Veterinarian: 50 Percent of Pets Need to Lose Weight

Americans are passing on the battle of the bulge to their pets.

"Fifty percent of all people and 50 percent of all pets are overweight or obese for the same reasons — eating too much and moving too little," said Dr. Marty Becker, a veterinarian who appeared on "GMA Weekend" to teach owners how to care for overweight pets.

Corpulent canines and fat cats aren't cute; they are unhealthy and in danger of an early trip to pet purgatory, Becker said.

"If you keep your pets thin, studies show they'll live 15 percent longer — that's about two extra years on the average," said Becker. "I'm not exaggerating when I say that pets almost never come to the veterinarian's office too thin."


Reasons

Becker said there are three reasons why pets get fat:

They eat the wrong food. There's only one type of food your pet should eat, and your veterinarian can help you figure that out based on your pet's breed, age, lifestyle and health risks. Vets probably will change what a pet eats five times during its life, as it ages. It is impossible for consumers to weed through the tantalizing ads and competing claims to make sound choices for their pets.

They eat too much food. Pet owners underestimate how much their pets are eating, especially as it relates to how many calories they're burning. A lap dog lying in a lap doesn't need a lot of calories — but a lap dog training for a marathon with its owner does. Sometimes, pets eat more than the owners know. Dogs can raid a cat's bowl, and all kinds of pets might get treats on the sly.

They eat too many treats. Nobody wants to stop giving their pet treats. But limit the treats to 10 percent of the pet's daily caloric intake. Try to substitute healthy treats like baby carrots, which are sweet and crunchy but have no empty calories. Also, offer "emotional milkbones" in which you tell your pet how great it is along with a smaller portion of treats.




How to Tell

Here are some signs your pet is overweight, according to Becker:

Your pet has breathing problems and pants a lot.
Your pet has difficulty jumping and climbing stairs, often from secondary joint problems.

Even with these clues, most people are in denial that their pet is overweight. Becker pointed to a body-scoring assessment you can do at home, or ask your vet to do. Here's where to look to see if your pet is to fat:

Ribs check: You should be able to easily feel your pet's ribs. They shouldn't be covered with a layer of fat.
Profile check: When your pet is standing and you're viewing it from the side, you should see a tucked abdomen, not a body that looks like a cylinder.
Overhead check: When your pet is standing and you're viewing it from above, you should see an hourglass shape with a clearly defined waist.
Tail check: You should be able to feel the base of the tail very easily.

Downsizing


Becker offered tips to downsize your pet:


Feed your pet "weight reducing" food. To get rid of the extra weight feed the food your doctor recommends — which many be a special weight-reducing food like prescription diet R/D or W/D.
Don't feed "free choice" — which means there is food available all the time and your pet eats whenever it wants. Instead, take the amount of food your doctor recommends and divide it up into two or three meals.
Limit snacks and access to other food — just like in a human diet.
Start a walking program. If your overweight pet is really out of shape, don't push it too hard. Start with one block per 10 pounds of body weight, twice a day. Early morning or evening walks are best — avoid scorching sidewalks, high heat and humidity.

References:abcnews

Veterinarian Confirms Elephants Do Run, Sort Of

When John Hutchinson, now at the Royal Veterinary College at the University of London, was in graduate school, it was still an open question whether an elephant moving at high speeds could be considered to be running.



Hutchinson's new study finds that, although they're no greyhounds or cheetahs, fast-moving elephants have a springy step that qualifies them as runners within the animal world.

"No one knew," Hutchinson said. "But as the largest land animals, elephants were a study group that we needed to know more about, in order to interpret how dinosaurs might have moved, and uncover the basic rules about how giant land animals move."

Do the locomotion

The researchers used modern motion capture video techniques, similar to those used in the "Lord of the Rings" movies and in creating video games, along with MRI and CT scans to visualize the positions of the joints of the elephant's fore and hind limbs, Hutchinson explained.

Six special cameras took 240 pictures per second, and could capture far more detail than the naked eye or conventional video could.




Click here to watch a video of an elephant moving.


They soon found that although elephants don't lift all four feet at once, a previous definition of running, they showed signs of using their legs like pogo sticks, compressing and rebounding with each step.

