, after a shudder, several raspy breaths, and a faint “meow.” And so Mollie, my cat of more than 10 years, gave up the last of her nine lives, cradled in our arms and kept warm and stroked for several hours.

I have always been “a cat person.” Working full-time teaching, caring for a house, and mothering numerous foster children, I could not realistically care for a dog who would have needed daily walks. So cats always seemed the perfect companions for us.

I never went out looking for a cat – they always seemed to come to me; usually it was someone who had had to move to a new place that did not allow pets. Once I received two stunningly beautiful pure Persians, who came to me in a duffle bag, cuddled up together and zipped up, for the trip from Manhattan to Worcester. They seemed to be very comfortable in their new home with me, and spent most of their waking time arranging themselves and posing at the head of the stairs. They spent several happy years here, but as they were already older, I did not have them too long.

So I have over the last few decades been home to Siamese, long-haired orange cats, alley cats, and strays of various hues and dispositions – some sleek, some more rotund (like the one the kids called “fat cat”).

But the one that was with us the longest was Mollie. We did not name her – I would have hoped for a more interesting or unusual name, but we stayed with the name she had when she arrived here, in the company of a long-haired orange cat – who was a hunter and outdoor roamer. But right from the start, Mollie was an indoor cat – and definitely NOT a hunter. She spent the first two or three years here confined to my niece’s bedroom, out of the mainstream.

But when my niece moved out, Mollie suddenly found herself with the run of the whole house: three floors, a basement, and several adults who could pick her up, pet her, speak to her and provide lap space whenever she wanted it.

It took a long time for Mollie to warm up to other people: having spent so much time with just one person, she had to have time to get used to the stream of visitors to her world. But she eventually started to come down and “mix” and even selected her special visitors who were to be graced by her deigning to sit in their laps and allow them to per her.

There was not a question in our minds as to who owned the house: Mollie’s attitude was always that it was hers, and she allowed us to stay there, feed her, clean out her kitty litter box, and tend to her needs as she made them known to us.

This past year she developed an exploratory yen: she found her way into the space between the bathroom ceiling on the second floor and the kitchen ceiling on the first floor and spent several days in that space, refusing to come out. After we finally coaxed her out of there, didn’t she do it again TWICE!!! She also sniffed out where our kitchen mouse used to run across the floor, but of course it was below her dignity to chase it.

Mollie loved to sit on our shoulders when we watched TV or perched on my neck when I was reading. She always knew where I was trying to read the paper and plunked herself right down on that page. But she always rewarded our efforts with purring loudly and steadily!

We will sorely miss her – she was really a family member, independent and full of surprises.

Sleep in peace, Mollie.

Animal Issues

Is your dog in danger of being “flipped”?

January 25, 2016 admin

By Lindsay Pollard-Post

Do you know where your dog is right now? If the answer is “outside” and not under your watchful eye, don’t keep reading—go get your dog. A disturbing crime called “dog flipping” is on the rise, and unattended animals are the prime targets.

“Flippers” prowl neighborhoods looking for animals they can obtain for free and then sell on sites like Craigslist. Friendly, roaming dogs and cats are flippers’ favorite victims. Some animals have even been abducted right out of their guardians’ yards.

Last December, a Texas family’s 11-year-old dog, Sushi, went missing after apparently escaping through a hole in their backyard fence. Weeks later, her family spotted an ad on Craigslist featuring a dog who looked exactly like her. But after they inquired about the dog, the ad was removed.

Another Craigslist ad appeared advertising a dog who resembled Sushi. This time, Sushi’s guardian arranged a meeting with the seller to buy the dog at a store parking lot. The dog’s fur was a different color—it had apparently been dyed—but a scan of her microchip revealed that it was indeed Sushi, who had disappeared seven months earlier. Sushi was lucky—many victims of dog flipping never see their families again.

Unsupervised dogs and cats also make easy targets for abusers. Most of the 400-plus reports of cruelty cases that PETA receives weekly involve animals who were victimized while outside unsupervised.

Last year in Colorado, a home security camera showed a man entering a backyard and spraying three small dogs with what investigators believe was pepper spray. The man returned hours later and violently swung at one of the dogs with a golf club, chased her into the house and emerged carrying a garbage bag. The dog was never seen again.

In Washington, a dog named Butterfinger died after a neighbor allegedly shot him with a pellet gun, piercing his liver and stomach and causing hemorrhaging. According to Butterfinger’s guardians, the neighbor was upset because the dog kept going onto his property.

