Pet Health

Sadly, animal cruelty exists worldwide. Even more horrifying is that some abusers think their inhumane actions are funny, but such behavior is no joke. Animals deserve justice when they are wronged, and hopefully, the wheels are in motion for a Malaysian cat in the state of Johor. In a cruel video posted to social media, two men are showed standing on a rusted-out platform over a pond near a mine pit. The pair laughs as one of them picks up a small cat and hurls it into the air. The cat splashes hard into the water and can be seen swimming away while the men still laugh. The man recording the video can also be heard laughing as he says, “Walao eh, why are you guys so bad?” Indeed, why are you guys, cameraman included, so bad? Persatuan Haiwan Malaysia – Malaysia Animal Association/ Facebook Investigating Cruelty After witnessing the video, the Malaysia Animal Association stepped in to hunt down the perpetrators, posting on Facebook , “The act of throwing a cat into a mine li

From Ashley’s Kitten Academy , here’s the adorable tale of a tabby cat and her mini-me! Scarlet was a shy tabby cat girl when she entered into foster care with Ashley, the Youngest Old Cat Lady . And the young kitty wasn’t feeling well, spiking a fever of 105 degrees because of an abscess on her side. As she shared on Instagram, Ashley suspected, “She most likely had been bitten by a cat a few weeks ago.” But the experienced foster mom felt confident Scarlet would feel better with antibiotics, which would in turn fire up her lagging appetite. Scarlet regaining her health was important for her own good and the good of her newborn son. @youngestoldcatlady/ Instagram Scout was only a few days old when he arrived with his mom, and Ashley explained having a mom with one kitten was pretty unusual for her. It was clear right from the start, “this little boy is going to get so spoiled.” Not only was Ashley enamored with Scout, but his mom was quite concerned over her boy too. Every

Pet parents are known to trust the instincts of their furry friends, and a recent online poll reveals how deep that trust goes. In a OnePoll survey conducted for ZestyPaws, 2,000 pet parents who are either single or dating answered questions regarding how their pet’s feelings figured into their relationship. The results might prove surprising to some, but not really when we think about how much we value our furry family’s opinion. As the responses captured, 2 out of every 3 dating pet parents said they would dump a partner if their furry darling didn’t approve. That’s 67% percent of respondents! This shows that our cats, dogs, lizards, bunnies, and other critters have a big say in our relationship. In fact, 68% of survey participants even said their pet has the absolute final say in who they date. Makes sense. If the cats and dogs aren’t happy, ain’t nobody happy! Pet Parents Reveal the Importance of Their Furry One’s Opinion So how does trust factor into our relationships wit

How to avoid banishment—a frenemy’s letter lays out the rules. When the humans decide to have a baby, the family dog’s world dramatically changes. Following is a translation of a letter that Tipsy, the cat who lives with the soon-to-be grandma, wrote to Emi, the 12-year-old dog who’s the best pal of the soon-to-be mom. Dear Emi … I hear there’s a new little one coming to your house. Before the arrival of “the blessed event,” I thought I’d give you some advice.   FOOD Our first love is food. The good news: All food that falls on the floor is fair game. The bad news: You cannot take food from the baby’s hand even if it’s dangled in front of you. You will be banished.   TOYS The baby has toys, you have toys. Do not take the baby’s toys. Do not bite them. Do not lick them. You will be banished.   Tags:  literature humor from The Bark https://ift.tt/34i5zBo

On their way to adopt Echo, this family ended up with two after they learned the second, Bumper, would likely be euthanized. Tags:  smiling dogs from The Bark https://ift.tt/3oKSjPh

Traveler loves going on his daily hike and to compete in agility. He loves traveling with his family everywhere. Tags:  smiling dogs from The Bark https://ift.tt/3yJGc9Q

