Stop by and enjoy delicious greek salads, gyros, pizza, pasta and much more and help HT animals. Please support this fundraiser at a great local restaurant for a great cause and help us spread the word!
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Wednesday, August 20, 2014
Love Pizza? Help Raise Money for Homeward Trails Animal Rescue on August 27 Malek's Pizza Palace Between 4-9 PM - Mention HTAR and We Will Receive a Portion of the Sales!
Stop by and enjoy delicious greek salads, gyros, pizza, pasta and much more and help HT animals. Please support this fundraiser at a great local restaurant for a great cause and help us spread the word!
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Canine Parvovirus, A Highly Contagious Viral Disease that Can Produce a Life-Threatening Illness Usually Spread from Dog to Dog by Direct Contact
Even though it's a relatively new disease in the dog world, parvo's ubiquitous--present at significant levels in every environment, from home to kennel to park. In fact, trying to shield a puppy from exposure is considered completely futile in this day and age. It's a ridiculously tough virus that can survive for months on living things, and even on objects such as furniture, toys, and carpets.
It's a serious infection, too: it can kill in a matter of days, and it's 80 percent fatal. Puppies less than six months old and older dogs are the most vulnerable. Luckily, a simple vaccine is all it takes to prevent this horrible disease.
Causes
Parvo is actually a family of viruses. Many mammals have some version of it, including humans, though fortunately parvo doesn't pass from species to species--each type of animal gets its own special version. It was first isolated back in the 1960s, but a mutant form called CPV-2 appeared virtually overnight in 1978. Then a mutation of that showed up in 1979, causing a true health crisis in the canine world--an epidemic that killed thousands of pets and triggered a vaccine shortage.
Today that virus has been supplanted by a version called CPV-2b, but because of vaccination for puppies and tight health controls, there are very few cases of adult parvo; it's considered a "puppy disease." Still, it's very serious: dogs catch parvo and die from it every year. (There's some talk of other strains beginning to emerge, but they've yet to be formally identified.)
The virus itself is deceptively simple: just a single strand of DNA, without the usual sheath of fat to protect it. This, ironically, makes it harder to kill with standard disinfectants and allows it to survive outside a host body for as long as five months.
Parvo is usually spread from dog to dog by direct contact (in parks, dog shows, kennels, pet shops, and the like) or by contact with infected feces. People can contribute to the spread of the disease by tracking fecal matter on their shoes. Since the virus can survive a wide range of temperatures and live outside the animal for months, it's extremely tough to eradicate. That's why vaccination is so important.
Symptoms
It's possible for adult dogs to have a mild form of parvo and show no symptoms at all. In its acute phase, however, symptoms include:
- loss of appetite
- depression
- fever
- massive dehydration
- lethargy
- bloody diarrhea
- severe, repeated vomiting
When it's time to see a vet
The disease can kill a dog quite quickly (sometimes in a matter of days), and it may leave surviving animals with intestinal and heart damage. So if you see symptoms or even suspect parvo, get to your vet immediately. The only way to know if a dog has parvovirus is through a diagnostic test.
However, the best time to see the vet about parvo is when you get your puppy vaccinated. That's the best thing you can do to prevent this killer of puppies from ever entering your life.
When your puppy's most vulnerable
The timing of protecting your puppy can be a little tricky. The mild and temporary immunities that the mother passes on to her pups actually interfere with the vaccine's effectiveness--but exactly when those maternal antibodies fade varies from dog to dog, depending on factors such as nutrition, medical history, and even breed. It's that window of vulnerability--the time after the mother's immunity has faded, and before the vaccine has kicked in--when puppies catch this ever-present virus.
That's why puppy vaccines have to come in at least two stages, and why it's vitally important that you don't skip that second visit to the vet. It's also important to not let your dog walk on the ground where infected dogs may have been until the vaccine has fully kicked in--ask your vet when it's safe to take your pup out and about.
What's next
Treatment generally means a lengthy and expensive hospital stay, with at least five to seven days in intensive care, rehydration through an IV, lots of antibiotics, and medications to control nausea. Even then the prognosis isn't good. Many severely infected animals die, even with the best available care. Without the correct amount of properly balanced intravenous fluids, their chance of recovery is very small. Beating parvo is a difficult challenge, even for the toughest of puppies.
