The first guest post from Holli Why dogs are so good for us was during a period where I had quite a few guest authors and I ended up losing track. Thus I didn’t attribute the guest post to Holli. Something that I can correct in today’s post.
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What is a spirit animal? How to tell if yours is a dog!
By Holli, February 2nd, 2019.
Many cultures believe there are spirit animals that guide and protect us during this physical journey we are on as humans. It is also said that we embody their characteristics and vice versa. The Shamen call it a power animal.
When a dog chooses to act as your spirit guide you will always have trust, courage, loyalty, protection, familiarity, a best friend and unconditional love.Just don’t abuse them or treat them badly…they may bite.
Here are the signs pointing to the dog as your spirit animal. Does it sound like you?
You feel like your dog saved you. Your dog came at a time where you were calling out for aid.
You give unconditional love
You may be a protector that will go above and beyond to take care of the people you care about
You like to help those in need and seem to sense what they need
You are easy to devote and also forgive
You are happy hanging back and letting others you care about take the spotlight
You are perceptive and can sense negative energy people
You have an infectious energy that people like to be around, and you bring it out in others
You may feel like you get burnt out because you put forth a lot of energy; therefore needing to be lazy for a while
Did a dog come into your life at just the right time? Do you always have dogs around?
Human spiritual connection with dogs is nothing new and not many people can argue with that because you can feel and see it! Through the years the dog has evolved to be so much closer with the human. They are therapy dogs, dogs in schools, service dogs, dogs are becoming more popular to have at work, there are police dogs, the list goes on.
They sleep in our beds, follow us around the house and come for car rides with us. The closer they get to us, the more human like they become.
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In reply to my question about sending me a short bio, this is what Holli sent:
My name is Holli Burch, and I live in Wisconsin. I have had dogs all my life and love everything about them.
Currently I have 4 labs, a yellow, black, chocolate and most recently a silver!
I started a dog blog because of my passion for dogs and wanting to be my own boss! Along with my dogs I have 4 children, horses, goats and 2 cats!
My typical dream day would include taking my kids to school, blogging and walking my dogs bare feet on the beach!
I know hundreds, if not tens of thousands, share my lack of understanding of those who are cruel to dogs, or any other animal come to that! I cannot get into the head of someone who does cruel acts towards dogs.
If Joe had shed any tears over his fate — tied to a fence in a New York City park — it would have been hard to notice for the puddle of water he sat shivering in.
In fact, it was hard to notice the 11-month-old pit-bull mix at all on that cold December day in Betsy Head Park. The rush of people hurrying to get to where they were going must have seemed endless, all the while oblivious to the tragedy unfolding at their feet.
Joe was emaciated and nearly frozen when he was found abandoned in a park. (Photo: New York City Police Department)
But while on a routine patrol in the area, NYPD officer Michael Pascale caught a glimpse of the abandoned dog.
“Just out of the corner of my eye I saw him,” he told the New York Post. “I jumped out of the car before the car even stopped.”
He found him scarcely moving, but still managing a whimper.
The officer wrapped the near-frozen dog in a towel.
“He was just looking up at me with these eyes … sitting in this puddle of water,” Pascale added. “I knew I had to get him out of there.”
Pascale and his partner wasted no time in ushering Joe to a local shelter. A triumphant photo of the pair was taken and later tweeted by NYPD Special Ops.
Officers Pascale and Levin pose with Joe at the shelter on the day they found him. (Photo: Animal Care Centers of New York City)
And that’s where you might think the chance encounter between Pascale and Joe would end.
But three weeks would pass and Joe was still at the shelter looking for a family. So Pascale, who had been keeping tabs on the dog, came to his rescue once again.
And this rescue would last a lifetime. Last week, after filling out the adoption papers, Pascale took Joe home for good.
“I felt a connection,” he told News 12. “I felt responsibility to make sure that he was going to have a good home, especially after what he experienced that day.”
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Officer Michael Pascale, you are a very good person. And I know Joe will be very happy with you.
On January 21st this year I republished a post by Tom Engelhardt and called it The song this planet needs to hear. His post was essentially a piece written for Tom by Dahr Jamail. It was called A Planet in Crisis and it included reference to a recently published book The End of Ice.
