Sago Palm Plant Kills Puppy

This sad headline is from an article on the ASPCA site, published by the the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center, to alert pet owners about the dangers of a common household plant. To read the full article, and to learn more about other household toxins, go to the following link: http://www.aspca.org/news/national/03-20-09.html#1

Photo of Sago Palm, from ASPCA article

Mother Dachshund Adopts Newborn Piglet

This story is so neat that I have to share it with my friends. A premature piglet was given to a loving, dachshund mother, who was more than happy to raise him as her own. The pictures of this remarkable family have made the internet rounds, but I wanted to trace them back to their source. What I found came primarily from two web sites:
1) http://dailydachshund.blogspot.com/ and
2) http://puppyintraining.com/.

~

Both pictures featured here are from http://puppyintraining.com/dachshund-acts-as-mom-to-baby-piglet

~

~

~

~

~

The owner of the dachshund Tink, her pups, and the newborn pig Pink said,


"I live on a farm where we raise pigs for our kids for their 4-H projects. The one sow delivered 12 pigs and several were very small. Pink was the smallest and he was born with his eyes sealed shut. That is the first time I've had a preemie piglet. He was breathing well and was making noises, but I really didn't look for him to make it. Piglets are born with their eyes open and are very active and ready to nurse within a few minutes. He didn't have any suck reflex, so we placed him under the heat lamp. After the delivery, which took up most of the night, my husband tried to get him to nurse from his mommy. He was too weak to stand up, so he held him up and squeezed some milk down his throat to get him some colostrum.

Two of my dachshunds had had puppies a few days before. Tink had only one puppy (the other was stillborn) and Sammi had 7 a few days before Tink. I had taken 2 of Sammi's puppies and put with Tink for her to foster. I got the idea to bring the piglet up to the house to see if Tink would nurse him since she accepted the other puppies so well. She is a very loving, sweet dog. She immediately loved on him and began licking him and let him nurse." [Owner's e-mail to the Daily Doxie (http://dailydachshund.blogspot.com/)]

~

The complete story, with many pictures, can be found at the following locations. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

~

http://puppyintraining.com/dachshund-acts-as-mom-to-baby-piglet/

~

http://dailydachshund.blogspot.com/2008/02/new-photos-of-dachshund-and-piglet-not.html

~

http://dailydachshund.blogspot.com/2008/03/new-photos-piglet-and-dachshund-at-six.html

~

Canine Cancer Conference

Here's something that might interest some of the humans out there.......

Title: Genes, Dogs & Cancer: 5th International Canine Cancer Conference

Date: Feb. 13-15, 2009

Location: Royal Plaza, In the Walt Disney World Resort, 1905 Hotel Plaza Boulevard, Orlando, Florida, USA 32830


Species: Canine, Exotics, Feline, Lagomorph, Rodent, Zoo


OrganizersAmerican Kennel Club - Canine Health Foundation (AKC-CHF),

Contact: Erika Werne

Contact Address: AKC Canine Health Foundation, 8051 Arco Corporate Drive, Suite 300, Raleigh, NC 27617-3901, USA

Phone(919) 334-4010

Fax(919) 334-4011


For more information and to register, go to http://www.akcchf.org/

For hotel registration, go to http://reservations.ihotelier.com/crs/g_reservation.cfm?groupID=224671&hotelID=2070

I am the Official Mascot of VEFM

I want to announce that I have been promoted to the enviable position of Official VEFM Mascot. You might wonder, "What is VEFM?" I am proud to tell you that it is the brain-child of my veterinarian human, Dr. Lucy Schroth, who previously wanted to stay anonymous in my blog, because she wanted me to get the spotlight. However, I convinced her that VEFM's goals are so important to pet owners that she really needed me to tell as many dogs and cats (and their humans) about it. VEFM stands for Veterinary Emergency Funding Mission. My two human partners, Dr. Lucy and her husband Don Schroth (an ordained minister) are establishing this organization to assist financially strapped owners whose pet is faced with a serious emergency. It is taking a long time to get all the paperwork in Massachusetts completed, so they have not yet been able to do an all-out fund-raising drive. I am trying to do my part (now that I'm "official") in telling everyone I know to find some person or company who might be interested in being a VEFM benefactor. What VEFM really needs is a large donation, that can be set aside as an endowment, so that the interest can be what is used to help these pet owners. The web site is http://www.vefm.org/ and the blog is http://vefm.blogspot.com/. The need is so great. I wish I could do more......WOOF !

I Like Joe Biden's Taste

Regardless of whatever opinion I may have had previously about Vice-President-to-be Joe Biden, it has just gone up 500% by his choice of canine companions. He has just picked out a German shepherd puppy. See the full story and more pictures in Delaware OnLine: http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008812120346