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Washington Humane Society Announces 2014 DC Walk for the Animals & Pet-A-Palooza, September 27
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Individuals and teams with their canine friends will walk approximately one mile to raise awareness and much needed funding for WHS. Plus, WHS adopters will now have the chance to become the Grand Marshal of the Walk! When you register to walk at www.dclovesdcanimals.org, just enter your pup’s information for a chance to be randomly selected as our winner. The Grand Marshal and winning pup will help us to kick off the festivities for the day, and lead our Walk!
In addition, Pet-A-Palooza is a festival of games, contests and activities for kids, adults and dogs. Adopt Force One, the WHS mobile adoption unit, will be on-site with plenty of adoptable animals looking to find their forever homes on this special day.
New this year, WHS has partnered with cartoonist Brian Basset, creator of the comic strip Red and Rover, which is distributed in over 250 newspapers. Red and Rover will be offering weekly tips for pet owners to get active and engaged in the Walk fun. Learn more at www.washhumane.org/redandrover.
This fantastic event is free to attend, but WHS encourages people to register as a walker or to create a team to help raise critical funds for DC animals; registration is $20 for adults, $15 for kids (4 - 12 years old), and free for children ages three and under. Registering online at www.dclovesdcanimals.org is easy, plus you can set up your own fundraising page to motivate friends and family to get involved.
Unable to join the walk? Become a “virtual walker” to support DC animals by making an online gift. 100% of the proceeds from this event support the animals and the work of WHS. For more information and to sign up, visit www.dclovesdcanimals.org.
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Tuesday, August 19, 2014
Cat Café's Taking Over the World! - Kit Tea to Open in San Francisco Soon! - Purr-Fect Coffee Breaks!
Now the rest of the world is cat-ching on.
In April the United States saw it's first feline coffee house open in New York, albeit only temporarily, London recently opened its first too and a number of major European cities now also offer purr-fect coffee breaks.
San Francisco - A unique cafe is coming to San Francisco.
KitTea is opening up shop on Gough Street in the Hayes Valley neighborhood. It will be similar to another cat cafe named Catachino in Manhattan.
The website Curbed SF reports the cafe will team up with rescue organizations to host about a dozen cats at a time. Customers will be able to adopt them as they sip teas and lattes.
Catachino in New York is so popular there are usually lines around the block. KitTea will be taking reservations.
For more information, and scheduled opening date, visit them on facebook at: Kit Tea
Take a look Cappuccino's, the first Cat Café that opened in New York City, in April 2014
A Cat and a Cappuccino to Go: 1st Pop-Up Cat Café, Was The First to Open in The US
A cat is pictured sitting at the window of the Cat Café in New York, April 23, 2014. The Cat Café, organized by Purina ONE, was opened to the public April 24-27 and offered lectures on cat health, the benefits of adopting a cat and cat-friendly interior design. All cats in the Cat Café are available for adoption through the North Shore Animal League.
A pop-up Cat Cafe, open in New York's Bowery district from Thursday to Sunday, is welcoming cat and coffee lovers who need a 'paws' from the daily grind. Even better: all of the cats can be adopted, and the Cat'achinos are complimentary.
It was a beautiful day for cat lovers: When the first Cat Café in North America opened in NYC.
The Cat Café is the product of a beautiful initiative undertaken by Purina One and the North Shore Animal League, America’s largest no-kill shelter: the Cat Café will be a temporary home to rescue cats, and visitors will be able to have a good cup of coffee while spending some times with their furry friends. The most beautiful part of this initiative is that if you bond with one of them, you can even adopt it.
This Cat Café, located on 168 Bowery, is temporary and will be open till April 27, from 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
If you plan to visit the Café, you can read a nice presentation of the adorable cats you will find there on this site.
New York - Along the Bowery in Manhattan, People Waited in a Line that Would Challenge Any Fancy Art Gallery Opening or Exclusive New York City Club
But what brought these people here on a cool sunny Thursday afternoon wasn't art or exclusivity, it was cats.
