The bond between cats and their owners turns out to be far more intense than imagined, especially for cat aficionado women and their affection reciprocating felines, suggests a new study.

Cats attach to humans, and particularly women, as social partners, and it’s not just for the sake of obtaining food, according to the new research, which has been accepted for publication in the journal Behavioural Processes.

The study is the first to show in detail that the dynamics underlying cat-human relationships are nearly identical to human-only bonds, with cats sometimes even becoming a furry “child” in nurturing homes.

“Food is often used as a token of affection, and the ways that cats and humans relate to food are similar in nature to the interactions seen between the human caregiver and the pre-verbal infant,” co-author Jon Day, a Waltham Centre for Pet Nutrition researcher, told Discovery News. “Both cat and human infant are, at least in part, in control of when and what they are fed!”

For the study, led by Kurt Kotrschal of the Konrad Lorenz Research Station and the University of Vienna, the researchers videotaped and later analyzed interactions between 41 cats and their owners over lengthy four-part periods. Each and every behavior of both the cat and owner was noted. Owner and cat personalities were also assessed in a separate test. For the cat assessment, the authors placed a stuffed owl toy with large glass eyes on a floor so the feline would encounter it by surprise.

The researchers determined that cats and their owners strongly influenced each other, such that they were each often controlling the other’s behaviors. Extroverted women with young, active cats enjoyed the greatest synchronicity, with cats in these relationships only having to use subtle cues, such as a single upright tail move, to signal desire for friendly contact.

While cats have plenty of male admirers, and vice versa, this study and others reveal that women tend to interact with their cats — be they male or female felines — more than men do.

“In response, the cats approach female owners more frequently, and initiate contact more frequently (such as jumping on laps) than they do with male owners,” co-author Manuela Wedl of the University of Vienna told Discovery News, adding that “female owners have more intense relationships with their cats than do male owners.”

Cats also seem to remember kindness and return the favors later. If owners comply with their feline’s wishes to interact, then the cat will often comply with the owner’s wishes at other times. The cat may also “have an edge in this negotiation,” since owners are usually already motivated to establish social contact.

By Jennifer Viegas
Thu Feb 24, 2011 10:15 AM ET
Discovery News

The FDA (Food and Drug Adminsitration) has issued a warning to pet owners today about the dangers of xylitol ingestion. For our pets here in central NY, xylitol is found in many, many food products sold at Price Chopper, Tops and Hannafords along with the other supermarkets in our area.

Xylitol is sugar alcohol used in many sugar free products such as gum, candy and chewable vitamins. It can also be purchased for use in home baked products – meaning your dogs and ferrets may have access to large doses of this product.

In pets, signs to look for with accidental poisoning include loss of coordination and vomiting -which may occur right away after eating xylitol or take a few days to show up. Pets may appear depressed or have seizures. Hypoglycemia or low blood sugar is common. Liver failure can be an aftereffect according to the FDA alert.

Cases of xylitol poisoning in dogs have been on the rise as reported by the AVMA. Ferrets are also susceptible to xylitol’s effects.

It is important to keep any of your sugar free products and foods safely up and away from your dogs and other pets. If you suspect your pet has gotten into any products with xylitol, even something as small as a package of chewing gum, you need to contact your veterinarian right away.

Deb M. Eldredge, DVM

It’s a time honored truth that a dog or cat who has special dietary needs might be more interested in eating the other dog’s (or cat’s) meal. For decades, pet owners have tried creative solutions to fight this dilemma. Houston veterinarian Rachel Addleman DVM, DABVP, CVA not only believes she has the solution, she has the registered U.S. patent to prove it.

Houston veterinarian Rachel Addleman DVM, DABVP, CVA has invented a device to help keep pets on their diets.

Her invention is a magnetic pendant which attaches to the animal’s collar. When the animal is near the food container they’re allowed to eat from, they have the access they need. However, if they move toward the bowl that isn’t theirs, their access is cut off. The key is the food will still remain available to other animals who don’t have any restriction.

Dr. Addleman’s thought process was geared toward cats with particular dietary restrictions, such as her own. Describing the issue to be solved was her first step to creating a solution.

