A lot of folks have allergies to cats (usually their dander or hair) which is too bad because many of them would otherwise like to own cats (my brother for one). I've been following this story for a couple years now. See my posts here and here.
Now, finally, they're for sale:
US biotech firm Allerca says it has managed to selectively breed them by reducing a certain type of protein that triggers allergic reactions.The cats will not cause the red eyes, sneezing and even asthma that some cat allergy sufferers experience, except in the most acute cases.
Despite costing $3,950 (£2,104), there is already a waiting list to get one.
Allerca first started taking orders for genetically engineered hypoallergenic cats back in 2004.
It tested huge numbers of cats trying to find the tiny fraction which do not carry the glycoprotein Fel d1 - contained in its saliva, fur and skin - which produces allergies.
Those cats were then used to breed the hypoallergenic cats.
Now, is a cat worth four-grand to you? If you're allergic, maybe. You'd spend much more on a motercycle or boat and not receive nearly as much pleasure..., er, bad example, maybe you would. Still, if money is no object then sure, get yourself a couple of these cats and enjoy. In my opinion you'll certainly get your investment back in affection and love.
There's a good article today about spotting and treating some of the illnesses that aflict aging cats. The section on kidney disease is very important. From Inside Bay Area:
The most common medical problem faced by cats as they age is the onset of kidney failure. The kidneys make important hormones for the body, clean the blood and determine how much water to keep in or filter out of the body. As a cats kidneys begin to fail, usually due to age, they begin producing excess urine. The litter box for these cats will often be noticeably soaked. Cats that typically do not drink much water will begin drinking more and more to keep up with the urinary water loss.Some cats begin to lose weight, eat less, and generally slow down.
Older cats often enjoy a relaxed pace of living anyway, so the slowing down may not be obvious. Simple blood and urine tests will help diagnose this condition. If an otherwise healthy-appearing cat is determined to be in the early stages of kidney failure, usually all that is recommended is a change in diet to a particular food designed for this condition, and the use of a medication called Calcitriol, which helps protect the kidneys from further damage and helps cats feel better.
As cats progress with this problem, other medications may be helpful. Studies show that older cats diagnosed with kidney failure live an average of 277 days (about nine months) when fed the proper food, yet live an average of 736 days (over two years) when given Calcitriol as well.
From VeterinaryPartner.com, here's some further information:
By giving active vitamin D in pill form, the above disaster can hopefully be averted or reversed. (It is more easily averted than reversed.) It has been established that parathyroid hormone is an important toxin in kidney failure and we want to reduce its secretion. This is best done with minute (measured in units 1000 times smaller than the usual dosages) quantities of vitamin D. These quantities are enough to shut off parathyroid hormone secretion but are not high enough to lead to elevated phosphorus levels.If calcitriol is started early in kidney failure, parathyroid levels may be kept low enough that calcium/phosphorus imbalance never becomes an issue. If it is started later in failure, it is helpful but may not be able to provide as good a response.
Recently a survey of the owners and veterinarians of nearly 2000 pets in chronic renal failure has been formulated. These animals all received calcitriol. Approximately 80% of the owners reported that their pets were brighter and more social and had better appetites on calictriol. It was also felt that these animals had a substantially longer life span than patients not receiving calcitriol.
This is really a (welcome) trend that repays employers who allow it. From CBS News:
Replacements Ltd. is a large china and silverware retailer with cookie-cutter corporate contemporary looks until you look closer. As CBS News correspondent Richard Schlesinger reports, Hayes has company in his cubicle: Coco, his beagle puppy.He's not alone. There are dogs all over the company, which encourages its 500-plus employees to bring them in. It's a perk that pays off.
"You do work better because if you're maybe having a bad day, you can just look down at your feet and you smile," Hayes says. As for the barking, he says, "It doesn't bother me because I'm used to it."
Bob Page owns the company and has built it into a roughly $70 million-a-year business. It was his idea to allow dogs.
Dogs are welcome in the office, in the warehouse, and even in the showroom.
Bringing dogs to work might make good business sense, according to one survey that found 46 million Americans would work longer hours if they were allowed to bring their furry companions into work with them.
So what used to be unheard of is now becoming almost commonplace. About 20 percent of American companies, including giants like Google, allow dogs in the office. The theory is that dogs reduce stress and that's good for business.
"Anytime you have an employee that's content, I think they become more productive in general," Page says.
Because, once again, we can't embarrass them enough:
In Germany, even the dogs, it seems, haven't been spared the hype of the Pope's visit to his homeland.The latest creation of Bavarian fashion designer Hildegard Bergbauer is to dress dogs in pope costumes.
The pampered pets can choose from almost as many outfits as the head of the Catholic Church himself.
And the designs are accurate copies of the real thing, from the design to the fabric.
Pet owners can purchase a golden Pope costume, a Bishop's robe and Master of Ceremonies outfit, all complete with a crucifix embedded with precious stones.
The costumes are modeled by Bergbauer's own dogs, "Spitzel", Zorroline" and "Rocky Horror".
Bergbauer herself is very religious and says the costumes are not designed to poke fun at the church or the Pope.
But the designer says she is sure this is something Benedict XVI would understand. Amen to that.
