Gina used the fact that she’s at the American Animal Hospital Association conference this weekend to “assign” coverage of the House Rabbit Society’s daylong session on rabbit health to me. Unlike Gina, I’ve never owned a rabbit, but I assured here I’d do my best with the furry little nose-twitchers.

We’re on a lunch break right now, and so far, I can report is that the speakers are knowledgeable, the audience engaged and the bunnies, of course, adorable.

I also noticed that these rabbit owners, educators and rescuers are very straightforward and full of practical wisdom and tips. In fact, this is the most impressive example of good old-fashioned animal sense I’ve seen since I watched Joan Miller do her ninja cat handling moves at the No-Kill Conference last year.

Pet journalists Steve Dale and our own Kim Campbell Thornton will discuss how, after losing beloved pets, they created funds to raise money to help other animals suffering from the same diseases that took their own pets.

Steve founded The Ricky Fund in memory of his Devon Rex cat Ricky, who died at the age of 4 of feline hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Kim founded The Darcy Fund in memory of her Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Darcy, who died of mitral valve disease.

Find out more about these diseases, how the funds have helped both other animals and also Kim and Steve, and how you might go about honoring a lost pet in a similar way.

These interviews are held in streaming audio, and you’ll be able to comment and ask questions in a text-based chat room.

To listen to the audio and join the chat room: Registered users of PetHobbyist.com log in here. If you’re not registered, log in as a guest here and select “Auditorium” from the drop down menu!

Check it out.

And then, check out H. Houlahan’s take on the video over at Raised By Wolves.

When Kelly Fox and Bibi Barrett went to a new volunteer orientation at Collier County Domestic Animal Services in Florida, they were dismayed to see that few of the dogs in the shelter had beds. Most, like the little guy in the photo at right, were lying on cold, often wet, concrete.

“The minute I got home, I emailed Kuranda Pet Beds to see if there was something we could do,” Kelly said. “It was Saturday, and I didn’t think I’d hear back from them until Monday. But when I heard from Carol at Kuranda within an hour, that’s when I knew this was going to happen.”

And it did, thanks to you and dozens of other pet lovers all over the country. Kelly and Bibi kept doing outreach, and when they heard about the success of our earlier bed drive for Orange County Animal Services in Orlando, they letting me know in a comment here on Pet Connection about what they were trying to do.

I made a match challenge to my readers, viewers and fans, and Belen Brisco of Dogs Deserve Better (an organization working to end the keeping of dogs on chains) put them in touch with the Onyx and Breezy Foundation, who came through with a 42-bed donation!

They hit their goal of a hundred dog beds in three days, and the beds, including a number of cat towers, keep coming in.

It’s clear this is a cause that really touches hearts. When my good friend and colleague Dr. Mehmet Oz posted about the pet bed drive to his Facebook page, it got over 2300 “like” comments — the second most he says he’s ever gotten on a post he’s made.

Our earlier shelter pet bed drive raised more than a hundred beds for the pets of OCAS — dogs and cats now happy and comfortable in their new beds, like Milkshake in the photo at right.

And it’s my sincere belief that all shelter pets will be more adoptable if they’re comfortable, warm and dry — which is why my new goal is to get shelter pets to rise up (off the concrete), lie down (in a comfy bed) and move out (into a loving home).

“On February 28, we’re going to have a day when high school kids and local volunteers will help put the new beds together,” Kelly said.  I’m encouraging them to film the event, and use it to help inspire this movement to spread to shelters all over the country.

So you can feel as excited as I am about this, I’ve created a photo album on Facebook with lots of photos of pets with their new beds — check it out!

Thanks once again to everyone at Pet Connection for being a part of this effort, and especially to local animal lovers like Kelly and Bibi for making miracles happen!

So… what shelter is next?

Photos: Top, a dog at Collier County DAS who had no bed, taken by Kelly Fox. Bottom, a happy dog at OCAS on one of the newly donated beds from our first bed-raising drive, courtesy OCAS.

This is something we can and must have repeated at shelter after shelter across the country. We’ve already raised more than a hundred beds for Orange County Animal Services in Orlando, Florida, and now another great shelter needs our help.

Kelly Fox and Bibi Barrett of Naples, Florida, told me about the pets at Collier County’s Domestic Animal Services (DAS), many of whom are lying in kennels and cages without any way to get up off the cold floor.

As soon as we hard, Teresa and I donated four Kuranda pet beds to DAS. Today, we’ve decided to make a challenge to my readers, viewers, friends and fans:

Until midnight tonight, or until the challenge has been met, we will match the next 10 beds contributed bed-for-bed. So if ten beds are donated, we’ll match the donation and make it twenty beds.

To make this happen, just go to the DAS bed donation page at Kuranda.com.

Pets who have beds are more comfortable and less stressed than those who don’t, and that makes them both healthier and more adoptable. So let’s keep those shelter pets rising up (off cold, hard floors), lying down (on comfy beds) and moving out (into loving homes)!

Because I’m grateful for the amazing joy and love animals have given me throughout my life, I’ve made it part of my life’s work to pay that love back.

