Pet Health

Sage’s favorite thing is food–this girl loves food! She has no favorites: she will eat her baby carrots with the same “gusto” that she eats treats! Tags:  smiling dogs from The Bark https://ift.tt/36ktNg6

Bear was kept chained in the yard with a young family that could not keep him. Now in a better home, Bear is thriving. He’s always smiling, happy and just wants to be loved. Tags:  smiling dogs from The Bark https://ift.tt/2Jm56Hf

Taffy and Hadley have a beautiful friendship that is heartwarming to everyone who knows them. I rescued Taffy, a 12 lb. Chihuahua Terrier mix about 14 years ago. She will be 16 this December. She has one eye and is mostly blind as well as mostly deaf. About a year ago she started having a mild cough that quickly became chronic and serious. We were at our vet every 2-4 weeks for the first several months, for bloodwork, x-rays, ultrasound, etc. She’s now being treated for chronic bronchitis and will be on steroids for the rest of her life. She also has canine dementia which is heartbreaking to watch. She’s a very different little girl than she used to be. But aren’t we all as we get older. Tags:  Dog Is My Co-Pilot readers write from The Bark https://ift.tt/3nY73Zl

This curated selection of great gifts for dogs and their people will help take the frazzle out of your holiday shopping and bring comfort and joy to the lucky recipients. We’ve assembled a line-up of practical and interesting options, from stocking stuffers to delight every dog to something for those who have everything.  Red Kilim Snuggle Sack Starts at $89 (Sizes: XS to XXL) Tags:  bark likes this products from The Bark https://ift.tt/37aSdYF

Seasons Greetings my pawsome human minions. Forrest here, ready to give you some sage advice when it comes to your cat and the pawlidays . With a time of joy and cheer upon us, you humans are shopping for gifts to give your loved ones. For cats, this means a season of exploration thanks to all the boxes and bags arriving in the house. I myself have some new cardboard abodes thanks to Mom’s love of online shopping. Though we love the boxes and bags, listen here cat parents, you better believe your kitty wants gifts! I look forward to plucking bows and ribbons from the gifts under the tree, but mom is always on my tail telling me those gifts aren’t for me. To which I ask, then why are they on the floor under a big, sparkly tree? Sounds like a whole Forrest gift to me. But she still doesn’t relent, so when I finally get to tear into a present that is for me, I’m more than ready. I can almost guarantee most of my fellow felines will agree with this too. So be sure to pamper your ki...

For fab holiday pictures, focus on your dog’s natural behaviors. Dogs are beautiful, charming, endearing—in fact, they ought to be in pictures. While this is true year-round, it’s especially appropriate this year, when many of us are doing our best to inject some fun into pandemic-beleaguered holidays. Focusing on our fabulous dogs is a good way to do that. Read on for ways to optimize the results. Tags:  lifestyle dog behavior Photography from The Bark https://ift.tt/2J31UR2

A Florida man wrestled his dog away from an alligator who had snatched the young pup as the two strolled along the pond the alligator calls home. Nearly as incredible as the dramatic rescue was the fact that it was recorded by surveillance cameras.   A harrowing rescue of young dog from the jaws of a Florida alligator was incredibly caught on video recently. The surveillance camera footage shows the dramatic encounter of Richard Wilbanks, 74, and a young alligator, tussling in the water as Wilbank’s 3-month-old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel is caught in the animal’s jaws. The video was shown on the local news, and thankfully, the sound was turned off to spare viewers the dog’s screams. And as dramatic as the footage is, not a drop of blood is shown and all survived. “We were just out walking by the pond,” Wilbanks told CNN, “and it came out of the water like a missile. I never thought an alligator could be that fast. It was so quick.” Tags:  dogpatch news v...

November is adopt-a-senior-pet month, and also the month during which we celebrate Thanksgiving. So, it’s only natural to ponder the many reasons to be thankful for the precious older dogs who share our lives, homes and hearts. Older dogs know us well, and that’s as wonderful as it is comforting. In many cases, these dogs have been in our lives for a long time, perhaps even since puppyhood, and have seen us through both happy and dark times. Sometimes, we’ve lived with these venerable dogs longer than we’ve lived with our spouse or our kids. Tags:  life with dogs Senior dogs from The Bark https://ift.tt/397spQ1

Cats are purrfect in all ways. Just ask any cat lover and they’ll count the way cats reign over us. But, here’s a surprise. For all their ability to pounce a skittering lizard or fluttery butterfly, cats don’t have the eagle-eye acuity we might have thought. Human and feline eyes are built differently and the result of these differences gives us some strengths in vision over cats. But those differences also give them a paw up over our eyes in other ways. And it all comes down to differences in the human and feline retina. Lining the back of the eye, the retinal tissue contains photoreceptor cells that relay light to the brain. These photoreceptors are what we know as rods and cones. Cones are responsible for daytime vision and the way we perceive color. Rods sends signals from the peripheral vision, detect brightness, discern shades of gray, and allow for night vision. While both humans and cats have rods and cones, their distribution differs with cats having more rods than con...