“Cat owners are more often than not multiple cat households, and many cat owners struggle with keeping each cat on their proper diet,” Addleman said. “A common household issue is trying to keep weight on an elderly cat who might need a lower protein diet, while trying to keep a younger one on a higher protein or weight loss program. Someone in the household has a food allergy, and you can’t keep them from getting into another’s food bowl. It can be really difficult to keep the dog from eating the cat’s food, too.”

At the same time, Dr. Addleman was sensitive to handling “traffic control” and not creating a needless phobia.

“I never wanted to have a pet scared of the food bowl,” Addleman said. “The biggest issue was making sure that as two animals approached the bowl at the same time, the correct animal was not prevented from eating. I specifically had in mind my older cat, who is thinner, and not as likely to put up a fight to stand in front of the food bowl if the younger cat was present. If he was prevented from eating, he would just give up and go lay down.”

She concluded, “So I had to make something that would be easy for him to eat at but keep his younger brother away.”

Dr. Addleman is a board-certified feline specialist, as well as a certified acupuncturist. She practices at Houston’s Memorial Cat Hospital, which boasts not one but four board-certified feline specialists. Her goal is to “bring Eastern medical therapies to Western animals.”

As well as maintaining her Houston practice Dr. Addleman is still working hard on making the product available to consumers. Getting it to market remains an elusive goal, but her optimism is high. She knows the need is there.

“This is a much needed product, and the positive response I get from other veterinarians and pet owners makes me certain it is a product that can be profitable,” Dr. Addleman says. “I continue to speak with different pet product manufactures to bring this idea to market.”

By David S. Greene

Lynchburg, VA – Dog owners beware. Canine flu is spreading. The viral disease is now confirmed in 34 states including Virginia.

According to veterinarian experts, virtually every dog exposed to the virus will become infected because dogs have no immunity to it.

They can catch it though direct contact or though the air. A local veterinarian says about 80 percent of infected dogs will show symptoms including persistent coughing, high fever and inactivity. Vaccinations are only necessary if your dog comes in contact with other dogs.

“But if you board, if you go to grooming, say if you walk on the Avenue or go down on the bike trail or sniff nose at dog parks, any type of high exposure, I would highly recommend the vaccination,” Dr. David Case with the Boonsboro Animal Hospital said.

At this point there have been no confirmed cases in Central Virginia, just Charlottesville and Northern Virginia.

Reporter: Dhomonique Ricks l Videographer: Jemon Haskins

The week before Christmas, I nearly killed my German shepherd.

Dexter in Central Park.His name is Dexter, and he’s 11 years old. It all began on a Saturday morning in Central Park, when he ran in playful pursuit after a young Labrador retriever. Afterward he limped home.

Yet again his arthritic leg was acting up — he also tore a ligament a few years ago — and in an effort to save money and a trip to the veterinarian, I gave him some high-dose ibuprofen. It was in the medicine cabinet, left over from my son’s root canal.

I am a doctor — a people one — so I know quite a bit about medicine. Little did I know how little I knew about veterinary medicine.

Over the course of about a day and half, I had given Dexter three 600-milligram pills. He stopped limping, but also stopped eating, and for the first time in his life, he wet himself during the night. He then flooded the hallway with urine as he ran for the door in the morning.

That’s when I called the veterinarian’s office. It was Sunday, and I left a message saying that it wasn’t an emergency, but perhaps Dexter should be seen on Monday.

The phone rang immediately. It was my veterinarian. She told me to get Dexter to an animal hospital. Right away.

That’s when I learned that ibuprofen, the key ingredient in Motrin, poisons dogs. After a seven-day stay in the intensive care unit, ultrasound exams and a big bottle of take-home medicine, I brought Dexter home, along with a $3,000 vet bill.

My kids could not believe that I had given the family dog medicine made for humans. My 14-year-old son had the gall to make fun of me in front of his friends. “My dog was in the hospital. My mom almost killed him. Can you believe she gave him people medicine?”

But my dogs have had a long — and happier — history of human-drug therapy, all veterinarian-approved. Dexter also takes glucosamine, a supplement for arthritic joints that my mother swears by. He takes levothyroid for his slow-acting thyroid gland, precisely the same thing people take. And when he has digestive issues, which is fairly frequently, I reach for the Pepcid and Imodium, an over-the-counter antidiarrheal medicine.

