Author: Dr. Clarissa G. Noureddine, DVM, MS, MS
Take a few moments to read up on some of the February 2019 animal news stories!
Did You See This?:
- Kentucky woman discovers porch thieves were her own dogs (Hooper, B. 2/19/19 UPI)
Human Animal Bond:
Free therapy dog sessions help those affected by Alzheimer’s smile, engage and transform (Bender, K. 2/20/19 People.com)
Research:
- Study of cardiomyopathy in Dobermans underway (1/30/19 JAVMA News)
- A Stuart Veterinarian’s Journey To Save Local Dogs Affected By Algae Bloom (Buch, C. stuartmagazine.com Feb 2019)
Behavior:
Similar to humans, dogs’ personalities change over their lifetimes: study (Karlis, N. 2/24/19 salon.com)- Bigger dogs, with larger brains, perform better than smaller pups on certain measures of intelligence, new research shows. Blue, A. 1/31/19 (futurity.com)
- For Valentine’s Day, a Vanderbilt biologist explains how animals love and what humans can learn from it. (Bliss, J. 2/14/19 tennessean.com)
Zoonotic Diseases:
- Multiple people treated for possible rabies in Houston County; 4-month-old stray puppy dead (Koplowitz, H. 2/7/19 al.com)
- CDC warns of sickness from raw milk tied to Pennsylvania farm (Galvin, G. 2/11/19 usnews.com)
- Get the rabies vaccine if you touched the Pacers bat, health officials say (Rudavsky, S. 2/11/19 indystar.com)
- Rabid bat found at Southland Mall (2/15/19 Bay City News Service sfgate.com)
- Rabid skunk confirmed in Vernon; dog quarantined (2/22/19 The Oneida Daily Dispatch)
- Vaccinating mice may finally slow Lyme disease killing ticks and inoculating people has failed, so researchers try immunizing mice via vaccine-laced food (Chen, A. 1/29/19 scientificamerican.com)
Pet Safety:
- Spokane man’s dog killed from apparent ‘stray voltage’ on downtown sidewalk (Roth, S. 2/7/19 www.krem.com)
Cancer:
- Canine bone cancer vaccine hints at a human version (HealthDay News Staff 2/5/19 healthday.com)
Nutrition:
- Time to put Fluffy and Fido on a diet? (Brody, J.E. 2/4/19 nytimes.com)
- Vitamin D Toxicity in Dogs (FDA, last updated 2/15/19)
Recent AVMA Animal Food Recalls and Alerts:
- Hill’s Prescription Diet Select Canned Dog Foods (Potentially elevated levels of Vitamin D)
- Hill’s Science Diet Select Canned Dog Foods (Potentially elevated levels of Vitamin D)
- Woody’s Pet Food Deli Raw Free Range Turkey Dog Food (Salmonella Contamination)
Wildlife:
‘Microplastics’ in dolphins, seals heighten environmental concerns (HealthDay News staff 2/4/19 healthday.com)- Chernobyl wildlife thriving as scientists find exclusion zone full of animals (Gander, K. 2/7/19 newsweek.com)
- Woman warns others after Chihuahua is picked up by eagle (Taylor K, Brown Z. 2/8/19 kctv5.com
- Human foods might be making bears age faster (Schmidt, M. 2/26/19, Discovermagazine.com)
Dental Health:
Photo credits: pixabay.com