Pet Show Podcast
Today, Pet Show co-hosts Bryan Dean and I talked about some day trips people might want to take over the holidays to the Oklahoma Aquarium and the Dallas World Aquarium. Bryan also gave us some news about male penguins wanting to become parents and a woman whose windshield wipers and blinker wouldn’t work because a chipmunk was storing nuts in her car. We also shared some tips from the Oklahoma State University Center for Veterinary Health Sciences about preparing your pets for cold weather. Enjoy!
-Staff Writer Dawn Marks
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Pets in the paper
Check out these animal stories in The Oklahoman today -
- - “Jungle Book” production energetic romp through Kipling’s classic. (Oklahoma City)
- - Every dog, even the grumpiest, has its day.
- - Man faces animal cruelty charges. (Norman)
- - Store offers seminars for dog owners. (Edmond)
Staff Writer Carrie Coppernoll
Pets in the paper
Check out these animal stories in The Oklahoman today -
- - Deer found decapitated. (page 7a)
- - Avoid driving behind chicken. (page 3b)
- - City zoo is offering free admission today. (page 2d)
- - Distracted detective goes to dogs in novel. (page 5e)
Staff Writer Carrie Coppernoll
Peeping Tom pets look through fences
There’s a little herd of Jack Russell terriers in my neighborhood that flip out whenever I walk by with my dogs. They cram together and stick their faces up against an old fan guard. The fan cover has been put into a special hole in my neighbor’s privacy fence. The whole getup is especially designed so the pups can look out beyond their yard without getting a whole new fence.
I have to say, it’s hilarious.
Apparently, my neighbors aren’t the only ones whose dogs want their own window. This new product, called a Pet Peek, allows pets to look outside and keep tabs on the neighbors. It cracks me up! They look like puppies on a tiny cruise ship.
Hopefully my neighbor’s dogs haven’t got a glimpse of this fancy porthole. They’d want to ditch their fan.
Staff Writer Carrie Coppernoll
Your cat wants a camera
Some English cat owners wondered what their feline friends were doing all day, so they came up with a way to find out — the cat cam.
The tiny camera looks kind of like an ID card. It hangs from the cat’s neck and a timer can be set to take pictures every 30 seconds or so to track your cat’s movements. The camera will show you what your cat is looking at all day.
Shockingly, much of the time it is food or other cats.
Here are some of the pictures posted on the group’s Web site.
- Staff Writer Bryan Dean
Your pet picture could win you a special travel prize!
The holiday season looms like your cat’s next trip to the vet – you know it’s coming and there’s nothing you can do to stop it. And holidays mean holiday travel to visit loved ones near and far. So, Pet Show wants to celebrate! Send us your favorite pictures of your pet on vacation or on the road, and you’ll be entered in our Holiday Travel Contest! The prize: some super-snazzy car travel gear!
The fabulous folks at CoverKing have given us this awesome Pet Protector Seat Cover. How does it work? You hang it over your back seat and not only does it keep your pet from falling into the floorboard every time you tap the breaks, but it also keeps pet hair off your upholstery! Well, in my car, that would be pet hair, pet smell, pet sneezes and other pet yuckies. Retail value: $50! Your entry: free! Here are the rules:
* Email pictures of your pets to ccoppernoll@opubco.com. The pictures can be anything related to travel – in the car, on vacation, on a hike, visiting a friend’s house, whatever! We need the pet’s name, your name, your address, your phone number and the kind of animal your loveable friend is. (And we’d also like a description of what your pet is doing, if that’s possible. )
* Every person who enters at least one photo will be put in the drawing for the rockin’ CoverKing Pet Protector Seat Cover! (Thanks to CoverKing for providing the prize!)
* Only one entry per person, but you can submit any many pictures as you want!
* The deadline for entry is noon Nov. 21.
* The Pet Show crew will draw the name of the winner at random after noon Nov. 21, just in time to get you your CoverKing before you head out for Thanksgiving vacation!
* The odds of winning depend on the number of entries. The odds of fun while traveling with your pet: 100 percent.
* What happens if you don’t win? Don’t worry! We’ll take all the photos submitted and make a slide show of everyone’s fantastic travel pics. We’ll post it right after we draw the winner.
* Good luck!
Staff Writer Carrie Coppernoll
Oklahoma not in recall region
Oklahoma isn’t one of the 15 states affected by the Mars Petcare food recall because of concerns about salmonella.
The company is recalling Special Kitty Gourmet Blend dry bagged cat food sold at Walmart. Affect states are Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, North Carolina, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, Vermont, and West Virginia, according to a company press release.
Here is a statement from the company:
“Even though there is no link between the SPECIAL KITTY® Gourmet Blend dry cat food manufactured at the Allentown, Pennsylvania factory and any human or pet illness, we are taking precautionary action to protect pets and their owners by announcing a voluntary recall of all sizes of SPECIAL KITTY® Gourmet Blend produced at the facility on August 11, 2008. This action is being taken as a result of potential Salmonella contamination.”
Owners are asked to dispose of the food in a safe place such as a covered trash can and return the bag to any participating retailer for a full refund.
This image, provided by Petcare, shows how to identify the tainted food. Affected food has a best if used by date of AUG 11 09. The number underneath that, the product lot code, starts with a 50.
Staff Writer Carrie Coppernoll
Chinese food kills 1,500 dogs
The chemical responsible for causing illness in thousands of babies throughout China is responsible for killing about 1,500 dogs in one province of China, the Associated Press is reporting.
The chemical, melamine, was what caused the death of dozens of animals across North America last year when tainted wheat gluten was found in imported dog food.
Scientists researching what happened in the new dog deaths, which reportedly have been happening for the past few months, discovered horrifyingly high rates of melamine in the animal feed. The rates reported are 500 parts per million. The Chinese legal limit is 2.5 parts per million.
The dogs that died are racoon-like pups bred for their fur.
Check back to the Pet Show blog as we continue following this story.
Staff Writer Carrie Coppernoll
Bark Obama and John McCanine!
Just as we predicted, we’ve added prizes to our Adopt-a-Shelter-Dog Photo Contest!
Fat Cat Inc. has come out with some great chew toys – one of Bark Obama and the other of John McCanine. They’re both “Political Animals.” Get it? Hilarious! You can also get Hilary and W.
As a side note, I have Rotten, a blue cat chew toy, somewhere in my back yard. My husband’s dog has been chewing on that thing for, like, two years, and the toy is still surviving! So, these aren’t your regular stuffed chewies.
Thanks to the folks at Bamboo for donating these toys to Pet Show! (Just as a side note, Bamboo has the nicest company slogan: “Bamboo understands families come in all shapes and sizes with claws and tails, wings and scales. We celebrate your life together by designing innovative products that enhance your pet’s well-being and safety every day.”)
So, for your chance to win, submit a pictures of your shelter dogs! Check out our past blog for all the rules.
Staff Writer Carrie Coppernoll