Well, cats and coffee.
Cat Café opened its doors Thursday, for cat lovers and the cat-curious to enjoy complimentary "cat'achino" cappuccinos, talk cat health and learn about cat adoption with 16 cuddly cats. Pet food brand Purina ONE is hosting the café as a pop-up shop, lasting only through Sunday, but organizers hope the event encourages cat health awareness and adoption.
"The goal of what we're doing here is try to start a conversation about cat health. What better place to do that then over a cup of coffee with some friends in a café? We thought if people are going to be talking about cat health, you should be among your subjects and have cats all around you," said Niky Roberts with Purina ONE.
"It's a great thing because dogs are very publicly social -- you can take your dog out and go for a walk, talk to people at the dog park -- but that's not a luxury most cat owners have, so this is a place you can talk with likeminded people about cat health and be among cats."
As cat people sipped cappuccinos with cat faces drawn in the foam and flicked furry, feathered balls attached to sticks by string at feline guests, Roberts said the café featured a "Cat Chat" speaker series with discussions led by a cat behaviorist, a veterinarian and other cat experts.
Nearby, Valerie the cat had been camped out on Casey Schimon for about an hour, when someone came over to say Valerie had been adopted.
"I'm so excited for her, because she is seriously the most precious thing, and somebody is going to be very happy," an only slightly sad looking Schimon said.
Purina ONE partnered with North Shore Animal League, a large, no-kill animal rescue and adoption organization based in Long Island, New York, to bring 16 specially chosen cats from around the country to hang out at the café.
"So far I think we've had about four cats adopted, but on Saturday we're having an event here where we'll have our mobile unit that will have additional cats available for adoption, and we're always encouraging people to come over to the shelter in Long Island where we have over a hundred adoptable cats," said Christina Travalja, shelter director for North Shore Animal League America.
Cat coffee houses started in Asia, have gained popularity in Europe, and there are talks of opening a few in such places as California, Oregon and Canada. Bu for now, organizers say the Cat Café in New York is the first feline coffee spot in North America.
"I just want to look at cats. I really like them. I go to school here, so I'm far from my cats. I just wanted to get my fill," said Melissa Torres, who waited nearly two hours to get in the café, "You hear about them in Japan, and I always thought I would have to go to Japan to go to a cat café.
For those who weren't in New York or couldn't handle the line, scenes from inside the cat café were Livestreamed with more than 5,000 people watching around the world. The hashtag #CatCafe was used to spark conversations about the event and cat health on social media.
By mid-day there had been more than 3,000 mentions of Cat Café on Twitter, about 74 per hour, and 178 "news mentions" of Cat Café. At least 30 videos had been posted with Cat Café in the title.
For others, social media merely spread the word and would never make up for seeing the felines up close.
"I'm just really excited about the cat café -- hopefully I'll be able to pet some cats!" said Stephanie Leoutsakos, who had been standing in line for a half hour and still hadn't made it around the block.
John Tolas was waiting in line next to her and said, "I heard it on Facebook, I told her, she loves cats, so now we're here."
Take a look as some of the pictures from Cappuccino's, in New York.
Click on images to enlarge.
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Washington Humane Society - Offering Two FREE Sessions for Fosters Interested in Taking in Feral Kittens - August 24th and September 17th
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We are offering two FREE sessions for fosters interested in taking in feral kittens.
With a little love and attention from you, these cats can get off the streets and into adoptive homes.
Join Our Team of Feral Fosters!
Learn how to turn scared hissy kittens into adoptable lap cats!
Most kittens entering WHS need some type of socialization, which is best provided in a foster home. The more deferalizing foster homes we have, the more kittens we can take in off the streets.
2 Sessions Available
Sunday, August 24, 2014 at 11:00 a.m.
Wednesday, September 17, 2014 at 7:00 p.m.
Location:
WHS Spay and Neuter Center
1001 L Street, SE
Washington, DC (Near the Navy Yard)
Ready to sign up? Click here: Deferalizing School: Teacher Training!
