“Pets displaced by floods overwhelm Nashville-area ... - Memphis Commercial Appeal” plus 3 more

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• Pets displaced by floods overwhelm Nashville-area ... - Memphis Commercial Appeal
• Obesity epidemic also infects pets - Mankato Free Press
• Salons Donate Hair to Oil Spill Cleanup - WIBC.com
• Katy Perry Buys Cat With Russell Brand! - Showbizspy.com

Pets displaced by floods overwhelm Nashville-area ... - Memphis Commercial Appeal Posted: 16 May 2010 12:43 PM PDT NASHVILLE — NASHVILLE -- Animal shelters across Middle Tennessee say they are being overrun by animals displaced by the floods. The Tennessean newspaper reports people have been finding animals in basements, attics, ventilation shafts, vehicles, bushes and on the streets. Some have microchips and collars but the phone numbers listed for them are temporarily out of service. Shelter directors say they're running out of space and there aren't enough foster families to go around. At the Nashville Humane Association, that has meant the agency stopped accepting strays and lost pets last week. Instead, it is reserving its space for the temporary boarding of pets from families displaced by the floods. Meanwhile, Metro Animal Care and Control is letting animals stay two weeks or even indefinitely if they have a collar or microchip. By law, the agency is required to keep dogs and cats only for three business days before they can be evaluated for adoption or euthanized. The agency also is waiving boarding and impounding fees. "The goal is not to have any more suffering," Judy Ladebauche, director of Metro Animal Care and Control, said. "It may be that the only thing they have left is their pet." At the Happy Tales Humane Society in Franklin, dogs are being accepted although the shelter is normally only open to cats. Last week, the agency had more than a dozen dogs, most brought in by their owners for temporary boarding. That includes a Bellevue woman whose home was damaged and who now stops by Happy Tales several times a week to visit her two dogs. She usually leaves with tears in her eyes, Happy Tales Director Kat Hitchcock said. "The fact that we have her dogs -- her babies -- just meant so much to her," she said. Outside of shelters, many individual animal lovers have taken in animals, some more than one. Websites like Facebook and Craigslist are full of calls for people who can foster an animal and many e-mails are circulating with similar requests. Nashville Cat Rescue has about 20 foster homes in its network, and each homeowner has taken in about a half-dozen cats in the last week or so, co-founder Megan Brodbine Williams said. "The problem at this point is there's just not enough room," she said. Five Filters featured article: The Art of Looking Prime Ministerial - The 2010 UK General Election. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Obesity epidemic also infects pets - Mankato Free Press Posted: 16 May 2010 08:56 PM PDT May 16, 2010 Obesity epidemic also infects pets Too many treats, not enough exercise The Associated Press LOS ANGELES — The popularity of cats and dogs isn't the only thing that has grown in the last 20 years. So have their bellies. Some veterinarians say Americans are feeding their pets to death without even knowing it. Treats take the brunt of the blame, said North Carolina veterinarian Ernie Ward, author of a book released earlier this year called "Chow Hounds" and founder of the Association of Pet Obesity Prevention. He calls treats "kibble crack" and "calorie grenades." "We confuse food with love. In the dog world, what they want most is interaction and affection. It's not a cry for food, it's a cry for attention," he said. The most egregious offense may be the "guilt treat" — those dropped by the handful when pets have to be left alone, said Marion Nestle, a nutritionist, New York University professor and author of the 2006 book for humans called "What to Eat." Her book with Cornell animal nutrition expert Malden C. Nesheim, "Feed Your Pet Right," is due in bookstores this month. Experts agree people and pets are fighting the battle of the bulge for all the same reasons — too many calories and carbohydrates and too little exercise. The Association of Pet Obesity Prevention represents 400 clinics, or about 1,000 veterinarians. When polled last year, those vets said 45 percent of the dogs in their care and 57 percent of the cats were overweight or obese, defined as 30 percent above ideal weight. The size of the country's cats and dogs hasn't gone unnoticed. About eight years ago, Guinness World Records eliminated its fattest cat and fattest dog categories because of the health hazards, spokesman Stuart Claxton said. There are diet pet foods galore, gyms, personal trainers, masseuses, TV fitness shows, and now, even a reality show — Purina has just completed an online "Biggest Loser" for dogs. The recently completed canine version, called "Project Pet Slim Down," was run by veterinarian Grace Long, director of veterinary technical marketing for Nestle Purina PetCare. Webisodes will be available online this summer. One of the show's biggest successes was Courtney and her owner, Michael Shaun Corby of Los Angeles. Courtney, an 8-year-old Shih Tzu, "was starting to seem weak and tired all the time. I hoped to get a healthier, happier dog. And besides she didn't look as good in her fat clothes," Corby said. The dog started the program weighing 19 pounds and shed 20 percent of her body weight. Since the project ended, Courtney has continued to lose. "Courtney is like a teenager again. She is happy — really happy — and I didn't notice she wasn't happy until I saw her this new 'skinny self,"' he said. Getting Courtney her svelte figure became a team project with friends, family and houseguests. "It shocked me that she only needed half a cup of food a day. I had