Pet Health

Dog owners do not need to be veterinarians to know that a healthy heart is as important for our furry friends as it is for humans. Yet there can be a lot of confusion surrounding cardiac issues in animals, especially when it comes to heart murmurs.  Dr. Sonya Wesselowski, an assistant professor of cardiology at the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, offers insight on murmurs, given her expertise in the diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular disease in animals.  Wesselowski describes a heart murmur as “an extra whooshing sound” heard during a heartbeat that is typically caused by turbulent or rapid blood flow inside the heart. Some murmurs are considered to be harmless, or “physiologic,” while other murmurs are considered “pathologic,” or disease-related. In dogs, common reasons for a disease-related heart murmur include leaky or narrowed heart valves.   Not all heart murmurs are dangerous, though.  Tags:  ...

When you shop with iHeartCats.com , you’re helping cats like Joy find the comfort of a full belly and the care they need. Rescued from the stray cat life by The Dancing Cat of San Jose, California, Joy was settling in nicely in foster care when the vet discovered she had cancer. Because Rescue Bank delivered high-quality food to The Dancing Cat, this dedicated cat rescue had the funds to cover the veterinary care Joy needed to survive. And you made this possible for Joy, all because you shop with iHeartCats.com . Whether you’re buying toys and treats for your cat or cute wearables for you, every purchase made donates money to rescues and shelters working hard to care for cats and kittens in need. Instagram Saving Lives by Filling Bowls The funds raised by our loyal shoppers reach hungry kitties thanks to a partnership between iHeartCats.com and Greater Good Charities . This purpose-driven family of charities devotes their efforts to improving not only our lives, but the lives ...

Help! Why does my dog smell so bad? While all animal lovers share a close relationship with their pets, it often seems like dogs and their owners are virtually inseparable, even when they’re sleeping. As your dog ages, you may notice that they’ve started to smell a bit. You do regular grooming, yet somehow your dog still stinks If that sweet puppy smell vanished and was replaced by what can only be described as a funk, well, there might be other issues. This strange smell could be from several things like dental problems, gas , disease, or ear infections. But most commonly, it’s a hygiene problem. Causes for a Smelly Dog Wet Dog Smell: This recognizable smell is caused by the yeast and bacteria that naturally live in a dog’s skin and fur. The ordinarily mild odor becomes noticeably stronger when dogs are wet as the yeast and bacteria react to water. Tags:  wellness healthy living from The Bark https://ift.tt/3EVknHj

Shadow the cat has called the Lake Ridge Care Center in Buffalo, Minnesota, his home for over a decade. The handsome Russian Blue used to live with one of the residents, and after that person passed away, he stayed on at Lake Ridge. At the age of 16, he’s provided comfort and care to so many residents of the facility. You might say he’s a smoky, silver piece of feline magic that knows how to soothe souls. This special cat is an important part of the care facility, but now he’s been missing for more than two weeks. Residents and staff are distraught over his absence. Volunteers have been diligently searching for him and ask everyone in the area to keep their eyes open for their lost Shadow. Facebook Hoping To Find a Precious Friend Nicole Mull used to work at Lake Ridge and told Fox 9  Shadow brought something special to everyone at the center. “Everyone that comes in the door, he greets them… and just petting him for a few moments just relaxes you and relieves that tensi...

Ettore the cat was ready for adventure when he set out for a flight to Italy with dad Salvatore Fazio. But the adventure he bargained for turned into a scary three weeks of being lost at New York City’s John F. Kennedy International Airport. The vacation-turned-nightmare finally came to an end after a well-known cat rescuer and his team of volunteers worked their magic. Salvatore found out when he landed in Italy that Etorre never made it there. Somehow, he had escaped his carrier as the airline baggage handlers were loading him into the plane at JFK. He was still in New York, lost somewhere at the airport. Stuck in Italy, Salvatore could do nothing. But after his friend, Toni Ann, reached out to John Debacker of Long Island Cat Kitten Solution , work to find the lost cat commenced. Facebook Tracking a Lost Cat at JFK John and his fellow rescuers hung up fliers at the airport, alerting travelers regarding the missing Ettore. They heard nothing, and two weeks passed. But as Joh...

Being from China, Hao Ju, and Joey Fu are familiar with the cat café concept that originated on the Asian continent. According to Mental Floss , the first cat café of our modern era, Cat Flower Garden, opened its Taipei, Taiwan doors in 1998. The concept spread, and more cat cafés popped up in Asian cities. But it was the cat cafés of Japan that caught the interest of the Western world. Heavily embraced by Americans as well as many European cities, cat cafés offer the chance for people to relax with cats. For some, a visit to a cat café may be the first introduction to a cat that’s meant to be part of their family. Whatever the reason people visit the feline residents of a cat café, they are places that offer stress relief and happiness. That relaxing happiness is part of the experience Hao and Joey hope to bring to the cat lovers visiting H&J’s Tea House . Facebook The First Cat Café in Aggieland When Hao and girlfriend, Joey, visited San Antonio, Texas, they encountered a...

