St. Martin Parish, Louisiana - An enormous alligator tried to be the doormat of a home in Louisiana Saturday. St. Martin Parish Sheriff's Office posted photos of the at least 6-foot gator splayed across the front stoop of a home. "So....you never know what may show up on your door step (sic)!" the sheriff's office wrote on Facebook. "Just another day in the life of a St. Martin Parish Sheriff’s Office Patrol Deputy." One of the photos posted by the sheriff's office appears to show the gator vacating its comfortable spot in the shade of the house, but its open mouth suggests it was not happy to be leaving. The sheriff's office provided one last bit of advice in its post: "Always look before you step!"
The world's smallest puppy named after one of the world's biggest pop stars, Beyoncé, was so tiny at birth she could fit on a spoon. The female Dachshund mix dog weighed just one ounce when she was born. Animal rescuers in California say that she still remains so small that she can easily fit on an iPhone while she is the same size as a business card or credit card. Experts say she is now likely to set a new record for being the world's tiniest dog. She is not yet officially the title holder but a "fast-track" application has been submitted to the Guinness World Records. But a dog rescue centre in El Dorado Hills, California, has now been inundated with requests to adopt the little animal. Beyoncé was the runt of a litter of five that was born to an abandoned dachshund mix, named Casey. Their mother was too heavily pregnant to have a termination and was scheduled to be put down. But vets intervened and looked after the dog until she gave birth a fortnight ago. When Beyoncé was delivered, vets were convinced she was still born. She was the last one delivered and was born without a heartbeat. Dr Michael Russell, the Grace Foundation's vet, then attempted to give her heart compressions but she still wasn't breathing.
Mouth-to-mouth resuscitation was then given by assistant Beth DeCaprio. She said: "It was actually a little funny, and gross, trying to get my mouth around hers, but after a couple of really small breaths she took a deep breath and started to really move around. "We cleaned out her little nasal passages, and I gave her a couple more breaths and then she started breathing on her own. She is just a remarkable little survivor. "Our hope is that Beyoncé and her miraculous story of survival helps spread awareness about the plight of rescue dogs." Beyoncé is still smaller than the rest of her siblings but she's grown to 124g and is said to be thriving. She is expected to weigh less than 1kg when fully grown.
Do you know what a budgie is? If you live in the United States you probably know it as being a parakeet. Budgies and parakeets are actually one in the same. The term parakeet is a generic label used to describe any small, parrot-like bird that has a long tail. The Budgie/Parakeet is one of the most owned little parrots around the world. They are a favorite with many pet bird owners because they are small, capable of singing, talking and they are relatively easy to care for. The Budgie short for Budgerigar are a native to Australia, and belong to the parrot family. They are colorful and graceful. They come in a variety of sizes from small to medium. They have long tapered tail feathers, and are full of energy. The average life-span of a budgie is generally 2-7 years, although there are some that have lived to 13 and ever older. Some budgies die before their first birthday. There are many factors that can affect the lifespan on a budgie. Many budgies die from natural causes like tumors, unfortunately they are very susceptible to them. Although budgies are often called parakeets, they are actually birds of the species Melopsittacus Undulatus. How to tell the sex of your pet budgie: The color of the cere, the fleshy area above its beak where its nostrils are is the best indicator of a pet budgie's sex. A male budgie will typically have a blue cere or it may be pink or pinkish purple in color. A female budgie will usually have a brown, white, light beige, or a reddish cere. Female budgies also have whitish rings around their nostrils. Colors: While green is the most common color, budgies are bred to produce many color mutations. These colors are categorized primarily by shades of blue or green. Most budgies have striped bars on their wings. Diet: Foods you should never give your budgie: Never give your budgie alcohol, avocado or chocolate - these can kill your parrot! Also avoid asparagus, eggplant, cabbage, caffeine products, junk food, milk and cream, raw potato, and rhubarb (including the leaves). Foods you can feed your budgie: Radishes; turnips; carrots (root and tops); cooked sweet potatoes; radicchio;endive; mustard & dandelion greens; swiss chard; kale; parsley; cooked red potatoes; green beans; bok choy; tomato; sweet red & green, and other types of peppers; cauliflower;broccoli (head and leaves); beet & turnip greens; kohlrabi; sugar snap or snow peas; squash (peeled & steamed); red beets (peeled); romaine or green/red leaf lettuce; collard greens; corn; cucumber. Fruits: Apples;berries; kiwi; mango; cantaloupe; honeydew; pineapple; cherries; cranberries; banana; pears; peaches; oranges; pomegranate; tangerines; grapefruit; papaya; grapes; Apricots. Make sure that you wash all vegetables and fruits thoroughly before feeding. Remove the pits, and all seeds from the fruit. Any vegetables and fruits left uneaten should be discarded daily so that it does not spoil. Since vegetables and fruits are high in water content, the urine portion of the droppings will increase. Cage: Your bird’s cage needs to be big enough for them to stretch and flap their wings without hitting the walls or any hanging toys. The bigger the better. No smaller than 12"x18"x18". Make sure that the spacing between the bars is no wider than 1/2-inch wide. Any wider than that and a budgie could squeeze through the bars and escape, or get stuck in the bars. The decision to own a budgie should be considered carefully. Please consider the facts below before buying a budgie:
Budgies needs daily exercise or it will soon become overweight.
