Lifting the Veil: Canine Cataracts & Cataract Surgery

The word “cataract” derives from the Greek word for waterfall, and so is apt as the term for an opaque, whitened lens which impairs the passage of light (a more complete discussion can be read here).  The lens is essentially a bag of protein, with lens fibers residing inside a defined capsule (a modified basement membrane). Like cooking an egg white, changes in the structure and orientation of the usually-parallel lens fibers will cause light to reflect from the surface, instead of transmitting through to the retina. Cataracts are typically staged from incipient (<10%) to immature (10-90+%) to mature (complete, Figure 1) and hypermature (complete yet resorbing lens, with lens capsule wrinkling and crystalline refractive opacities present). Visual impairment can result from almost any stage of cataract (eg a small cataract in the axial, posterior lens capsule will be directly in the path of the most important central light rays), although obviously more complete cataracts elicit greater visual impairment.

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What To Know About ‘Bunny Ebola,’ The Rabbit Virus Sweeping The Southwest US

It's hardy, contagious, and risky to wild animals and pets.

A deadly virus is spreading with alarming speed among wild and domestic rabbits in seven southwestern states. The contagion causes an illness called rabbit hemorrhagic disease that has earned the nickname “bunny Ebola” because the disease causes massive internal bleeding and bloody discharge around the nose and mouth. The virus kills swiftly—as happened in February, when pet rabbits boarding at a veterinary practice in Manhattan suddenly began to die without warning, The New Yorker reported last month.

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There Are Swimming Tarantulas In Texas And It’s Terrifying

Have you enjoyed spending time outdoors while the weather was warm this year? Perhaps you are the type of person who likes jumping in the swimming pool or maybe even going to a state park and swimming in the lake.

If you happen to fall into that category, we have something to share with you and it’s not pretty.

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Cataracts In Cats: Symptoms, Causes, & Treatments

If you’ve noticed a change in your cat’s eye color or their vision seems impaired, you may suspect cataracts of being the cause.

Cataracts are sometimes viewed as a condition that only affects the eyes of seniors, but this is not the case with cats. In fact, age is generally not the main factor when cats develop them, and it’s more rare for cataracts to appear in cats than in dogs.

You should always take your cat to the vet if you notice abnormalities when it comes to their eyes. Here’s what you should know about cataracts in cats.

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Kennel Cough In Dogs

If your dog is hacking away or constantly making noises that make it sound like they are choking on something, they may have a case of kennel cough, or canine infectious tracheobronchitis. Although kennel cough can sound terrible, most of the time it is not a serious condition, and most dogs will recover without treatment.

What is Kennel Cough?

Just as human colds may be caused by many different viruses, kennel cough itself can have multiple causes. One of the most common culprits is a bacterium called Bordetella bronchiseptica m-- which is why kennel cough is often called Bordetella. Most dogs that become infected with Bordetella are infected with a virus at the same time. These viruses, which are known to make dogs more susceptible to contracting Bordetella infection, include canine adenovirus, canine distemper virus, canine herpes virus, parainfluenza virus and canine reovirus.

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Helping Your Depressed Pet Bird

Depression in pet birds is more common than you might think. Check for the signs that mean your bird is not in its usual cheerful mood. Many symptoms of depression also could point to an illness, so it is a good idea to visit the avian veterinarian for a checkup. Learn the small changes that can bring back those happy chirps

Causes of Bird Depression

Depression in pet birds has a number of causes, both mental and physical. Any illness or recovery from being sick and result in the bird being less chipper. The mental and psychological stresses that can lead your bird to be blue include a change in cage position, boredom, the death of a partner, or the loss of a favorite toy.

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Fat, Flightless Parrot Named Bird of the Year After a Campaign Tainted by Voter Fraud

London (CNN)A lengthy and bitter election campaign that dragged in competing interest groups and was sullied by a voter fraud scandal came to an unlikely end on Monday, when a fat, flightless and nocturnal parrot stunned pundits to claim an upset victory.

The kakapo, officially the world's heaviest parrot, won New Zealand's Bird of the Year vote after a weeks-long campaign that rivaled human political contests in intensity.

It became the first bird to win the contest for a second time -- a feat not explicitly prohibited by the country's constitution -- and snatched victory thanks to the competition's unique and convoluted voting system, having lost the outright popular vote to the Antipodean albatross.

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Feline Vision Problems: A Host of Possible Causes

In most cases, early diagnosis and treatment can keep a cat from losing its eyesight, but it's important to look for signs of trouble and ensure your cat gets regular check-ups.

Cats have developed several unique vision features during their evolution that enable them to see clearly indoors and out. Unfortunately, these finely-tuned feline eyes are vulnerable to injury and a wide variety of diseases that can dramatically impair a cat’s eyesight or, in some cases, render a cat partially or totally blind.

"We see cats that are either blind or going blind several times a week," says Thomas Kern, DVM, associate professor of ophthalmology at Cornell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine. "Most of these animals have eye disease as a primary disorder—they have no other health problems. And most of them are middle-aged or elderly cats whose vision loss has been progressing for years."

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