Apparently a whole heck of a lot of  you feel the exact same way, because according to the great folks at Kuranda Dog and Cat Beds, we’ve raised more than one hundred pets beds for Orange County Animal Services in Orlando, Florida.

I thank you all from the bottom of my heart, and the people at OCAS are  incredibly moved by your generosity, too.

And so are the pets — like Blizzard, Buddy and Hero, three senior pets at OCAS shown in the photo above, giving staffers Kat and Vanessa big kisses and love in appreciation for their new beds. Or Sandy, right, a puppy hanging out in her brand new bed instead of on the floor.

But that happy ending for these pets doesn’t mean the “bed-raising” is over.

When I was at OCAS I saw a sparking clean, loving facility designed for 250 pets but filled with 800, a scenario playing out all over the country as the economy continues to fall and foreclosures and job losses to rise.

At OCAS as in many other shelters, only around one in five of the pets had beds. The rest are on concrete, without even the little bit of warmth and comfort that comes from being up off the floor.

I think of the senior dogs and cats lying on hard surfaces, becoming stiffer and more painful every day, lessening their chances of being adopted.

I think about skinny pets, cold pets, pets lying in drafts and on wet floors, all of whom would be healthier, happier and more adoptable if this one basic comfort were available to them.

And I know that those of you who donated beds to OCAS knew that, because Kuranda tells me that many of you purchased beds for other shelters along with the ones you donated to OCAS.

When I contacted my friends and colleagues at Good Morning America, where I’ve been resident veterinarian for 13 years, and my great good friend Dr. Mehmet Oz, who graciously made me part of his new show’s core team, they wanted to help with this terrific cause, not just in Florida, but all over the country.

So we’re going to do that. We’re still working on the details, and we’ll let you know how you can continue to help homeless pets. In the meantime, visit Kuranda’s shelter donation page, find your local or favorite shelter, and donate a bed! Tell them you heard about it from Dr. Becker.

And keep reading and watching here at Pet Connection, Good Morning America and the Dr. Oz Show as we continue to help shelter pets across the country rise up, lie down, then move out — rise up from concrete floors, lie down on comfortable beds and then move out into loving forever homes!

All photos courtesy of OCAS. From the top: Sandy, a 2-month-old mixed breed dog who was found running loose; Buddy, a 10-year-old spaniel mix who was turned in with Blizzard, a husky, and Hero, an 8-year-old beagle mix, a stray; Emmit, a stray cat found already shaved; two friendly pit bull best friends that one of the kennel officers caught “spooning” after dinner one night — full bellies and a nap on a comfy bed sounds like the perfect evening! And last, Celia, a year-old female shepherd/pit mix surrendered by her owner.

Defining low calorie is in the eye of the label beholder: Go to any store that sells pet food, and look for products marked low calorie, lite, light or less calorie.  Do you know what you’ll find?  A dizzying disparity in numbers, whether you’re looking at dog food or cat food, wet food or dry.  Very likely you’ll have trouble making sense of which product is best, comparing product to product, head to head. The Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University has illustrated your understandable confusion with a study out this month in the  Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association.  Even reading labels won’t necessarily help you.

There is so much information—and misinformation—about pet foods, it’s understandable that people are confused about what to feed their dogs and cats, said co-author Dr. Lisa Freeman, professor of nutrition at Tufts University’s Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine. To counteract these myths, people are accustomed to turning to the labels on food—but, as this study shows, packaging might not always be a reliable source of information.

The evolution of dog identity politics: Far and away the best piece of writing I’ve read all week was forwarded to me by Pet Connection colleague Kim Thornton.  New York Magazine’s John Homans, whose gorgeous dog Stella is pictured here, has written a nuanced, interesting and thoroughly worthwhile essay on the path to where we stand today in the world of dogs.  Mr. Homans covers a broad swath of the landscape, and addresses many of the issues we talk about here on a regular basis.   It’s a long article, but it’s a must read.

The remarkable life of Moscow’s stray dogs: I’ve seen five or six variations of this story, plus two referred separately by loyal readers Linda and Anne.  The Financial Times has the original, comprehensive tale, but my favorite summary is from our friends over at Dogster, and includes a sobering opening line:

Moscow is home to 35,000 stray dogs. That’s 84 dogs per square mile. It’s a hard life, especially in sub-zero winter months.

Read on.  You’ll see that in Moscow, the strays ride the subway, and have jobs.

Run with your dog, or just walk: I take Cami and Harry for frequent walks, but many dog owners like to run with their dogs.   Linda sent me this New York Times story saying, in essence, running with your dog might not be a good idea.

It’s a lesson that Michelle Powe, an English teacher in Midlothian, Tex., learned last summer when trying to run with Mookie, her 90-pound Catahoula.

“He kept trying to herd me,” she recalled. For the entire three-mile run, Mookie displayed the kind of herding behavior that is typical for the breed, throwing his weight against Ms. Powe and nipping at her legs.

