pet connection

You can’t have a true, all-American Fourth of July without fireworks, but your dog and cat would probably disagree.  Fortunately, we have tips on how to how everyone can enjoy (or at least cope with) the rockets’ red glare and bombs bursting in air.

First, some wisdom on keeping your cats happy from Linda Mohr of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

Next, Lisa Spector from Dog Star Daily has eight helpful tips for canine contentment.

1. Make sure your dog gets plenty of exercise earlier in the day.

2. Keep your dogs inside during fireworks, preferably with human companionship. If it’s hot, air conditioning will help.

3. Provide a safe place inside for your dogs to retreat. When scared of sounds they can’t orient, dogs often prefer small enclosed areas. (I once had a dog who climbed in the bathtub during windstorms.)

4. If possible, keep the windows and curtains closed.

5. Make sure all your dogs are wearing ID tags with a properly fitting collar. (Dogs have been known to become Houdini around the 4th of July.)

6. Leave your dog something fun to do – like a frozen Kong filled with his favorite treats.

7. Train with counter classical conditioning. Patricia McConnell, Ph.D., CAAB, has a very clear definition and tips here.

8. Sound Therapy: Play “[Through a Dog's Ear: ]Music to Calm your Canine Companion, Vols. 1 and 2″ It is most effective when you first play the music well before the fireworks start, at a time the dog is already peaceful and relaxed. He will begin to associate the music with being calm and content. Then play the music a couple of hours before the fireworks start and continue to play through bedtime.

Parasite links cats and mental illness in adults: Pregnant women know that their doctor will warn them not to handle cat litter during their pregnancy. That’s because a parasite common in cats can be transmitted to people through the handling of cat litter, and a pregnant woman could unwittingly infect her unborn baby. In this NPR interview with Guy Raz, Dr. Robert Yolken from Johns Hopkins Children’s Center in Baltimore tells us that the same toxoplasma parasite (which gives rise to toxoplasmosis) can create mental illness not just in fetuses, but in adults.

“[W]e found that having toxoplasma raises the risk of schizophrenia about twofold, compared to the rest of the population. Toxoplasma probably functions through a pathway called dopamine. We know that dopamine is abnormal in schizophrenia, but the reason why it’s abnormal is not really completely clear.

Another behavior which appears to be altered is the individuals with toxoplasma appear to take more risks, in terms of driving a motor vehicle and also being a pedestrian.”

The good news, according to Dr. Yolken, is a cat’s risk of infection is greatly lowered if he doesn’t venture outside, as the less contact they have with rodents, the better their odds of avoiding getting the parasite.

The bionic kitteh: Oscar the cat lost his back feet in an accident with a harvesting combine, but he came to the attention of Dr. Noel Fitzpatrick in Surrey, England. So says the BBC:

The new feet are custom-made implants that “peg” the ankle to the foot. They are bioengineered to mimic the way deer antler bone grows through the skin. The operation – a world first – was carried out by Noel Fitzpatrick, a veterinary surgeon based in Surrey. His work is explored in a BBC documentary called The Bionic Vet.

[...]

“We have managed to get the bone and skin to grow into the implant and we have developed an ‘exoprosthesis’ that allows this implant to work as a see-saw on the bottom of an animal’s limbs to give him effectively normal gait.”

We can rebuild him. We have the technology …

Winograd vs. Best Friends: A couple weeks ago, Oreo’s Law died by legislative paralysis in the New York legislature. The law would have required shelters to hand animals over to any 501(c)3 rescues that requested them, in order to prevent the dog or cat from being killed. After that, no-kill advocate Nathan Winograd chastised Best Friends Animal Society for being unusually silent during the battle to pass the bill in Albany. Then, things got curiouser and curiouser. This appears to be a case of politics making very strange bedfellows.

A babysitter to admire: Elly Overton is 13 years old and lives in Connecticut.  She’s also a pet-lover, and she took $1,200 earned through babysitting and donated it to the Animal Rescue Foundation (ARF) in Terryville, Conn.  Her mother Jennifer, is quoted in the Register-Citizen:

Jennifer said, “It really upsets her when she hears about animals being abused.”

Animals are an integral part of the Overton family. They have two yellow labs — Dante and Cannelle — a cat named Zoe, a rabbit named Zuess and two chickens. They also used to have goats, which they have since donated the goats to the Isabella Friedman Retreat Center, an environmental camp in New Canaan, Conn.

It shouldn’t surprise you to know that Elly has already decided she wants to be a veterinarian. (Hat tip to Pamela J. for the story)

AirTran FAIL: Here’s the oddest story of the week, courtesy of USA Today.  It involves a little girl, her two-inch long turtle, airline staff that should have behaved better, and a surprise happy ending.

Have a safe and happy Independence Day holiday. Blogging’s going to be light around these parts this week, with most everyone taking a summer break, including me.  I’ll see you all back here a week from tomorrow.

I always like to hear from readers, especially if you have tips, and links for interesting stories.  Give me a shout in the comments, or better yet, send me an e-mail.

Photo credit: Fireworks, Flickr Creative Commons (mdurwin2). Oscar, Jim Inlcedon, PA via AP.

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