4 The Love of Animals

Baby Fur Seal Lament – Digital Nomad

Posted on March 25, 2012 by Aimee

Baby Fur Seal Lament – Digital Nomad.
National Geographic’s  “Digital Nomad”, Andrew Evans, is on a trans-Atlantic journey from South America’s Cape Horn to Africa’s Cape of Good Hope.  Along his journey (as with most of his adventures) he stops to hang with local animals, and to share his experience in his blog.

Andrew is hanging with some adorable baby Antarctic fur seals in South Geogria, and has posted a video of his encounter. Check the video out here.
You can follow Andrew’s journey on Twitter at @WheresAndrew, as well as on his blog, http://digitalnomad.nationalgeographic.com.

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Lick Granuloma

Posted on March 21, 2012 by Aimee

Lick granuloma is a serious skin problem in dogs and occurs when dogs continuously lick a certain area, which then becomes inflamed and sore. It tends to be most common on the legs; however any area can be affected.
The most common cause of lick granuloma is psychological, usually due to stress, boredom or a compulsive behaviour. However it can also be physiological such as bacterial and fungal infections, trauma which causes nerve damage, allergies or bone disease. Hot spots can also lead to lick granuloma.
Lick granuloma is a vicious cycle as constant licking of the skin creates irritation and pain which then causes more licking and dog scratching. This usually creates open wounds which increases the chances of infection.
There are some breeds that are commonly affected by lick granuloma; these include Dobermans, Great Danes, Labrador Retrievers, German Shepherds and Border Collies.
You should seek advice from your vet to discover the underlying causal factor whether it be behavioural or physiological. Tests for allergies should be conducted if no obvious cause can be diagnosed. Steroids may be injected into the area or antibiotics prescribed for infections however talk to your vet about the associated problems of administering these drugs on a long term basis so you are aware of the serious side effects that may accompany these drugs.
If it is a behavioural issue then this needs to be dealt with. It is important that you discover what the underlying issue is, as it could be separation anxiety, confinement or a stressor in the environment. Ensure that you then take appropriate steps to help deal with these behavioural issues. It may also be necessary to consult a behaviourist.
Acupuncture has been reported by many dog owners to be effective so this could be considered, and balms such as Yumega Plus can also be used to soothe the irritation.
Cases of lick granuloma are a serious dog skin condition and are very difficult to treat however it is essential that you work closely with your vet and possible behaviourist to help treat this condition as it is a serious detriment to your dog’s health.

Posted in guest post, pet care, sponsored post | 1 Comment

Scarlett The Cat: From Homeless To A Hero

Posted on March 20, 2012 by Aimee

The story of homeless Scarlett is, probably, one of the most touching, unbelievable and heart-stirring over the last decades. Being homeless, at first, this cat became one of the top-figures in press, both newspapers and TVs: even Oprah Winfrey has talked about her in own talk-show! In 1996 Scarlett saved her five children during the fire and not so long ago, in 2008, she died after a long-term sickness and ensuring consequences of skin burns.
The valor and bravery of Scarlett enslaved hearts of many people, which made her long and winding way to fame worth talking about.
Before the life-changing moment, Scarlett lived in an old Brooklyn garage in New York, taking care of five kittens not older than four weeks. On March 29th 1996 the fateful accident happened and heroic actions of Scarlett alerted an attention of David Gianelli, one of the firemen, who was really astonished by little cat getting back to the fire for five times (Scarlett was able to take only one kid from fire per time). One could only imagine how much pain the cat experienced while getting over the fire! While gathering kittens into the box, David Gianelli watched how Scarlett, with closed puffy eyes, re-counted her children by pushing each with the nose: only after she was sure everyone is save, the cat blacked out.
The interesting thing is that it was not a first time, when David saved poor animals out of a fire: ten years before he has already taken a wounded dog after the fire to the North Shore Animal League, where he was cured. So, this time there was no way Scarlett would not be taken there, where she also received her name after famous female character of “Gone with the wind”. The cat was sent to the intensive care immediately and placed in an oxygen chamber. The animal had badly burnt hair and legs, swollen eyes and ears damaged. Although, it was not the only sad payoff followed after: one of the kittens was completely prostrated and veterinaries could not save him.
Hence, the mother and four children stayed for three months for the recovery and then were ready to seek home (as you may guess after such a touching story and fame received, it is impossible to imagine that these animals would remain homeless).  The kittens were placed in nice families in pairs not far from North Shore Animal League, which continued to take care of Scarlett and her children during all her life. Three of them are alive even today and one has died from cancer in the same 2008.
The fate of Scarlett was determined, when she was taken by Karen Wellen from Brooklyn, who put all her efforts to take care of Scarlett till her death. Here Scarlett experienced the full recovery and had a good lifetime of 10 years. In 2008, Scarlett’s state of health has deteriorated; she suffered kidney failure, the heart noise, lymphoma and other diseases. All in all, Karen had to make a dramatic and hard decision of mercy killing to stop the agony of her pet, which happened on October 2008, when Scarlett peacefully passed in Karen’s arms.
Nowadays no one can deny that Scarlett appears to be the example of true hero, best of cats or any other animal, which sacrificed a lot to save all of her children and even after the accident she had a rough patch to a normal life of the pet. In order to glorify brave actions of this cat, North Shore Animal League has established the Scarlett Award for Animal Heroism, so, it is possible that every year people will be reminded of Scarlett’s noble gesture as a new animal will get the prize.

Posted in guest post, pet stories | 2 Comments

The Great Animal Orchestra

Posted on March 19, 2012 by Aimee

Have you ever wondered about the origins of music? If you love nature, maybe you have noticed that a lot of animals, and other parts of nature like rivers, make sounds that seem musical.
In his recently released book, The Great Animal Orchestra: Finding the Origins of Music in the World’s Wild Places, Bernie Krause explores the sounds of the natural world all over the globe. Bernie is one of the world’s experts in natural sound, and the book is a truly wonderful read. We get to travel along with him as he discovers sounds in our world.
THE GREAT ANIMAL ORCHESTRA also explains Krause’s discoveries in the world of “biophony”. We learn why animals sound as they do, how they have influenced our own music and health, and what is happening to their species as we introduce other noises into their ecosystems. It’s a fascinating read that might just change the way you hear the world around you.
Would you like to take a listen? Click here to hear all kinds of wonderful “music” from the natural world.
About the Author:
During the 1950s and ‘60s, Bernie Krause devoted himself to music and replaced Pete Seeger as the guitarist in the Weavers. After moving to California to audit music courses in electronic music at Mills College in the mid-1960s, he met Paul Beaver and the two of them began performing as Beaver and Krause, putting out five albums of their own and performing sound effects for scores of feature films. After being commissioned to do a series of albums for Warner Brothers in 1968 (the first of which, In a Wild Sanctuary, would be the earliest musical piece to use a long section of wild sound as components of orchestration, and also the first to feature ecology as its theme), Krause made his first attempts at recording wild sound, and the experience changed him forever.