The Pet Tree House - Where Pets Are Family Too The Pet Tree House - Where Pets Are Family Too

Friday, November 16, 2018

Why Does My Cat Pee on My Bed?


Inappropriate Urination
Cats typically want to urinate in their litter boxes! Naturally, a cat wants to bury its excrement so that predators cannot find it (or them!). It's instinctual and it makes the cat feel safe.

If a cat urinates inappropriately, especially in its owner's bed, there has to be a problem. The main culprits usually involve:

Medical conditions such as Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) or kidney infection
Stress or anxiety
Problems with the litter box itself

Medical Concerns: Consider These First!
The first issue to consider if a cat has begun to urinate inappropriately and/or on the bed, is the possibility of illness or injury. Cats usually want to use their litter boxes and feel most comfortable using them, so it is not a good sign if a cat stops using theirs.

A complete check-up with a veterinarian is the best first step. Oftentimes a cat with a urinary tract infection (UTI) or kidney infection will urinate while sleeping, and our beds are a common place for cats to sleep.

Elderly cats may have difficulty getting in and out of the litter box, and may need some adjustments to help with this.

Medical issues can be complicated, so it is best to check for these first in order to be sure that the problem is not a physical one.

To read more on this story, click here: Why Does My Cat Pee on My Bed?

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10 Reasons Why Dogs Howl


Are you curious to know why dog howl and why they howl mostly at nights? Actually, dogs howl is their natural mode of communication. Also, there are some other reasons, about dog howl, but the most accepted belief is, "dogs are successor of wolves and they carry a couple of wolves’ characters and howling is one of them". There are some other concepts also, regarding dog howls like,

1. Vocal Communication
Wolf howl in the wild is their natural way of vocal communication. They howl to send a message to their separated pack members to inform about their presence and current location. This method helps them to find each other. And the dogs had inherited this behavior from their ancestors. Though this way of communication can be the one reason, but there are a couple of other reasons also when a dog can trigger howl.

To read more on this story, click here: 10 Reasons Why Dogs Howl


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November is National Adopt a Senior Month: Donatello Has A Message For You


November is National Adopt a Senior Month. Donatello has a message...please adopt or foster a senior dog or cat. Let’s save more lives together. Donatello would like you all to follow him on FB & Instagram:

https://www.facebook.com/donatellothedog/

https://instagram.com/donatellos world



                       (Click twice on arrow to start video)


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The Two-Headed Baby Eastern Copperhead That Was Found in Woodbridge in Early September Has Died


A two-headed snake that wowed biologists and residents when it was found in a Northern Virginia yard in September has died, The Washington Post reports. 

The two-headed baby Eastern Copperhead was found in Woodbridge in early September, the Wildlife Center of Virginia said. According to The Post, JD Kleopfer, the state’s herpetologist, announced the reptile's death early this week.

The snake had two tracheas, with the left one more developed, and two esophagi, with the right one more developed. The snake also had a single heart and one set of lungs.

When the snake was discovered, Kleopfer said the find was extremely rare because "they just don't live that long."

You may be interested in reading: A Young Two-Headed Eastern Copperhead Was Found in Northern Virginia


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Thursday, November 15, 2018

Photos: Pets, Owners Reunited Following Deadly and Destructive Camp Fire


The Camp Fire, the most deadly and destructive wildfire in California history, has destroyed hundreds of homes, put thousands of lives at risk and separated pets from their owners.

People have been using social media to look for and share images of their lost animals in hopes of finding them, and it's working. 

Lost animals following Camp Fire

To take a look at the animals, click here: Photos: Pets, Owners Reunited Following Deadly and Destructive Camp Fire




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Was Marina Chapman Really Brought Up By Monkeys?


Is Marina Chapman a survivor or a fantasist? We meet the Bradford woman who claims she was raised in the jungle by monkeys – and who still enjoys nothing more than grooming her family

Marina Chapman says she isn't as mobile as she once was. It's not so easy to climb trees these days, let alone swing from them. Well, she is about 60 or 62 years old – maybe older. She's not sure. Chapman is tiny, sinewy, bendy. At times she doesn't look quite human – a bit simian, a bit feline and quite beautiful.

