Entries by PetHobbyist

Hi, friends! PetHobbyist.com has a new name!



You'll find our team of bloggers -- along with great new features including the ability to create your OWN blog -- at our new location:

ConnectedByPets.com

You can log in with your PetHobbyist.com username and password.

See you there!

An explosion and fire in San Bruno, Calif., a town just south of San Francisco, has caused hundreds of people to be evacuated and left more than 5000 without power. There has been one death reported so far, and there may be many more.

Petco in Tanforan, a shopping mall in San Bruno, is offering to shelter any pets displaced by the fire tonight. They will be open all night at 1150 El Camino Real in San Bruno and can be reached at 650-589-3757.

From Alley Cat Allies, the nation's leading advocacy group for feral cats:

We need your help today! As early as tomorrow, the California Assembly will vote on S.B. 250, a bill harmful to cats. Thanks to your calls and emails, we successfully urged the Assembly to vote this bill down last summer. But the bill is back up for consideration, and it is just as bad now as it was last year. We need you to urge the California Assembly to stop this bill once again.

Please act now and urge your Assemblymembers to oppose S.B. 250.

S.B. 250 is bad for cats:

The bill targets people who care for stray and feral cats. Any caregiver unable to trap and neuter a cat would be labeled a lawbreaker under the bill. Cat caregivers should be encouraged, not threatened with violating the law. By discouraging feral cat care, the bill could actually send more feral cats to pounds and shelters. Feral cats are not adoption candidates, so being sent to a shelter is a death sentence.
The bill also targets low-income families and their pets. A recent peer-reviewed study by Alley Cat Allies found that among low-income owners of intact pet cats, cost was one of the main obstacles to spaying and neutering. But the bill does nothing to lower the cost or expand the availability of spay/neuter services.
According to the California Department of Finance, the bill would cause more owners to surrender their animals. This would increase spending costs to state and local governments for the impoundment, care, and killing of more animals.

Take action today! Tell the California Assembly that this bill would hurt cats, harm caregivers and owners, and unnecessarily cost California money.

Help us stop this bill: urge your Assemblymembers to oppose S.B. 250 today.

The Memphis City Council is considering an amendment to the city’s Animal and Fowl chapter of the Code of Ordinances to require mandatory spay/neuter of cats over the age of 6 months and dogs that weigh 30 pounds or more. Spay/neuter requirements have also been proposed for dogs declared dangerous/vicious and dogs normally tethered for two hours or more. The ordinance passed out of the Public Services and Neighborhoods Committee on August 10, 2010 and is expected to be voted on by the full Council at its September 28, 2010 meeting.

The Impact:

The proposed ordinance states that “no person may own, harbor or keep within the City of Memphis, a dog weighing 30 pounds or more or a cat over the age of six months that has not been spayed or neutered unless the dog or cat is exempted”.

The following animals are exempted from mandatory spay/neuter:

Dogs weighing less than 30 pounds;
Dogs documented as having been appropriately trained and used by public law enforcement agencies for law enforcement activities or such dogs designated as breeding stock by an appropriate agency or organization approved by the Director of Memphis Animal Services;
Dogs having been appropriately trained and used as service dogs (i.e. guide dog, hearing dog, assistance dog, seizure alert dog or social/therapy dog) or such dogs designated as breeding stock by an appropriate agency or organization approved by the Director of Memphis Animal Services;
Dogs documented as having been appropriately trained and being used for search and rescue agencies or such dogs designated as breeding stock by an appropriate agency or organization approved by the Director of Memphis Animal Services;
Dogs or cats certified by a licensed veterinarian as having a health reason for not being spayed/neutered;
Dogs which are appropriately trained and used for herding of other animals (i.e. livestock guardian dogs, hunting dogs or such dogs designated as breeding stock by an appropriate agency or organization approved by the Director of Memphis Animal Services;
Dogs or cats boarded in a licensed kennel or business, which boards such animals for professional training or resale;
Dogs or cats registered with the American Kennel Club, Cat Fancier Association or other recognized registry or trained and kept for the purpose of show, field trials or agility trials;
Dogs or cats whose owner has obtained an unaltered animal permit issued by the licensing-collecting agent of the City, or any agency authorized by law to issue such permit.

