Pet Monologues

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PM is frequently asked for referrals through our articles. Read the rest of this entry »

We are seeing a lot of searches for raw feeders going through PM. We would like more opinions, tips, advice, on this food movement. There may be nothing wrong with raw food diets, after all, everyone here likes sushi, oysters, and tartar. Here comes the, “however”, PM believes raw food diets are akin to purchasing a 12-cylinder high performance car, maintaining a thoroughbred, a teak sailboat. You should know what you are doing, take the extra effort needed to do it right, and maybe take some funds out of the 401(k) to do it right.

That said, here are links to several raw feeders. Read the rest of this entry »

The first article I read on this topic was dated March 2005 from Fairfax County Virginia, so this is not exactly a new idea. Two years later we have the following article revisiting this issue…

Dangerous dogs in Virginia get online registry.

RICHMOND, Virginia: Bear is a golden retriever-shepherd that attacked a bicyclist. Dee Dee, a pit bull mix, killed a cat. Cody, a Labrador mix, bit the neighbor.

Their mug shots, misdeeds and home addresses went online last week at Virginia’s Dangerous Dog Registry, a new Web site modeled after the state’s sex offender registry. It lets residents locate dogs in their county that have attacked a person or animal, and that a judge decided could cause injury again.

Created after dogs killed a toddler and an 82-year-old woman in separate incidents over the last two years, Virginia’s registry is part of a growing effort by states to deal with canines deemed dangerous. Thirty-one states now make owners legally liable if their dogs maim or kill, and in 2006 Ohio became the first state to ban some breeds outright.

In the last two years, nearly 100 municipalities have taken similar steps - banning pit bulls, Rottweilers, English bull terriers and American staffordshire terriers, or passing regulations that require owners to use muzzles or short leashes in public, according to the American Kennel Club. Read the rest of this entry »

How safe do you feel around dogs?

A baby girl has died after being attacked by two guard dogs in Leicester. Read the rest of this entry »

Top tips for avoiding a dog attack.

Newsround interviewed vet Tricia Mundy from the Village Animal Hospital in Surrey, who gave us some top tips for avoiding dangerous dogs. Read the rest of this entry »

by Terry

My dog’s name is Fluffy. I call him Fluffy because he fell in the dryer when he was a puppy and his fur got all weird and fuzzy. Kittywitty, my cat, I found in a dumpster on a vacant lot. She’s real skinny and white and has a long nose, and my dad says she looks like a ferret. But she’s real neat and does these neat tricks like rolling over and sitting up – like a dog does. But she’s a cat. This is what makes her neat. I have a bird, too. Named Pepper. We keep him in a cage in our den. One time, when I had him out playing with him, he got loose and made a mess all over the house that smelled bad for a long time.

My pet turtle’s name is Floyd. I named him after my favorite uncle, who kinda looks like a turtle himself. We got him at the five-and-dime store. He stays in a plastic bowl we keep in the kitchen window. He loves the sun and stretches his neck and legs way out just like he’s sunbathing. He sleeps a lot, and sometimes it’s hard to tell If he’s dead or alive. I had another cat, but he got run over by a United Parcel truck. I buried him under a rose bush. That’s the only trouble with pets. You get to like them a lot, and when something happens to them, it makes you real sad.

Source: Cedar Park Middle School

An endangered animal story by Sabina, age 10.

It was a happy sunshine day on the northern coast of Florida, when Sara Hawksbill was told to come out to play with her friends. It is like tropical weather, with its humid climate and fresh smell. When she returned, her mother scolded her because she just finished cleaning the house and now she had more work. She told Sara to go take a bath while she cleaned Sara’s muddy mess.

Sara thought that her mother was just saying this, but with the look on her mother’s face she went anyway. Once Sara got there, she saw her friend, the fisherman, having trouble-catching fish. So she went to him and told him, “I will get some fish for you.” Then she went down in the water and grabbed some fish with her hooked beak. The fisherman was overseeing her with interest because under the water her body really looked like a hawk. She had a patterned shell and beautiful body that had two claws at the front flaps. When she returned and gave the fish to the fisherman, she realized that she had to take a bath. After her bath she came home and saw that mama did not return yet. So she went to get dinner ready for mama, papa, and herself.

Mama still didn’t return. Even though when papa returned home from work, Sara asked him, “Did you see mama while you came this way home?” Read the rest of this entry »

Oh my, oh my…

Feline hyperthyroidism has recently been recognized as the most common endocrine disorder of the cat. The elevated circulating levels of the thyroid hormones thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3) that occur in hyperthyroidism result in a multisystemic disease.

The most commonly recognized signs of hyperthyroidism are weight loss, hyperactivity, and an increased appetite. An increased water consumption and urination are other common signs of feline hyperthyroidism that are thought to result from an increased blood flow to the kidneys. Gastrointestinal signs are common in hyperthyroidism. Intermittent vomiting and diarrhea are frequently noted. Cardiovascular signs including an increased heart rate, arrhythmias and congestive heart failure, are common in cats with hyperthyroidism. Most cats with hyperthyroidism develop a reversible form of heart disease with congestive heart failure developing in 10 to 15% of these cats. Read the rest of this entry »

Dogs often seem to have limitless energy and robust constitutions, but don’t let this fool you: they are susceptible to all sorts of maladies, ranging from mild to life-threatening. That’s why it pays to have a relationship with a dependable, reassuring veterinarian (to ensure good treatment and quick treatment in an emergency), and to follow wise guidelines for dog-owners, which include regular checkups for your pooch and building your own store of knowledge about canine maladies, to catch treatable diseases early. Yes, dogs are energetic and robust by nature, but it’s your job to help keep them that way. In this article, you will find tips to help you do just that, including:

Choosing a Veterinarian

You don’t have to take Fido to the nearest vet, and you never have to use a vet whose manner doesn’t make you and your dog comfortable. Here are tips on finding the right veterinarian for both of you, including questions you can ask friends in order to get a strong word-of-mouth reference. We will also help you tell the difference between a problem with your dog that will clear up on its own and a major situation that needs to be seen by the vet right away.

Dog Disease Basics

Modern medicine has made dogs’ lives much more pleasant, and longer for sure. But there are illnesses that will always be part of dog life, and these are made more threatening because dogs often come in contact with other animals, which can transmit diseases to them. In fact, there are some diseases that can be transmitted from dog to man. So you need to be familiar with diseases such as rabies, distemper and others, in order to prevent them or catch them early in your own dog. Read the rest of this entry »