Poison, traffic, disease, extreme weather and many other hazards claim the lives of animals who are left outdoors every year. One homeowner in Florida called PETA because her cat, who lived outdoors, died after her home was fumigated for insects.. The cat had apparently gotten trapped under the tent that was draped over the house during the fumigation and was killed by the insecticide.

It’s crucial to protect our animal companions from the many dangers lurking outside by keeping them indoors with the rest of the family and letting them out only on a leash and harness or in a fenced area under close supervision.

Spaying or neutering our animals (which we should do anyway, given the millions of cats and dogs who must be euthanized every year for lack of a good home) can make them less attractive to flippers, who often hope to breed them. Having them microchipped and fitted with collars and identification tags can also help bring them back to us if they ever go missing.

Dogs and cats are as vulnerable as toddlers in the great outdoors. No parents in their right mind would turn their 2-year-old child loose to wander the streets alone. Letting our animal companions do so is just as risky.

Animal Issues

7 things you should know about pets and cancer

November 10, 2015 admin

How spoiled is my brat? #4 … Jett is often served breakfast in bed.

Cancer can strike anyone – including our pets. But as scary as a cancer diagnosis may be, it’s not a death sentence for your dog or cat.

November is Pet Cancer Awareness Month and veterinarians are hoping to dispel some common myths and encourage pet owners to learn more about the serious subject of companion animals and cancer.

Many pets go on to live happy and fulfilling lives after undergoing treatment. That’s why it’s important to have your dog or cat regularly seen by a veterinarian and know the signs and symptoms of cancer.

Here are seven facts that all pet owners should know about cancer.

Cancer accounts for nearly 50 percent of all disease-related deaths each year for older pets.

Warning signs of cancer in pets are very similar to those in people, including:

persistent, abnormal swelling

sores that don’t heal

loss of weight and appetite

persistent lameness or stiffness

It’s important to remember that some signs may be hidden, which is why routine veterinary examinations every six months are recommended for older pets.

There are steps you can take to prevent cancer in pets. These include spaying or neutering, proper oral care, using sunblock on light-colored pets and avoiding exposure to cigarette smoke, which can lead to both lung and intestinal cancer.

Some cancers can be cured, and all patients can be helped to some degree with a proper treatment plan.

The same types of cancer treatments offered in human medicine are also available for pets. This includes surgery, radiation chemotherapy, immunotherapy or a combination thereof.

Pets don’t experience many of the debilitating side effects of cancer treatment that humans do.

In fact, 10 percent or fewer of dogs and cats experience chemo-related side effects.

Animal Issues

Dad! I have a new toy box …

October 12, 2015 admin

… the living room window sill!

Chef Joey’s Vinny loves to carry his toys to one special spot!

Vinny also loves his daily walks in Worcester’s Hadwen Park, one of Worcester’s hidden jewels …

Vinny was a rescue. So was his little sis, Abby. She was thrown out of a car window! Joey saved them both!

Cherish your pups – treasure ALL ANIMALS!

Photos by Chef Joey
text: R.T.

Animal Issues

Keep pets safe by observing “Check the Chip” day this Saturday! The Worcester Animal Rescue League micro-chips!

August 13, 2015 admin

Jett and Lilac were micro-chipped at the Worcester Animal Rescue League on Holden Street, Worcester, for not a lot of $!

Saturday is National Check the Chip day, and veterinarians are urging owners to take the opportunity to ensure their pets are properly microchipped.

Loose or unclaimed pets are frequently brought to animal shelters and hospitals by good Samaritans or law enforcement officers. Some locations see five or more strays each week.

The chances of those pets being successfully reunited with their owners depends largely on whether they have a microchip and if the chip is properly registered.

There are few things more heartbreaking than losing a beloved pet. Getting your pet microchipped – and keeping the registration information up-to-date – is one of the quickest and easiest steps you can take to ensure your pet’s safety.

Microchipping is also an important safeguard against pet theft, which is on the rise in the United States. More than 637 dogs were stolen in 2014, a 4.5 increase from the previous year, according to the American Kennel Club’s national pet theft database.

National Check the Chip Day is this Saturday, August 15.

It was created by the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) and the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) as a reminder to pet owners to check and update microchip registration information.

Microchips are about the size of a grain of rice and are encoded with a unique ID number assigned to each pet. The chips are injected in the loose skin between a pet’s shoulder blades.

If your pet does not have a microchip, ask your family veterinarian to implant one. To register the chip, complete the paperwork that comes with it and send it to the registry. You may also be able to complete this step online, depending on the manufacturer.