A pogo stick is a pole with a spring at the bottom and two footrests on which a person stands and moves by jumping.








"In the last 40 years, locomotion biomechanics has realized that this is the definitive feature of running — runners are bouncy-legged, whereas walkers are stiff-legged," Hutchinson told LiveScience.

Many animals are now known to bounce without leaving the ground — birds, insects and Icelandic ponies, for example. Even at their top speed of 15 mph, elephants keep one or two feet on the ground at all times.

Elephant knowledge

Understanding the motion of these animals can help researchers identify abnormal gait and musculoskeletal problems, which are normally difficult to recognize and treat.

"Our results will help vets and elephant keepers to identify elephant limb problems earlier," Hutchinson said.

The knowledge could also prove useful in understanding the human gait.

Humans and elephants share a lot in terms of their locomotion. Both stand and move with unusually straight legs compared to other animals, and the proportions and anatomy of our thighs, shank and feet are similar, Hutchinson said.

"Who knows, they may even reveal clues about the links between obesity and arthritis," he commented.

In robotics, elephant locomotion could be used as a model for building giant legged vehicles that move as economically as these large animals.

This research appears in the current issue of BBSRC Business, a magazine published by Britain's Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council.

References:foxnews

Shelters prepared for Rita evacuees - and pets

AUSTIN – Texas has learned from the missteps of Hurricane Katrina, and one of the first examples came Wednesday as state officials invited hurricane evacuees to bring their pets along.






Steve McCraw, the state's homeland security chief, said shelters designed to hold 250,000 Gulf Coast residents fleeing Hurricane Rita have been established in Austin, San Antonio, Lufkin, Bryan-College Station and Huntsville.

"We want everyone to have the opportunity to go. That means pets, too. We don't want anyone staying because of pets," Mr. McCraw said.

Gov. Rick Perry said the most important thing for the state to do is "to save lives and take care of our citizens."

Some New Orleans residents refused to leave their pets behind in the aftermath of Katrina, and Texas officials hope taking such steps as allowing residents to bring along crated animals can save more human lives.

Mr. Perry joined local officials in urging what would be the largest evacuation in state history. An estimated 1.2 million coastal residents have been told to pick up and move inland.

The governor warned residents that it takes 33 hours to evacuate the coastal region and that those told by their mayors to leave should start packing immediately.

"Homes and businesses can be rebuilt. Lives cannot. If you're on the coast between Beaumont and Corpus Christi, now is the time to leave," he said.

State officials are scrambling to direct evacuation traffic; move hospital and nursing home patients; deploy security, aid and rescue teams; coordinate communications; and line up needed supplies.

To facilitate the aid and response, President Bush on Wednesday declared Texas a disaster area at the governor's behest.

Mr. McCraw said many evacuees would stay in hotels or with friends and family. If the need for shelter is greater, some people could be sent to cities not originally envisioned for coastal evacuations, such as Lubbock, El Paso and Amarillo, he said.

Mr. McCraw said hospitals, nursing homes, prisons and state schools were being evacuated and the people moved to other facilities around the state.

For instance, at Texas A&M University in College Station, a hospital for large animals with the veterinary medicine school was reconfigured to make room for 250 evacuated patients, including children suffering from serious burns or physical disabilities, and elderly patients with special needs.

Dr. H. Richard Adams said the hospital, built in 1992, has oxygen service, diesel generators and the space to accommodate the patients, family and their caregivers.

By Thursday afternoon, the state expected 4,000 Guardsmen, 1,000 state troopers and massive supplies of water, ice and nonperishable food to be deployed near target areas.

Of the state's 20,000 Guardsmen, about 6,300 are on active duty and unavailable to help respond to the storm. About 4,000 of those are on duty in Iraq.

Eleven helicopters have been secured for search and rescue duty, and the American Red Cross, Salvation Army and Texas State Guard are poised to move rapidly into any area that is hit.

Dr. David McIntyre, director of Texas A&M's Integrative Center for Homeland Security, said state and local officials are working well together and have long planned for mass evacuations and other scenarios.

