Feature Channels: Pets

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Two University of Arkansas at Little Rock students are in awe over all the support shown for their dog rescue shelter simulation game, whose $16,000 fundraising campaign on Kickstarter was reached in just over 48 hours.“We have been totally blown away by the amount of support that we’ve received for this project,” said Olivia Dunlap, one of the UA Little Rock graduate students who created “To The Rescue.

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The emotive warnings were made because of global reports that its precursor 'Finding Nemo' had inspired a surge in purchases of clown fish, which in turn caused environmental and animal harm. This became known as "the Nemo effect".

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While it might sound like fun to work around pets every day, veterinarians and people who volunteer at animal shelters face particular stressors that can place them at risk for depression, anxiety and even suicide, according to research presented at the annual convention of the American Psychological Association.

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He had walked into the Emergency Department at Henry Ford Hospital to escape the cold and rain on that fateful day in April. His brown coat matted from the rain, he had entered through the automatic sliding door at the walk-in entrance, turned the corner and stepped through the metal detector without setting it off. Standing in front of the towering security desk and unaware of his surroundings, he then tried to get someone’s attention as he only knew how. He began meowing. What happened next will warm your heart.

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Researchers propose standard assessment for certifications

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Abandoning exotic pets is an ethical problem that can lead to biological invasions that threaten conservation of biodiversity in the environment.

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Now, researchers reporting in ACS’ Environmental Science & Technology have associated hyperthyroidism with another class of flame retardants, using silicone pet tags similar to the popular wristbands that many people wear for charitable causes.

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The males of one species of butterfly are more attracted to females that are active, not necessarily what they look like, according to a recent research conducted at Augustana University.The paper, “Behaviour before beauty: Signal weighting during mate selection in the butterfly Papilio polytes,” found that males of the species noticed the activity levels of potential female mates, not their markings.

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Climbing the social ladder is a ruff business for dogs, new research shows.

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Indiana University psychologists who study relationship choice have found that when it comes to picking a canine companion, what people say they want in a dog isn't always in line with what they choose.

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Aggressive behaviour in pet dogs is a serious problem for dog owners across the world, with bite injuries representing a serious risk to both people and other dogs.

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Texas Tech University System officials today (June 17) recognized all who played a part in helping secure funding from the Texas Legislature that will help establish the Texas Tech University School of Veterinary Medicine, a first for the State of Texas in more than a century.

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Scientists since Darwin have been intrigued by the simultaneous alteration of multiple morphological

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Kit Darling, infection control coordinator at the Texas A&M University College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, has some helpful tips for keeping pets safe and calm during road trips, plane rides, and any other type of trip away from home.

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Fleas and ticks are not the only parasites that can cause problems for our dogs, cats, and other pets. Mosquitos are the number one vector of diseases and pathogens worldwide, but preventative medicine can make a big impact in reducing infection.

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After years of planning and months of implementation, the Cornell Veterinary Biobank has achieved international accreditation under a brand new biobanking standard, making it the first biobank — of any type — in the world with such distinction.

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New research at The Ohio State University College of Medicine and The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center identifies dog breeds and physical traits that pose the highest risk of biting with severe injury. Doctors want parents of young children to use this information when deciding which dog to own.

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A team of Swedish and British scientists have studied the heritability of dog ownership using information from 35,035 twin pairs from the Swedish Twin Registry.

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Tick season is here and flea season is soon to follow. These pests don’t just annoy our cats and dogs, but they also serve as vectors that spread a large number of diseases between animals.

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The discovery of a new mutation associated with breathing difficulties in popular dog breeds suggests that shortened skulls causing flat faces is not the only factor that contributes to the condition

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A new study is providing insight into how the pursuit of starch may have driven evolutionary adaptations in mammals. The research, conducted on 46 mammal species, focuses on a biological compound called amylase, which is produced by humans and other animals to break down starch.

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A distinct strain of canine distemper virus, which is a widespread virus of importance to wildlife and domesticated dogs, has been identified in wild animals in New Hampshire and Vermont, according to pathologists with the New Hampshire Veterinary Diagnostic Lab at the University of New Hampshire. No virus in this distinct subgroup of canine distemper virus has yet been reported in a domesticated dog.

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Findings support idea that dogs helping pack members is ancestral tendency, and not due to domestication

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Mary Jo Gilmer studies the impact animals can have on children with life-threatening conditions. She recently received a grant from nonprofit Human Animal Bond Research Institute (HABRI) for a pilot program investigating the health benefits of human-animal interactions (HAIs) in reducing suffering of children with cancer undergoing debilitating treatments.