In order to obtain an unaltered (Fertile Animal) permit, applicants must apply for unaltered permits with the City of Memphis, Division of Public Services. The owner of a fertile animal will have to pay the City a one-time $200.00 permit fee to keep a fertile animal within the City. Permit holders may not whelp more than one litter per female dog in any 12-month period and no more than one litter per domestic household in any 12-month period.

Anyone found in violation of this ordinance will be fined $50 and court costs. The fine will be waived for first time offenders if proof is provided that the dog or cat is/or has been spayed/neutered by the date of the hearing. For second time offenders, the Court may enforce the $50 fine plus costs and may hold the owner in Criminal Contempt and require the owner to prove that the animal has been spayed/neutered.

The Council is also considering an amendment to the Dangerous/Vicious Animal Ordinance to require a fertile dog that has bitten or attacked to be spayed/neutered and to declare any dog that has bitten once and been found running at large as dangerous/vicious.

Additional amendments being considered would require tethered dogs to also be behind a fence and dogs tethered for two hours or more be spayed/neutered. The council is also considering raising annual dog license fees from $15 to $35 for fertile animals and eliminating the $5 fee for sterile animals.

PIJAC Position:

PIJAC opposes a general ban on intact animals. The pet trade widely endorses spay-neuter, where appropriate, but such a decision should be made on a case-by-case basis by pet owners after consultation with their veterinarian. Pet owners should not be subject to punitive fees because spay/neuter is not a desirable course of action in their particular circumstances. Targeting animals of a certain weight with a sterilization requirement does not serve any public interest and is inappropriate.

Recommended Action:

The Council’s Committee on Public Services and Neighborhoods passed the proposed ordinance and amendments on August 10, 2010. The full committee is set to vote on the proposals at its September 28th meeting. Persons concerned about the impact of this proposal are encouraged to contact members of the City Council to voice concerns. Click here for Councilmember contact information. For those who wish view text of the proposal, click here.

Those having questions about this proposal should contact PIJAC’s Bambi Osborne via email at bambi@pijac.org or by phone at 202-452-1525, ext. 105.

Procter & Gamble announced today that it's recalling its feline prescription dry food for cats with kidney disease due to the "potential" that it's contaminated with salmonella. From the release:

The Procter & Gamble Company is voluntarily recalling two specific lots of its prescription renal dry cat food as a precautionary measure, as it has the potential to be contaminated with salmonella.

The following products are included:

Iams Veterinary Formulas Feline Renal 5.5 lbs with lot code 01384174B4 and UPC code 0 19014 21405 1

Iams Veterinary Formulas Feline Renal 5.5 lbs with lot code 01384174B2 and UPC code 0 19014 21405 1

This product is available by prescription through veterinary clinics throughout the U.S.

No illnesses have been reported. A FDA analysis identified a positive result on the lot codes listed above. Lot codes can be found in the lower right corner on the back of the bag.

Consumers who have purchased dry cat food with these codes should discard it. People handling dry pet food can become infected with Salmonella, especially if they have not thoroughly washed their hands after having contact with surfaces exposed to this product. Healthy people infected with Salmonella should monitor themselves for some or all of the following symptoms: nausea, vomiting, diarrhea or bloody diarrhea, abdominal cramping and fever. Rarely, Salmonella can result in more serious ailments including arterial infections, endocarditis, arthritis, muscle pain, eye irritation and urinary tract symptoms. Consumers exhibiting these signs after having contact with this product should contact their healthcare providers.

Pets with Salmonella infections may have decreased appetite, fever and abdominal pain. If left untreated, pets may be lethargic and have diarrhea or bloody diarrhea, fever and vomiting. Infected but otherwise healthy pets can be carriers and infect other animals or humans. If your pet has consumed the recalled product and has these symptoms, please contact your veterinarian.