Subsequently, I decided to order the book by Dahr Jamail, it arrived a week ago and I ended up finishing it last Saturday.
I was minded to publish a review of the book, and here it is:
The End of Ice by Dahr Jamail
This is a book that I wished I had not read.
Yet, this is a book that once started I wanted to finish, and finish quickly.
It’s a brilliant book. Very impressive and very readable. But I speak of it from a technical point-of-view.
Now that I have finished it life will never be quite the same again. Nor, for that matter, for anyone else who chooses to read it.
Dahr Jamail has a background as a reporter, with some other books under his belt. But his reporting skills really come to the fore with The End Of Ice. For he has travelled the world speaking to experts in their own field and listening to what they say about the future prognosis of the planet that you and I, and everyone else lives on.
Earth has not seen current atmospheric CO2 levels since the Pliocene, some 3 million years ago. Three-quarters of that CO2 will still be here in five hundred years. Given that it takes a decade to experience the full warming effects of CO2 emissions, we are still that far away from experiencing the impact of all the CO2 that we are currently emitting. (p.5)
And if you are below the age of 60 or thereabouts you are going to experience this changing world head on. To be honest, whatever age you are things are starting to change.
Take this:
We are already facing mass extinction. There is no removing the heat we have introduced into our oceans, nor the 40 billion tons of carbon dioxide we pump into the atmosphere every single year. There may be no changing what is happening, and far worse things are coming. (p.218)
It really is a grim read. A grim but necessary read.
The eight chapters in the book spell out what is already happening. The diminishing glaciers and rising snow levels, the loss of coral, the rise in sea level and the loss of vast tracts of land as a consequence. Then there is the future of forests around the world. As I said, it is a grim read but a necessary one.
Towards the end of the book Dahr Jamail quotes author and storyteller Stephen Jenkinson:
“Grief requires us to know the time we’re in,” Jenkinson continues. “The great enemy of grief is hope. Hope is a four-letter word for people who are willing to know things for what they are. Our time requires us to be hope-free. To burn through the false choice of being hopeful and hopeless. They are the two sides of the same con job. Grief is required to proceed.” (p. 218)
Upon finishing this superb book, that you really do need to read, the one emotion that I was left with was grief. For what we have done to this planet. For what we are doing to this one and only home of ours.
Grief.
P.S. Dogs would not have done this to our beautiful planet.
From time to time I receive inquiries as to whether or not I publish guest posts. And if they are not trying to sell something then I am more than happy to do so.
So here is a guest post from Anoop Nain.
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How to walk your dog on a leash?
By Anoop Nain.
Walking with your dogs should be a fun activity, free from stress and worries. Unfortunately, for many dog parents it can be more complicated. Here are some common problems faced by the people when walking their dogs and some solutions to address those problems.
Preventing Pulling
Leash pulling is one of the most common dog walking challenges. There may be a number of factors at play, but often pulling is due to excitement on the walk and a lack of focus. If your pleasant dog walking dream has turned into a tug-of-war game with your pooch, here are some tips you can try to stop them from pulling on the leash.
The first step to stop your dog from being a major-league puller is to make sure your dog is paying attention to you and not everything around you while you walk.
Walk in front of your dog. This will allow you to be seen as the pack leader. You should always be the first one out the door and the first one in.
Keep the leash really short (This will allow you to have more control).
With your dog calmly by your side or behind you, make different moves, such as – start, st
op and turn. This way, he/she will start paying attention to you in order to keep up.
Stop walking if your dog begins to pull. When he stops pulling, begin walking forward again. Repeat this until your dog understands that pulling will prevent him from moving forward.
If your dog obeys you and shows good behavior, reward him/her by allowing him to sniff around.
Stop Constant Sniffing
Does your dog want to sniff everything on walks, or mark his territory? Rest assured; you are not alone! Sniffing is totally normal in dogs but constant sniffing while walking, especially when you have not allowed him to do so is not acceptable. As a responsible pet parent, you should not allow your furry kid to decide when and where to sniff.
