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Save Samson: Britain's biggest dog needs life-saving operation
Britain's biggest dog, Samson, a four-year-old Great Dane-Newfoundland cross, is in need of a life-saving operation and his owners have asked the public for financial help.
Samson, who stands an incredible 6 ft 6 in (1.98m) on his back legs, was rescued from an RSPCA centre when he was just six months old.
Since he was adopted, he has grown from 16 stone (102kg) to a massive 20 stone (127kg) hound with a 59 inch (1.5m) chest and a 29 inch (74cm) neck, although his owners are strict about his diet. But Samson now faces being put down after rupturing the cruciate ligament in his left hind leg.
Mrs Woods, 54, who is disabled and cared for by her husband, 65, said the couple could not afford the £1,400 needed for specialist surgery. They have launched a "Save Our Samson" campaign in the hope that animal lovers might step in to help. "At the moment Samson is on pain killers and has been told to rest, but you try stopping a 20 stone dog from tearing around," Mrs Woods said. "We are just appealing to anybody who can help." Britain's biggest dog, Samson, a four-year-old Great Dane-Newfoundland cross, is in need of a life-saving operation and his owne... more -
Baby orangutans and lion also sick from Chinese milk
The animals, at at Hangzhou Zoo near Shanghai, developed kidney stones after being fed milk powder tainted with the industrial chemical melamine.
Chinese media report that the animals had been fed on milk powder made by Sanlu Group for more than a year.
Sanlu Group is at the heart of the milk crisis which has seen four Chinese babies die and another 53,000 fall ill.
Concerned keepers sent the animals for a check up after hearing about the milk contamination and have now stopped feeding with Sanlu milk.
The orang-utans and the lion are the only animals to have developed kidney stones and are being treated for the condition.
Officials at the Beijing Zoo and zoos in the other major cities of Shanghai, Guangzhou and Xian said they had no cases of animals sickened from milk powder, the Associated Press reported. The animals, at at Hangzhou Zoo near Shanghai, developed kidney stones after being fed milk powder tainted with the industrial chemica... more -
Dog survives swallowing mobile phone whole
Nero, a Doberman-Great Dane crossbreed, snatched a Nokia mobile phone from his owners hand and swallowed it whole. The canine paid the price for his greed, when he was the subject of a major operation leaving him with a large scar and ten stitches on his belly.
His owner recalls" "My daughter screamed terribly because we were scared that Nero would die." The family immediately took Nero to a local animal clinic where the mobile flashed up in an x-ray. Nero underwent an operation the next day, and everything went well. Nero, a Doberman-Great Dane crossbreed, snatched a Nokia mobile phone from his owners hand and swallowed it whole. The canine paid the... more -
Pit Bull Becomes World's First Commercial Clone
The first ever commercial cloning of a pet was carried out in South Korea, where five identical copies of Booger the pit bull terrier were created for an American client.
The cloned puppies were created at Seoul National University’s veterinary school using some of Booger's refrigerated ear tissue.
The five puppies were born from two surrogate mothers on July 28, said Ra Jeong-Chan, CEO of RNL Bio which has launched a commercial dog cloning service in cooperation with the university scientists.
“This is a miracle. These guys gave me the best present,” said Bernann McKinney, 57, a film scriptwriter from Hollywood.
McKinney sold her house in the United States to raise the $50,000 for RNL scientists to turn skin cells taken from Booger before he died two years ago into embryos carried by two surrogate dogs for two months until giving birth to the puppies last week.
"I had to make sacrifices and I dream of the day, some day when everyone can afford to clone their pet because losing a pet is a terrible, terrible loss to anyone." The first ever commercial cloning of a pet was carried out in South Korea, where five identical copies of Booger the pit bull terrier ... more -
Stem cells used on dogs in the US
Maggie Mae is running a lot more these days and even gets on the couch without help.
The 11-year-old Australian shepherd appears to be getting around easier since a Maitland, Florida, veterinarian injected stem cells into her arthritic joints in May.
The novel therapy has been given to 700 dogs throughout the US to ease arthritis. Scientists think the cells can grow into new tissues and may be a treatment for many conditions in the future.
Maggie Mae is helping test the theory. Her owner, Terry Hays of Longwood, Florida, could feel how "crunchy" the dog's hips and other joints had become. She was eager to find relief for the playful and protective shepherd.
Hays was taking Maggie Mae to acupuncture treatments and learned of the stem-cell option during one of those appointments.
"If this is something that works, it could help many people and many animals someday," Hays said. "I'm just thrilled to think (Maggie Mae has) been a part of it."
The stem-cell treatment starts with surgery to remove about 50 grams of fat, typically from the dog's abdomen, explained Dr Jacek de Haan from Affiliated Veterinary Specialists in Maitland.
