Newsy Sunday

From Aurora, Ill., comes a story by Stephanie Lulay of the Beacon-News.

An Easter egg hunt for pooches was held Saturday.

The Sugar Grove Park District hosted its first Doggie Easter Egg Hunt in Volunteer Park, attracting about 50 dogs and their families to partake in the festivities.

Dogs sniffed out treat-filled eggs and posed for pictures with Mr. E. Bunny himself.

Never fear, the treat- and toy-filled plastic eggs were collected by the humans and not scarfed up on the spot by Spot.

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From NewsWest9.com serving Midland-Odessa in Texas comes an Associated Press story about a dog who helped find a missing man.

Jack DeBuck, 70, of Albuquerque, and his dog, who was not named in the story, were hiking and were missing for more than a day.

Eventually, they wandered into a cafe in Bernalillo, N.M., but DeBuck was disoriented and unable to give anyone information about himself.

The dog's microchip, however was able to tell police who DeBuck was and where he lived.

Maybe we should all get microchips implanted. Kidding. Just kidding.

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Thinking of moving to Montana and are wondering which city is friendliest to dogs?

Who isn't?

Erin Madison, writing in the Great Fall Tribune, in Great Falls, Mont., has a story that tells the tail, er, tale.

Missoula boasts three companies that will take dogs out walking during the day while their owners are out. Bozeman has numerous areas in its park system where dogs can play off leash. Like Great Falls, Whitefish opened a dog park this past summer, and Billings hopes to open three dog parks in the future.

Turns out, in Bozeman dogs are allowed in Lowe's and Home Depot.

Montana sure isn't sounding bad now.

Newsy bits

From WIBW-TV in Topeka, Kansas, comes this veterinarian's warning about plants that might be toxic to your cat.

Of particular concern, with Easter coming, are lilies. Seems they are a no-no for cats.

Read the story here.
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Next, I'll just repeat the headline from the Chicago Tribune: Blog has the scoop on South Loop dog poop.

Read the story here.
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New book on a holistic diet for your dog.

Read the press release from PR Newswire here.
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Are rats the perfect companion pet?

Some people think so.

Read about it here in an article by the Associated Press's Sue Manning via ABC News.

News you can use

Fran Lee, the woman who fought for pooper-scooper laws, died at age 99.

Here's her obituary from the New York Times.

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The Canadian Medical Association Journal calls for a ban on pets in airline cabins.

Read the story in the New York Times.

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And finally, from the San Jose Mercury News: It's never too late to socialize your dog.

I should send this to some of the people who live on my block.

This and that, again

A cautionary tale: Cat peeing on a laptop may have started house fire. Click here.

Pet psychics: Come on. Can you finish the statement: "There's a sucker born ... "? Click here.

Pet ban: NYC Housing Authority ban on dogs larger than 25 pounds may fill city animal shelters. Click here.

Pet portrait: $1,400 for a photo session of your dog? And it doesn't include airfare to Seattle. Click here.

Superbug, dog flu, case of the uglies

An article in the Austin (Texas) American-Statesman talks about how humans can get the MRSA superbug from their pets.

Read the entire article here.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus is a bacterial infection that resists common antibiotics.

A review article in the Lancet Infectious Diseases journal describes how dog and cat bites can transmit MRSA and even worse, a potentially deadly blood infection called sepsis. It also tells how touching the skin of infected pets also can transmit MRSA.

It turns out, however, that people are more likely to infect their pets first with MRSA.

The article includes tips on how to prevent the infection as well.

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First there was the swine flu, and now the dog flu?

An article in the New York Times (read it here) says that the federal Food and Drug Administration has approved a vaccine for the H3N8 dog flu.

There is a new flu virus going around. It initially looked quite lethal, and caused panic. Now it is clear that it has killed relatively few victims — and many of those have underlying conditions. It is particularly dangerous to be the possessor of a pushed-in nose — that is, to be a Pekingese, a pug or a Shi-Tzu.

It is the H3N8 dog flu. The virus, scientists believe, jumped from horses to dogs at least five years ago, but it has never infected a human.

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A dog named Pabst with a massive underbite is the World's Ugliest Dog. He was crowned Friday at the Sonoma-Marin Fair in Northern California.

See him here on the Chicago Tribune Web site.

Newsy bits for Friday

Does your dog really look guilty, or are you projecting it on them?

A study from a researcher at Barnard College in New York City was reported on by Fox News.

Read the story here.

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The results were a $1,500 vet bill and a bad case of the munchies.

A Seattle dog chowed down on marijuana found in a local park and got stoned.

Read the Associated Press story in the Seattle Post-Intellingencer.

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MSNBC.com reports on airports that are providing amenities to travelers with pets.

Read about it here.

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From the Oregonian comes a story about the first drug ever approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of cancer in dogs.

It specifically treats mast-cell tumors, a type of skin cancer.

Here's the story.

It rhymes with 'slosh'

Today, we have a mish mash of items, ranging from an ugly kitty to why don't the caged birds sing.

From WBZ-TV in Boston comes a report about a cat that only a mother could love.

See the story and video here.

Ugly Bat Boy, nicknamed "Uggs," has a mane but is otherwise bald. He is owned by a veterinarian in Stratham, N.H., and is not a rare breed but a genetic mystery.

Ugly in a cute way? Or ugly in a cute way?

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From Newsday.com, pet expert Marc Morrone answers readers questions about a cat that seems to have forgotten about its litter box (eeewww), a West Highland terrier that likes to move its food bowls around (annoying) and two canaries who won't sing when they are in the same cage (a mystery).

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On the WashingtonPost.com Web site, veterinarian Dr. Michael Fox tries to lick a licking problem that an English springer spaniel has. It seems the dog will lick anything and everything in sight for hours on end, driving its owner ka-razy.

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And finally, a dog in Olathe, Kansas, caused a $105,000 worth of damage to its owners' home and almost killed the family cat.

An article in the Kansas City Star said the unnamed pooch chewed a laptop computer cord causing an electrical short that made the couch burst into flames. A woman and her son were home at the time. They escaped, along with the dog, leaving the cat — named Tater — to fend for itself.

Firefighters found the cat, who was soot-covered but otherwise OK, and returned it to the family.

So, the dog was too embarrassed to give its name?

Pets in the news

Pets knew quake was near, from Edwardsville (Ill.) Intelligencer.
Dogs and bird: you can't keep anything from them.

Dog crosses desert, mountains and somehow gets get home, from Associated Press.
The husky got skunked and had to travel 80 miles, but other than that ...

A guide dog with clout calls it quits, from The New York Times.
Ruger, an 11-year-old lab, is hanging up the harness. Good boy!

Dogs in the news

Dog overturns boat, but then swims to shore to get help. What's that, Lassie? Is Timmy down the well? (AP)

Homeless man's dog in San Francisco seeks new owner. (CBS/Bay City News)

High-rise dog toilet? I use a plastic bag on a grassy surface. I am so low tech. (AHN Media Corp.)

Dogs and boat safety — an important issue in summertime. Especially for 72-year-old guys whose dogs like to scuttle boats. (Detroit Free Press)