Dogs, who pull on walks to sniff do so because they find it rewarding. Everytime your pooch pulls on the leash he gets to sniff something, which is a form of reward for him/her. You have to teach him/her that pulling no longer works and good behavior will get him/her reward from you. Here are some tips to try:
Keep the leash short but not tight. Walk in front of your dog and make sure his head is up during the walk. Stay focused on your destination and maintain your calm-assertive energy. When your dog starts following you, allow him brief breaks to relieve himself and explore the area around him. These breaks are your dog’s reward for obeying you.
Never reward your dog when he stops to sniff. Many people think treats will lure their dog to get up and walk again. But, it is wrong as you’re rewarding them for stopping.
Don’t pull on the leash because your dog will only strain harder due to “oppositional reflex.” It means when you try to pull your dog to make him move, he/she will pull in the other direction to maintain balance.
Instead of pulling your dog, stop and say your dog’s name or do something strange that distracts them, like squeaking a toy, whistling or anything to capture their attention and distract them from the thought that they don’t want to move anymore. When using a squeaky toy to distract him/her, remember not to actually give your dog the toy as your dog will see it as a reward for stopping.
Lunging and barking at other dogs and people
If you always have to walk to the other side of the street to prevent your dog from lunging, barking and snapping at other dogs and people, then you need to fix this problem as soon as possible. This problem is commonly known as leash reactivity. Most leash reactivity is caused by fear, anxiety or discomfort. Dogs bark and lunge at others to warn them.
Here’s what you can do to fix it:
To ‘heal’ your leash reactive dog, you have to identify the triggers and then avoid them altogether for some time. After some time, you have to gradually reintroduce them after desensitization and counter conditioning. For example: you can initially walk your dog when there are no other dogs or people around.
Then gradually, you have to figure out what your dog’s threshold is with other dogs – Does he/she get triggered when the other dogs are just a few meters away, or just seeing one on the other side of the park makes them agitated?
Once you have figured out your dog’s threshold with other dogs, you can ask a friend with a well behaved dog for help. You friend has to walk his/her dog within sight of yours. Each time the dog is in sight, shower your dog with lots of praise and treats. By doing this you will make an association between seeing the dog and getting lots of treats and praise.
Important thing to remember: Never punish your dog for his reactivity. Doing so will make the problem even worse. Dogs learn by making associations, and you want your dog to associate other dogs with pleasant things. So, make all the sessions positive by using lots of rewards.
When reframing your dog’s opinion of seeing other dogs and people, be protective of what he is exposed to and be careful where you take him. Just one fight is enough to trigger leash reactivity.
As you reframe your dog’s opinions of other dogs, consider not walking your dog for some time. Instead, just sit on your front porch with your dog on leash, and practice giving him rewards every time another dog comes into your dog’s line of sight.
When desensitization and counter-conditioning is done right, your dog will turn his head away on seeing another dog and look into your eyes, expecting a reward. Over time he will come to tolerate or even look forward to meeting other dogs.
WALKING TOOLS YOU CAN USE TO TRAIN YOUR POOCH
Training your dog to be a ‘good boi or gal’ on a leash can take few weeks to months of regular practice and patience. To make your job a bit easier, here are some humane walking tools that can be used: Head harnesses
Head harnesses are designed to fit around your dog’s snout, with the leash attaching in front to gently turn his head when he starts pulling. This tool can be effective for short-term pull-prevention but it must be properly fitted and used appropriately to avoid stress and injuries. Front-hook harnesses
These harnesses work exactly like head harnesses but they are fastened on your dog’s chest. When your dog starts pulling, it turns your dog back towards you, discouraging pulling. No-pull harnesses
When the dog starts pulling, these specially designed harnesses discourage pulling by applying gentle pressure to the dog’s chest or legs.
All these tools can be quite effective for training your dogs but they must be gradually introduced, properly fitted, and used appropriately. Wrap up
Training your pooch is an important and necessary part of your life together. It is a great bonding experience and well worth the effort! So train your dog to put his/her best paw forward and you will soon be able to enjoy the world with your happy, fun and leash friendly four legged companion.