When my previous dog, a golden retriever, had lymphoma years ago, he was treated with the same chemotherapy regime given to human cancer patients.

And to be honest, I had never worried too much, because I thought so many of the pet dangers we hear about are exaggerated. Take chocolate: They say it kills dogs, but my dogs have always scarfed down the chocolate crumbs my kids have dropped without consequences.

Dr. Safdar Khan, senior director of toxicology research at the A.S.P.C.A. Animal Poison Control Center, which runs a 24-hour hot line for pet owners (1-888-426-4435; fees apply), urged pet owners, “You must, must check with your vet” before giving pets human medicines. Imodium, for example, can mask underlying causes of diarrhea, like parasites. And drugs like Pepto Bismol contain aspirin, he said, which can irritate a dog’s digestive tract and cause severe damage to cats.

But ibuprofen “is a double whammy,” said Dr. Amy Attas, my vet and founder of City Pets, a veterinary house call service. It can cause ulcers and bleeding in the intestinal tract and damage the kidneys. High doses can cause fatal renal failure.

There are many other canine poisons in the medicine cabinet as well. Acetaminophen, the key ingredient in Tylenol, is toxic to dogs and cats because the liver enzyme responsible for its breakdown works differently in cats and dogs than it does in people. One dose can kill a cat.

And as for chocolate, a few chocolate bits or a chocolate chip cookie is not going to kill your dog, Dr. Attas said. But lots of dark chocolate, the kind often used in baking, can be deadly. It has a caffeinelike ingredient that damages the canine central nervous system.

Other foods to avoid: grapes and raisins can lead to kidney failure. A lot of onions — say, if a dog gets into the garbage and eats the onion-covered chicken — can prompt anemia, which can be fatal. And macadamia nuts can cause muscle tremors, weakness, vomiting and dangerously high body temperatures.

The worst, Dr. Attas said, are artificial sweeteners. Xylitol, the ingredient in most sugar-free gums, causes sugar levels to plummet in dogs, and may damage their livers too. In a paper in the Journal of the Veterinary Medical Association, researchers reported the death of four of eight dogs that had eaten xylitol-laden desserts.

Dr. Attas also warned that Easter lilies are poisonous to cats.

So what do you give a dog when joint pain flares up?

Your veterinarian may recommend a medicine called Rimadyl, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatoy drug that works in dogs but, wouldn’t you know, is toxic for people.

As for Dexter, it’s been about a month and he’s on the mend. He’s still on antibiotics twice a day and needs to be walked about every three hours.

The bottom line is that while your domesticated pets may act like small children and your children may, at times, act like wild animals, when it comes to health care, they should always be considered different species.

In other words, don’t do what I did. Call your vet before you experiment with your pets. You could spare yourself a medical crisis – and a hefty bill.

Randi Hutter Epstein  is the author of “Get Me Out: A History of Childbirth from the Garden of Eden to the Sperm Bank.’’

The New York Times

Many people buy pets over the holidays, but what do you do a couple of months later if the pet isn’t working out? Maybe your kids who were begging for a puppy suddenly become disinterested when they realize all the work that goes into taking care of a dog, or a family member suddenly starts sneezing around the cat.

Dr. Stephen Zawistowski, science advisor for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, says your relationship with your pet is like your relationship with another person, and that often after a “honeymoon period,” your relationship starts to settle and will have some rough spots.

He says there are several options for dealing with “pet regret.”

The first step

First, you should take a step back and think about why the relationship isn’t working out. After several months, a pet may be in its adolescent stage and start acting out by chewing or soiling. These behaviors can be corrected and managed with appropriate techniques, and they do not last forever. If it’s more an issue of commitment to the pet, Zawistowski says, you need to take a hard look at why you bought the pet in the first place. Many times you just need to recommit yourself to the relationship and stick it out through a challenging time.

Allergies

If a family member starts to develop an allergy, find out if it really is the pet causing it. Pets can often track in other allergens like pollen, which may be the true culprit. Go to your doctor to determine the source of your allergy; if it is the pet causing it, the doctor may be able to prescribe medication.

