Paws & Learn: December 2018 Animal News Updates

Author: Dr. Clarissa G. Noureddine, DVM, MS, MS

Has the holiday rush left you little time for keeping up with the news? Then check out these links to catch up on some of the pet stories from this month’s news.

In North Carolina:

• Grinch-like thief steals Christmas tree from North Carolina veterinary hospital (13newsnow.com)
• Why the ground breaking of a $4M veterinarian building comes at the right time for Gaston College (Charlotte Business Journal)

Pets are Amazing Because…:

• How America’s VetDogs trains service dogs like Sully to perform long lists of commands (cnn.com)
• Study says women sleep better with dogs in their bed (wgno.com)
• More Pets, Fewer Allergies (www.nytimes.com)
• Dog sniffs out her owner’s ovarian cancer three times, and she is right on the nose (jsonline.com)

Wild Stuff!:

• In a first for animal medicine, NorCal vets use fish skin to heal cats and dogs (sfchronicle.com)
• An eel somehow got stuck in a monk seal’s nose. It’s rare, but it happens (hawaiinewsnow.com)

New Pet Medication Approval:

• FDA approves drug for dogs scared by noise (nbcnews.com)

Nutrition:

• It’s Not Just Grain-Free: An Update on Diet-Associated Dilated Cardiomyopathy (vetnutrition.tufts.edu)

Pet Food Recalls:

• FDA alerts pet owners about potentially toxic levels of vitamin D in pet foods (KY3.com)
• For a complete list of recalls, visit the AVMA’s pet food recall webpage. Here are the more recent postings:

1. 9Lives Protein Plus with Tuna & Chicken (Possible low levels of thiamine (Vitamin B1))
2. 9Lives Plus with Tuna & Liver (Possible low levels of thiamine (Vitamin B1))
3. Cow Pie fresh frozen meats for dogs and cats (Potential Listeria monocytogenes contamination)
4. Abound Chicken and Brown Rice Dog Food (4 lb., 14 lb., 24 lb.) (Potentially elevated Vitamin D levels)
5. Nature’s Place Real Country Chicken and Brown Rice Dog Food (5 lb., 15 lb.) (Potentially toxic levels of Vitamin D)
6. ANF Lamb and Rice Dry Dog Food (3 kg, 7.5 kg) (Potentially elevated levels of Vitamin D)
7. ELM Chicken and Chickpea Recipe (3 lb., 28 lb.) (Potentially elevated levels of Vitamin D)
8. ELM K9 Naturals Chicken Recipe, 40 lb. (Potentially elevated levels of Vitamin D)
9. Evolve Puppy Chicken and Rice Dog Food (14 lb., 28 lb.) (Potentially elevated levels of Vitamin D)
10. Sportsman’s Pride Large Breed Puppy Dog Food (Potentially elevated levels of Vitamin D)
11. Triumph Chicken and Rice Dog Food (3.5 lb., 16 lb., 30 lb.) (Potentially elevated levels of Vitamin D)

Pet Safety:

• VERIFY: Post about dangerous holiday dog treats gets some things right, others wrong (www.11alive.com)
• New app reunites missing pets with owners by using facial recognition (abcnews.go.com)

Pet Travel:

• Delta bans emotional-support animals from long flights. Closes door on service puppies under four months (CNBC.com)

Photo credit: pixabay.com