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So it needs little else from me save to explain Anoop’s background. In response to me asking for him to provide a little about himself he wrote:
Anoop Nain is a proud father of four rescued dogs and two Flemish giant rabbits. Besides being a full-time dog father, he is a freelance content writer/blogger and an educationist, with more than 6 years experience in the field of content writing.
This is both an unlikely story and a beautiful one.
For a hawk had ‘grabbed’ a puppy but then, for whatever reason, chose to let it go. But that’s enough from me, here’s the story.
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This puppy literally fell from the sky
From the clutches of despair to the most compassionate hands.
By CHRISTIAN COTRONEO, January 15, 2019.
The aptly named Tony Hawk is recovering from his high-flying adventure with a foster family. (Photo: Austin Animal Center)
Not much is known about the tiny chihuahua who suddenly appeared at a construction site near Austin, Texas, last week.
In fact, he literally fell from the sky.
Workers at the project heard his cries long before they saw him. They figured a puppy was trapped somewhere among the debris.
“They were going around the construction site trying to figure out where these cries were coming from,” Jennifer Olohan, communications director for the Austin Animal Center, tells MNN.
“And then they realized it was actually coming from the sky.”
High above their heads, a puppy was flying through the air — in the clutches of a hawk.
At that very moment, the bird suddenly let go and a tiny screaming puppy — no older than 6 weeks — fell into their midst.
Aside from a few superficial wounds on his head, the chihuahua was surprisingly unhurt. But terrified.
The puppy only suffered a few superficial cuts form his fall. (Photo: Austin Animal Center)
But that didn’t last long, as the workers quickly brought him to a medical clinic, and from there, the puppy found his way into the care of the Austin Animal Center.
“We don’t know where he came from — whether he was born as a stray or whether he was in a home and got out,” Olohan explains.
The unlikely paratrooper’s new name, however, came naturally: He would be called Tony Hawk.
Tony Hawk will be ready for his forever home in about four weeks. (Photo: Austin Animal Center)
Considering his sheer tininess — not much bigger than a mouse — Tony Hawk probably seemed like a good idea to a hungry hawk.
But maybe he wasn’t ready to deal with all that crying. In any case, Tony Hawk’s fears subsided soon after he found some traction on terra firma.
Mostly because he found a living foster home to ease him into his new life. In a month or so, Tony Hawk will be looking for a forever home.
But Olohan suspects he won’t wait long.
“We’ve had plenty of interest, tons of applications for him,” she says. “He’s certainly not going to have a problem finding a home.”
And so a tiny puppy without a past found himself free from the clutches of despair — thanks to the warm, caring hands that will help him shape a brand new future.
Tony Hawk is guaranteed nothing but soft landings from here on in. (Photo: Austin Animal Center)
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In a world that sometimes seems a little strange this is a heck of a good news story.
Well done all involved especially the crew at Austin Animal Center.
These incredible pups catch poachers, sniff out invasive plants and diseases, and more, thanks to the work of wildlife biologist and conservation-dog expert Megan Parker.
What happens to those dogs that are just too much dog for people to handle? “You know them — you go to your friend’s barbecue, their dog is so happy to see you that she pees on your feet, and she drops a slobbery ball in your lap,” says Megan Parker (TEDxJacksonHole talk: Dogs for Conservation), a wildlife biologist and dog expert based in Bozeman, Montana. “You throw it to get as much distance between you and the dog as possible, but she keeps coming back with the ball. By the 950th throw, you’re thinking, Why don’t they get rid of this dog?” All too often, their owners reach the same conclusion and leave their pet at a shelter.
Thanks to Parker and the team at Working Dogs for Conservation (WD4C), some of these dogs have found a new leash lease on life. They’re using their olfactory abilities and unstoppable drive in a wide variety of earth-friendly ways, working with human handlers to sniff out illegal poachers and smugglers, track endangered species, and spot destructive invasive plants and animals.
Chai is shown here with a trainer. After a dog learns to recognize a particular scent, the education isn’t over — their handler works with them regularly so they maintain their skills. These days, you can find this sweet German shepherd protecting wildlife in Zambia, along with her brother Earl.