been giving her two cups each meal," he said. He posted signs all over the house telling others not to feed her. "Some friends had been known to give her chips and pizza," he said. Pet owners can overfeed their animals by as much as 25 percent a day, Ward said. "It seems so innocent. You overfeed and you don't even know it," he said. As a result, "we're raising the first generation of dogs that likely won't live as long as their parents," Ward said. "A cat's sagging stomach is a deadly ball and chain and a dog's thick midsection is a hormone bomb factory waiting to explode." There is no law requiring calorie counts on dog food, Ward said. Purina is one of those companies that does it voluntarily. Some labels, especially those on treats, require a calculator and a scale to understand, Nestle said. As a last resort for dogs (no cats allowed), there is the fat farm. At K9s Only in Los Angeles, you can rent your dog time on a treadmill or sign it up for swimming lessons. Twenty minutes in the pool can be like a three-mile hike and save stress on an overweight dog's knees, co-owner Kelly Dorafshar said. It doesn't come cheap: At K9s Only, which also provides daycare, training, massage and grooming, 30 minutes on the treadmill rents for $25. Buffing up Fido or Fluffy will help the animal live longer so you have more time together, your vet bills will be lower and the dog will be healthier, happier and experience less pain from diseases like arthritis, the veterinarians said. Slimming them down will also help you slim down, Ward said. "This works on both ends of the leash." Five Filters featured article: The Art of Looking Prime Ministerial - The 2010 UK General Election. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Salons Donate Hair to Oil Spill Cleanup - WIBC.com Posted: 16 May 2010 04:32 PM PDT Indiana hair salons are collecting clippings from clients and their pets in an effort to help clean up oil that has spewed into the Gulf of Mexico since a BP pipeline exploded last month. Salon employees in Mishawaka, Bloomington and Fort Wayne say they were inspired to help by news coverage of the spill and a YouTube clip of San Francisco-based environmental charity Matter of Trust, which shows how hair can be woven into mats or stuffed into pantyhose to create booms. "Your hair attracts oil. That's why it gets dirty," said Erika Rogers, creative supervisor and director of marketing at Hair Arts Academy in Bloomington. "It collects oil, so it can be used in the oil spill in the Gulf." Matter of Trust has been collecting hair for about a decade to create booms and mats made of hair to deal with oil spills. Donated hair must be clean and can't contain any garbage. Kim Vergon, store manager at Sport Clips Haircuts in Mishawaka, said her salon collected nearly four pounds of hair in less than three days and will continue to do so. "Rather than throw it in the trash, we will have a separate bag we will collect it in every day," Vergon said. Sport Clips Haircuts owner Mark Witbeck said he initially thought the idea was a hoax until he saw the Matter of Trust clip on YouTube. "It looked like a shoestring operation," he said. "These guys are doing it because they want to not because they are making a living at it." Melanie Graves, who owns a Bloomington hair salon, said she thought of Matter of Trust's work after brushing her dog and accumulating a giant pile of hair. "I said, 'Bingo, I'm doing it,'" she said. She also owns a dog grooming facility and plans to collect hair from that site as well. "You can accumulate so much more from dogs when you buzz them off in the summers," Graves said. But Bob Wiard, co-owner of Joy's Poodle Grooming in Fort Wayne, questions whether the large garbage bag full of animal fur his business generates every day or two would be useful. "It would be all mixed with fleas and dirt," said Wiard, who throws clippings in the trash. "If they want it, I'd be tickled pink for them to take it," he said of Matter of Trust. Jessica Schoolcraft, a student at Empire Beauty School in Indianapolis, said she decided to get her hair cut after she learned the school would send it to Matter of Trust, which it had worked with in the past. "I'm very passionate about the environment and the green movement and helping in any way I can," she said. Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Five Filters featured article: The Art of Looking Prime Ministerial - The 2010 UK General Election. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

Katy Perry Buys Cat With Russell Brand! - Showbizspy.com Posted: 10 May 2010 10:48 AM PDT Monday May 10, 2010 KATY Perry and Russell Brand have bought a cat together! The animal-loving couple already have two feline pets between them but have added a third to their menagerie, who they have called Krusty, an amalgamation of the I Kissed a Girl star's first name and the comic's nickname Rusty. Alongside a picture of the kitten, Katy posted on Twitter, "rustyrockets and I would like to announce the birth of our 3rd child, KRUSTY! Not the chachka, the kitten PROUD (sic)" It was recently claimed that Russell had sought out a therapist to treat his cat, Morrissey, after the animal started behaving strangely. "Morrissey keeps weeing all over the house and scratching everything," a source said. "He's gone bonkers." The Get Him To The Greek star was left amused when the animal behaviour specialist told him his pet was acting out of character because he was jealous of his relationship with Katy, whose own cat is called Kitty Purry. "He thought it hilarious," the source said. "Only he could have a cat fighting for his attention." Tags: katy perry, russell brand Five Filters featured article: The Art of Looking Prime Ministerial - The 2010 UK General Election. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

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