KSCO Pet Radio

21/11/2022

The main goal of animal shelters is reunification between pets and their owners. Year-to-date, Tracy Animal Services has impounded 455 stray dogs and returned 218 to their owners within the City of Tracy! That is a 47.9% return rate – this number is absolutely phenomenal compared to the national average of 22%.

Multiple studies conducted by Best Friends Animal Society and Maddie’s Fund have shown that on average, lost dogs are only two-to-three blocks from their homes and are generally returned to their owners within the first 24 hours.

This is why it is imperative to keep a lost pet in the area it was found. The best thing you can do for that pet is hold on to them for 24-48 hours, snap a picture and get to posting to all the lost and found pages on social media, and contact the animal shelter to complete a found report. Let’s keep getting these precious pets home!

26/01/2022

Have a dog. Sign up

Can you help us recruit some very good doggos?

Our data scientists have been busy crunching numbers and analyzing data in order to determine if we are meeting key scientific targets. Do we have enough dogs in the Pack in all age groups? In all sizes? From all parts of the country?

The short answer is: We’re close but not quite there yet❗️

We are still recruiting dogs of all ages, all breeds, all sizes, all across the United States (one per household)... but we would especially love to meet more dogs in these areas:
🐶 Puppies and young dogs, up to age 3
🐕 Large dogs, both purebred and mix breed
🐾 Dogs from certain geographic regions

Help spread the word! Have a friend in one of the purple areas on the map? Does your dog play with a big dog? Know someone with puppies?
➔ Post about the Dog Aging Project on your social media with a link to dogagingproject.org.
➔ Share our posts on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram
➔ Join the Dog Aging Pack if you haven’t already!

13/01/2022

Veterinarians say cat behavior is shaped by human behavior, and many of them believe cats perceive humans as either resources or threats depending on the circumstances, rather than bigger cats. The science of cat cognition is emerging and many questions remain unanswered, such as whether cats can read humans' facial expressions, but cats do appear to respond to human gestures and may detect emotions through subtle changes in scent, and their behavior offers clues to what they think of us.

Pet experts reveal the science behind cat thinking and behavior, shedding light on human-feline relationships.

13/01/2022

Employees with the Wisconsin Fish, Wildlife and Parks Division who hunt deer are submitting samples from deer they kill to be tested for SARS-CoV-2 as part of a multistate, multiyear study led by the USDA's Wildlife Services unit.

Samples from hunter-killed deer in Wisconsin are being collected as part of a national study of the COVID-19 virus in whitetails.

13/01/2022

Felines are susceptible to SARS-CoV-2, and big cats such as tigers and leopards appear to be more susceptible than domestic cats, says veterinarian Karen Terio, chief of the University of Illinois' Zoological Pathology Program. Cats get infected with SARS-CoV-2 through exposure to people carrying the virus, so cat owners who have COVID-19 should ask an uninfected person to help with pet care, and anyone whose pet cat falls ill after being around someone with COVID-19 should contact a veterinarian, Dr. Terio says.

Last week, an Illinois zoo lost a snow leopard to COVID-19. With big cats carrying and now dying from COVID-19, is there a chance your house cat could catch the virus? Lisa Dent talked to Dr. Karen…

13/01/2022

The Bakersfield, Calif., Animal Care Center has been forced to euthanize 100 dogs over the past two months due to a distemper outbreak, and the shelter is at full capacity and has temporarily stopped accepting more dogs until the outbreak is curbed. Veterinarian Sandra Newbury, director of the Shelter Medicine Program at the University of Wisconsin, is working with the shelter on a distemper response plan and recommended the temporary closure, officials said.

Officials from CBACC said over the past two months since the outbreak started, they have had to euthanize 100 dogs so far. 17’s Marco Torres has the full story.

13/01/2022

Vomiting, bleeding, sneezing and seizures are obvious signs a cat may be ill and in need of veterinary care, says veterinarian Jen Stachnik. Less obvious signs of serious illness include unexplained weight loss, excessive thirst, reclusiveness, a lack of grooming, discolored gums and a fast respiratory rate, Dr. Stachnik says.

Dr. Jen Stachnik’s topic today is how to tell if your cat is not feeling well.