Parker first considered using dogs in conservation when she worked on the reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone Park and was asked how researchers could track wolves through their scat, or droppings. “I started thinking how best to detect their scat off a large landscape, and the idea came up for dogs,” she says. In 2000, she cofounded WD4C to train and use canines in conservation work. Most of their dogs are adopted from shelters or from organizations or work settings where they didn’t quite fit in.
While it’s fair to say almost all dogs love toys, wildlife-detection dogs are obsessed with them. “They’ll do anything to chase a ball or a tug toy,” says Parker. If their preferred plaything is thrown far into the brush or buried in a massive pile of leaves, no worries — they won’t stop looking until they find it. No food, obstacle or distractions can deter them, and WD4C staff have turned this single-minded focus into a powerful incentive. Their canine friends are rewarded with their favorite toy every time they locate a desired wildlife-related scent, anything from elephant ivory and poachers’ guns in Zambia and trafficked snow leopards in Tajikistan to predatory Rosy wolf snails in Hawaii and invasive Argentine ants on California’s Santa Cruz Islands. The dogs are careful not to disturb or touch any specimens they pinpoint; it’s all about the toy.
Lily, a yellow Lab, is one of the group’s many sad-start-happy-ending stories. When the then-three-year-old came to the attention of WD4C trainers, she’d already bounced her way in and out of five different homes. She couldn’t sit still and she never, ever wanted to stop playing. Oh, and she was a bit of a whiner. Since joining WD4C in 2011, she has been trained to recognize a dozen different conservation-related scents and been deployed to track grizzly bears and sniff out the eggs, beetles and larvae of emerald ash borers, an insect that has killed millions of trees in the US and Canada.
Hilo was originally meant to be a guide dog for the blind, but when that didn’t work out, he found a place at WD4C. Here, he wears the standard orange vest that tells conservation dogs it’s time to get to work. Hilo helps detect quagga and zebra mussels on boats.
The three-dozen-strong WD4C pack also includes purebred working dogs who weren’t right for their intended occupations. Orbee, a border collie, had the enthusiasm and live-wire energy required of ranch dogs, but there was one problem: he had zero interest in herding sheep. He also barked a lot. Since joining WD4C in 2009, Orbee has had a globe-trotting career — he has spotted invasive quagga and zebra mussels on boats in Alberta and Montana, monitored the habitats of the endangered San Joaquin kit fox in California, and assisted scientists in northern Africa in counting up Cross River gorillas, the world’s rarest gorilla.
Jax is a Belgian malinois, a sturdy breed frequently used by the police and military. He was in training to serve with the US Army’s special unit, the Green Berets, until his handlers realized Jax doesn’t like to bite people — just toys. And, boy, does he loves toys; he’s even tried to climb trees to reach prized objects. Since 2017, Jax’s athleticism and high spirits have been used by the WD4C to perform tasks such as mapping the movements of bobcats in the western US.
Tule gets to roam the great outdoors for WD4C, using her keen nose — dogs have around 300 million olfactory receptors compared to humans’ 6 million — to track animals such as the endangered black-footed ferret in Wyoming.
“Different dogs have different strong suits,” says Parker. She and the WD4C team try to place their charges in environments that match their skillset, likes and dislikes. Unlike many dogs, Tule (above), a Belgian malinois who flunked out of a job with US Customs and Border Patrol, has absolutely no desire to chase small animals such as cats, squirrels and rabbits. This made her the perfect fit to help researchers monitor black-footed ferrets, which live in the same territory as a large, scampering prairie-dog population. The ferrets, once thought extinct in the US, were reintroduced in Wyoming in recent years. Tule alerts her handlers to the scent of live ferrets or their scat, information that allows state wildlife officials to map their distribution and see if the population is recovering. Without Tule and her pack, researchers would be forced to study the elusive creatures with cameras or live traps, undependable methods at best.
The dogs’ efforts have resulted in positive, substantial changes. The organization teamed up with the nonprofit Wildlife Conservation Society so their dogs could track the scat of four keystone carnivores (grizzly bears, black bears, mountain lions and wolves) through the Centennial Mountains in Idaho and Montana. Five years of doggie data showed that all four species depended on the mountains to move between the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem and central Idaho wilderness areas. Thanks to this information, activists were able to stop construction of a housing development that would have interrupted their migratory pathway.
