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December-January 2011 Articles
We now have a cat; we call him Waldo.
I have immense respect for the people that work and volunteer at animal shelters. I can not do it. I am even unable to watch the advertisements on TV asking for help to support the shelters. As soon as that first sad looking puppy appears on screen, I mute the sound and look away. The thought of an...
It seemed that my instructor had decided for me who I was to build a relationship with on this particular Saturday in July–Cortez, the mustang. I had signed up for a workshop on relationship building with horses. Although Bob, the instructor, and I worked every Thursday with our own herd of horses, I figured I could gain from joining him...
It has been a while since I wrote about Pink Floyd, my non-releasable raccoon. He's made great strides this past year and I feel he deserves a mention on his progress.
Pink had contracted raccoon Parvo as a baby. Although he survived, it left a weakness to his back legs. At the beginning of this year, he was not able to...
Renal disease, also known as kidney disease, is a common cause of illness in adult iguanas. The clinical signs of renal disease in the iguana may be vague and include a decreased appetite with weight loss and weakness, and at times muscle twitching or toe tremors as result of calcium imbalances. Dogs and cats with...
Today was a strange day. I received two e-mails and read an AOL news story that took me back to a question I’ve pondered for years: Why do we humans view ourselves as superior to the animal kingdom?
The first post was a sweet story about Noah, a one-legged, non-releasable homing pigeon/rock dove...
I saw the phrase “Domestic with Feral Tendencies” years ago on a T-shirt that was for sale online. Having already spent some years doing trap-neuter-return (TNR) of a feral cat colony, I remember finding it humorous. I took it as meaning the wearer was prone to days where he/she might want some extreme personal space...
Over a dozen animal rescue groups and shelters banded together to take in 54 cats and almost 200 dogs on September 17th, after the animals were surrendered by Professional Research & Laboratory Services (PRLS). PRLS, a North Carolina animal research facility, closed its doors after People for the...
When it comes to treating arthritis in our beloved pets, we are not as confined within the standard realm of treatments as many pet owners think. Watching our pets age faster than we do is difficult enough but add to that the pain and stiffness of joints that comes with advanced age and we all begin to search for...
It is a testament to the quality of Pet Tails Magazine and to its ever-growing readership that authors of pet-related books send copies to the magazine for review. In this issue I take a look at three of them.
Those who know me well would say that I am not a very outwardly emotional person so they would be totally...
The majority of rodents (mice, rats, and hamsters) surrendered to local shelters aren’t there because of any fault of their own. Only a very few are surrendered because they weren’t properly trained and they bite. Most shelters don’t want the liability of having biters. Before my dream of a...
The last eight weeks of volunteering at a local barn have been directed by Mother Nature. Four of the eight weeks were rained out, or moved indoors due to soggy riding arena issues. The instructor and barn manager always improvise by taking the opportunity to give grooming, tacking, or horse anatomy lessons.
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Volunteers from the Virginia Beach SPCA provide a very special kind of therapy to residents and patients in hospitals, nursing homes, and assisted living communities. This therapy is all-natural and comes in the form of tails, wet noses, and furry friends.
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