Perhaps it's not surprising that Marina Chapman seems different from the rest of us. In her formative years, she says, she grew up with monkeys. Only monkeys. For around five years (again, she's unsure – there is no reliable means of measuring) she says she lived deep in the Colombian jungle with no human company. She remembers learning to fend for herself – eating berries and roots, nabbing bananas dropped by the monkeys, sleeping in holes in trees and walking on all fours. By the time she was rescued by hunters, she says, she had lost her language completely. And that's when life really got tough. She claims she was sold into a brothel in the city of Cúcuta, lived as a street urchin and was enslaved by a mafia family, before being saved by a neighbour and eventually moving to Bradford, Yorkshire. Which is where we find her today.

To read more on this story, click here: Was Marina Chapman Really Brought Up By Monkeys?



You may be interested in reading: Woman Says She Was Raised by Monkeys - Daughter Helps Share Her Incredible Story.

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Tips on Sharing the Thanksgiving Holiday with Your Dog


As the Thanksgiving holiday approaches many of you are wondering if you can give your dog turkey ...Yes, you can!  The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) says, offering your dog a small piece of boneless, thoroughly cooked turkey, plain mashed potatoes and a smidge of pumpkin pie are not likely to be harmful treats for your dog. Just be sure to avoid giving foods with large amounts of onion or garlic, or any treats sweetened with xylitol, a sweetener that can lower the blood sugar of dogs.

When placing the meat in your dog's bowl, be sure to remove all pieces of bone, and the skin! Just like chicken bones, turkey bones splinter and can cause blockage or perforation of the intestine. Rich, fatty foods such as turkey skin and dark turkey meat are difficult to digest and can cause vomiting and diarrhea in your dog, and in extreme cases, pancreatitis. Dogs and turkey bones aren't a good combination.

Your dog may become agitated with strangers in your home

If you plan on serving Thanksgiving dinner in your home, it’s probably a good idea to give your dog a special chew toy and put him in a secure room. With so many people coming into and out of your house, your dog may become agitated. Dogs don’t like changes in their routine and may not find mingling with strangers to be enjoyable. There’s also a higher risk of your dog escaping to the outside when there’s so much confusion.

Tips:

1. Try to keep all foods pushed toward the back of the counter, prepared and uncooked.

2. Feed your dog in their dog bowl.

3. Keep trash cans either secured with a tight fitting lid, or under a cabinet.

4. Caution your guest on arrival about giving turkey and other table foods to your dog.

5. Once the meal is over, place turkey bones in the garbage and remove the garbage bag from the room. It should immediately be placed in a garbage bin where it can't be accessed by your dog.

6. If you have guests coming into the home around the holidays this poses many dangers to pets.  A child who does not know how to properly interact with your dog may end up the victim of a dog bite incident.

7. As guests enter and exit your home for Thanksgiving dinner this provides an opportunity for your dog to escape.

8. If you think someone gave your dog too much turkey or table food, contact your vet immediately. The same is true if your dog got into the trash and ate something he shouldn't have.

Since most vet offices are closed on holidays including Thanksgiving, you should have an emergency contact number on hand. Most likely, this will be the nearest Pet Emergency Center.

                                              Happy Thanksgiving from The Pet Tree House! FOLLOW US!
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Tips on Sharing the Thanksgiving Holiday with Your Cat


As the Thanksgiving Holiday approaches many of you are  wondering if you can give your cat turkey….Yes, you can!  The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) says, offering  your cat little nibbles of a small piece of boneless, thoroughly cooked turkey. Don’t give your cat any thing sweetened with xylitol, While xylitol is toxic and even potentially fatal when ingested by dogs, its effects on cats is unknown.

If you decide to feed your pet a little nibble of turkey, make sure it’s boneless and well-cooked. Don't offer them raw or undercooked turkey, which may contain salmonella  bacteria.

Tips:

1. Do not leave food crumbs on plates and make sure all food items are sealed in containers with lids.

2. Also place candles where cats cannot knock them over. Never leave a cat unattended in a room with lit candles. He will gravitate to them like moths to a porch light.

3. Keep stoves and countertops off-limits to cats. Electric stovetops can be very hot without changing color, and present a serious burn hazard to curious noses and tender feet.