In conjunction with the Food & Drug Administration , Natural Balance Pet Foods, Inc. of San Diego, CA, has issued a voluntary recall for Natural Balance L.I.D. Limited Ingredient Diets Green Pea & Chicken Formula Dry Cat Food due to Salmonella concerns. The recall covers both 5 lbs. and 10 lbs. bags which were available for purchase online and in-stores nationwide. Image via Amazon.com If this is the brand of choice in your home, please check the back panel of your Natural Balance bags to see if your product is included in the recall. 5 LB Bag, Natural Balance L.I.D. Limited Ingredient Diets Green Pea & Chicken Formula Dry Cat Food Retail UPC Code: 2363300233 Lot Code: 1008080 06:42N811202:20 Best If Used by Date: 10-Mar-2022 10 LB Bag, Natural Balance L.I.D. Limited Ingredient Diets Green Pea & Chicken Formula Dry Cat Food Retail UPC Code: 2363300235 Lot Code: 1008080 06:42N811202:20 Best If Used by Date: 10-Mar-2022 Image: FDA.gov

Wild and untameable, yet strikingly similar to the much-loved pet dogs that share our homes I hope that through my book, Africa’s Wild Dogs , that I can share my passion and knowledge of the wild dogs’ story with animal lovers worldwide. Animals everywhere, I believe, deserve a deeper and greater respect than they currently receive. What’s in a name? The African wild dog is an animal that goes by many names – African painted dogs, painted wolves, African hunting dogs, Cape hunting dogs and more. Generally, people in Africa refer to them as African wild dogs, while the international community know them as painted wolves. Tags:  international excerpt from The Bark https://ift.tt/3fyybvn

People do this in many ways, and some are safer than others. The first time you put your new best friend in your vehicle is an exciting moment. It’s also a moment to think about her safety, not just on this first trip, but ongoing. Over the years, the two of you will no doubt share many a car ride, so if possible, it’s good to start as you mean to go on. For guidance, consider what our canine behavior expert sees as the pros and cons of each method. My social media feed is full of dogs (that’s why I still love social media!) and more than ever, I’m seeing tons of photographs of people with their newly adopted shelter pups . Since the pandemic began in early 2020, it’s become common for people to post photos of themselves driving their soon-to-be best friends home. Seeing dogs on the way to their forever homes is a happy sight, one that’s hard to beat. Tags:  dog behavior from The Bark https://ift.tt/3hyXfFo

Professor’s search for dogs’ healthier living, longevity drives Dog Aging Project Audrey Ruple loves Great Danes so much that, while in the middle of Texas on a family vacation in 2012, she made the decision to get another one. “We were lucky that we had a vehicle large enough to hold an extra passenger,” says Ruple, recalling how Bitzer, a purebred Great Dane that eventually grew to 140 pounds, came to live with her family. Despite the rocky trip back to Colorado, he became rather mellow and the go-to animal for cuddles and chuckles. “He was the best dog. He was my heart dog,” Ruple says. Bitzer recently died after living a large life. He was almost 8 ½ years old. “He was old for a Great Dane, but much too young for a dog to die,” says Ruple, who is an assistant professor of public health and a veterinary epidemiologist. She researches dog longevity through the Dog Aging Project. Being a licensed veterinarian who knows the ins and outs of animal health doesn’t make

Does a werewolf howl? Or does she say meow? If she’s a little Lykoi kitten name Gracie, she’s definitely a werewolf who meows at the full moon! And because she’s a werewolf, it makes sense Gracie carried an air of mystery about her for a while. One that vexed foster mom Brianna Waltman until Gracie was 3 months old. @graciewolfcat/ TikTok Gracie was born looking pretty much like her littermates. As one of 12 kittens born to two mother cats in Brianna’s care, Gracie was a cute little fuzzball among the others, but she was smaller than the rest. She also wasn’t as active, and the fur on her head started falling out. Kitten Mystery Brianna was worried about the little one, so to the vet she and Gracie went. The vet supposed the loss of fur resulted from a fever and would fill back in over time, mentioning Gracie’s hair might come back as a fever coat. Also known as stress coat, fever coat produces a black and white speckling of the fur due to severe fever or stress in a pregna