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Monday, August 18, 2014
Emerging Solar Plants Are Scorching Birds in Mid-Air
Federal wildlife investigators who visited the BrightSource Energy plant last year and watched as birds burned and fell, reporting an average of one "streamer" every two minutes, are urging California officials to halt the operator's application to build a still-bigger version.
The investigators want the halt until the full extent of the deaths can be assessed. Estimates per year now range from a low of about a thousand by BrightSource to 28,000 by an expert for the Center for Biological Diversity environmental group.
The deaths are "alarming. It's hard to say whether that's the location or the technology," said Garry George, renewable-energy director for the California chapter of the Audubon Society. "There needs to be some caution."
The bird kills mark the latest instance in which the quest for clean energy sometimes has inadvertent environmental harm. Solar farms have been criticized for their impacts on desert tortoises, and wind farms have killed birds, including numerous raptors.
"We take this issue very seriously," said Jeff Holland, a spokesman for NRG Solar of Carlsbad, California, the second of the three companies behind the plant. The third, Google, deferred comment to its partners.
The $2.2 billion plant, which launched in February, is at Ivanpah Dry Lake near the California-Nevada border. The operator says it is the world's biggest plant to employ so-called power towers.
More than 300,000 mirrors, each the size of a garage door, reflect solar rays onto three boiler towers each looming up to 40 stories high. The water inside is heated to produce steam, which turns turbines that generate enough electricity for 140,000 homes.
Sun rays sent up by the field of mirrors are bright enough to dazzle pilots flying in and out of Las Vegas and Los Angeles.
Federal wildlife officials said Ivanpah might act as a "mega-trap" for wildlife, with the bright light of the plant attracting insects, which in turn attract insect-eating birds that fly to their death in the intensely focused light rays.
Federal and state biologists call the number of deaths significant, based on sightings of birds getting singed and falling, and on retrieval of carcasses with feathers charred too severely for flight.
Ivanpah officials dispute the source of the so-called streamers, saying at least some of the puffs of smoke mark insects and bits of airborne trash being ignited by the solar rays.
Wildlife officials who witnessed the phenomena say many of the clouds of smoke were too big to come from anything but a bird, and they add that they saw "birds entering the solar flux and igniting, consequently become a streamer."
U.S. Fish and Wildlife officials say they want a death toll for a full year of operation.
Given the apparent scale of bird deaths at Ivanpah, authorities should thoroughly track bird kills there for a year, including during annual migratory seasons, before granting any more permits for that kind of solar technology, said George, of the Audubon Society.
The toll on birds has been surprising, said Robert Weisenmiller, chairman of the California Energy Commission. "We didn't see a lot of impact" on birds at the first, smaller power towers in the U.S. and Europe, Weisenmiller said.
The commission is now considering the application from Oakland-based BrightSource to build a mirror field and a 75-story power tower that would reach above the sand dunes and creek washes between Joshua Tree National Park and the California-Arizona border.
The proposed plant is on a flight path for birds between the Colorado River and California's largest lake, the Salton Sea, an area, experts say, is richer in avian life than the Ivanpah plant, with protected golden eagles and peregrine falcons and more than 100 other species of birds recorded there.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials warned California this month that the power-tower style of solar technology holds "the highest lethality potential" of the many solar projects burgeoning in the deserts of California.
The commission's staff estimates the proposed new tower would be almost four times as dangerous to birds as the Ivanpah plant. The agency is expected to decide this autumn on the proposal.
While biologists say there is no known feasible way to curb the number of birds killed, the companies behind the projects say they are hoping to find one, studying whether lights, sounds or some other technology would scare them away, said Joseph Desmond, senior vice president at BrightSource Energy.
BrightSource also is offering $1.8 million in compensation for anticipated bird deaths at Palen, Desmond said.
The company is proposing the money for programs such as those to spay and neuter domestic cats, which a government study found kill over 1.4 billion birds a year. Opponents say that would do nothing to help the desert birds at the proposed site.
Power-tower proponents are fighting to keep the deaths from forcing a pause in the building of new plants when they see the technology on the verge of becoming more affordable and accessible, said Thomas Conroy, a renewable-energy expert.
