Bret Michaels Pets Rock Collection Coming Soon to PetSmart
By now you are probably familiar with the line of Martha Stewart Pet and Halloween Products established in 2010 at PetSmart. News is out that she will be joined by super cool rock musician Bret Michaels ("pets rock"), who will introduce his own line of pet products there in the summer of 2012.
The Bret Michaels Pets Rock collection will be available in all of Petsmart's 1,197 stores in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico and online at PetSmart.com.
It's probably gotten to be a cliche now to say that pets are part of our families. They are, at least for most of us, and along with the love comes the bills. ASPCA | Pet Care Costs has calculated that first year costs for pet food and supplies run between $1,300 and $1850 for a dog, depending upon size, and around $1,000 for a cat. Fish are by far the most economical, coming in at $35/year.
These figures include pet health insurance, an investment which relatively few pet owners actually make. Considering Pet Ownership? Here's How Much to Budget | MintLife Blog has taken their numbers and created a nifty graphic, breaking the annual and Mint-user monthly costs down by category. They don't include the initial capital investment such as cage, cage, carrier, leash, aquarium.
PetScoop: Purina ONE Vibrant Maturity 7+ Dry Cat Food Recall
Nestle Purina PetCare Company (NPPC) has issued a press release that they are voluntarily recalling a limited number of their 3.5- and 7-pound bags of Purina ONE Vibrant Maturity 7+ Dry Cat Food from a single production run and shipped to customers in 12 states in December 2010. Some bags of the product have been found to be contaminated with Salmonella. Only Purina ONE Vibrant Maturity 7+ Dry Cat Food with both the "Best By" date and the production code shown are included in this voluntary recall:
No additional Purina cat or dog products are involved in this voluntary recall and no other Purina ONE brand products are involved.
CERTIFECT -- A New Flea and Tick Medicine for Your Dog, But Not Your Cat
Odds are you or someone you know has had a tick-related disease. Most likely you treat your pets for tick and flea infestation. News is out that the patent that Merial holds on fipronil, one of the active ingredients in FRONTLINE Plus, is expiring with cheaper generic versions available or soon to be (see our pertinent post here).
Merial, the company responsible for the popular FRONTLINE flea and tick control products, has now kicked things up a notch with their latest topical treatment CERTIFECT. CERTIFECT kills ticks in 18 hours, rather than the current 24-48 hour time frame, and is also the only topical product that dislodges ticks. As with FRONTLINE Plus, CERTIFECT destroys the flea life cycle.
CERTIFECT should not be used on cats. For the PR announcement, click here. For a vet's take on the new product, click here.
Super Cool New Online Pet Supplies Retailer -- Wag.com
Quidsi has opened a new a site for pet supplies, Wag.com. Quidsi, the word meaning "what if" in Latin, is also the owner of Diapers.com and is owned by Amazon, itself of course a huge retailer of Pet Supplies. In a ground-breaking corporate development, this 21st century e-store will pride itself on customer service.
When our hard-earned dinero is involved, we tend to go with the tried-and-true so we don't get burned, but anything owned by Amazon is worth checking out. The store carries supplies for our dogs, cats, fish, birds, small reptiles, with Dog and Cat Boutiques as well.
PetScoop: Primal Pet Foods Issues Nationwide Voluntary Recall On Feline Chicken & Salmon Formula
The FDA reports that Primal Pet Foods has initiated a voluntary recall of their Feline Chicken & Salmon Formula (Primal Pet Foods Raw Cat Food Chicken & Salmon Nuggets) with a "Best By" date code of 043112-17 because this product may be contaminated with salmonella. This is the only product targeted by the recall--no other Primal Pet Foods products are affected. The bacteria is harmful to both people and pets.
Navy SEAL Dogs in the Osama Bin Laden Raid wore High-Tech K9 Storm Vests
The dog that accompanied the 24-member Navy SEAL Team 6 who entered Osama Bin Laden's compound in Pakistan was a specially-trained Belgian Shepherd (Malinois) named Cairo. Belgian Shepherd dogs have a history as working dogs, in this case assisting the military. These tough, intimidating dogs are not your run-of-the-mill family pets and are trained much like police and homeland security dogs.
There are many products that help military working dogs (MWDs). Likely Cairo wore a tactical stab-resistant K9 Storm vest loaded with high-tech gadgetry costing $20,000 - $30,000. The gear included high-def night vision cams, bulletproof vests with parachute-ready harness and a two-way radio (see image below).
We often buy our pets age-specific food in accordance with package labeling. Most of us accept the conventional wisdom that senior dogs have different nutritional requirements as they age.
But truth be told, according to Wide Variety in Nutritional Content Found in 'Senior' Dog Foods -- Science Daily, there are no official dietary requirements for aging dogs. Pet foods marketed for "longevity" and "maturity" or "senior," "old" or "mature" dogs are not legally required to adhere to a standard nutrition profile beyond the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) nutrient profile minimums for all adult dogs.
Furthermore dogs, like people, have individual dietary needs. Not all older dogs require a senior diet. Because these pet foods targeting seniors are not all the same, you will want to feed your senior pet a diet that is right for your specific animal.
PetScoop: Study Shows ProMeris Flea and Tick Unsafe for Your Pet and Taken Off the Market
A recent study has demonstrated that Pfizer's flea and tick preventative ProMeris may be unsafe for your pet. In rare cases, ProMeris has been linked to an autoimmune disease Pemphigus foliaceus, or PF, which presents as lesions on the face, nasal planum and ears along with lethargy, fever, pain, anorexia, lameness.