Budgies are highly active and need a variety of toys to play with and chew on.
You should allow your budgie out of the cage for at least an hour a day to fly around and explore.
Males seem to be more "talkative" than females.
They have the ability to speak 100’s of words.
They often have a favorite person, and that will be the person they will cuddle with.
They do bite, and their bites feel like a hard pinch.
Make sure that you socialize your bird when you bring it home so that it will be comfortable with many people handling them.
A budgie might get somewhat loud is if it hears a bird outside and will call to it.
Avoid mirrors in the cage until after you have tamed your budgie. They will think it's another bird and may bond to it instead of you.
The domestic rat is a descendant of the wild brown rat (Rattus norvegicus) and has been bred as a pet for about a hundred years. Pet rats are much less fearful than their wild cousins, and when handled gently, they quickly learn to enjoy riding on their human friends’ shoulders and napping in their laps. Rats like to please their people, are natural problem solvers and hate being bored. So both you and your rats should enjoy the process of teaching them to do tricks. Your rats will probably think they are successfully training you. As well as enhancing the quality of their lives, training your rats will build the bond between you. And you'll look cool showing off to non-rat owners what your little furry companions can do.
What is an Insulinoma? Tumors of the pancreas (insulinoma) can cause excess secretion of insulin, thus lowering the blood glucose (sugar) level to a point that a ferret can become ill. Unfortunately, this is a relatively common problem in middle aged and older ferrets. Symptoms Some ferrets do not show any symptoms while others exhibit lethargy and weakness. There might be a decrease in appetite and weight loss. These symptoms might even come and go over a period of months. Some ferrets will have increased salivation and even a glazed appearance to the eyes, and might even collapse or have seizures. Diagnosis Some ferrets are diagnosed as having an insulinoma when an abdominal surgery is being performed for other reasons (adrenal gland disease, spay, liver disease ). This is especially true for the ferrets that are not showing any symptoms of this disease. For those ferrets that are symptomatic of insulinoma, the diagnosis is made based on history, examination findings, and diagnostic tests.
We all know how our cats have their own funny and quirky personalities. Some cats pounce more than others, while other cats jump in boxes. And, then, some cats have to paw their water and stir it all around before they even drink it! Why, in fact, do our cats’ paw at their water bowl? Cats will sometimes paw at the water bowl to check the water levels Your cat may use her paw to find where the water is in the bowl. The close up vision of cats is much weaker than their long distance vision so when he or she is right in front of the water dish, she might not see the water level. Therefore, by checking where the water starts and moving it will cause the water to ripple and splash. Once your kitty is satisfied where the water is, then he or she will commence. Cats just want to have fun! Cats like to play. Moving the water with a paw may be one way a kitty keeps herself entertained. If your cat likes to do this, you might think of investing in a pet water fountain. That way, you can keep your cat entertained and you won’t have to clean up all the water on the kitchen floor! Your cat might be expecting moving water If your cat regularly drinks from the sink, then he or she will expect water to move. So when water is still in a dish, it can be unsettling for you kitty who then feels the need to give it a whack or a push. To read more on this story, click here:Why Do Cats Paw At Their Water Bowl?
Why it is so important to treat each animal as an individual. How Ethology Can Help Improve End of Life Care for Animal Patients: Part 1 in a 3 Part Series Pain is arguably the most important clinical and ethical issue in end of life care for companion animals. Research suggests that many companion animals—perhaps numbering in the millions—are not being treated for pain or are being treated inadequately. [i] A significant portion of missed diagnoses, misdiagnoses, undertreatment, and overtreatment likely can be tied to incorrect behavioral assessments, particularly on the part of pet owners but also, perhaps, on the part of veterinarians. Pain is a quintessentially personal experience. Indeed, the most common medical definition of pain is “what the person says it is.” A large body of research has explored how the experience and expression of pain can be influenced by gender, age, past experiences, and cognitive priming. Even individual personality can influence how people experience and express pain. For example, people who rate high on “extraversion” are more likely to express their experience of pain yet may, at the same time, experience pain less intensely than introverted individuals. People who score high on “neuroticism” have higher emotional stress responses to pain than those who score low. [ii] A similar dynamic appears to be at work in nonhuman animals, with individual personality shaping the experience and expression of pain. (Personality can be understood as individual differences in behavior that remain stable over time.) This has important implications for the assessment and effective treatment of animal pain. To read more on this story, click here:Personality and Pain in Animal End of Life Care
House Rabbit Society is an international, nonprofit animal welfare organization based in Richmond, California. Our mission has two parts: Through our fostering program, volunteers rescue abandoned rabbits and find permanent adoptive homes for them. Through education, we seek to reduce the number of unwanted rabbits — and to improve bunnies’ lives — by helping people better understand these often misunderstood companion animals. In line with our mission, we are against the exploitation of rabbits. To visit their website, click here:Thinking About Getting A Pet Rabbit?