Tobias is a former stray who was found on the streets of Helena, Montana. He has searched for Argentine ants on California’s Santa Cruz Island, and now he spots invasive mussels on watercraft in and around Glacier National Park.
Some dogs are searching for animals and plants that are most wanted for the opposite reason: they’re invasive species proliferating where they don’t belong and driving out native flora and fauna. There’s the previously mentioned zebra and quagga mussels, which spread by clinging to boats and watercraft, and which clog water and sewage pipes, foul up power plants, and destroy good algae. Tobias (above) is a specialist in finding them. In one test, WD4C dogs identified 100 percent of the boats with mussels aboard (human screeners spotted 75 percent). The dogs did the job more quickly, and they could also detect the mussels’ microscopic larvae.
Former shelter dog Seamus (shown at the top of the post), a border collie, is an expert in searching out dyer’s woad on Mount Sentinel in Montana. Humans have tried to eradicate the invasive weed by spotting its flowers and pulling out plants by hand, but these attempts barely made a dent. By the time it’s found, it’s often already seeded (and a single plant can produce up to 10,000 seeds). Seamus’s keen nose, along with those of three canine colleagues, learned to sniff out woad before it flowered, a time when it’s extremely hard for human eyes to see. They also found root remnants left in the ground. At a recent checkup, just 19 of the invasive plants were found on the mountain. “It will be a complete extermination,” says Parker. “It’s just going to take a long time because we don’t know how long their seeds last in the soil.”
The dogs’ hunting grounds even extend into the water. Although prized in their native habitat, brook trout are an invasive species elsewhere; in some places in the Western US, they are pushing out the native cutthroat trout. WD4C was brought to Montana by the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the US Geological Survey and the Turner Endangered Species Fund to see whether their animals could learn to sniff out live fish in moving water. Reports Parker, “This project confirmed what we long suspected: that dogs can detect and discriminate scents in water.”
Pepin can recognize 20 wildlife scents, including the scat of snow leopards, wolverines and cheetahs. In one cheetah study, he and another conservation dog located 27 scats in a 927-square-mile area. How many did humans find in the same territory? None.
Pepin (above), who worked on the brook trout project, is part of an ambitious charge to train the dogs to detect infectious diseases in animals.“He’s done the first of a lot of things for us, because he’s so game,” says Parker. Some wildlife carry brucellosis, a bacterial disease that is particularly harmful to cattle. It’s difficult to tell when animals are first infected because they typically don’t display symptoms, so in areas where the disease is prevalent, ranchers tend to keep livestock and wildlife as far away from each other as possible — severely limiting the territory and movement of both kinds of animals. The hope is that dogs could provide a fast, reliable way to identify infected herds. So far, Pepin has shown he can discriminate infected elk scat with higher and lower concentrations of the bacteria, and WD4C is eager to explore this use of dog power. “We have proof of concept,” says Parker. “I’d like to move that work forward.”
There are so many other unexplored capacities and environments where dogs could help, Parker believes. To that end, WD4C started a program in 2015 called Rescues 2the Rescue, which aims to help shelters around the world identify would-be detection dogs and place them with wildlife and conservation organizations. What kind of dogs are they looking for? Ones that are, uh, crazy.
To clarify that adjective, we’ll close by telling you about Wicket, a black Lab mix who retired from WD4C in 2017 at the top of her game, having detected 32 different wildlife scents in 18 states and seven countries. Wicket languished in a Montana shelter for six months, barking up a storm and scaring away potential owners, until WD4C cofounder Aimee Hurt found her there in 2005. When she went to adopt her, the shelter director said, “You don’t want that dog — that dog’s crazy!” To which Hurt replied, “I think she might be the right kind of crazy.”
All photos courtesy of Working Dogs for Conservation.
Watch Megan Parker’s TEDxJacksonHole talk here:
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rebekah Barnett is the community speaker coordinator at TED, and knows a good flag when she sees one.
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Dogs give us so much. They are inspiring, loving and happy creatures.
