Puppy Bowl, Puppy Bowl, Puppy Bowl

Yesterday, Tom and I met with Jason Merrihew from the AAHA. How many of you know what the AAHA is? Not many, I think. I didn't really know what they were, or who they were, until our visit to the NAVC, last month. We stopped by their booth and learned that they're the American Animal Hospital Association. They exist to accredit animal hospitals for veterinary excellence. Jason told us that there are 900 standards each accredited hospital has to pass to earn AAHA accreditation.

This year, interestingly, AAHA has partnered with Animal Planet on sponsoring the Puppy Bowl. How kewl is that? Really now...when it comes to "bowls" on TV, this one has to take the highest marks. Puppies in a contest...running around chasing each other...just being...puppies!

I know where my TV is going to be turned, tomorrow: to Animal Planet at 3pm e/p. (there's a Game Day Pet Photo Contest, too! W00t!)

The Grumpy Old Lady Speaks Out

We've taken to calling our Wabby, the 17 year old resident kitty, The Grumpy Old Lady - just look at her picture and tell me she doesn't look like she not only got up on the wrong side of the bed, but that she doesn't even know where the right side of the bed is!

Anyway, she's become extremely vocal, of late. I don't know if it's because of the move, or just that she's a bit senile. In human years we figure she's well into her 90s, and I've heard that dogs and cats have their own form of senility, as they age. So, every morning around 5 a.m. the Wabby drags herself off of the bed (where she positions herself just so - just so Tom and I can't move our feet anywhere without kicking her), and makes her way downstairs.

The Indoor Cat Initiative

In my last post over at Scratchings and Sniffings, we discussed the "Sensitive Cat Syndrome".

I attended a lecture given by Dr. Tony Buffington on this subject last week at the North American Veterinary Conference in Orlando. Florida. Needless to say this lecture had a big impact on me and got me thinking about cats in a different way. I guess you could say I've been thinking like a cat lately and for a dog person at heart I have an entirely new perspective. now.

I've always been an advocate of keeping cats indoors. I never thought though, how much of an impact a cat's environment can have on their health. I'm now a convert to the notion of Feline Enrichment. Before I went to the lecture of the same title last week I'm not sure I could have told you exactly what feline enrichment is all about.

PurinaCare® Offers Pet Insurance as Group Benefit

It doesn't get better than this. PurinaCare® Pet Health Insurance has just created a "Groups Benefits Department" that will offer employers and associations group discounts for providing their employees and members with pet health insurance.

A bold, forward move that needs to be applauded, don't you think? I do. According to the press release I found via Google alerts, "Pet insurance is a coverage program designed to pick up the tab on the high cost of vet bills." Got it? The "high cost of vet bills"...which is another way of saying, a great way to take care of your dog or cat when he or she is ill with an on-going medical problem or in an accident that requires extensive surgery and/or medical care.

Causes of Hyperthyroidism in Cats

More feline health information from the NAVC. I attended an interesting talk on feline hyperthyroidism. This is a fairly common disease in geriatric cats. In fact, it's the most common endocrine disorder in domestic cats. Endocrine disorders are glandular problems and this one obviously affects the thyroid gland.

One interesting tidbit I learned at the session is that this disease seems to be getting more and more common in older cats. Researchers don't know why, but hyperthyroidism is increasing faster than two other common older cat problems; chronic renal failure and diabetes.

Some Interesting Things I Learned at The NAVC

Tom and I are back from the NAVC (North American Veterinary Conference) and catching up on things. We had a lot of time to visit the exhibit hall and will talk about that a bit, later on. But, I do want to say we met our podcast professional, Dr. Bill, and we met Dr. Larry, and we met some other good Purina people, including Dr. Grace from Purina Veterinary Diets.

While meeting our Purina sponsors was a big treat, I have to tell you that the conference overall commanded most of my attention. As a former veterinary technician, I was fascinated by the modern marvels in veterinary science, and I was comforted by the usual veterinary practices I saw or heard about - ones that were still very similar to the kinds of things we did back in the day.

North American Veterinary Conference Here We Come!

Tomorrow, Tom and I leave to attend the North American Vet Conference in Orlando, otherwise referred to as NAVC. I think Dr. Larry arrives today.

I have not been to a vet conference in many, many years. As Dr. Larry noted in his post yesterday, I'm sure to be surprised by all the amazing developments in veterinary science. I do know that more girls than boys (woman than men?) graduate from vet school, these days. It's definitely an attractive profession for women - albeit, a tough one.

I say tough because there is a lot of suffering that goes along with the care of animals. And yet, our pets rarely demand as much attention as their human counterparts. Pets are accepting of many medical issues - because they don't know better. To me, that's why today's improvements are so important. Creating that long and healthy life for our pets is every pet owner's desire. Isn't it?

Next Week is Feline Friendly

Yvonne and I will be at the North American Veterinary Conference (NAVC) next week and we are planning a feline health extravaganza. The NAVC, as the name implies, is one of the two largest veterinary continuing education meeting on the continent. Vets and Animal Health Technicians from all over the world attend this meeting for the excellent learning provided. The fact that it is in Florida in January helps too.

My friend Bud tells me that the warm weather is returning over the weekend. Good news for us as he plans to take me fishing.

There is an excellent lineup of cat programs that Yvonne and I plan to attend. I've looked over the program and on each morning, Monday through Wednesday, there are entire sections devoted to cat health. 

CATalyst Council - Top 10 Cat Friendly Cities

In March, the CATalyst Council, a group devoted to the care of cats, announced the Top 10 Cat-Friendly Cities. To quote from their site, "The CATalyst Council, a coalition of the veterinary community, academia, nonprofits, industry and animal welfare organizations, hopes to call attention to how much the cat is loved and cared for in these cities, and set the bar for other cities to follow in the annual rankings."

While we know, from other studies, that cats are the #1 pet in the U.S., if you go by numbers, anyway, it's also pretty well known that most cat owners take their cats for granted. We love'em, but we aren't as likely to take them to the vet for regular visits. Which we should. I have a friend who recently called and described some issues with her cat and asked my advice and I was pretty surprised. Why? Because the answer (and she knew the answer) was, "Get your cat to the vet!"

Crazy Dogs and Elephants

Do you have a crazy dog like this? Yesterday my daughter brought the beautiful Twiggy over - she's the Greyhound, you'll remember - and Twiggy went a little "wild" over a small elephant I have sitting on the floor next to a green chair in the living room.

Now, the elephant has been there for days and days. Ever since we moved into our new place in Colorado. Surely Twiggy has seen it before! But, no. Apparently, Twiggy never noticed the elephant until a friend picked it up and said, "Hey, Twiggy, look at the elephant!"

This was in response to her almost 2-year old wanting to play with said elephant.