Financial troubles

If you’re finding that the finances of owning a pet aren’t working out, figure out exactly what you’re spending. There are some essentials, such as good pet food and a yearly vet exam for vaccinations. After that, do you really need to buy a new toy for the pet all the time? Or do you really need the expensive pet treats?

Last resort

If you do need to give away your pet, ask friends and family first if they’d be willing to take the pet in. Zawistowski says he’s seeing a lot of people who lose their job and home who can no longer care for their pets.

If no one will take the pet in, look to animal shelters or pet rescues. However, many are overburdened and might not be able to take your pet. Sometimes, after going on a waiting list for a shelter for a few weeks or months, you’ll find that you really can keep the pet after all.

Kathryn Sucich
GateHouse News Service

KINGSTON — A local veterinarian says he continues to see sporadic cases of a highly contagious but preventable viral disease that can kill cats.

Arnold Rugg, of the Kingston Animal Hospital on Albany Avenue, said on Tuesday that his office had two more fatal cases of feline distemper, formally known as panleukopenia, last week. He said the two cats were from the same West Park household and one of the pair had been allowed to go inside and outside. Rugg said he believes the distemper virus probably is in the feral cat population, though house cats can be exposed to it if they are allowed outside.

In October, Rugg said his Kingston practice had at least 13 cats die over the course of two months from feline distemper. Since then, he said, his office has treated four or five more cases. Rugg said the virus seems to be occurring sporadically in unvaccinated cats.

“We had a number of them in the summer,” Rugg said, adding that the cases were confirmed by a pathologist.

Most of the previous distemper cases handled by the Kingston Animal Hospital were in cats from Kingston’s Downtown area, though there was one case in a Port Ewen cat, Rugg said.

Rugg previously described feline distemper as a “highly contagious viral disease that is spread in feces, vomit and body fluids of infected cats.”

“The symptoms are weakness, vomiting and diarrhea,” he said. “The cats display an extremely low white blood cell count and are often anemic. Most cases are fatal.”

Rugg said, though, that distemper is preventable with a vaccine and booster shot.

He said cat owners should contact their veterinarians about their pets’ vaccinations.

Rugg said the recent increase in distemper cases probably is the result of people not getting their cats vaccinated and an increase in the number of feral cats.

ARIEL ZANGLA-GIRARD
Freeman staff

Around 2004, large numbers of aspens in the West began dying off, and with no immediately identifiable cause, scientists dubbed the phenomenon “sudden aspen decline.” Ultimately the die-back was pinned on a severe 2002 drought and heat wave that left aspens vulnerable to pests, cankers and fungi.

Now, a new study suggests that the decline of the West’s aspens is not just marring the landscape, but also helping to spread a strain of hantavirus fatal to humans.

The sin nombre virus — Spanish for “nameless virus” — is carried primarily by deer mice, whose numbers have surged in areas hit hard by the aspen die-backs, researchers from Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colo., reported at a scientific conference this month. Mice in areas of severe die-backs were three times as likely to carry the virus than those in less affected areas, the researchers found.

The sin nombre virus was unknown to science before an early 1990s outbreak in the Four Corners region, where the borders of Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico meet. Humans who inhale virus particles, typically through dust mixed with mouse urine, droppings or saliva, can develop hantavirus pulmonary syndrome. The virus has a fatality rate of around 40 percent, but infections are still rare, with between 20 to 40 cases reported annually in the United States.

Hantavirus infections remain concentrated in the Southwest, particularly in areas where sudden aspen decline is common, said Erin Lehmer, a biologist at Fort Lewis College.

Scientists reported last year that the aspen die-back in the West had slowed after a series of cooler, wetter years. But research also suggests that the aspens remain vulnerable to sudden shifts in climate and that further forest declines are highly likely in coming decades because of climate change.

The spread of hantavirus among mice in the wake of the aspen die-offs should already be considered an “unintended consequence of climate change,” Dr. Lehmer said. She noted that other studies have shown an increase in human hantavirus infections in Germany during years of above-average warmth.

Dr. Lehmer’s own study is being prepared for publication.