Kittens love to make trouble. It’s kind of their thing. Well, that and being adorable! But, seriously, kittens know how to find mischief and one ginger kitten in Australia found trouble so deep the fire department had to get involved! At a Bankstown home in Sydney, Australia, a normal day to turned into a bit of a catastrophe when the homeowners heard the high-pitched meows of a kitten inside the house. But the family didn’t have a kitten, so the sudden appearance of the voice was certainly a surprise. After a search of the home, they realized the kitten was stuck behind a wall, crying to get free. Desperate to help the tabby baby, the homeowners called Fire and Rescue NSW for what firefighters described as “an un-fur-gettable rescue”. Fire and Rescue NSW/ Facebook Behind Door Number One…A Kitten! When firefighters arrived at the home, they used thermal imaging technology to locate the kitten’s whereabouts behind the wall. Once they found the kitten, “firefighters devised a p...

Milo the dog knows heartbreak. But like any soul who has experienced loss, she appreciates the joy that fills her life now. At a gas station near Arizona’s border to Mexico, Milo was scrounging out an existence, but she had no real home and often knew the pains of hunger. She was also pregnant when Sunshine Dog Rescue found her, yet she seemed in pretty good shape for being a rural stray dog. Things were looking good for Milo. She’d have some puppies and then be on her way to a forever home once they were weaned. But tragedy struck the mom-to-be. Milo, now Georgia, went into premature labor and her puppies were just too young to survive. Anita Osa, executive director of Sunshine Dog Rescue, shared, “While my heart hurts for the puppies that never got to run and play, my heart is so very sad for Georgia.” @sunshinedogrescue/ Instagram Though she was healing physically from an emergency c-section and spay, the heartbroken mother dog was frantic for her babies. “We found her teari...

George is named from a character in the book, Of Mice and Men . He’s fourteen years old but always ready for a walk! Tags:  smiling dogs from The Bark https://ift.tt/35TmUCs

Adopted through a local pet rescue group, Hana had a rough start to life but the perfect smile. Now she loves playing in the pool and romping around in the garden. Tags:  smiling dogs from The Bark https://ift.tt/3pSJKBX

With proper precautions and preparation, pets can safely be included in the celebration. This Thanksgiving holiday, many people will be gathering for smaller and safer celebrations amidst the pandemic. At these more intimate celebrations, pet owners may find that their animal receives more attention or is allowed more access to the feast than in years past. Dr. Dalton Hindmarsh, a resident in emergency and critical care at the Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital (VMTH), says to prevent any pet-related issues commonly associated with holiday celebrations, owners should make a plan and set clear guidelines from the beginning on how the pet should be treated by dinner guests, regardless of your gathering’s size or guest list. Tags:  dog safety fall season wellness holidays from The Bark https://ift.tt/2UPrhbp

New species of bacteria identified that may cause disease in dogs and humans. Researchers have identified a new species of  Rickettsia  bacteria that may cause significant disease in dogs and humans. This new, yet-unnamed species, initially identified in three dogs, is part of the spotted-fever group  Rickettsia  which includes  Rickettsia rickettsii , the bacteria that cause  Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever  (RMSF). Rickettsia  pathogens fall into four groups; of those, spotted-fever group  Rickettsia  (which  ticks transmit ) is the most commonly known and contains the most identified species. There are more than 25 species of tick-borne, spotted-fever group  Rickettsia  species worldwide, with  R. rickettsii  being one of the most virulent and dangerous. Tags:  research wellness healthy living from The Bark https://ift.tt/3fosLTb

I’m thankful for every messy minute I have with my elderly dog, especially at this time of year. I know that when Bessie stands in her food bowl, submerged to the ankles in chicken breast au jus, she is not the same dog she once was. This dog, unselfconsciously wearing her dinner like socks, is not the fastidious friend who used to clean herself, borderline obsessively, like a cat. I know that when I find her asleep, chin resting in a patch of urine on one of the 10 wee-wee pads lining her puppy-proofed area of the apartment, this is not the same dog who was so resolutely housebroken that I had trouble pad-training her to begin with. I know that when she tumbles off her foam bed onto her back, flailing like Kafka’s beetle, this is not the same dog who used to spontaneously leap from the ground into my arms when startled (luckily, my reflexes were up to the task). Tags:  literature essays from The Bark https://ift.tt/36R2r0i