Cold nose, warm toes: It started with our Dr. Marty Becker visiting Orange County Animal Care Services in Orlando, and seeing two Italian greyhounds sharing a tiny bed with a pit bull mix because that was the only place they could escape the cold, hard floor.    Dr. Becker’s idea was simple: these dogs need beds so they don’t have to sleep on the floor.  Everyone chip in a little, and we can help a lot.   Almost immediately, the idea caught fire.   We’re now over 30 beds donated, in less than a week.  Yesterday, Good Morning America’s Facebook page picked up the cause (Dr. Becker, as you know, is GMA’s resident veterinarian).  You can help, too.  Here’s the link for donations to Kuranda beds.  From all the pets who will benefit, thank you.

Cat vs. Bear — The Showdown: A bear comes to the back door, with a nose for the trash bag left on the porch.   The cat decides it’s time to protect the property.   The Huffington Post has the video.  Enjoy.  I’m betting that bear isn’t coming back for another visit, and is most likely wondering “What is that thing?”

Got a tip?  Got a story?  Don’t keep it to yourself.  Send it to me, or give me a shout in the comments.

Photo credits:  Stella: Jill Greenberg.  Crowded Dogs: Dr. Marty Becker.

You have, and so has the company that established the shelter bed donation program. I’ll let Carol Grandmougin from Kuranda Dog and Cat Bed Company tell the story:

We became aware of Dr. Becker’s campaign when a woman from Texas called to donate a bed to the OCAS in Florida. I asked her how she knew the Florida shelter needed beds, and she pointed me to the Pet Connection blog.

I was so touched by the picture of the 2 Italian Greyhounds piled on top of the pitbull for a place on the only Kuranda bed in their run that we decided to match Dr. Becker’s donation and send OCAS a few more dog and cat beds to help give a few more animals a comfortable place to sleep.

We see over and over the compassion pet lovers have towards animals in shelters, so often stepping up to donate beds for them when asked, so we know Dr. Becker’s supporters will make a big difference for the dogs and cats at the Orange County Animal Services shelter!

I asked Carol how Kuranda got the idea to start their donation program for animals in shelters, and it turns out it was the same reason I wanted to help.

“We created this program, dubbed ‘Cold Nose, Warm Toes,’ to help dogs and cats in shelters who for the most part spend 24 hours a day, seven days a week on a cold wet concrete floor,” she said. “We wanted them to have the comfort of a soft, dry, elevated place to sleep”

The number of beds donated as part of this “bed-raising” drive is now over 30. I’d like to see us hit 100 by the end of the week, but even if that’s a little optimistic in these tough economic times (tough for shelters, too, remember), I am still amazed and touched by the generosity and compassion of all of those who have given.

Kurunda has set up this program so that people can visit their website, select the shelter of their choice, and donate as many beds in the size(s) they wish. The beds are sent directly to the shelter at a special discount.

Grandmougin told me that response to their program has been huge. “The public has embraced this program, which is providing thousands of beds to shelter pets across the nation,” she said. “This summer, we unveiled the new cat bed and are getting lots of purrs from the shelter cats already enjoying them!”

I hope you’ll consider donating a bed to the Orange County Animal Services Shelter in Florida, but you can also scroll through the list of participating organizations and see if your local shelter is there. There are thousands of animal shelters all over the country in need of beds for their dogs and cats.

Just click here, and let’s get these pets up off the floors!

Most recently for me, it was the people and animals I met at Orange County Animal Care Services while I was in Orlando for the North American Veterinary Conference and filming a series of videos and public service announcements.

This shelter, which is run by the county, adopts out over 5,000 pets a year. Last year, they saved more than 8,200. Their community gives more than 15,000 hours of volunteer help.

The people who work there are incredibly dedicated, and they’re doing the best they can to save and help as many animals as they can. They see everything… pets whose owners have to give them up to the massive foreclosure crisis that’s crushing Florida. Dogs and cats who are heartworm positive, whose owners have died, cats who won’t use the litter box. And reason or no reason, they take in the pets and treat them with love, respect, and wonderful care, all in a clean, bright, odor free facility.

I was impressed. I was thankful for the people who work there. I was hopeful for the pets that want a home. And I was concerned when I saw dogs without enough places to lie down, like these two Italian greyhounds sharing one bed in a run with a pit bull mix.

The folks at OCACS aren’t happy about the lack of beds, either. They’ve got a donation drive going on to try to get beds donated to the shelter, to keep the dogs and cats off the hard ground and cats off cage floors. So far they’ve only received 10, and they need over 150.

I’d like to see if we can help them with that.

By next Friday, January 29, I challenge my Pet Connection readers and my friends, followers, family and fans — real life and social media alike — to dig deep and help the animals of the OCAS get those beds, which cost between $56 and $67.

Just go to their Web site, read about the “Warm nose, cold toes” program, and give some love to the homeless animals of Orange County, Florida.

I know there are worthy shelters and needy animals everywhere, and if you’d rather give to help the dogs and cats in your own backyard, I certainly understand. I support local efforts to help pets, too, and I’ll continue to do so.

But sometimes a special group of people and animals just touches your heart, and that’s what’s happened here for me. So in addition to buying several beds for them, I’ve also donated some materials to help them raise money and increase adoption rates.

And I’m asking you to help, too. Let’s get these dogs and cats up off the hard floors.

Photos courtesy of my iPhone, taken at OCACS.