As a four-year-old cat in 2009, Alfie was a feline with adventure in his heart. His mom, Shelley Brockbank, said he was known for exploring and had a tendency to climb in open car windows. When he went missing, Shelley figured that might be what happened. It was the start of a very long adventure for Alfie that would keep him from returning home for 12 years. But in those first moments of his disappearance from his Jersey home in the British Isles, Shelley had no way of knowing when or if her special cat would ever come home again. She was heartbroken and did everything she could think of to find her boy, sharing with the Jersey Evening Post , “I put posters through letterboxes and contacted the animal shelter, to no avail.” Facebook That Cat Looks Familiar After time passed and Alfie never returned, Shelley expected he was gone forever. But seeing pictures of a white and orange cat posted on the JSPCA Animals’ Shelter’s Facebook page , the cat mom felt old memories stir. “T...

The Henderson family was “distraught” when furry family member Forbes the cat went missing from his Aberdeen, Scotland home in March of 2011. The sweet tabby cat’s parents, Neil and Lucy, did everything they could think of to bring their boy back home. As Neil told the Scottish SPCA , a friend of the couple made posters, they went door-to-door and even asked that neighbors check their garages and sheds in case he somehow got himself locked into an unfamiliar place. But Forbes was nowhere to be found. As more and more time passed, hope for his return grew dim. A few years went by, and thoughts of Forbes left the cat parents with heavy hearts. Thinking him gone forever, Neil and Lucy were forced to carry on without their kitty as they moved roughly 130 miles from Aberdeen to Edinburgh. Image Courtesy of Scottish SPCA An Adored Cat Goes Missing Neil and Lucy adopted Forbes when he was just a kitten , and they all formed a “special bond.” “He was such a unique and friendly charac...

Martha may be a young kitten, but when she makes up her little mind, oh, it’s made! But don’t think this tabby kitten is a diva. Martha, also known by her nickname Marty, is actually one sweet girl. She loves snuggling with her foster family and her adoptive mom, who just happens to be a dog. And Martha was the one to insist Mama Nood the dog be hers! So, how did this tiny tabby fluff come to claim a dog as her mom? The journey toward this heart-to-heart connection started when Marty was found on the Ontario, Canada streets at only four weeks old. The kind-hearted people looked for her mom and litter, but Marty’s family couldn’t be found. She was all alone, so her rescuers reached out to Salty Animal Rescue for help. Instagram Tabby Baby All Alone Sisters and co-founders of Salty Animal Rescue, Karly and Katelyn Saltarski, took the little one in right away, giving her the warmth and care she needed. Off the streets, Marty was safe and sound in a foster home. As the rescue sh...

The Pet Alliance of Greater Orlando has been working nonstop since the fire that destroyed their Orlando facility less than a week ago. It was initially believed that 23 or more cats were killed in the fire, but thanks to rescue workers and the feline ability to hide, the number of cats perished came to 13, with four still missing. Once the fire was put out and all the animals rescued or evacuated could be counted, shelter staff and first responders had saved 45 cats and 26 dogs. Pet Alliance reports around 150 animals were in foster homes at the time of the fire. While it’s a relief that so many were saved, the shelter is mourning the loss of the 13 cats and also hoping to trap the missing four. Plus, the Orlando facility has been deemed a total loss. But now, there are rays of hope shining through the dark clouds of this tragedy. One of these bright tales comes thanks to firefighter Brett Maneri and his new best friend, Mia the cat. @OCAS_Orlando /Twitter Tragedy Leads To Lo...

Pet Alliance of Greater Orlando is mourning the loss of 13 rescue cats, including a beloved feline that called the shelter home, after a fire broke out in their Orlando, Florida, shelter. The building was left with extensive damage, including a collapsed roof. The fire broke out in the later hours of September 15th, with a report of the blaze reaching the Orange County Fire Rescue at 10:21 p.m. When firefighters arrived on the scene, they discovered “flames through the roof of the building,” according to a Twitter statement. Instagram The building was already “50% involved” when rescuers began their battle against the blaze. While firefighters worked to douse the flames, Orange County Sheriff’s Deputies and  Orlando County Animal Services  entered the burning building to evacuate animals. The fire started inside the mazelike facility, and firefighters were unable to access the cat room. An investigation as to what caused the fire is pending, but foul play is not suspe...