4. You may be tempted to put your cats in the garage to keep them out of the way when your Thanksgiving visitors arrive. This is not a good idea for several reasons. Anti-freeze is both attractive and deadly to cats. Anti-freeze and caustic chemicals stored in the garage spell certain disaster if a cat comes in contact with them. Although it may seem like an attractive idea to keep a normally indoor-outdoor cat in the garage over the winter, please keep them in the house. If you need to keep your indoor-only cats away from the festivities, consider a Safe Room.

5. Keep trash cans either secured with a tight fitting lid, or under a cabinet. Caution your guest on arrival about giving turkey and other table foods to your cat.

6. Once the meal is over, place turkey bones in the garbage and remove the garbage bag from the room. It should immediately be placed in a garbage bin where it can't be accessed by your cat.

7. If you have guests coming into the home around the holidays this poses many dangers to pets.  A child who does not know how to properly interact with your cat, may end up getting scratched.

8. Sage (Salvia species) is considered to be edible in small amounts. However, it and many other herbs contain essential oils and resins that can cause gastrointestinal upset and even central nervous system depression if eaten in large quantities.

9. Cats are sensitive to the effects of essential oils. Keep your cat away from the sage, if  you are cooking with this while preparing your Thanksgiving dinner.

10. As guests enter and exit your home for Thanksgiving dinner this provides an opportunity for your cat to escape. Your cat may become agitated with strangers in your home. To your pet the holidays are a confusing mix of noise, people, strange sights, sounds and smells. Make sure your cat or dog has his own space, either a crate or a separate room, to retreat to when it all becomes overwhelming. You and your pet will be happier for it.

11. If you think someone gave your cat too much turkey or table food, contact your vet immediately. The same is true if your cat got into the trash and ate something he shouldn't have.

Since most vet offices are closed on holidays including Thanksgiving, you should have an emergency contact number on hand. Most likely, this will be the nearest Pet Emergency Center.
                            Happy Thanksgiving from The Pet Tree House! FOLLOW US!
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Fleas - On You and Your Pet


Warm, wet weather is prime weather for fleas. During late spring and all through summer, most regions experience outbreaks of fleas. However, fleas do not care about the calendar. As long as the area is warm enough (about 60 degrees or warmer) for them to breed, and the adult fleas have a blood meal, they will breed. As long as larvae have sufficient humidity to hatch (50 percent at least), they will hatch.

Because of climate-controlled homes, fleas easily breed inside all yearlong if homeowners don't eliminate fleas, flea eggs and flea larvae.

Fleas are pests that can take over a house, infest a pet's fur and administer bites that result in severe itching.


The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) says, Fleas are the most common external parasite to plague companion animals. They are wingless insects that feed on blood, can jump up to two feet high and make a very comfortable home in your pet’s fur. They can live for as few as 13 days or as long as 12 months—and during that time, can produce millions of offspring. Though there are many species of fleas, the one that most often affects both dogs and cats in North America is the cat flea, Ctenocephalides felis.

Fleas on Humans
There are over 200 different types of fleas in America. The most common type of fleas to affect humans is the cat flea or xenopsylla cheopis . The cat flea will happily feed on cats, dogs or humans. Flea bites on humans are often found on the ankles in groups of three.

You can treat the flea bites on your body, but in order to stop the cycle of the fleas, you need to also treat your home and any infected pets to stop the life cycle of this flea in your home.





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Woman Says She Was Raised by Monkeys - Daughter Helps Share Her Incredible Story


When Vanessa James was a little girl, her mother would tell her bedtime stories of growing up like Tarzan in the jungle raised by a colony of monkeys.

As James got older, she learned those accounts were not fantasy but part of her mother's unbelievable history.

Between the ages of four and ten, Marina Chapman's family consisted of 20 or so Capuchin monkeys, native to the jungles of South America. Her memory of how it all started is hazy-she remembers sorting peas in her village when in an instant a hand covered her mouth and she awoke in the jungle.

"All she can remember is being chloroformed with a hand over her mouth," James, told London's Sunday Times this past week. "It's assumed that the kidnap went wrong,"

Two days after fending for herself, she was approached by a colony of monkeys who taught her by example to forage, feed, and survive as one of their own.