"I think things are really moving in the right direction," he said.

Mr. Perry said Texas was one of the best-prepared states in the nation to deal with a disaster. And he said the state must prepare for the worst.

"It is quite likely that it will be a devastating storm when it reaches Texas," Mr. Perry said.


References:wvec

Rabid Fox Found in Madrid, AL

The Houston County Health Department has confirmed a 16th case of rabies this year. Health Department officials tell News 4 it involves a fox found Monday.

A homeowner saw the fox and noticed it was acting aggressively and looked sick. Testing by the Health Department confirmed rabies.






The fox isn't thought to have come into contact with any humans or other animals.

Officials say it's another reminder about why it's important to keep your pets vaccinated.

Last year there were 19 cases of rabies in Houston County.

References:wtvynews4

Florida struggles to balance public safety and protection of alligators

By BRIAN SKOLOFF
Associated Press Writer
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) It was curtains for Crusty.

The 8-foot alligator had been fed too many marshmallows, jelly beans and M&Ms, and had lost his fear of humans. Under state policy, he was deemed a nuisance, which is a virtual death sentence.

But then an anonymous donor last month paid to have the gator moved to a nearby animal exhibit.

Crusty was one of the lucky ones.

More than 7,000 gators, or about 20 a day, are killed each year under Florida's nuisance alligator criteria 4 feet or longer and a perceived threat to people or pets.

Under the policy, if the state receives a complaint about an alligator gator from a homeowner, it can send a trapper to catch and kill the reptile and sell its meat and hide. A gator can be killed just for being seen in a pond near children.

Biologists say the policy is needed to protect human life in densely populated Florida, where there is about one alligator for every nine of the state's nearly 18 million people.

Animal rights advocates agree that public safety should come first, but some wonder if the policy is too sweeping.

``There's, rightfully so, an interest on the state's part in protecting public safety, but unfortunately a lot of the response is just pulling those gators out,'' said Julie Wraithmell of Audubon of Florida.

Alligator attacks on humans in Florida are extremely rare. Just 17 fatal attacks have been reported since 1948 not counting three deaths in mid-May that are still under investigation. Some experts say the cluster was just a freak occurrence.

Nuisance gators cannot simply be picked up and moved elsewhere. Biologists say alligators are highly territorial and can find their way back to their homes even after being moved miles away. Moreover, many privately run alligator exhibits are full.

Decades of over-hunting and loss of habitat led to the listing of the alligator as an endangered species in 1967. Forty years later, gators are thriving in Florida, after sweeping conservation efforts and a crackdown on poachers.











In addition to killing nuisance gators, Florida holds a yearly alligator hunt. This year's started Tuesday and will last nearly 11 weeks. Officials sold 4,406 permits for the 2006 season; each permit allows for two alligator kills.

Also, about 46,000 alligator eggs were taken from the wild last month as part of a program that allows farmers to raise them in captivity and sell their hides and meat.

``It seems we've struck a pretty good balance,'' said Rodney Barreto, chairman of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. ``Remember, at one time the alligator was almost extinct.''

Alligator trapper Todd Hardwick and others believe the answer to Florida's nuisance-gator problem lies in public education.

``Alligator common sense is lacking in Florida,'' he said. ``You're surrounded by more than a million gators here. Behave properly and you'll be fine.''

Among other things, the commission warns people to keep their distance from alligators, since they can run up to 30 mph on land; closely supervise children when they are around fresh water; swim only during daylight hours, since gators are most active between dusk and dawn; and never feed the animals.

Complaints about nuisance gators have risen steadily over the years, in large part because of Florida's increasing human population and the spread of housing developments into wild areas.

The deadly attacks in May set off a frenzy, with complaints in one week doubling from a year earlier to 1,218 calls. Last year, the commission received about 17,000 complaint calls and about 8,000 alligators were killed. In 2000, about 6,200 alligators were killed under the policy.

``I'm horrified to see the lack of consideration that humans give alligators, considering that the reason we have this problem is because of us,'' said Mary Martin, a Jupiter resident who runs an animal rights Web site. ``It's morally and ethically outrageous to be killing them.''