He said all tissue holds some stem cells, and veterinarians use fat because it's typically plentiful and easy to remove.
The dogs must be healthy enough to have the surgery, which requires the animals to be put under general anaesthesia. Because anaesthesia comes with risks, de Haan said dogs with other major health issues - such as heart disease or kidney failure - are not good candidates.
It's more for dogs that are generally healthy aside from their arthritis.
After the fat is removed, it is sent to the California company that has been using it to help horses recover from tendon and other injuries since 2003.
Vet-Stem began offering the treatment for dogs with arthritis earlier this year. De Haan said the cost is about $2,500.
The company takes the fat sample, isolates the stem cells and returns the solution to the veterinarian, who then injects arthritic joints. There are no guarantees that the dogs will get relief, but many owners report seeing improvements within a month of the treatment, de Haan said.
He has treated seven local dogs so far.
"Usually, activity level improves, they're able to run more and be more active. If they weren't able to jump on furniture before, they are about to do it afterward," he said.
The treatment - because it involves removing and replacing cells from the same animal - is not controversial and not regulated by the government, said Dr Julie Ryan Johnson, a veterinarian and vice-president at Vet-Stem.
That also means it hasn't been tested in large-scale, rigorous studies before it hit the market.
But one study sponsored by the company compared dogs that were given stem cells with those that received placebo injections.
The researchers found that the stem-cell group had significant improvement in their walking and trotting. The animals also had less pain when their joints were manipulated and had greater range of motion.
What exactly are the stem cells doing? Short answer: No one knows.
Johnson said X-rays of the animals' arthritic joints don't show marked differences after treatment, suggesting that the stem cells are working in subtle ways.
"They may be signalling other cells to come in and do different things - to reduce pain and inflammation or build new tissue," Johnson said.
"The X-rays may not look any better, but there's definitely something going on there."
About this articleClose This article was first published on guardian.co.uk on Wednesday June 18 2008. It was last updated at 15:22 on June 18 2008. Maggie Mae is running a lot more these days and even gets on the couch without help. ... more -
Stray parrot returns home after repeating its name and address
A stray parrot was reunited with its owner in Japan after repeating its name and address at the local veterinary clinic that took it in, police said.
Police captured the red-tailed African Grey, Yosuke, earlier this month after a woman called to say it was sitting on a fence in her backyard near Tokyo.
The parrot was then handed over to the animal clinic to be cared for.
It began by greeting people and singing popular children's songs, before repeating its name and address.
Police matched the name with its owner, who was reunited with Yosuke earlier this week.
The parrot had become lost two weeks ago after flying out of its cage in Nagareyama city, Chiba prefecture, near Tokyo. A stray parrot was reunited with its owner in Japan after repeating its name and address at the local veterinary clinic that took it i... more -
Boris the cat gets hydrotherapy
Who'd of thought of curing a cat's ailing back with hydrotherapy, or even dunking the cat in the water...
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Man's Best Friend Gets His Balls Back
Dog owners may have hit an all-time high on the ridiculous scale with the newest trend in pet spoiling. Introducing the Neuticle. The what? The Neuticle: a prosthetic testicle for your castrated pooch. It really is the dog's bollocks.
The poor little doggy gets his peanuts removed and then feels less manly (or might not even notice, to be honest). But not to worry! Now his owners can take him in for an operation to have some falsies implanted in his scrotum, taking him back to his former 'anatomically correct' self. Do they even do this for people? What is this world coming to?? Dog owners may have hit an all-time high on the ridiculous scale with the newest trend in pet spoiling. Introducing the Neuticle. The ... more -
Diabetes in Pets on the Rise!
The 9-year-old Australian Terrier was drinking a lot of water and urinating frequently. So his owner took the little dog to her veterinarian, John Hamil of Canyon Animal Hospital in Laguna Beach, Calif. A urinalysis and blood work revealed that he had diabetes.
As with people, the incidence of diabetes in cats and dogs is increasing. Not so much of a problem in decades past, diabetes now affects as many as one in 50 of the animals, some statistics show, especially pudgy pets.
There is no question from what I know that is published in the literature that obesity is on the rise, No. 1, and No. 2, diabetes is on the rise right along with it, says veterinarian Robin Downing, hospital director of Windsor Veterinary Clinic in Windsor, Colo.
Diabetes results when the body doesn't produce enough insulin, a hormone that processes glucose (blood sugar), or properly use it. As a result, the body's tissues cannot use glucose for energy, and the sugar builds up in the blood and urine. The 9-year-old Australian Terrier was drinking a lot of water and urinating frequently. So his owner took the little dog to her veteri... more
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