“The bottom line is that climate change is tending to introduce diseases where they haven’t been before, because it’s changing the entire dynamics of plant and animal ecosytems,” she said.

John Collins Rudolph
A blog about energy and the environment

“We think your dog might have cancer.”

This is one of the most frightening sentences a pet owner can hear.

While we hope your companion is never afflicted by this terrible situation, it is important to have some basic understanding of what a possible diagnosis of lymphoma can entail.

Canine lymphoma is the most common form of cancer in dogs. It can initally be limited to one organ or can spread throughout the body. Many parts of the body contain lymphatic tissue, and the disease can appear in different forms.

The most common target organs are primarily the lymph nodes, followed by the liver and spleen. The disease can also affect the gastrointestinal tract and, rarely, the eyes or skin.

Middle-aged dogs are most at risk, often after the age of 7 or 8.

Some breeds are more commonly affected, with the golden retriever, pit bull, Rottweiler, beagle and boxer often victims of lymphoma. In the golden retriever, there appears to be a specific inheritance pattern, although it is not yet completely clear.

In the common form, a dog has a poor appetite, feels “off,” and often has swellings that feel large and firm, especially in the neck, hind legs, groin and under the arms. These are large lymph nodes, and the doctor will usually take samples of these to send to the laboratory. In the gastrointestinal form, the patient can present with diarrhea, vomiting, weight loss or loss of appetite.

This disease is often very quick to spread and cause organ failure. The typical course from diagnosis to severe illness and death is often measured in months. In years past, we were unable to offer much more than cortisone tablets in an effort to make the patient comfortable for a short period of time. With the advent of chemotherapy, many owners choose to consult with a cancer specialist, or veterinary oncologist, to discuss options. Chemotherapy can be very effective at putting the disease into remission, sometimes for a long period of time, often without severe side effects.

If you should ever suspect that your dog might be affected by this disease, be sure to consult with your veterinarian. Often there is much we can do to be of help to you and your pet.

By Dr. Ellen Friedman
For the Times Herald-Record
Published: 2:00 AM – 01/12/11

 Sugar is a 10 year old West Highland White terrier that found a tiger eye-magnet necklace belonging to mom. Dad brought Sugar in with remains of the necklace he caught her “red-pawed” with. It was torn up and pieces were missing.  

A radiograph (x-ray) of Sugar was taken right away; an image of which can be seen here. Notice the radiodense bodies that are showing up white. These are known as metal dense in radiology jargon as they show up very white on a x-ray due to their metal density. The x-ray shows a group of magnets stuck together in the stomach and 1 in the distal colon.

Now the question had to be answered; “Should Sugar be taken to surgery to remove the magnets?” It was felt that the grouping in the stomach would not come apart and was too big to fit into the intestines or if they did make their way into the intestines they may become lodged or create problems if the magnets reattached with a piece of intestinal tissue trapped in between them. In fact a recent issue of the Journal of the American Animal Hospital Association 46:181-185 (2010) contained an article entitled “Magnetic Ingestion in Dogs: Two Cases” in which a dog had ingested magnets and developed subsequent peritonitis (infection through out the abdomen,) as the result of tissue damage created by two magnets cutting off the blood supply to intestinal tissue caught between the magnets.

For the above reasons it was agreed that surgery was the best option for Sugar. Here Licensed Veterinary Technician, Hannah Circe, has anesthetized Sugar and is preparing her for the operating room.

       
Image 9                                                   Image 11

Image 12

These three images show the magnets being removed from the stomach (image 9) and the colon (images 11, 12). During surgery it was interesting to find that during the two hours that passed between the time the original radiograph was taken until surgery was performed that indeed the magnets did separate and 3 had moved into the intestines. One had becomes lodged at the junction of the small and large intestines but Dr. Fisher was able to loosen it and move it into the colon where an incision was made and it was removed along with two others. The surgery sites were all carefully sutured and flushed with sterile saline and Sugar’s procedure was completed.

An image of removed magnets and two bonus tiger eyes.

Sugar is doing well post op; dad is happy to have her back. Let’s hope she has learned her lesson that jewelry looks better around mom’s neck vs. in her stomach!!!