When it comes to powering the country's grids, "diversity of technology ... is critical," Conroy said. "Nobody should be arguing let's be all coal, all solar," all wind, or all nuclear. "And every one of those technologies has a long list of pros and cons."
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Afghanistan Veteran and His Former Canine Comrade for Two Years, Reunite After they Both Returned from War
Lance Cpl. Dylan Bogue served in Afghanistan for seven months with the black lab Moxie, but hadn't seen his former partner for two years.
'I'm very happy, very grateful for the people that made this come together. It's really truly a dream,' Bogue told (WHDH- TV).
Bogue and Moxie were paired up at a training course in North Carolina in 2011 before being deployed to Afghanistan, where they worked to detect improvised explosive devices.
Still, Bogue insists that Moxie did more than just protect his unit from bombs.
"It was comforting and reassuring to myself and my unit to have a dog there in the stressful situations of a combat deployment," he told the Boston Herald.
Bogue said that he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, and believes that Moxie does too.
After returning to the U.S., Moxie began working with Boston's transit police and was an integral part of security at this year's marathon, searching for explosives on Boston's metro line.
"We did a lot of security work leading up to the last Boston Marathon, we were all over that Green Line," said Chip Leonard, the handler who gave up Moxie.
At the handover ceremony on Wednesday, Leonard was emotional as he saluted Bogue and said goodbye to his trusted partner.
"This was probably one of the toughest things I've ever gone through,' he told WBZ. Leonard later posted to Facebook that Bogue has "got his good pal back with him."
The reunion was made possible by Vietnam vet Lon Hodge, who sent out a call to find Moxie through his blog where he writes about the importance of service dogs to veterans' well-being.
Now that Moxie is retired from service, he'll join the civilian canines at Bogue's home, which include three pit bulls and an Australian shepherd.
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Sunday, August 17, 2014
Lymphoma in Cats
The most common lymphoma sites in cats are the gastrointestinal system, the spine, and the chest cavity. The gastrointestinal type is the most common of the three forms of lymphoma and is not as closely associated with FeLV as are the other two. This type appears in older cats as weight loss and a drop in appetite. Some cats will vomit and/or have diarrhea, depending on the exact location of the cancer. Stomach cancers tend to cause vomiting and intestinal cancers are more likely to cause diarrhea. Siamese and domestic shorthairs seem to have an increased risk of developing this type of lymphoma.
Mediastinal lymphoma occurs in the lymph nodes inside the chest cavity. Cats under 5 years of age who are FeLV positive are at risk for developing this type of cancer, especially if they are Siamese or one of the Oriental breeds. Fluid will build up and leads to difficulty breathing, along with regurgitation and loss of appetite.
Spinal lymphoma tends to show up in 3- to 4-year-old male cats, especially if they are FeLV positive. The first signs may be problems with their hind legs.
How is lymphoma in cats diagnosed?
Diagnosis of lymphoma in cats is based on results of a physical examination and microscopic examination of biopsies or cells taken from affected tissues. This will not only confirm the diagnosis, but help to determine how aggressive the cancer may be, and provide a basis for treatment and prognosis. A complete blood count, serum chemistry, urinalysis, radiographs (X-rays), and/or ultrasound examinations are generally performed to assess the health of the cat and determine which organ systems may be involved. Testing for FeLV and FIV may reveal that a cat is positive for one or both of these diseases, which will affect the prognosis. A PCR for Antigen Receptor Rearrangement (PARR) test can help differentiate lymphoma from other diseases. Examination of samples taken from the bone marrow may also be indicated in some cases.
How is lymphoma in cats treated?
Treatment for feline lymphoma usually consists of chemotherapy. In almost all cases a combination of different drugs is given over the course of many weeks. These drugs may include chlorambucil, doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide, vincristine, L-asparginase and prednisolone or prednisone. In some cases, such as cats with nasal lymphoma, radiation therapy may also be used. In general, cats tolerate chemotherapy very well. If side effects become severe, the treatment protocol can be modified to decrease the effects.
Treatment: Surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy have all been used to treat lymphomas, depending on the exact location and whether the cancer has spread. The prognosis is best for a cat with a single intestinal nodule and worst for a cat with a spinal growth.
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