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A new study has shown that dogs can use their highly evolved sense of smell to pick out blood samples from people with cancer with almost 97 percent accuracy. The results could lead to new cancer-screening approaches that are inexpensive and accurate without being invasive.

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What does cash flow and commercialization have to do with caring for cats or cows? The College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM) believes the answer is, quite simply, everything. CVM has launched the Center for Veterinary Business and Entrepreneurship (CVBE), a new interdisciplinary program intended to spur research, training and outreach in veterinary business to improve animal health care.

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Morristown Medical Center Nursing Research Team Finds Pet Therapy Visits Reduce Anxiety in Hospitalized Children

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Hairlessness in dogs can be the result of deliberate breeding or, in certain breeds, a defect. A recent study completed at the University of Helsinki describes a gene variant in the SGK3 gene, which causes hairlessness in Scottish Deerhounds. The gene defect results in puppies born with thin fur that lose all of their hair in a few weeks. SGK3 is also a candidate for association with non-hormonal baldness in humans.

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Pets help older adults cope with mental and physical health issues, according to a new national poll. But pets can also bring concerns, and some people may even put their animals’ needs ahead of their own health, the poll finds. Three-quarters of pet owners aged 50 to 80 say their animals reduce their stress and give them a sense of purpose.

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Although cane toads are more abundant in the spring and summer months, when there’s more rainfall, they can be found just about any time of the year in South Florida, said Steve Johnson, an associate professor of wildlife ecology and conservation at the UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences.

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An animal health company is contributing historical clinical data about cats and dogs through a first-of-its-kind data sharing agreement. Information may help "big data" researchers rapidly develop and test therapeutics, drugs and medical technologies for people and companion animals.

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A young dog imported from South Korea into western Canada last October brought along a dangerous hitchhiker: the Asia-1 strain of canine distemper virus (CDV), which until then had not been reported in North America.

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For National Puppy Day on Saturday, March 23, dog lovers may be considering adding a new puppy to the family. Before you bring home a new companion, make sure you are prepared for everything that comes with owning a puppy.

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As states around the country move to stiffen punishments for animal cruelty, Michigan State University researchers have found a correlation between the types of animal abuse committed and the perpetrator's relationship to an animal and its owner.

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Between 2004 and 2017, dog-walking-related fractures in people 65-or-older more than doubled

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Bandages infused with electricity can help heal wounds faster than typical bandages or antibiotics—but for years, researchers have not really understood why. A recent study by a team at The Ohio State University is offering new clues about the science behind those bandages, and researchers say the findings could help lead to better wound treatment.

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New research by scientists at the University of Nottingham suggests that environmental contaminants found in the home and diet have the same adverse effects on male fertility in both humans and in domestic dogs.

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Veterinarians and agricultural inspectors who seek to detect and contain the spread of animal diseases can now turn to a newer, faster and less expensive biological detection system.

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Dogs, like people, have moods and personality traits that shape how they react in certain situations. New findings from Michigan State University went where few researchers have gone before to reveal that, also like humans, dogs’ personalities likely change over time.

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Coinciding with the Pit Grave culture (4200-3600 years before our era), coming from Southern Europe, the Neolithic communities of the north-eastern Iberian Peninsula started a ceremonial activity related to the sacrifice and burial of dogs.

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The emergence of exotic diseases such as Ebola and SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) in people has prompted intensive research into new drug treatments, and this is indirectly bringing benefit to cats.

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Researchers in the Hannes Lohi research group in the University of Helsinki focused on two forms of canine fearfulness: noise sensitivity and general fearfulness. The latter encompasses the fear of unfamiliar humans and new situations. Among Finnish dogs, noise sensitivity has been observed in as much as 40% of the population, while, according to estimates, one in four dogs suffers from fearfulness.

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The increase in opioid prescriptions for people over the past decade may have been paralleled by an increase in opioid prescriptions for pets, according to a study from researchers at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine and the School of Veterinary Medicine. The findings, in this first-ever study of veterinary opioid prescriptions, suggest that there is also an increased demand for veterinary opioids, driven by complex procedures performed in veterinary medicine, as well as a heightened awareness of the importance of pain management. Given that opioid prescribing in veterinary medicine is not as heavily regulated as medical prescriptions for humans, it is possible that misused veterinary prescriptions could contribute to the ongoing opioid epidemic. The results are published today in JAMA Network Open.

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New research from the University of Liverpool and Mars Petcare's WALTHAM Centre for Pet Nutrition reveals overweight dogs are more likely to have shorter lives than those at ideal body weights.

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Therapy dogs provide comfort and affection to people in a variety of settings, from hospitals and nursing homes to airports and disaster sites. They are not service animals or emotional support animals, which serve one specific person. Therapy dogs interact with lots of different – and usually unfamiliar – people.