The Pet Pundit

Category Archives: Dogs

Oct 23 0 comments

Nora the piano playing cat wins Feline of the Year

Back in February, the Pet Pundit featured a story on Nora the Piano Playing cat. Watch her first video here.

Today, she has been named Cat of the Year by the ASPCA who said they picked her not just for ability to paw out a tune, but because she was an adopted feline and what better way to promote the adoption of cats than to show of the talents of Nora.

Ten remarkable animals and people, including Nora, the piano-playing cat, and a dog who helps a disabled veteran, will be honored for their heroic deeds on October 29 at this year’s ASPCA Humane Awards Luncheon in New York City. The event recognizes animal heroes who have made extraordinary efforts to impact the lives of animals during the past year.

Among the 2009 ASPCA Humane Award winners are:

ASPCA Cat of the Year

When Betsy Alexander and Burnell Yow visited an animal shelter in Cherry Hill, N.J., they never imagined they would adopt a feline prodigy. Nora is a 5-year-old gray tabby whose special piano-playing skills quickly became a YouTube sensation, drawing more than 15 million page views and inspiring a Lithuanian composer to arrange a symphony in her honor. Nora is a talented example of how shelter pets — far from being castoffs — often make the best animal companions.

ASPCA Dog of the Year

Archie is an 8-year-old black Labrador retriever who serves as an assistance dog and social lifeline for Sgt. Clay Rankin. Rankin suffered spinal injuries while serving in Iraq, and Archie is his primary caregiver and social safety net. Archie’s loyalty and perseverance in helping Rankin accomplish his daily tasks has allowed the veteran to regain his confidence and independence.

ASPCA “Tommy Monahan” Kid of the Year

Eleven-year-old Monica Plumb in Powhatan County, Va., decided to make a real difference after seeing a news story about a pet that was saved from a house fire due to the use of an oxygen pet mask. Monica launched PetMask.com to collect online donations to purchase pet masks for fire departments, and has since purchased more than 50 mask kits for fire stations in nine different states. (This award is dedicated to Tommy Monahan, a 9-year-old Staten Island boy who perished in 2007 trying to save his pet from a house fire.)

For more award stories, visit the ASPCA’s website.

Oct 19 0 comments

Dogs, Pets

Common sweetener can kill pets

My veterinarian told me today that three of her canine patients had died recently from xylitol toxicity. “That’s never happened before,” she said. “I don’t have three dogs that die all year from something like that.”

Xylitol is a popular sugar substitute used in many human food products, especially in diabetic foods. It looks and tastes similar to sugar and has been recognized for helping to reduce cavities and improve dental hygiene.

But apparently, it should come with a bold ole’ warning sign to keep away from pets.

Just a small amount of xylitol though can cause adverse effects in as little as 30 minutes after ingestion. According to the ASPCA, dogs can experience a dramatic drop in blood sugar, vomit, become lethargic, and can have difficulty standing or walking. Some develop seizures, internal hemorrhaging, and suffer from liver failure. As few as two or three sticks of xylitol gum could be toxic to a 20-pound dog.

Some of the products include:

Health and Beauty products: Some toothpastes, oral rinses, nasal sprays, oral spray vitamins, and whitening strips

Foods: Sugar-free chewing gums, mints, jellies and jams, candy, baked goods, baking mixes, sugar substitutes/sweeteners.

Medications: Nicorette gum, other oral smoking cessation products, Probiotica, DenaShield Tabs, Colostrum Chewables, Flintstones Children’s Vitamins, other multi-vitamins, Beano liquid/drops, Mobi oral suspension (Meloxicam), Neurotinin Oral Solution (Gabapentin, (Zegrid (Omeprazole).

This is not a comprehensive list. Read the labels of all suger-free candies and gums and other products and don’t leave them within reach of pets. This would be a terrible way to lose a beloved pet.

Sep 27 0 comments

Dogs, Pets

New law bans 5 surgeries on dogs in Pennsylvania

A new law in Pennsylvania, House Bill 39, bans five surgeries on dogs unless performed by veterinarians. When I read the list, I was a bit surprised that any of these things were permissible for a pet owner to do and that a law had to be passed to ensure dogs are under the care of a vet — and anesthesia — for these painful procedures.

Gov. Ed Rendell said, ”Until now, these cruel practices could be carried out by dog owners without proper training and without supervision by a licensed vet, which could lead to long-term injury, pain and, in some cases, death to these defenseless animals.”

The banned surgeries include:
1. Cropping, trimming, or cutting off an ear
2. Debarking by cutting or injuring the vocal cords
3. Docking or cutting off the tail of a dog over five days of age
4. Surgically birthing a dog
5. Removing the dewclaws from a dog over five days of age

The dog’s owner must keep a record of the surgery, including the vet who performed it and the location and date where the surgery was performed. The law also adds further protection by making it a third degree felony offense to steal an animal for dogfighting.

The new law goes into affect in October and follows on the heels of the state’s most recent crackdown last year on puppy mills.

You can read Pennsylvania’s law here.

Aug 30 0 comments

Cats, Dogs, Pets

Could Congressional bill provide relief for pet owners?

Pet owners may want to know about H.R. 3501, which was introduced by Rep. Thaddeus McCotter, R-Mich on July 31, 2009, to help pet owners in these tough economic times. The Humanity and Pets Partnered Through the Years (HAPPY) Act is the first legislation, I believe, ever to be introduced on Capitol Hill to help pet owners with veterinary expenses.

In an effort to encourage more responsible pet care, the bill would allow pet owners to deduct up to $3,500 for pet health care for qualified pets (means a legally owned, domesticated, live animal, not one used for research or in conjunction with a trade or business), lessening the financial burden for people who have sick pets.

I can tell you that would be a wonderful deduction for someone like me who has had sick pets this year. And I am glad it’s for veterinary expenses; we wouldn’t want people acquiring pets simply so they could get a deduction.

As the keeper of several pets, I would love to see a bill like this pass Congress this year. To express your support, contact your Congressional Representative.

Aug 10 0 comments

Dogs, Pets

Dogs as smart as two to three year olds

The Border Collie is ranked as the smartest dog among breeds because of its ability to understand language and human signals in working environments. (Source: Wikipedia)

When it comes to intelligence, the latest researchs shows dogs are apparently as smart as two to three year old kids. They can comprehend about 165 words, learn signals, and can even count up to about 5, according to Stanley Coren, an emeritus professor of psychology at the University of British Columbia and author of “ How Dogs Think.” Coren was sharing this new research at a recent American Psychological Association meeting.

“One of the most recent breakthroughs is that people began to use tests which were originally designed for young humans — for pre-linguistic or limited-linguistic humans — to see whether dogs had certain capacities.,” says Coren. “And that allows you then to do a whole bunch of things, not only to determine whether a dog has a certain thinking skill but to place him in terms of where would you be in terms of human beings, as well as in terms of other animals.”

And who’s the smartest dog of them all? Here’s a list of the top ten smartest breeds and why they are such smart pooches.

1. Border Collies
2. Poodles
3. German Shepherd
4. Golden Retreivers
5. Doberman Pinschers
6. Shetland Sheepdog
7. Labrador Retrievers
8. Papillion
9. Rottweiler
10. Australian Cattle Dog

These top of the pack breeds may be as smart as a 2-1/2 year old, according to Coren, because they have been trained to be so. Indeed, training has been shown to make a dog smarter.