For further information or a product refund call P&G toll-free at 877-894-4458 (Monday – Friday, 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM EST).

Not only is the BBC reporting oil has temporarily stopped gushing into the Gulf, but there's good news from the Associated Press:

The first sea turtle hatchlings whose eggs were evacuated from the Gulf Coast oil spill to Florida's Kennedy Space Center have been released into the Atlantic Ocean.

Those animals who die as the result of the BP Gulf oil spill may not have lost their lives entirely in vain. From The New Orleans Times-Picayune:

Hundreds of birds including pelicans, seagulls, terns and gannets are being gathered by wildlife teams in an effort both to save them from their veils of oil and to help them recover from the effects that it can have on their lungs and digestive systems. At the same time, government scientists and the seasoned nonprofits that the government usually hires to respond to major wildlife disasters have set up animal rescue centers along the coast.

Within those operations are morgues and temporary freezers where the dead animals are catalogued and examined. The operations cannot be photographed or observed by outsiders, because they are part of a massive body of evidence outlining the harm that the spill has caused wildlife, in violation of federal laws such as the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, Marine Mammal Protection Act and Endangered Species Act.

From Veterinary Practice News:

The United States Department of Agriculture has granted a full license to Intervet/Schering-Plough Animal Health’s Nobivac Canine Flu H3N8. This is the first vaccine against canine influenza virus (CIV), according to the company, which announced the approval June 9, 2010.

The full license means that the USDA confirms the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine. Nobivac Canine Flu “has been shown to significantly decrease the signs, severity and spread of CIV infection. The vaccine has also been shown to reduce the incidence and severity of lung lesions,” the company reported, adding that field experience data shows that the vaccine is well-tolerated.

Think it's too hard to "go green"? In honor of Earth Day 2010, this Pug shows just how easy it really is.

Steve Dale and Kim Campbell Thornton are two of the top pet journalists in America today -- but that's not why they're joining us this year.

Kim and Steve both had beloved pets who succumbed to genetic disease, and on Sunday night, Feb. 28, at 10 PM Eastern Time, they're going to be talking with Darlene Arden about the funds they established in those pets' memories to help other animals afflicted with the same condition.

Steve founded The Ricky Fund in memory of his Devon Rex cat Ricky, who died at the age of 4 of feline hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Kim founded The Darcy Fund in memory of her Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Darcy, who died of mitral valve disease.

Find out more about these diseases, how the Funds have helped both other animals and also Kim and Steve, and how you might go about honoring a lost pet in a similar way.

Kim and Steve will be speaking with Darlene via streaming audio, and you'll be able to comment and ask questions in the text-based chat room.

To join the chat: Registered users of PetHobbyist.com log in here. If you're not registered, log in as a guest here and select "Auditorium" from the drop down menu!

On Sunday, Feb. 28 at 9 PM Eastern Time in the kingsnake.com chat room, we'll be talking in live streaming audio with Russ Gurley, founder of the Turtle and Tortoise Preservation Group.

The TTPG was created in 1996 to help spread the horrible news: The world’s turtles are disappearing. Across the planet there are a variety of pressures facing the world’s turtles including habitat destruction, habitat fragmentation, collection for food and folk remedies, collection for the pet trade, and many more. Each year, turtle and tortoise keepers are having more and more successes with keeping their chelonians healthy and in creative enclosures and they are producing healthy captive-hatched specimens that are living stress-free and parasite-free in homes all over the world. These pets are ambassadors for their cousins, living in nature.

The TTPG is involved with the dissemination of information about the world's turtles and tortoises and their proper care through talks at herpetological societies, Turtle Night at the National Reptile Breeders Expo, the TTPG Conference in Phoenix Reptile Expo, and through books, articles, care sheets, and their website.

This, our final event of our 12th Annual Chat Month, marks the first of a regular TTPG group discussion that will be hosted on kingsnake.com