Daily Paws for Columbus Ohio
Archive for August, 2012
Daily Paws Picture of the Day: Precious Pup in Cup!
Thursday, August 16th, 2012Cats and Technology
Wednesday, August 15th, 2012
Pet’s & Technology…it’s over the top! [humor]
Wednesday, August 15th, 2012Yesterday while perusing news alerts for pets and vets, I came across a press release about a company that has just launched a new product. Headphones for cats. And these headphones for cats are soooo good, they will set you back $1000.
A thousand dollars!!!
If you are the teeniest bit interested, here’s a sales infomercial you have to see..
“We had to change the housing to accommodate the unique shape of cat ears and to reduce output for sensitivity,” inventor Combs says. “They also have a mic and remote, but I don’t envision many cats using that functionality.”
(And remember, they only have 10 sets so get yours today!)
Technology for pets, like technology for humans seems to be accelerating faster than dog years.
Who would have dreamed 5 years ago that stem cell treatment for pets would become a common occurrence with a high success in reversing limb and joint ailments in dogs and horses?
Medical technology I can understand. Headphones for cats…well, OK. I don’t really see a need but if you want to spend the money on your cat, OK.
Text From Dog
However, this next one is over the top. It’s about a texting dog and he has a new book coming out called “Text From Dog”
Now that’s ridiculous. A dog who texts? I have problems texting and a DOG is so good they are making a book out of his texts?????
Here’s a description and some sample text images (and, by the way these are fictitious text messages – I’m relieved to say – that are very funny. I’ve included a few below)
Tumblr blog Text From Dog, which publishes fictitious SMS conversations between a dog and its owner, is the latest web entity to land a book deal.
U.K. publisher Headline Publishing announced Monday it would release the book Oct. 25.
The blog launched in April with a brief description: “My dog sends me texts. I post them here. Yeah, it’s weird.”
Q: Is it dangerous to feed a puppy or a dog raw meat?
Tuesday, August 14th, 2012
A: This subject is controversial. There are those who feel that a raw diet is a natural one for dogs and will only feed raw, and there are those who disagree, including many veterinarians.
Recently, the American Veterinary Medical Association adopted a policy advising against feeding raw diets to dogs and cats.
They issued a statement which reads: “The AVMA discourages the feeding to cats and dogs of any animal-source protein that has not first been subjected to a process to eliminate pathogens because of the risk of illness to cats and dogs as well as humans.
Cooking or pasteurization through the application of heat until the protein reaches an internal temperature adequate to destroy pathogenic organisms has been the traditional method used to eliminate pathogens in animal-source protein, although the AVMA recognizes that newer technologies and other methods such as irradiation are constantly being developed and implemented.
Animal-source proteins of concern include beef, pork, poultry, fish, and other meat from domesticated or wild animals as well as milk* and eggs. Several studies reported in peer-reviewed scientific journals have demonstrated that raw or undercooked animal-source protein may be contaminated with a variety of pathogenic organisms, including Salmonella spp, Campylobacter spp, Clostridium spp, Escherichia coli, Listeria monocytogenes, and enterotoxigenic Staphylococcus aureus. Cats and dogs may develop foodborne illness after being fed animal-source protein contaminated with these organisms if adequate steps are not taken to eliminate pathogens; secondary transmission of these pathogens to humans (e.g., pet owners) has also been reported.
Cats and dogs can develop subclinical infections with these organisms but still pose a risk to livestock, other nonhuman animals, and humans, especially children, older persons, and immunocompromised individuals.
To mitigate public health risks associated with feeding inadequately treated animal-source protein to cats and dogs, the AVMA recommends the following: Avoid feeding inadequately treated animal-source protein to cats, and dogs restrict cats’ and dogs’ access to carrion and animal carcasses (e.g., while hunting) Provide fresh, clean, nutritionally balanced and complete commercially prepared or home-cooked food to cats and dogs, and dispose of uneaten food at least daily practice personal hygiene (e.g., handwashing) before and after feeding cats and dogs, providing treats, cleaning pet dishes, and disposing of uneaten food * The recommendation not to feed unpasteurised milk to animals does not preclude the feeding of unpasteurised same-species milk to unweaned juvenile animals.”
While we personally have not heard of dogs or cats becoming ill from eating raw meat, there most certainly will be some. Just as there are dogs and cats who become ill from canned food that is tainted or spoiled.
Ultimately, it is up to you to decide which diet you choose for your pets… and often, your pet will have a lot to say about it too!
Daily Paws Picture of the Day: Pretty Cat
Tuesday, August 14th, 2012Daily Paws for Columbus Ohio
Dog Steals Cabbage
Monday, August 13th, 2012Daily Paws for Columbus Ohio
Daily Paws Picture of the Day: So Cute!
Monday, August 13th, 2012Daily Paws for Columbus Ohio
Do Sonic bug repellants work?
Monday, August 13th, 2012Personally, I don’t know of anyone who has not tried one of those sonic pest repellants. You know, those small plastic devices that plug into an outlet and are supposed to drive away roaches and rats and other annoying pests through the high pitched sound they emit.
We’ve tried them over time, not once but three different times, each time hoping they’d have an effect, ANY effect, on the problem. And each time the answer was nope.
It has been awhile since we even bothered with those things, but today I was reminded of them when I read this article on LifeHacker.com:
Stop Wasting Money on Sonic Bug Repellants: They Don’t Work
Sonic bug repellants, whether they’re supposed to ward of mosquitoes from your backyard BBQ or roaches and ants from inside your home, are largely based on junk science and wishful thinking, according to a Texas A&M entomologist who’s spent years studying the products. You’re better off keeping your money in your pocket, or just buying pest repellent that actually works.
Several years ago I moved into an apartment with a pretty bad bug problem we didn’t know about until it was too late. I ignored the warning signs and moved in anyway, only to find the place crawling with critters before I could even unpack my boxes. Not wanting to immediately unload cans of Raid and other chemical sprays and baits that could impact my health, I decided to give some wall-mounted sonic bug repellers a try that I picked up from my local big box hardware store. According to the package, all I had to do was plug them into a wall socket and the bugs would vanish. Suffice to say I had less than stellar results. Six months later, I broke lease and bailed on the place.
That’s just my experience, but Texas A&M University entomologist Dr. Roger Gold has spent over 20 years studying and debunking the myth of sonic bug repellants, from mobile apps that promise to keep bugs away by emitting an ultrasonic sound from your iPhone’s speakers to the wall-mounted ones I threw away a few bucks on. In an interview with Buzzfeed, he notes “Based on the testing we have done through the years, the claims of repelling insects [with sound] are unfounded.”
Gold has been testing devices since the 1990s, and he has yet to see one that works—mostly because different insect species perceive sound in different ways, and even those that may be annoyed by some types of sound eventually just get used to it after a while, like any other animal would. One 2002 study by Kansas State University showed 94dB sounds stressed Indian Meal Moths out enough that they didn’t have much success mating, but not enough that they left. Another 2006 study by the same team showed the devices had little to no effect on cockroaches, which backs up Gold’s own research. The moral of the story? Save your money and go buy traps, sprays, or call an exterminator—your money will be better spent.
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I agree 🙂
Daily Paws Picture of the Day: The Beautiful Lady
Sunday, August 12th, 2012Daily Paws for Columbus Ohio
Daily Paws Picture of the Day: So Elegant!
Saturday, August 11th, 2012Daily Paws for Columbus Ohio