I am speaking of the summer months and the risk of animals being burnt. Mind you, as the following article shows, summer is stretching it a bit. This article was published on December 10th!
But whenever it was published it’s a good news story.
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Cats, dogs and a bobcat are the latest burn victims saved with fish skin
Just this past month, California suffered its worst wildfire in the state’s history. Camp Fire in Paradise, California burned 220 acres and claimed the lives of 85 people. The vast majority of residents had little-to-no warning to evacuate, and many pets were left behind and left to fend for themselves along with the wildilfe.
This kitten along with three other cats received care at the University of California Davis Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital after they were found with severe burns during the Camp Fire. (Photo: Karin Higgins/UC Davis)
Several dogs and cats burned in the fire ended up at Valley Oak Veterinary Center in Chico. When Dr. Jamie Peyton, chief of the Integrative Medicine Service at the UC Davis Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital, heard about the animals, she volunteered to treat them with the innovative method of using tilapia skin on their burns. (This is the first time dogs and cats have been treated with tilapia skin for burns.) The kitten pictured above suffered third degree burns on some of his paws and lost the pads to all his feet.
“Their paws have been badly burned,” said Dusty Spencer, a veterinary surgeon at VCA Valley Oak Veterinary Center. “Their whiskers are singed or gone. Some of them have had really bad burns on their eyelids and nose.”
Olivia’s skin started to grow back just five days after the tilapia skin was applied. (Photo: Karin Higgins/UC Davis)
An 8-year-old Boston terrier mix named Olivia was one of the first dogs to receive treatment.
Olivia’s owners, Curtis and Mindy Stark, were out of town when the blaze began. Fortunately, Olivia has a microchip and was reunited with her owners. She suffered second-degree burns to her paws, legs and side, but it wasn’t long till she was feeling better thanks to the tilapia skin.
The Stark family was able to check Olivia out of the veterinary hospital. (Photo: Karin Higgins/UC Davis)
“It was a day and night difference,” said Curtis Stark. “She got up on the bed and did a back flip. That is the first time we saw her acting like she was before.” Treatment also works for the most severe burns
The bobcat suffered third- to fifth- degree burns on all of its pads. (Photo: Gregory Urquiaga/UC Davis)
Pets weren’t the only animals to suffer during the wildfire. Many wild animals desperately tried to flee but couldn’t.
A bobcat was also brought in for treatment. Peyton tells MNN the bobcat suffered third- to fifth-degree burns on his paws. A fifth-degree burn means the burn goes down to the bone. The animal was very thin due to his inability to hunt for food and lack of food sources after the fire. In the week since the bobcat received his first treatment, he has had three tilapia bandage changes. “Each one seems to be showing marked improvement and he is moving well and showing a lot of spunk at his rehabilitation home,” said Peyton.
It will be several months before the bobcat can be released back in the wild, but Peyton’s goal is to “help him heal as soon as possible to allow him to get back to his home.”
Previously, Peyton treated a bear cub injured in California’s Carr Fire back in August and before that two bears and a mountain lion from the Thomas Fire earlier this year.
Previous success for other injured wildlife
This summer, the Carr Fire near Redding, California burned for more than a month and scorched more than 229,000 acres — also forcing many wild animals to try and escape.
On Aug. 2, a Pacific Gas & Electric Company contractor spotted an injured black bear cub lying in the ash, unable to walk on her paws. She was the latest victim of the Carr Fire — and luckily, one the contractor knew he could help. The contractor called Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care, a certified wildlife rehabilitation facility.
A team was quickly mobilized to rescue the cub. Officers from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) cleared a safe path and tranquilized the cub to carry her to safety. The cub was brought to a lab to be treated by a team of veterinarians from CDFW and the University of California, Davis.
“Generally speaking, an animal that has survived a fire and is walking around on its own should be left alone, but that wasn’t the case here,” CDFW’s Environmental Program Manager Jeff Stoddard said. “In addition to her inability to stand or walk, there were active fires burning nearby, and with the burn area exceeding 125 square miles and growing, we weren’t sure there was any suitable habitat nearby to take her to.”
How does tilapia skin work for treating burns?
