Be Careful Feeding Your Dog Jerky Treats

I saw in the news today that Federal animal health officials are warning that Chinese made jerky dog treats (sweet potato, dried fruit, duck, and chicken flavors) are causing illness and pet death.

Here is a screen capture of the FDA’s website:
fdawebsite

The story I read in TIME cites that over 3,600 dogs and 10 cats have become ill, while 600 pets have died after eating these jerky treats. After running many tests it is still unclear what is making pets sick. There was a different incident last January when a couple well known brands of chicken jerky treats were removed from shelves voluntarily over a scare they contained unapproved antibiotics.

Please, if you feed your dog or cat jerky treats check where they were made (for those you have in your home now and before buying any at the store). It is always better to feed your pets as naturally as possible, and to know what kind of quality control the brands you use have in place for food safety. Given the multiple scares, it is probably better to not feed your pets this kind of jerky treat.

If your pet has become ill from eating jerky treats please take your dog to the vet and contact the Food and Drug Administration. The FDA lists a few things you can look out for in your pet should they consume bad jerky treats: decreased appetite, decreased activity, vomiting, diarrhea, increased water consumption, and/or increased urination. Some cases involve animals with other symptoms including convulsion, collapse, or skin problems. If you suspect that jerky treats made your pet ill the FDA may want any leftover treats, or the packaging itself, for testing.

You can read the story in TIME or there is a lot of good information on the FDA’s website.

Puppy Bowl 2012

As the “Big Game” approaches this Sunday, so does the annual Animal Planet Puppy Bowl! I am far more excited to see the puppies than watch football this year.

This is the 8th consecutive year for the show. If you have never seen a Puppy Bowl before, it features a bunch of puppies playing on a fake football field, sort of playing “football” but really they are just playing. There is a Ref to moderate the puppies, giving penalties for bad behavior and fighting. This year they will have more puppies than last year, a new ref, and pigs on the sidelines!

The PB will air on Animal Planet this Sunday, February 5th, starting at 3pm.

Here is a sample of the puppies in the starting line up:

1. Abilene – Female Australian Shepherd Mix

2. Brandy – Female Pit Bull/Collie Mix

3. Eurika – Female Chihuahua/Terrier Mix

4. Fonzi – Male Rat Terrier

5. Friday – Male Maltese/Poodle Mix

6. Gracie – Female Chihuahua/Dachshund Mix

7. Hunter – Male Boxer

8. Leroy Brown – Male Chihuahua/Terrier Mix

You can see the whole starting line up, videos, photos, and learn more about Puppy Bowl at animal.discovery.com.

Want to see a video about what is new this year?

An Ad to remind you to watch:

Coming Out Now: Marley & Me The Puppy Years

After previews long since appeared on dvds for a movie featuring Marley, from Marley and Me, while still a puppy the movie is finally coming out this week. The movie will be in stores as of 1/3/2012.

It was known previously under the names Marley and Me the Terrible 2s, and was supposed to come out last year.

Here is the preview:

Best Buy’s ad for the week features a picture of the bluray of the movie with a price of $7.99. The website has pre-orders for the dvd for $4.99, and a two disk edition for $9.99. Pre-order them, or order them tomorrow, on bestbuy.com.

Walmart is selling the DVD on its website for $13.99, for an exclusive widescreen version. See it here.

Happy New Year!

I hope that everyone has a very Happy New Year!

There have been lists of some of the best animal photos of 2011 going around the internet, and I pulled a few cute examples from those lists to share with you.

1. Baby Pandas napping at a Giant Panda breeding center in China

photo from BuzzFeed

2. New born female Asiatic Elephant

photo from Joe Klamar

3. One month old Jaguar cub in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Photo from BuzzFeed

4. Dogs Surfing

Photo from Cindy Yamanaka, seen here

5. Baby Dolphin

Reuters / ANDRES STAPFF – seen here

6. Baby Pygmy Hippo

Image from here

7. Mini Horse Einstein playing with giant ball

Picture from EZineMark

8. Baby Red Pandas at Tierpark Zoo in Berlin, Germany

Sean Gallup/Getty Images – seen here

9. Baby Ferret

Photo from Cuteoverload

10. Clouded Leopard cub, 2 months old, at Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium’s

photo from zooborns

11. Baby Penguin at the Cincinnati Zoo

Photo from: AP, seen here.

12. Penguins running while being released back to the ocean after oil spill

Photo from: AFP / Getty, seen here.

13. Pika

Photo: Kurt Bowman/Rex Features, from here.

14. Fox Cubs

Photo from: Lise De Serres / Solent