"Acting entirely on instinct, she tried to do what they did: she ate what they ate and copied their actions, and, little by little, learned to fend for herself," according to a press release for the Marina's memoir, The Girl With No Name, to be released in 2013 by Pegasus Books.

Why some people adopt monkeys, dolls as a children

As Chapman adapted to jungle life, she lost any language she had learned in her early years, and instead developed an inhuman ability to scale trees and to communicate with creatures native to the forest. After more than five years, she was discovered by hunters who sold her into slavery in exchange for a parrot.

How to help victims of child trafficking 

A year later she escaped, narrowly avoiding a life of prostitution. She then lived off the streets in Colombia, relying on her stealth knowledge gleaned, in part, from her education in the jungle. In her 20's while working as a household staff for a Colombian family, she was brought on a trip to Bradford, England. There she met her future husband at a church, a bacteriologist named John Chapman, and she never left. Together they raised two children. She worked as a cook, and later in social services helping at-risk youth.

Over the past five years, her daughter Vanessa, now a 23-year-old film composer, has been devoted to transcribing her mother's memory, matching the nuts and berries, and wildlife in Chapman's jungle recollections, with those native to the area she was abandoned in. Recently, mother and daughter traveled back to Colombia to find Chapman's long-lost family, reconnecting with some surrogates who took her in in her teens. She even tried re-entering the jungle before being stopped by military officials.

There have only been a handful of modern-day accounts of feral children surviving this unique upbringing and ultimately assimilating back into human life. In 1999, a young boy was rescued in the Uganda jungle after being raised by monkeys. It took him eight years to learn to speak again.

Today, Chapman is in her mid-50s, though she has no document proving her exact age. Her English writing is weak and her daughter provided much of the translations for Barrett-Lee's formulation into memoir. According to James, the most glaring sign of her mother's past is the fact that she rarely, if ever, cries. "I guess it's an emotional effect of her earlier life," said Vanessa in her interview with Times.

Chapman's memoir, The Girl Without a Name, authored by both mother and daughter, as well as Barrett-Lee, was purchased by publishers in the U.K., Holland, Australia and Italy this past February. It's slated for release in the U.S. by Pegasus books sometime in April of 2013.

Vanessa and her mother both declined an interview with Yahoo! Shine, opting instead to wait for the book's publication. It's unlikely interest will subside six months from now. For Marina, the chance to tell her story is second only to the opportunity to help young victims of kidnapping. She plans to donate a portion of the proceeds of her book to charities to combat child trafficking and slavery in Colombia.

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Wednesday, November 14, 2018

Goldfish Survive 4 Months After New Zealand Earthquake


Two goldfish were found alive in their tank in a building that was badly damaged by the earthquake that struck New Zealand.

The two goldfish, named Shaggy and Daphne, have become the smallest survivors of the earthquake in February.  The earthquake killed 181 people in Christchurch.

There were originally six goldfish in the tank when the quake struck. When the survivors were found, there was no trace of three others. A fourth was found dead. There is the question of their missing companions. Goldfish are omnivores.

The fish spent four and a half months, trapped in their tank in a downtown area of the city, that was off-limits. There was no food, or electricity to power their tank filter. They were discovered by workers, and rescued.

The fish survived from eating algae growing on the tank’s rocks and walls. Fish can go without food for a while because they are cold blooded, and unlike mammals don't burn up food to keep warm.



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Basenji - Known as The Barkless Dog Breed


The Basenji is a breed of hunting dog that was bred from stock originating in central Africa.

They are small, elegant-looking, short-haired dogs with erect ears, a tightly curled tail and a graceful neck. A basenji's forehead is wrinkled, especially when the animal is young or extremely old. Basenji eyes are typically almond-shaped, which gives the dog the appearance of squinting seriously.

They typically weigh 24 pounds (11 kg) and stand 16 inches (40.6 cm) at the withers.

They are a square breed, which means that they are as long as they are tall. The basenji is an athletic dog and is deceptively powerful for its size. They have a graceful, confident gait like a trotting horse, and skim the ground in a double-suspension gallop, with their characteristic curled tail straightened out for greater balance, when running flat-out at their top speed.

