Animals Unfolded

As someone who cares for other people's pets on a daily basis, I can tell you that my smartphone is an invaluable tool and I am never without it. I can stay in touch with my clients easily, make last-minute changes to my schedule on the fly — or even check the ever-changing weather forecast. It is an essential tool in the direct care of my charges. One example is simple but helps me stay on track: if I have a suddenly finicky eater (whether it is behavioral or health related, many pets tend to eat a bit less when their people are away), I can take a photo of their feeding bowl in the evening to see how much food they might have consumed overnight. When I can return early in the morning, I can look in their bowl and compare. Caring for pets effectively is all in the details, whether you are a pet owner, a veterinarian or a caregiver. Any change that one sees with their pet is important, but there is one that can cause considerable concern: skin masses. Some are benign, other...

There's a population of cats whose immune systems are so profoundly affected by a virus that it puts them at risk of developing other diseases like blood cancers, anemia and fatal infections — usually upper respiratory — and because of that, it greatly shortens their lifespan. Feline Leukemia , a retrovirus, abbreviated as FeLV (and referred to as "fee loo") is highly contagious among felines, though it's important to note that it's not transmissible to other animals nor humans. FeLV is also preventable. Why it is then that the virus continues to infect cats? That's actually a complex question to answer, but really, it boils down to human responsibility. Cats can be vaccinated for FeLV (dependent on individual risk and exposure), but for many reasons, that doesn't happen, whether it's because cat owners are lax about having their pet's vaccinations completed or kept up to date — if they're are done at all. Failure to sterilize pet cat...

A new study reveals that obesity in humans and canines share similarities, including one that's unexpected. In the latest issue of the Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine, an abstract fleshes out the study. 14 beagles were included — seven of them fed a commercial food to increase their weight (which happened, they gained about 11 lbs. each), while seven other beagles were fed a restricted amount of the same food to maintain their optimal weight. After six months, researchers tested the fecal samples of all of the dogs. Those who were at an optimal weight had higher amounts of desirable microbes called Firmicutes in the gut, while dogs in the other group harbored more Proteobacteria, a less-favorable Gram-negative bacteria. The obese dogs also had a less diverse level of intestinal microflora than their thin counterparts, which is also been demonstrated in humans. It's thought that Proteobacteria may lead to an increase in lipopolysaccharides (which form a prot...

It's not surprising that those who share lives with pets by and large, aren't opposed to spending money when it's related to their animal companion. When it comes to toys, food, enrichment, training for the family, paying up has increased tremendously. This holds true for the health and comfort of pets, too, and anyone who has a pet with a medical condition or issues related to aging can attest to the added costs of medications, equipment and supplies. My pooch, Gretchen — a St. Bernard/Shepherd mix — is 15 years of age and falls into the latter category. Over the past few months, there have been changes with her health that one would expect, so tweaking medication regimens, adding therapies and using products to help with her mobility has been an ongoing part of the process. While most of these things have been relatively affordable, others have been quite costly (though the benefit has far surpassed the money that has been spent; more on that at a later time) and bein...

I often use food rewards when I'm with my canine charges, and I do so for various reasons. It might seem like being a caregiver to animals is strictly a fun and carefree endeavor, but it's serious business and there's much work to be done each day to keep everyone on schedule, comfortable, and having the cooperation of my four-legged friends is essential. It's common for them to want to linger a bit longer in their backyard on visits, or not focus as well on walks when they're dealing with a slightly different schedule than they are used to. In cases like these, using treats to persuade a pooch is valuable, as most dogs (but no, not all in my experience) are quite motivated by food. Occasionally I'll be caring for a dog that is a little too focused on getting edible rewards. I find that one cause is the chronic reliance on treats by their people (as opposed to using a combination of praise, play and treats as rewards), the timing of the food reward and the v...

From the time Gretchen was a tiny pup, she has spent time traveling in the car frequently. My desire to take road trips with her was a driving force behind that, so making even the shortest car rides a pleasurable experience was something that I worked at making happen. In the 15 years since I brought her home, we've taken many trips — and there have been car rides to other people's homes, the park, the pet store and more frequently these days, trips to a local facility for laser therapy to address her advanced arthritis, which she enjoys (more on that later). Through it all, Gretchen has enjoyed her car rides because almost always, good things happen (sometimes these days that means the two of us splitting a small order of fries from the drive-thru after laser therapy). That said, a lot of people have dogs that they have welcomed into their family that are not so fond of a vehicular outing, and it's understandable: cars can be noisy, over-stimulating and disorienting...

The way that animals interact with the world around them has long fascinated us, and most often we as pet owners are focused on behavior and ability to learn when it comes to our dogs and cats — as well as a fair share of those who have horses and birds. What may not be on our radar is that other species that are kept as pets — reptiles, like the bearded dragon, specifically — may also use a type of learning to gain new skills that only other animals were known employ: social learning . In the past, it was thought that only certain species of animals (as an example, primates and canines) were capable of using social learning. Researchers discovered that reptiles, bearded dragons, as they witnessed in a new study, likely use social learning through imitation as well — something that has not been noticed before. The study, called Social learning by imitation in a reptile (Pogona vitticeps), was recently published in the journal Animal Cognition and used 12 bearded dragons that...