Pedrigee Pets

"In a sport where every lap counts towards the race for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, one of this year's hottest drivers is making every lap count for a cause close to his heart -- dogs. To help raise awareness and funding for the four million dogs in shelters and breed rescue organizations, dog-owner and NASCAR-driver Kyle Busch has joined forces with PEDIGREE(R: 70.91, -0.69, -0.96%) Food for Dogs -- NASCAR Fans' Best Friend and proud sponsor of the No. 18 PEDIGREE(R: 70.91, -0.69, -0.96%) Toyota -- to create "Kyle's Miles," a program aimed at raising $100,000 for The PEDIGREE Adoption Drive Foundation."

"The common practice of clipping a pet parrots wings so that it can't fly in its owners house may be causing more serious emotional trauma to pet birds then many people realize, and be a violation of their animal rights.

Thousands of pet parrots are developing psychological problems as a direct result from having their God given right to fly stripped away from them from unknowing pet owners.

This lack of physical ability to fly and exercise is causing thousands of pet parrots to pluck out their feathers, develop irrational phobias and have an inability to tolerate stress and or change in their environments."

Non-Disposable Pets

This is a sad article. I had no idea this was happening.


"Much about college life is temporary — classes last a semester, majors change, living arrangements endure maybe a school year and friendships come and go. But pets should not be part of that flux.
Yet every spring, as thousands of University of Arizona students pack up and leave Tucson for the summer or for good, local animal shelters notice a spike in dogs and cats being dropped off, unwanted.
If you can't commit to an animal for its lifetime — which usually lasts more than a school year — don't get a pet. To adopt a dog, cat, pet mouse or tortoise requires responsibility, maturity and the decency to understand that animals are not disposable."

For Animal Lovers

"Are you an animal lover? Have you thought about purchasing that cute little puppy that looks up at you with those heart-wrenching eyes at the pet store? Have you ever made some sort of connection with an animal and you just had to get it? Before you reach for your wallet, here’s a list of the top nine things you should consider before buying the animal version of your soul-mate."


"Many cats are surrendered to shelters because someone in the family (often a new addition such as a partner or a child) has allergies. Anywhere from 2% to 15% of the world’s population is allergic to cats, and up to 40% of Asthma sufferers are particularly affected."

Dog and Cat Ears

"An inflammation of the ear canal is called otitis. Most lay people call this an ear infection, and many times, an infectious microbial agent is involved, but occasionally the root of the problem is something other than a primary infection.

Dog and cat ears are built a little differently than human ears, but the variations are fairly minor. The ear flap is called the pinna. Below that is the canal leading to the eardrum, or tympanum.

Cat pinnae are fairly uniform from cat to cat and breed to breed. They are triangular and stand upright in almost all cats. Some purebred cats will have a distinct fold in the pinna that causes the flap to lie flat against the head and cover the ear canal. These cats are relatively rare and most of the time a cat with a folded ear will have suffered some injury that has healed poorly."

Animal Companions

"Companion animals can enrich our lives in an almost endless number of ways. Whether greeting us enthusiastically at the door, keeping us company on daily jogs or simply entertaining us with their play, sharing your life with a pet is a great way to increase the length and improve the quality of your life. For all they add to our lives, we owe it to them to do all we can for them in return. One of the ways to ensure your animal companion enjoys a long, happy life is to avoid the pitfalls of the most common pet-parenting mistakes:"



"Considering getting a cat for a pet? Adopting a stray can be a good option if you keep a few things in mind. Stray cats can present unusual and sometimes difficult problems to those who adopt them. Cat behaviors are often misunderstood. You should take care and have a great deal of understanding if you want to turn a feral cat into a content house cat."

Black Dog Syndrome

I have posted about Black Dog Syndrome previously but feel it's important enough to mention again.

"We at Pet Haven believe that big black dogs are beautiful. We do our best to rescue and re-home as many as we can. Unfortunately, they are often overlooked. Recently on cnn.com there was an article on Black Dog Syndrome. According to wikipedia, 'black dog syndrome' refers to low adoption rates and high euthanasia rate of black dogs (and cats) in shelters across the country. We need to educate the public and we need to do all we can to help these beautiful black dogs, with a strike against them simply because they are black. Pet Haven will be partnering with Heather Rosenwald who is the founder of a new website that will be launched soon www.startseeingblackdogs.com.



"How will you choose your next family dog? Perhaps look in the newspaper for advertisements from breeders who are selling new puppies, or find breeders via listings on the internet? Hopefully you would avoid purchasing a puppy from a local pet store, as a large proportion of these dogs come from puppy mills. Perhaps the best method, in terms of being helpful to society in general, is to adopt a dog from a local animal shelter."

Medicanimal

"MEDICANIMAL, after launching the business to provide premium pet care at affordable prices six months ago, is now one of the fastest-growing animal health retailers on the world-wide-web.

Andrew Bucher MRCVS and Ivan Retzignac founded MedicAnimal; two people with one goal, to provide not just affordable animal healthcare, but also care with a conscience.

Andrew Bucher, a veterinary surgeon, said: “We set up MedicAnimal because we both had the same philosophy, pet healthcare should be affordable, convenient, and can only be socially responsible if it is in collaboration with vets and charities.

“MedicAnimal is the socially conscious alternative to the largely commercial driven online pet pharmacies that seek to grow at the expense of vet practices. We vowed, from the start, that we would grow only through the support of vets and that our success would benefit animal charities world-wide. That’s why from the start, we partnered with some of the UK’s largest veterinary clinic groups and committed ourselves to donating 5% of profits to animal charities.”