Barking:
Basenjis are an ancient breed cut off from other breeds forever and was never bred out of the pure. They have a different shaped larynx that doesn't allow them to make a true bark like other breeds. But all basenjis do a pretty good job of faking it by just cutting a yodel or baroo short.


Temperament:
The basenji has the unique properties of not barking (it makes a low, liquid ululation instead) and cleaning itself like a cat. Often, the Basenji is commonly referred to as the shrieking dog, or screaming child dog.

Basenjis do not respond well to punishment, such as yelling and hitting, which can cause them to utter a warning growl.

Lifespan:
The median lifespan of 13.6 years. Which is 1–2 years longer than the median lifespan of other breeds of similar size. The oldest dog in the survey was 17.5 years. Most common causes of death were old age (30%), urologic (incontinence, Fanconi syndrome, chronic kidney failure 13%), behavior ("unspecified" and aggression 9%), and cancer. (9%).

Grooming:
The Basenji washes itself like a cat and has no dogie smell, so very little grooming is needed. This is a good dog for people with allergies. This breed sheds little to no hair.

They are also know as: African Bush Dog, African Barkless Dog, Ango Angari, Congo Dog, Zande Dog





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Jimbo The 9-Foot Kodiak Bear Passes Away After 20 Years Of Family Life


What do you do when your 1,400-pound (approx. 635-kilogram) bear just needs a warm hug? Well, of course you give him cuddles! Most wild animals could never be tamed—but this lovable hunk was one of a kind.

Jimbo the huge Kodiak brown bear was born in captivity. He was injured, and Jim Kowalczik knew he could never be returned to the wild when he decided to take him under his wing as a cub.

When Jim and Susan Kowalczik founded the Orphaned Wildlife Center in Otisville, upstate New York, in 2015, Jimbo would spend the rest of his life there with them.

He kept company with another 11 bears at the sanctuary. They would all be released into the wild once they were healed of their injuries. Some had survived collisions with cars; others had become orphans when their mothers were killed.

The couple treated Jimbo as part of the family, and Jim was often photographed playing with the affectionate bear, or perhaps the two would just sit relaxed together as friends sometimes do.

When Jimbo began to feel out of sorts, last February, a visit from the vet did little to help him, and the cause of his discomfort was unknown, though it was later found to be cancer of the liver.

To read more on this story, click here: Jimbo The 9-Foot Kodiak Bear Passes Away After 20 Years Of Family Life

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This is the Snake-Infested Island That's So Dangerous it is Forbidden for People to Visit


I have a recurring dream in which I am accosted by a venomous snake. I make no bones about it: snakes terrify me. Perhaps it's their weird, pin-prick black eyes, possibly it's their horribly slithering, eel-like bodies, or maybe it's the knowledge that many breeds of snake could cause me serious damage with just one bite, or several rib-crushing squeezes from their sickening serpentine frames.

Either way, if there are snakes involved, I'm out. Admittedly snakes have, thus far, been conspicuous in my life only by their absence, unless you count my oft-returning nightmare.

The nightmare started, by the way, when I was sleeping in the living room of a friend's house in New York. Every night, the central heating in the building would come on, issuing a loud 'hissing' noise as it did so. My poor, tortured, sleep-ravaged brain regrettably interpreted this sibilance as dozens of insipid, writhing snakes gliding irresistibly towards me, and thus my interminable nighttime affliction was borne out, never to cease, consistent in its horror.

If there is one place I hope never to visit, then, it is the snake-infested island off the coast of Brazil that is so dangerous, it's actually forbidden for humans to visit.

Ilha da Queimada Grande - otherwise known as Snake Island - might look idyllic from above if one did not know of the fork-tongued horrors that lurk in the rainforests beneath.

Located off the coast of the state of Sao Paolo in the Atlantic Ocean, Snake Island is home to an estimated 4,000 snakes, with some reports suggesting that you would encounter one snake every six yards - concentrated almost exclusively in the island's rainforests.

To read more on this story, click here: This is the Snake-Infested Island That's So Dangerous it is Forbidden for People to Visit

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