Ingenious puppy rescue on GoPro video In mid-October, a call came into the Arizona Humane Society’s (AHS) Emergency Dispatch in from someone who reported seeing free-roaming adult dogs entering and exiting a hole under an abandoned Phoenix house slated for demolition. When the two AHS Emergency Animal Medical Technicians™ (EAMTs), Theresa Scheckel and Dan McGrath, arrived on the scene, witnesses told them they believed the female dog had recently given birth, but that the puppies were nowhere to be found. A video clip of the operation shows two malnourished adult dogs squeezing through a narrow gap between the building and the ground and excitedly responding to Scheckel and McGrath’s whistles and coaxing. The dogs seem people-friendly, and the female looks to be a nursing mother. Tags:  humane dogpatch news videos from The Bark https://ift.tt/3fih14R

Dogs talk to us all the time, but too often, we don’t have a clue what they’re trying to tell us. In this article, you’ll learn how to correctly interpret what they’re saying via body language and avoid any awkward misunderstandings. “Cooper is aggressively attacking our cat!” Pete told me over the phone. I didn’t answer right away. Cooper? Aggressive? It didn’t make sense. Pete had recently adopted Cooper from a rescue where the little Dachshund mix had been living happily in a foster home with another dog and two cats. I asked Pete to describe Cooper’s behavior, rather than label it with words like “aggressive.” “He was barking a lot,” Pete replied, “and it was very loud.” Did Cooper lunge at the cat ? Snap at him? No. He’d just barked. And no wonder. Cooper had only seen the cat twice during the week he’d been living in Pete’s home. He was excited, surprised and unsure so, naturally, he barked. Tags:  fearful dogs dog behavior from The Bark https...

“I’ve never seen a Chihuahua that color before.” “Nice tiger print.” “What do you call that pattern?” Walking with Bessie is a bit of a public performance, but I can’t fault people for their interest. If it weren’t for Bessie’s coat, she probably wouldn’t have ended up with me. Tags:  my dog literature endpiece from The Bark https://ift.tt/3lJd6Am

Between 1966 and 2008, Libby Hall collected old photographs of dogs, amassing many thousands to assemble what was possibly the largest number of canine pictures ever gathered by any single person. The collection—circa 1850 to 1940—was later edited down to its present size of approximately 900 photographs, comprised of the dog photographs used in her five books including Prince and Others ; Postcard Dogs ; and These Were Our Dogs (published by Bloomsbury). Hall most recently published her autobiography titled A Measure of Dogs ( available on Blurb ). Tags:  art Dog Is My Co-Pilot dogpatch from The Bark https://ift.tt/3lM8mtU

Dog DNA examined to learn about movement and patterns of ancient dogs. Researchers looked at dog DNA going back to a period immediately following the last ice age to learn about movement and patterns of ancient dogs and their relationship with humans. By sequencing the DNA of 27 dogs found in Europe, the Near East, and Siberia, team members discovered five different types of dogs with distinct genetic ancestries dating from before any other animal had been domesticated. “We examined dogs from across the old world, and they represent a period that stretches almost 11,000 years back in time,” says Anna Linderholm, director of the BiG (bioarchaeology and genomics) Laboratory and an archaeologist at Texas A&M University. Linderholm was part of the genomics team that extracted DNA from skeletal material to see how dogs evolved from thousands of years ago when all humans were still hunters and gatherers. Tags:  DNA/Genes history science from T...

A video captures the moment a dog trusts his rescuer in Mexico. An emotionally charged rescue was caught on video, as a young dog stranded during Mexico’s recent battering by Hurricane Eta, clings to the outside of a building in a flooded street—until a rescue worker gently coaxes the dog into a boat and to safety. As the rescue worker, Eric Ramirez, approaches the dog, one witnesses the rescuer’s caution in reaching out to the struggling dog by petting him and gaining his trust. The dog is initially fearful, flinching at every move Ramirez makes, but is quickly won over and tentatively moves toward the boat, overcoming his hesitancy to climb aboard with some assistance from her rescuer. Once safely inside, the dog gives a vigorous shake, and his tail begins to wag with joy. Tags:  Hurricanes news humane international from The Bark https://ift.tt/38UIo3U

Giggles, the cat, has something to say. Judging by the look on his face, he might be ready to give us a tongue lashing! Oh, I hope we aren’t in trouble with this grumpy-looking tabby cat. Go ahead, Giggles, are you really as mad as you look? Giggles the Angry Cat reported he’s not mad at all, no matter how grumpy he looks. In fact, he told us, “Don’t let my looks deceive you. I’m actually a really chill dude .” Riggi Rescue/ Facebook The sweet but scowly tabby assured us he’s actually a very joyful boy. “I’m so happy that I don’t have to worry about sleeping on the cold, hard ground anymore. I was scared and hungry every night.” Riggi Rescue staff and volunteers agree, positively gushing, “He is the SWEETEST BOY! WE LOVE HIM! So, no angry tongue lashings from this grumpy-faced cat, but instead, loveable purr lashings are coming for everyone that Giggles meets! Giggles the Angry Cat/ Facebook From the Streets to Home His past is unknown, but Giggles had been living on t...