Tilapia skin is malleable enough that it can be cut into custom sizes to mold around an animal’s wounds. (Photo: Gregory Urquiaga/UC Davis)
“The tilapia skins provide direct, steady pressure to the wounds, keep bacteria out and stay on better and longer than any kind of regular, synthetic bandage would,” Peyton said. “The complete treatment also includes application of antibiotics and pain salve, laser treatments and acupuncture for pain management.”
The cub is the third bear in the state to be treated for burns with tilapia skin. Earlier this year after the Thomas fire, two bears and a mountain lion also received similar treatment. With each animal being treated, Peyton and her team grow more optimistic that tilapia skin is an effective treatment for burns that can be used in veterinary hospitals around the world.
“Just like we’ve seen in other species, we’re seeing increased pain relief. We’re seeing wound healing and an overall increased comfort,” said Peyton. “One of the most important things about being at UC Davis VMTH is that we are learning new techniques, but they don’t make much of a difference unless we can use them in the community.”
Editor’s note: This article has been updated since it was originally published in August 2018.
ooOOoo
Reading this article leaves me with the impression that there are a great number of good people out there!
The 5-year-old, brown-and-white pup, named after the famed crooner, inexplicably turned up 1,200 miles from Canarsie around Nov. 6 and was taken in by the Verrill family.
They were able to hunt down Sinatra’s owner in Brooklyn, Lesmore Willis, who burst into tears when he heard his beloved family pet had been found.
On Sunday evening, friends of the Verrill family made their way from Florida to the Baltimore area to hand off Sinatra to a pal of Willis’, Glen O’Gilvie, who lives there. O’Gilvie will then drive the dog to New York, he told The Post on Monday.
CBS This Morning published a video of the event.
Just a lovely outcome, albeit one that doesn’t change the fact that dear, young Zion is never coming back!
Dangerous Levels of Vitamin D Discovered in Several Dog Food Brands
CAUTION — ONGOING SITUATION
Last Updated December 7, 2018
December 7, 2018 — The FDA is alerting pet owners and veterinary professionals about recalls of several dry dog foods after receiving complaints that dogs eating the food experienced vitamin D toxicity.Testing found that samples of the affected foods contained as much as 70 times the intended amount of vitamin D.
Very high levels of vitamin D can cause serious health problemsin dogs, such as kidney failure or death.
Veterinarians should be aware that vitamin D toxicity may present as hypercalcemia, similar to dogs that have consumed a rodent killer.
At this time, the only pet products that are affected by this recall are foods made for dogs.
About Vitamin D Toxicity
Excess vitamin D in the diet can cause vomiting, loss of appetite, increased thirst, increased urination, excessive drooling and weight loss.
Vitamin D at toxic levels can cause kidney failure and death.
Pet owners whose dogs have been eating the recalled brands and are showing these symptoms should contact their veterinarians.
What Caused the Recalls?
The FDA has become aware of reports of vitamin D toxicity in dogs that ate dry dog food produced by the same manufacturer and marketed under several different brand names.
The FDA is working with the manufacturer to provide a comprehensive list of affected brands.
Important Warning
This is a developing situation. Additional recalls may be announced.
The Dog Food Advisor will update this page as the FDA makes further information available.
What Brands Are Recalled?
This is a developing situation and this list may not be complete.
The list of recalled dry dog food products provided to the FDA include:
Ahold Delhaize (company has not issued press release)
Ahold Delhaize (company has not issued recall bulletin)
Nature’s Promise Chicken & Brown Rice Dog Food
Size: 14-lb bag
UPC: 068826718472
All lot codes
Nature’s Promise Chicken & Brown Rice Dog Food
Size: 28-lb bag
UPC: 068826718471 – 28 lb. bag
All lot codes
Nature’s Promise Chicken & Brown Rice Dog Food
Size: 4-lb bag
UPC: 068826718473
All lot codes
Nature’s Place Real Country Chicken and Brown Rice Dog Food
Size: 5-lb bag
UPC: 72543998959
All lot codes
Nature’s Place Real Country Chicken and Brown Rice Dog Food
Size: 15-lb bag
UPC: 72543998960
All lot codes
Learning from Dogs 