Harry Dutton, the state's alligator management coordinator, said no other state has such an abundance of large predatory animals living so close to so many humans.

``We're always going to err on the side of public safety,'' Dutton said. ``But we'll never take so many alligators that we're going to jeopardize their existence.''

Related Links:http://myfwc.com/gators/






References:http://cbs3.com/

2006 Praise for Pets

Some bring us our slippers or the morning paper. Some have proven to be the best companion on a walk around the park. Others simply provide needed comfort that has a huge impact on our lives. Now it's time to honor the outstanding pets in our community for their continued devotion to all of us. Come celebrate the 2006 Praise for Pets event on October 18th.


The Colorado Veterinary Medical Foundation is accepting nominations for this year's award ceremony. Pets as well as human heroes will be honored at this special event. Award categories include Hero, Service, Human-Animal Bond, and Human Hero. This year, a special category will honor those people who worked tirelessly to save animals displaced by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita as well as the animals they helped to find new homes here in Colorado.





Praise for Pets will also help raise money for programs like the Colorado State Animal Response Team which is one of the nation's strongest state emergency preparedness programs.

If you want to see an exceptional bird, dog, cat, horse, or other great animal recognized for their contributions, please nominate them by September 15. Click on the link to download the official nomination form or call 303-318-0447 to request a nomination packet.

2006 Praise for Pets
When: October 18
Nominations Due: September 15
Information: call 303-318-0447
colovma

References:9news

Get tough on bad dogs

The most important thing a local government can do is provide for the public's safety, and Deltona is doing just that as commissioners work to strengthen its laws on dangerous dogs.

After a resident's poodle was attacked and killed by a neighbor's pit bull, it became clear Deltona's animal-control ordinance doesn't go far enough. The dog couldn't be impounded because a broad state law requires two attacks before a dog can be deemed dangerous. Cities can make their own ordinances tougher, and it looks like Deltona will, voting unanimously Monday to allow a dog to be impounded after one attack.






The change, up for final approval on Aug. 21, is a reasoned approach because it does not ban a specific breed. Other cities, too, would do better to focus on safety rather than a breed's reputation.


References:orlandosentinel

Chinese County Slaughters 50,000 Dogs

SHANGHAI, China -- A county in southwestern China has killed as many as 50,000 dogs in a government campaign ordered after three people died from rabies, official media reported Tuesday.

The five-day massacre in Yunnan province's Mouding county spared only military guard dogs and police canine units, the Shanghai Daily reported, citing local media.

Dogs being walked were taken from their owners and beaten on the spot, the newspaper said. Other killing teams entered villages at night, creating noise to get dogs barking, then honing in and beating them to death.


Owners were offered 63 cents per animal to kill their dogs before the teams were sent in, the report said.








The massacre was widely discussed on the Internet, with both legal scholars and animal rights activists criticizing it as crude and cold-blooded. The World Health Organization said more emphasis needed to be placed on prevention.

"Wiping out the dogs shows these government officials didn't do their jobs right in protecting people from rabies in the first place," Legal Daily, a newspaper run by the central government's Politics and Law Committee, said in an editorial in its online edition.

Dr. Francette Dusan, a WHO expert on diseases passed from animals to people, said effective rabies control required coordinated efforts between human and animal health agencies and authorities.

"This has not been pursued adequately to date in China with most control efforts consisting of purely reactive dog culls," Dusan said.

The Shanghai Daily said 360 of Mouding county's 200,000 residents suffered dog bites this year. The three rabies victims included a 4-year-old girl, the report said.

"With the aim to keep this horrible disease from people, we decided to kill the dogs," Li Haibo, a spokesman for the county government was quoted as saying by the official Xinhua News Agency. Calls to county government offices rang unanswered on Tuesday.


China has seen a major rise in the number of rabies cases in recent years, with 2,651 reported deaths from the disease in 2004, the last year for which data was available, according to the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Experts have tied the rise in part to an increase in dog ownership, particularly in rural areas where about 70 percent of households keep dogs. Only about 3 percent of Chinese dogs are vaccinated against rabies, according to the center. Access to appropriate treatment is highly limited, especially in the countryside.


References:news4jax