Like any professional, dogs employed in our protection need to keep up with new technologies. From the Houston Chronicle:
Explosives-sniffing dogs added another odor to their growing array of homemade bombs they are trained to detect.One by one, canine units at the FBI's Demo Bomb Tech Range near Humble triggered on a vial containing triacetone triperoxide (TATP), a new explosive used by terrorists in the Middle East.
The chemical was used as a detonator by "shoe bomber" Richard Reid, who was arrested in 2001 for trying to destroy a jetliner en route to Miami from Paris. He was convicted of terrorism and is serving a life sentence in the United States.
"These are explosives that have been prepared by terrorists worldwide," said Kirk Yeager, supervisory bombing specialist for the FBI.
Yeager oversaw an exercise Wednesday that trained dogs to detect TATP and hexamethylene triperoxide diamine (HMTD).
Both peroxide-based explosives can be easily prepared using materials available at hardware stores and pharmacies.
The aim of the exercise, Yeager said, is to ingrain the odor into the dog's senses. Dogs are trained by receiving a reward when alerting on an odor.
Like most stars, Schiffer doesn't give a rat's-ass for the lowly peasants around her. From the Daily Mail (UK):
Supermodel Claudia Schiffer is to be warned by police for allowing her dogs to run wild on her country estate and terrorise walkers.Local people are now too scared to use a public footpath running near the £5million mansion where she lives with her film producer husband Matthew Vaughn.
One of the dogs, an Irish wolfhound, savaged a Jack Russell being walked through the grounds while another, a German shepherd, bit a postman on the arm, leading to the threat of restrictions on mail deliveries to the house.
Now the couple are set to be given a ticking-off and told to do more to keep their pets under control.
[...]
Many locals claim they are now too scared to use the path, which goes along the couple's 600-yard driveway and through her 40 acres of parkland.
Because some people can't humiliate them enough. From the Charlotte Observer:
Ruth Regina likes to say her business is going to the dogs, but it's actually just going to their heads.A wigmaker to the stars, Regina is now designing hairpieces for dogs -- braids, curls and extensions that can be dyed, highlighted and styled to order for pampered pets.
[...]
She did her first dog hair design years ago for her niece's basset hound, to coordinate with an Easter ensemble.
"The general public for many years were not wearing wigs unless they really had a strong need for it, but now everything has changed," she said. "Wigs are so in. Hairpieces, extensions. It is a very big thing now....I thought, well, why not for doggies?"
Regina has not sold the canine hairpieces yet, although she says she has potential customers, like pet shops, lined up.
She figures that "mommies of doggies" who treat their pets like children will be willing to pay $18 to "hundreds of dollars."
Not all dogs take to water. Some have to be coaxed or taught to do so. In an advice column about pets, one owner of a young labrador can't get the pup into the water. The columnist replies:
Jake is still young. His water instincts could kick in at any moment. Until that happens, do not force him into deeper water. Contrary to popular belief, not all dogs are natural swimmers.I see it with Newfoundlands, (from which Labrador, Chesapeake Bay and Golden retrievers are descended). We all fantasize our Newfs performing heroic rescues in the high seas, but the truth is some enjoy water more than others. Those that require coaxing are encouraged with playtime and simple retrieves in shallow water until they are comfortable enough to move farther off shore.
Thus, the label of ''water dog'' doesn't mean you automatically have a canine Mark Spitz or Esther Williams on your hands. Enthusiastic young dogs who dash into water the first time often turn into splashing, panicky messes when they reach swimming depth because they don't know what to do with their paws. It can be very frightening, particularly to a young dog.
Professor Barney, now 9 months, is a good example of a dog genetically wired for water work, but a clunky swimmer. He's dives in and out of the water like a porpoise, but hasn't learned how to paddle with his back legs. So I'm careful to keep him near wading depth until he figures it out. Hannah, my other Newf, is a virtual swimming machine, gliding through water with power and ease. You just never know.
When introducing any dog to water, assume a learning curve and work at their pace. Don't expect Jake to perform like the other dogs. The fact that he needs a little jumpstart is not unusual. Walk him through shallow water, let him explore, fetch things and very gradually move out to swimming depth assuring he can quickly plant his paws if he gets into trouble.
So there you go. Remember, though, never force your dog to swim if he/she simply doesn't want to and always go with them in case they get into trouble.
Posted by Jeff Soyer at 06:51 AM | Comments (0)
It's nice having a dentist in the family! From the Decatur Daily Democrat:
Sebastian, a one-year-old Persian with long black hair, sports gold crowns on his two bottom canines, which grew sticking out from his lips in an underbite similar to a bulldog's.His owner, dentist David Steele, said he gave Sebastian gold crowns to help strengthen the fanged feline's teeth. Steele said he was worried the unique canines would break off or become a problem.
It's possible to work on animals the same way we do humans,'' he said. I did it to strengthen (Sebastian's) teeth, but it had an excellent cosmetic result. The cat gets a lot of attention now. Everyone is tickled to death when they see him.''
I hate stories like this:
NASHUA, N.H. Animal control and humane society workers have removed 27 abandoned cats from a Nashua (New Hampshire) apartment reeking of cat urine and feces.A leasing agent says the cats were left behind by tenants facing eviction. She says Robert and Rose Savage and their two children left the three-bedroom apartment late Tuesday night, taking seven cats with them but leaving behind more than two dozen in filthy conditions.
Police say they aren't sure whether there would be any criminal charges.