Latest Pet & Animal News - 30th Jan 2016 with Kaye Browne

More reading:

Rezac P, Rezac K, Slama P (2015) Human behaviour
preceding dog bites to the face. The Veterinary Journal DOI

http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.1016/j.tvjl.2015.10.021

A very exciting study published in the Veterinary Journal has proven what many in the pet and vet world have long believed – humans who’ve been bitten on the face were bending over the dog and gazing into the dog’s eyes immediately preceding the bite.

The study, carried out in the Czech Republic, used fliers in veterinary clinics to find victims and ultimately recruited 132 face bite victims who were asked what they were doing right before the dog bit.

They found that more than two thirds who were bitten were children… and a whopping 76% hadn’t known that standing over a dog, staring and then putting their face close to the dog would be provocative.

The study’s authors intent is to finally create an effective program to prevent dog bites.

It’s VERY, VERY interesting to note that the size or breed of the dog had nothing to do with whether the dog bit or not.

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Image: (c) J.J. Hayward

In the United States, Cornell University researchers have completed the genetic analysis of 4,200 dogs - the largest genetic study of dogs to date and amongst other things, they can now predict predict a dog’s size with 90 percent accuracy plus fur length and shedding.

Why is this exciting? Well, the study, published the journal Nature Communications, is a big step toward efficiently mapping which genes are responsible for complex diseases in dogs and also in humans.

Dogs share more than 350 diseases with humans – from hip dysplasia to lymphoma – and this study found these shared diseases have similar pathways and genes – which augurs well for improvements in treatments for k9 s and humans.

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Photo: (c) Mark Eastburn

Most people know that lizards simply go to sleep when it gets cold – and over in the US the east coast has been hit by blizzards and snowstorms.

However – this is a rather unusual story about a decidedly lucky lizard from Florida.
A kindergarten student at a primary school in central New Jersey discovered an unexpected bonus in his lunchtime salad – a 7.5 cm Anole lizard.

The lizard was cold and lifeless after being refrigerated for several days but after gentle warming by the science teacher – the reptile now named Green Fruit Loop has now become the class pet.

1st Future Vet Kids Camper accepted into James Cook University!

Dr Scott Bainbridge with Claire
Image (c) Future Vet Kids Camp

The dream of many young people is to become a veterinarian.

Canadian vet Dr Scott Bainbridge and his wife Andra came up with the brainchild 'Future Vet Kids Camp' now in its 5th year and run only in Australia.

And for the first time ever one proud 'camper' Claire (photo left) from 2014 has been accepted into the Veterinary Science Program at James Cook University!

Well done Claire - We look forward to chatting with you soon!