13/01/2022

A 16-year-old male and a 7-year-old female Malayan tiger at ZooTampa that had signs of mild respiratory illness tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, and veterinarian Cynthia Stringfield, the zoo's senior vice president of animal health, says tests are underway to identify the virus variant. The tigers are receiving veterinary care, and the zoo's orangutans are being tested "out of an abundance of caution," zoo officials say.

Two Malayan tigers at ZooTampa at Lowry Park have tested positive for COVID-19, the Florida zoo announced.

13/01/2022

(Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Forty-one states as well as universities including Cornell, Penn State and Ohio State are participating in a USDA study to determine the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in wild deer. Evidence of the virus was found in a significant proportion of deer samples analyzed, and researchers are also trying to figure out whether deer are getting infected through an intermediate host, by drinking contaminated wastewater, eating plants on which infected people have spat or some other route.

While there’s no evidence yet of deer to human transmission, it’s possible. And that could complicate the path out of the pandemic.

13/01/2022

Something to be aware of

Bearded dragons have been linked to a Salmonella outbreak in 25 U.S. states, the CDC warned this week. Here’s what pet owners should know.

10/01/2022

The American Association of Bovine Practitioners' Committee on Pharmaceutical and Biological Issues has developed new guidelines and recommendations for vaccinating cattle. The guidance is easy to follow, thorough and based on scientific research, committee chair and veterinarian Justin Kieffer says.

The American Association of Bovine Practitioners (AABP) recently released a first-of-its-kind document on cattle vaccine guidelines.

10/01/2022

H5N1 avian influenza killed 360 birds at an exhibition farm in Newfoundland and Labrador, the remaining 59 birds were culled, and the farm is under quarantine. H5N1 avian influenza has caused severe illness and deaths in humans, and while there are no known human infections in the province, University of Montreal professor Carl Gagnon says the strain is highly pathogenic and has been reported recently in more than 40 countries, so bird owners should take steps to ensure their flocks don't come in contact with wild birds.

A St. John's exhibition farm is under quarantine after being hit hard by a type of avian influenza that is deadly for birds, and has been known to harm humans.

10/01/2022

Two different research teams published papers in the same issue of Current Biology on their studies capturing and analyzing environmental DNA, and their methods could change the field of environmental monitoring and surveillance, especially in places with limited access. Research teams extracted DNA from indoor and outdoor air at zoos in the UK and Denmark, and they matched DNA not only to the zoos' inhabitants, including fish in ponds, but also to the animals' food as well as nonresident songbirds, ducks, squirrels and even an endangered hedgehog.

A pair of new studies that gathered DNA from the air in zoos shows that animals shed a remarkable amount of genetic material.

08/01/2022

Zoos and aquariums have evolved from mere entertainment venues to scientific education and species conservation organizations concerned not only with the health but also with the welfare of animals in their care, writes Michael Renner, director of Drake University's zoo and conservation science program. Zoos and aquariums must demonstrate sound business operations and significant work in research, education and conservation, and they must provide a high quality of life for animals under human care to obtain accreditation by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, Renner writes.

A fundamental change in how North American zoos and aquariums are accredited supports their animal conservation and species survival work.

08/01/2022

Health authorities in the UK say a resident of southwestern England is infected with an avian influenza of type H5, though the exact strain has not been confirmed. The person had "very close, regular contact with a large number of infected birds, which they kept in and around their home over a prolonged period of time," health officials said, and UK Health Security Agency Chief Scientific Officer Isabel Oliver says there is no evidence the strain of avian influenza circulating in the region can be transmitted between people.
https://www.bbc.com/news/health-59896821

Experts say there is no evidence of onward spread and the risk to the public is very low.

08/01/2022

A 7-year-old sea lion whose seizures had grown increasingly frequent and severe has been seizure-free since October 2020, when healthy cells from pig embryos were transplanted to his hippocampus, says neuroscientist Scott Baraban, who led the experimental effort. The sea lion was stranded in 2017 and found to have brain damage likely caused by exposure to domoic acid, and the cell transplant, which had shown promise in mouse studies, will be used in other captive sea lions with domoic acid damage and might eventually be tested for treatment of some people with epilepsy.

The transplant in an animal named Cronutt points toward a new strategy to treat the disease. But many questions remain.

08/01/2022

Five people in the US died of rabies last year, four after contact with bats and one after contact with a rabid dog in the Philippines. Post-exposure preventive treatment is nearly 100% effective if administered before signs of illness appear, and veterinarian Ryan Wallace said three victims whose cases Dr. Wallace and colleagues described in a CDC paper "either trivialized the exposure (to bats) or they didn't recognize the severity of rabies."