These side effects are serious, so if your pet takes ProMeris, please call your veterinarian. Click the link to read the article for more information and check out a safe new flea and tick product for your pet.
PetScoop -- Sleepypod Atom Pet Carrier Debuts at Global Pet Expo 2011
Sleepypod, a Pasadena-based company famous for its fabulous Sleepypod Air modern pet carrier, has announced that it will present its newest pet carrier, the Sleepypod Atom, at the Global Pet Expo 2011 in Orlando, FL this week March 16-18.
In designing the new carrier, Sleepypod took ideas from its multiple award-winning Sleepypod Air and applied them to the smaller-sized Sleepypod Atom. Features:
• Fits beneath a wide range of airline seats
• Seatbelt straps on two sides allow Sleepypod Atom to be safely secured in a car seat
• Secure and durable mesh panel positioned on three sides for better ventilation
• Top and side entries for easy access
• Interior collar clip
• Designed to fold flat for easy storage
• Large, front zipper pocket plus two smaller end pockets for essential items such as treats, doggie bags, leashes, etc.
• Removable, Ultra Plush bedding is machine-washable
• Easy clean exterior is made of luggage-grade, ballistic nylon
• Adjustable shoulder straps with comfort padding
• Carry handle
• Ergonomic zipper pulls
Available colors are Jet Black, Dark Chocolate, Strawberry Red, Robin Egg Blue, Blossom Pink, and Arctic White. For more information, visit the Sleepypod site.
PetScoop: Researcher Finds Three Categories of Beliefs Concerning Pets
If you have pets or "animal companions", a term some prefer, you know that individuals vary in the nature and intensity of their bond with them. Researchers are beginning to study the effect on families, routines and their relationships, according to the New York Times in Emotional Power Broker of the Modern Family.
Indiana University sociologist David Blouin interviewed 35 dog owners around the state representing a diverse mix of city, country and suburban dwellers. He found that people fall into one of three broad categories of beliefs concerning pets--dominionists, humanists and protectionists:
Members of one group, which he labels "dominionists," see pets as an appendage to the family, a useful helper ranking below humans that is beloved but, ultimately, replaceable. Many people from rural areas -- like the immigrants Dr. Terrien interviewed -- qualified.
Another group of owners, labeled by Dr. Blouin as "humanists," are the type who cherish their dog as a favored child or primary companion, to be pampered, allowed into bed, and mourned like a dying child at the end. These include the people who cook special meals for a pet, take it to exercise classes, to therapy -- or leave it stock options in their will.
The third, called "protectionists," strive to be the animal's advocate. These owners have strong views about animal welfare, but their views on how a pet should be treated -- whether it sleeps inside or outside, when it should be put down -- vary depending on what they think is "best" for the animal. Its members include people who will "save" a dog tied to tree outside a store, usually delivering it home with a lecture about how to care for an animal.
"These are ideologies, and so protectionists are very critical of humanists, who are very critical of dominionists, and so on," Dr. Blouin said. "You can see where this can create problems if people in a family have different orientations. Every little decision about the pet is loaded."
PetScoop -- Alaska's 2011 Annual Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race
The Iditarod is a sled dog race that starts from Anchorage, in south central Alaska ending in Nome on the western Bering Sea coast. Each team of 12 to 16 dogs and their musher cover over 1150 miles in 10 to 17 days. This race is currently in high gear. From the site:
You can't compare it to any other competitive event in the world! A race over 1150 miles of the roughest, most beautiful terrain Mother Nature has to offer. She throws jagged mountain ranges, frozen river, dense forest, desolate tundra and miles of windswept coast at the mushers and their dog teams. Add to that temperatures far below zero, winds that can cause a complete loss of visibility, the hazards of overflow, long hours of darkness and treacherous climbs and side hills, and you have the Iditarod.
While the trail through the wilderness is the same route travelled during the gold rushes a century ago, the 2011 Iditarod has gone high-tech. The mushers are equipped with custom-made sleds with adjustable runners for varying snow conditions and new this year, global-positioning-satellite (GPS) devices to monitor their progress. Live-streamed updates, cell phones and blogs keep the world informed about events along the 1,150-mile trail (1,850 km).
Peter Onruang, an LA-based businessman is in the process of having his two cherished pet dogs cloned, reports the LA Times. Before his best-buddy terrier mix Wolfie died at age 15 in 2009, Onruang preserved her genetic material and that of her sister Bubble as well, with plans to have them cloned down the line.
Onruang says he has paid a South Korean company for the cloning procedure, and he now eagerly awaits the births of Wolfie and Bubble clones. He also has established an informative cloning web-site My Friend Again where he says it takes $100,000 and 6 months to clone your dog. Look-alike probable, but not certain, and personality not guaranteed.
Bret Michaels Pets Rock Collection Coming Soon to PetSmart
run between $1,300 and $1850 for a dog, depending upon size, and around $1,000 for a cat. Fish are by far the most economical, coming in at $35/year. 
by Various Whales.
, is expiring with cheaper generic versions available or soon to be (see our pertinent post 
) with a "Best By" date code of 043112-17 because this product may be contaminated with salmonella. This is the only product targeted by the recall--no other 
may be unsafe for your pet. In rare cases, ProMeris has been linked to an autoimmune disease Pemphigus foliaceus, or PF, which presents as lesions on the face, nasal planum and ears along with lethargy, fever, pain, anorexia, lameness. 
Mailing List
Subscribe - RSS
Site Navigation
