Pet Health Information

Just thought I'd share this tale from the BBC website - thankfully with a happy ending - of Spike the Patterdale terrier who had an intact rubber duck surgically removed - 18 months after swallowing it!

While some of us welcomed the weather at first, and marvelled at our first real nationally-shared winter experience for many years - for many of us the snow has become an inconvenience at best and a hazard at worst.
Some of us though, just want to have fun! Dylan sees no problem with asking for a game of footbal!!

So, the eminent publication New Scientist has got itself embroiled in the dogs v cats debate, on which are smarter. And, at the risk of the wrath of cat people, they put dogs on top, by a whisker.

Its 'Great Pet Showdown' pits cats against dogs looking at brains, shared history, bonding, popularity, understanding, problem solving, vocalisation, tractability, supersenses, ecofriendliness and utility, with dogs just making a late bid on health benefits.
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Whan NOAH made the first pilot showing of the embryonic Pet Health Information website to pet care specialists, veterinary associations and companion animal charities nearly 2 years ago, we chose to do it at the Royal Society headquarters. We were very aware we had chose a place of great history, and evidence of scientific breakthroughs was all around.

Now the Royal Society is celebrating 350 years of discovery, and there's a fascinating slide show - and further background information - on the BBC website< ...

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Watching the X Factor over the weekend has made me very excited about our new Pet Factor competition, which we're launching on here imminenently.

Those of you who've seen our Pet Factor You Tube auditions will have seen our very own Simon Howl making his own acerbic judgements.......but don't let that put you off!

We're really looking forward to stories and even pictures explaining why your pet has the Pet Factor!

It has been a couple of weeks now, and finally I can write this - my handsome old cat Christie has died.

We were not sure of his true age, but judging my what we were told by the rescue home he came from, we think he was around 15 (we had him when he was 8) - and only a month or so back we had been remarking on how well he was looking - summer coat through, gleaming, out and about and eating well.

Then suddenly overnight he seemed to lose weight - not surprisingly, as he stopped eating. Last time this happened it was a tooth infection, and a course of antibiotics ...

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We are busy getting ready for the Ultimate Pet Show in Birmingham next Bank Holiday weekend, which we are going to as part of the National Pet Month team (NOAH is one of the trustees of National Pet Month).

Just got to share a link to the BBC film of some show jumping rabbits, who are training for the talented pets competition at the Show.

Our PHI newsletter la ...

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Some interesting figures came out of the Pet Food Manufacturers Association last week.

Apparently one in three British pets are overweight, yet their owners just can't see it. An alarming 8 out of 10 dog, cat and rabbit owners believed their pet is just the right weight, but when asked which picture most resembled their pet, only 33% dog owners and 23% cat owners chose a picture depicting a pet at normal weight.

Even more interesting - 9 out of 10 owners are not concerned about their pet's weight - and from the third who did think their pet was overweight, 62% of ...

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We have a new addition to the household! A black and white kitten/young cat has joined boxer dog Dylan and black cat Christie as a permanent resident.



Found as a stray by a friend who works on a large estate near us, and after every effort was made to find her owner, we succumbed to the invitation to "just go and see her". In truth, my friend had known we were thinking about getting another cat - she has three herself and knew we were no longer a multi cat household.

One look and that was it, ...

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National Pet Month, the charity of which NOAH is a trustee (along with PFMA and Pet Care Trust) is gearing up to its celebrations from 4 April - 4 May. The NOAH office, from where a lot of the NPM admin is done, is awash with event packs, as we are gradually sending them out to the people who've logged into the National Pet Month website to get involved.

If you haven't already, then have a look at www.nationalpetmonth.org.uk and why not think about holding an event to celebrate life with your pet, to spread the word on responsible pet ownership or raise some money for your favo ...

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