You can check if the chip’s information is outdated by contacting the manufacturer or using online tools, such as the one provided by the AAHA at petmicrochiplookup.org.

If you don’t remember your chip number or manufacturer, have it scanned by your family veterinarian.

Animal Issues

Is your dog in danger of being flipped?

August 11, 2015 admin

No one will ever “flip” ICT editor Rosalie’s new baby, Lilac! Here she is playing with her ugly, homemade toy “blob” Rose made for her, seeing this lil’ hound dog tears through all the cute squeaky pet store toys given to her – except her Kongs, which are, thankfully, INDESTRUCTIBLE!

By Lindsay Pollard-Post

In December, a Texas family’s 11-year-old dog, Sushi, went missing after apparently escaping through a hole in their backyard fence. Weeks later, her family spotted an ad on Craigslist featuring a dog who looked exactly like her. But after they inquired about the dog, the ad was removed.

Last month, another Craigslist ad appeared advertising a dog who resembled Sushi. This time, Sushi’s guardian arranged a meeting with the seller to buy the dog at a store parking lot. The dog’s fur was a different color—it had apparently been dyed—but a scan of her microchip revealed that it was indeed Sushi, who had disappeared seven months earlier. Sushi was lucky—many victims of dog flipping never see their families again.

Being torn away from the people they love and sold to strangers is just one of many perils that animals face when they are left outdoors alone. Bunchers—people who abduct animals to sell to laboratories for experiments—also cruise neighborhoods, as do dogfighters looking for animals to use as “bait.” Unsupervised dogs and cats also make easy targets for abusers. Most of the 400-plus reports of cruelty cases that PETA receives weekly involve animals who were victimized while outside unsupervised.

Earlier this year in Colorado, a home security camera showed a man entering a backyard and spraying three small dogs with what investigators believe was pepper spray. The man returned hours later and violently swung at one of the dogs with a golf club, chased her into the house and emerged carrying a garbage bag. The dog was never seen again.

Animal Issues

Be aware: Don’t risk your dog’s life in the summer heat

August 4, 2015 admin

Lilac and April chilling out in the ac in Rosalie’s bedroom today – a sweltering summer day!

For people who love dogs and the outdoors, nothing is more fun than going out to run, walk or play with their beloved and eager pets.

But this summer’s heat already has proved deadly for dogs – and we’re not just talking about the tragic stories of pets locked in hot cars.

In various cases around the country this summer, dogs have died while on hikes with their owners or while left in the yard.

To protect your dog, it helps to learn more about how the heat affects them:

Dogs don’t have the same kind of sweat glands that humans have. In humans, the skin gets covered with sweat and the moisture evaporates, which has a cooling effect. Dogs don’t sweat, so there’s no cooling effect.

The main way dogs cool off is by panting — breathing in air rapidly to cool down. But on hot, humid days, dogs are sucking in hot, humid air, which doesn’t cool them down as well.

Some dogs pant better than others. Certain breeds such as pugs and English bulldogs, with very short snouts, don’t cool down nearly as efficiently with their panting, and are therefore at even greater risk in the heat.

Don’t be fooled when your dog seems so happy to go outside – this doesn’t mean they’re safe. Dogs love to play with their owners, and will follow them right up to the moment they collapse.

So how hot is too hot for your dog to spend time outside? There is no one answer. But it would be wise to consult the National Weather Service heat index, which shows conditions that require caution for humans. Generally speaking, if it’s hot for humans, it’s really hot for dogs.

Here are a few tips for keeping dogs safe in the hottest summer months:

Consider exercising your dog indoors during the worst months of summer.

At very least, find the coolest time of day possible if you choose to walk, run or play outside with your dog. This might be as the sun is rising or setting. Choose a place with water for your pet to drink, and shade.

Be all the more cautious if you live in a hot, southern state such as Florida, Georgia or Texas where cool times of day are hard to find. But don’t be complacent if you’re in a northern state such as New York, Minnesota or Michigan — mid-afternoon in August can be just as brutal.

If your dogs have labored breathing to begin with, they shouldn’t be exercising outside in the heat because they are even less able to cool down through panting. Be especially cautious if your veterinarian has said your dog suffers from laryngeal paralysis.

If your dog is overheating, you can hose her off with cool water. Never use ice water, which can actually make the problem worse. Your dog may be suffering from heat stroke if she lies down and won’t get up, is not alert and won’t stop panting. If this happens, put her in your car with the air conditioning on and drive to the nearest animal emergency hospital.

As always, it’s best to make regular visits to your family veterinarian for ongoing advice on the care of your pet.

Lilac is too cute!!!