Five people died from rabies in the United States last year, including three in just a 6-week span from Sept. 28 to Nov. 10 — a “sobering reminder,” one expert said, of the risk still posed by one of the world’s deadliest diseases.The five deaths from rabies came after none w...

07/01/2022

Testing at the National Veterinary Services Laboratories confirmed brucellosis in samples taken in December from a cow in a Madison County, Mont., herd in the Designated Surveillance Area. Tests on the same animal a year earlier were negative, an investigation to find the source is underway, and the ranch has been quarantined.

The Montana Department of Livestock announced on Wednesday that an animal in a Madison County cattle herd, within Montana's brucellosis Designated Surveillance Area, has been confirmed positive for brucellosis.

07/01/2022

European hedgehogs carried specific lineages of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in the 1800s, long before modern antibiotics were developed, and although it is relatively rare, the bacteria spread to livestock and humans, according to a study in Nature. The MRSA strains studied were found on cattle and believed to have evolved resistance due to overuse of antibiotics, and although the hedgehog-specific MRSA doesn't pose a significant risk to people, experts advise washing hands after handling a hedgehog and continuing to use antibiotics judiciously.

The researchers say we shouldn't fear hedgehogs.

07/01/2022

The strain of highly pathogenic avian influenza circulating in birds in Asia and Europe is heavily mutated and has zoonotic potential, says veterinarian Monique Eloit, director general of the World Organization for Animal Health. Most countries have effective containment strategies, but "the risk is that it mutates or that it mixes with a human flu virus that can be transmitted between humans then suddenly it takes on a new dimension," Dr. Eloit said.

A wave of bird flu in Asia and Europe has a greater risk of spreading to humans because of a high number of variants, the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) said.

06/01/2022

We’re sharing our ultimate guide for pet birds this National Bird Day! Read on to learn how you can keep feathered friends healthy and happily chirping: maf.link/BirdGuide

05/01/2022

Veterinarian Kelsey Stocks and other volunteers in Boulder County, Colo., are looking for missing animals that may have survived both a wildfire that destroyed homes and sub-freezing temperatures. Microchips have helped volunteers reunite lost pets with their owners, and rescue groups are asking residents with doorbell cameras to keep the cameras on and look for stray animals.
https://denver.cbslocal.com/2022/01/03/boulder-county-pets-fire-nonprofit/

Amid the Marshall Fire, hundreds are posting online they have pets missing, and many people in the community are doing what they can to help reunite the pets with their owners.

05/01/2022

A harbor seal named Bristol is back with the other seals in her habitat at Mystic Aquarium after undergoing a hysterectomy due to a life-threatening infection. The 8-year-old seal, who was brought to the aquarium in 2013 when she was found stranded in Maine, was eating and behaving normally, and a routine test revealed the infection, says senior veterinarian Molly Martony.

Bristol, who has lived at the Mystic Aquarium for nearly her whole life, was reunited with the other seals Tuesday after undergoing surgery for an infected uterus. Her recuperation was positively affected by the bonds she has made with aquarium trainers and doctors.

05/01/2022

Owners of poultry, no matter how small the flock, should familiarize themselves with recommended measures to prevent avian influenza, starting with the USDA's Defend the Flock Resource Center, says Maine Assistant State Veterinarian Carolyn Hurwitz. Veterinarian Anne Lichtenwalner says migrating birds can transmit avian influenza to and from unprotected poultry, causing mandated culls and severe economic damage if it spreads to commercial flocks, and the virus has infected birds recently in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.

Maine has the potential to be the next hotspot for this avian influenza if certain preventative measures are not taken immediately.

05/01/2022

A clinical speech pathologist and lactation specialists at Children's Hospital in New Orleans are working with veterinary professionals at Audubon Zoo to help a newborn Sumatran orangutan that appears to have a weak suckling response and low body weight. The hospital's lab is also testing the infant's blood for signs of central hypothyroidism, and the zoo's Senior Veterinarian Bob MacLean says a veterinary advisor with the Species Survival Plan is helping the zoo develop a treatment plan.

Officials were concerned about the infant's body temperature and weight, so they intervened to bottle-feed the infant until it can safely be reunited with his mom.