Fat cats are cute; there’s no doubt about it. But no matter how much we love hugging our flabby tabbies, being severely overweight isn’t good for cats. That’s why Boo the Elf cat has worked hard to drop an impressive amount of weight. Boo used to live with a family, but found himself locked away in a room due to a child’s allergy. The sweet Elf didn’t set out to get so tubby, but when left alone with only a food bowl for company, boredom and loneliness led to obesity. Image Courtesy of PawsPlanet When the people he lived with learned they had another baby on the way, they decided to send Boo packing. This eviction turned out to be the best thing for Boo as he soon found a forever home that would lavish him with love and get his feline waistline back in shape. Chubby Cat Gets Fit Boo weighed in at about 25 lbs. when his forever mom, Courtney Haney, adopted him into the family. As Elf cats usually weigh 10-15 pounds as a breed average, Courtney knew she had to get Boo on a die

A cat trying to survive a Chicago building fire made a jump for his life that captivated the world. Cats are masters of survival, enduring odds that would take out the toughest of humans. The black cat who made the leap in question proves the extreme skill and instinct that keeps felines alive in the grizzliest of situations. Chicago Fire Media/ Twitter When a fire broke out inside the cat’s building, he must have seen no other option for escape and chose to leap from a five-story window he found open and venting smoke. A camera trained on the burning apartment caught the leap, revealing how the cat suddenly appeared, pausing only long enough to survey the scene below before bracing his paws and jumping. Onlookers screamed and gasped as the cat fell through the air, adjusting his body for the landing. He hits the grass, bouncing on his paws. But does he pause? No, he runs away from the scene, seemingly no worse for the wear. To get a better idea of how impressive the leap an

As a cat lover, you’re no doubt on the lookout for cats wherever you go. Any time you spot a feline in a place you don’t expect, you feel the thrill of the discovery and want to share the kitty encounter with the rest of the feline fanatics! Lucky for us, that’s just what happened to Mica Mendoza. As Mica told mySA.com , she was shopping at the H-E-B plus! on Potranco and 1604 in San Antonio, TX, when she set eyes on Zuko the tortie cat sporting a name tag and encouraging shoppers not to forget their garden needs. u/bugbaby222/ Reddit It’s not the first time Mica had seen who she called “the cutest worker.” Zuko often hung around the store, doing the things cats do . A friend of Mica’s works there and sees the kitty pretty often too. But this time, Zuko wasn’t just spotted from a distance. Perched on the sacks of dirt, the cat gave Mica the opportunity to snap a few pics. Known as u/bugbaby222 on Reddit, Mica shared the pictures of Zuko checking the garden soil inventory on

When cat mom Isabel saw her cat grieving the loss of her only kitten, she had to do something to help her. Isabel’s tabby cat, Hazel, recently had a kitten, but, as Isabel shared on TikTok , “the baby ended up passing away.” Hazel was so sad after her kitten died, Isabel tried to think of anything she could try to ease her cat’s suffering. Her love for her dear, fluffy cat led Isabel to an idea that would help her grieving kitty in ways she never expected. “She would stay up all night crying and looking for her baby so I decided to make a pretend baby for her.” @isabel.gracez/ TikTok A Kitten Doll for Comfort Isabel revealed her process on TikTok, showing how she made the kitten doll for Hazel to cuddle when her heart was aching. From white cloth, perhaps an old t-shirt, Isabel cut out a kitten-shaped pattern, which she then decorated to look like a cute kitty, complete with a belly drawn on. She stitched the pieces together and gifted the cute kitten doll to Hazel. @isa

For college students under pressure, a dog may be the best stress fighter around. Programs exclusively focused on petting therapy dogs improved stressed-out students’ thinking and planning skills more effectively than programs that included traditional stress-management information, according to new Washington State University research. The study was published on May 12 in the  journal AERA Open , a peer-reviewed journal of the American Educational Research Association. The paper demonstrated that stressed students still exhibited these cognitive skills improvements up to six weeks after completion of the four-week-long program. Tags:  work of dogs research therapy dogs from The Bark https://ift.tt/3hyQa7R

Zoey loves going for walks and meeting people. Her family calls it “taking Zoey for a sniff” as she loves to smell every odor on the ground or in the air. Tags:  smiling dogs from The Bark https://ift.tt/3hsvuyc